DALLAS TWP. — The township’s municipal offices will not move into the former Hildebrandt Learning Center in Dallas Borough.
Last year, the supervisors pursued a sales agreement to purchase the former childcare headquarters for $1.3 million.
At a meeting Monday night, they killed the deal.
The township supervisors voted 2-0 to rescind their decision to buy the building, with Supervisor Chairman Frank Wagner and Supervisor Robert Wagner voting against the move.
Supervisor Vice Chairman William Grant abstained due to his prior involvement with Hildebrandt Leasing LLC. Grant divested himself from the company in May 2015.
“The municipal building should be centrally located in the township,” Frank Wagner said.
The two-hour meeting was standing room only, as township residents came to hear the dollars and cents behind last year’s decision to pursue a purchase of the former childcare center offices at 105 Lt. Michael Cleary Drive, as well as a comparative cost analysis for renovating the existing municipal building.
“The numbers are very close,” Grant said.
The three-floor, 8,136-square-foot building required renovation to the basement to meet the needs of the township police department. A long-term goal was to combine Dallas Township and Dallas Borough’s police forces under one roof, Grant said.
If the police departments joined, it would have created an $8,000 line of revenue, Grant said.
“Dallas Borough would pay the township about $8,000 for police service,” Grant said, citing the dollar amount was a third of the cost of operating a unified police force and was determined based on the borough’s population.
The main floor would have housed municipal offices for the secretary, zoning and code enforcement officer, police chief and a public meeting room.
State Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, was interested in leasing 1,000-square-foot office space on the third floor for $12,000 a year, Grant said.
The cost of purchasing and renovating the building would have totaled $1.97 million and would be partially funded through a $1 million USDA loan with a fixed rate of 3.75 percent over 35 years.
The remaining costs would have been funded out of a $3 million surplus held by the township, Grant said.
The township’s annual payment would be $51,340, he said.
The municipality did spend up to $45,000 of township funds in legal fees associated with the annexation of the Lt. Michael Cleary property from Dallas Borough as well as purchasing the lot and appraisal fees and engineering costs, Grant said.
To renovate and expand the current 4,182-square-foot municipal building, located at 2919 Route 309 in Dallas would cost between $1.6 to $1.8 million, township engineer Ryan Doughton said.
The cost to finance the remodeling through conventional funding would result in a 4.25 percent fixed interest rate 10-year loan, Grant said. The annual payment would be $65,008, Grant said.
“There are a lot of unknowns (with the current township building),” John Halbing III, owner of Summit Pointe Builders Inc. in Dallas said. “It has been remodeled many times. The other building (on Lt. Michael Clearly Dr.) is newer with less potential issues.”
Many other residents voiced their support for the new building purchase, and several noted that, at first, they were against the idea but, after hearing the facts, have changed their minds.
Township resident Jan Goeringer admitted she signed a petition circulated by “the Wagners” against purchasing the property.
“I was told our taxes would go up, but that is not what I heard here tonight,” Goeringer said.
Dallas Township Chief of Police Douglas Higgins, who is also a township resident, said he has seen the municipality “growing rapidly” and in five to seven years could have a police force that includes 15 officers.
“Where would the police department be located if the current building is expanded?” he asked.
A location of a temporary police station site was not noted during the meeting.
“I have seen the township not look to the future as far as they should,” Higgins said.
Supervisors voted after hearing the comparative cost analysis and township residents.
Supervisor Robert Wagner felt he made the right move.
“I am standing by what the people voted me in for,” he said. “I spoke to a lot more people than those who came to the meeting.”
