Published: October 24, 2009 12:09 am      

Borough mulls options for municipal building

WINDBER — Faced with a $1.3 million estimate to replace its mold- and asbestos-contaminated municipal building, borough leaders are grasping at every option to provide a safe operations base.

The borough can’t afford anything, really,” Windber Borough Councilman James Furmanchik said. “We are in a position where we have to do something.”

Almost immediately upon receiving the $1.3 million construction estimate last week from The EADS Group, council members began suggesting options and looking for ways to pare down the proposed building.

Preliminary concept designs presented at the Oct. 13 council meeting show a combined administrative building and police department.

Suggestions include moving the police department into rented space at the Windber Volunteer Fire Company building, and renovating part of the Windber Community Building to accommodate borough offices.

“We need to move expeditiously,” council President Anthony Turcato said.

“The building committee is going to meet. We are going to look at the floor plans and look for suggestions to reduce the size of the building. (Councilman Raymond) DiBattista estimates we can reduce the size by 20 percent.”

Turcato is interested in moving the police department into the fire company building.

The fire company is open to the idea, President Henry Swincinski said.

“We just started speaking to them about that,” Swincinski said. “We are going to get a couple of independent people to come in and look at the building itself.”

Police would need a secured area for evidence, records and other items, Swincinski said, but conference rooms and other areas could be shared.

The rental income would be a welcome addition to the volunteer organization’s budget.

“We always have to look at additional income,” Swincinski said. “If we can help the borough and address public safety issues, that’s what we are all about.”

Councilman George Ledney is not sure the fire company is a good place for the police, but the borough may not be able to afford an ideal fix.

“I’d like to keep the police department with the borough office,” Ledney said. “If it’s cost-effective, I wouldn’t have a problem. It comes down to what the cost is going to be for the borough residents.”

Borough real estate taxes went up a whopping 3 mills this year. The 30 percent increase included 1 mill dedicated to fund street repaving.

Council pledged to roll back the 1-mill street paving levy after one year, but Borough Manager Casey Durdines said it will require that mill, plus at least an additional 1-mill increase next year to finance a complete building construction project.

Each mill of tax brings in almost $45,000 a year.

Council member Sonya Pekala said she has mixed feelings about a combined police-fire building, but prefers that option to a previous suggestion to headquarter Windber police at the Paint Township office, 1741 Basin Drive.

“I think we need to keep Windber police in Windber,” Pekala said.

Furmanchik likes the combined public safety operations, allowing for a scaled-down borough office to be built in the existing building’s parking lot or designed into a renovated community building.

“That building is not junk by any stretch,” Furmanchik said.

“I think the perfect solution would be if we could operate out of that community building.”