Local site gets expansion approval before vaccine news
UPPER GWYNEDD >> With one building expansion approved last fall, and new headlines about a shift to producing a COVID-19 vaccine, Merck has plenty of projects in the works.
Another project has recently gotten a go-ahead: township officials have approved plans for a new “Building 50” in the middle of Merck’s West Point complex.
“The building is going to house about 184 employees, on a threeshift basis,” said Merck spokesman Greg Landis.
“Many of those employees will be coming from other areas of the site, moving into the new facility. That opens up other areas, to do renovations in those spaces,” he said.
In October 2020 Merck secured approvals from the township to expand their “Building 45,” a research building in the center of their West Point complex which was built in 1984 and last expanded in 1999. Just across an internal road from that building, Landis told the township commissioners on Feb. 16, will be “Building 50,” a new manufacturing facility that will be three stories tall and add about 101,000 square feet of space.
“There will be a three-floor setup: the first floor will be a loading dock, cold storage and mechanical. The second floor is where the actual production will take place,” Landis said.
“It’s a lyophilization area, which is freeze-drying — like Folger’s coffee — and then the clean room, and filling of vials, and then the third floor will be office area and mechanical,” he said.
The new building will be located roughly 1,000 feet away from Garfield Avenue and about 2,000 feet from Broad Street, “so we’re well into the site, and well away from everybody else,” Landis added, and the building exterior would match others nearby. The company has requested a total of eight waivers from the township, and plans have been vetted and feedback incorporated from the township and county planning commissions, and the township’s engineer, fire marshal, sanitary sewer consultant, and environmental advisory council.
Township engineer Owen Hyne summarized those change order requests, and the review letters contained within the board’s meeting materials packet. Nine new parking spaces will be added on the site, with utility lines connecting to others already onsite, and Hyne said the majority of waivers were related to the existing features on the site, a request to grant preliminary and final approval at the same time, and documenting the changes on a master stormwater site plan for the entire Merck complex.
“That (master plan) is done, has been reviewed, and has been signed by both parties, and is getting ready to be recorded at the courthouse,” Landis said.
Commissioner Ruth Damsker asked if the new building would add to any new hiring on the site, and Landis said it would likely house employees transferred from elsewhere on the complex.
“The net head count will stay pretty close to where it is. It may go up by ten or 20,” he said.
Board Vice President Denise Hull asked for details on comments raised by the county planning commission about screening for chemical storage tanks to be built near the building. Landis said the tanks will be roughly 2,000 feet away from any street view, hidden by fences and a garage, and other similar tanks already exist.
“If you drive down Sumneytown Pike, and look to the right, you’ll see some of those tanks sticking up in the front part of the site already. They’re not large tanks, but to try and screen them, it takes away from how the area is laid out, and it would be difficult to do,” Landis said.
The board voted unanimously to approve the preliminary and final land development plans, including the waivers as requested. After the vote, resident Mike Fellmeth asked if the new building and fuel tanks would lead to any increased train traffic on the rail lines running along the Merck complex, and later in the meeting, township Manager Sandra Brookley Zadell shared an answer from Merck officials, that the company does not use the rail line for any operations on that site.
“Merck fully utilizes truck traffic for all materials in and out of the site. And back in the 1950s, there was a rail spur entering the site, but it was removed about 40 years ago,” she said.
In a subsequent vote, the board also approved the formal “stormwater best management practices operations and maintenance agreement” covering the entire Merck site.
“This is a stormwater plan they have been working on for their entire organization, which will be evaluated in accordance with all future Merck land developments,” Hull said.
“This has been quite an endeavor they have been working on with us,” and has been vetted by township staff, their solicitor, and engine, along with similar vetting on the Merck side.
Commissioner Martha Simelaro asked how often the agreement would need to be updated, and solicitor Lauren Gallagher said that would happen during any changes to the site.
“The way we have it drafted is that anytime they have a new project come in, they’re going to have to certify that it continues to comply with all of the stormwater regulations, and that they’re not exceeding their limitations,” Gallagher said.
“If they make any changes to the existing stormwater facilities, they’re going to have to revise their plan,” and submit it for approvals accordingly, she said.
Merck spokespersons did not respond Tuesday afternoon to a request for comment on whether reports that Merck will begin manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines will have any impact on the Upper Gwynedd site and/or the newly approved Building 50.