Decision Looms on New $8.3M Township Building

Photos by Evan Brandt

Architect Randy Galiotto reviews plans for a new Lower Pottsgrove Township building Monday night with the township commissioners.

Despite having construction plans drawn up, the Lower Pottsgrove Township Commissioners have not yet pulled the trigger on whether to build the new $8.3 million township building on property they bought on High Street in Sanatoga.

Randy Galiotto, an architect from the Bethlehem firm Alloy 5, reviewed again the plans for the proposed 15,700 square-foot building with the commissioners Monday night and provided the latest cost estimates -- $8,340,213 as it stands now.

The rear of the police portion of the

proposed new township building

Of course one thing holding the commissioners back may be a late-in-the-game offer they received last month for the four-plus acres of land at the corner of East High Street and South Pleasantview Avenue.

Two weeks ago, Township Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. told the commissioner he had been contacted by a lawyer representing a client interested in buying the property for commercial purposes. 

As reported in The Sanatoga Post, the commissioners said they might be interested, but, as Garner explained to the lawyer, the township would have to recover the costs they have already invested not only in acquiring the land, but also in the building design.

Although the subject did not come up in the public portion of last night's meeting, it was discussed behind closed doors.

Garner confirmed the "executive session" to discuss "real estate" that the commissioners agreed to have after the public portion of the meeting was complete was related to the offer for the property.

An artist's rendering of what the 

meeting room would look like in

the new township building.

No decisions were anticipated last night.

In the meantime, one resident told the commissioners they should take the results of today's national election into account.

"If the Democrats are elected, taxes will go up" and paying for the new building could present a hardship, said Chuck Coletti.

He said he builds sheds for an Amish businessman who has said he will shut down if the Democrats win today's election. Coletti said it is already hard to get building supplies.

Commissioners Chairman Bruce Foltz said that is a factor the board will have to take into consideration.

In the meantime the project continues to move forward. 

The board's Infrastructure Committee, which has overseen the project from the start, recently interviewed two firms that could serve as construction manager for the project.

They also discussed hiring a law firm to handle the bond the township is considering taking out to pay for the project.

Click here to read the Tweets from the meeting.