Lackawaxen Township Announcement

Lackawaxen Township Announcement:

Lackawaxen Township Board of Supervisors, Brian Stuart, Fred Gelderman, and Rich Krochta and the township’s professional staff seek citizen support for a proposed Lackawaxen Township Building/Road Maintenance Garage replacement project at the same site as the current township buildings on Township Road. This is the artist rendering of this project:

Why do we need to replace the township building? Experts and our staff tell us it is too expensive to repair our building. The building, a converted chicken coop, is almost 50 years old and in severe disrepair. It is costly to operate and inadequate for today’s space needs.

Lackawaxen is one of the fastest growing townships in Pennsylvania. In the 1960s, we had no sewage permit law, no zoning ordinance and no building code to administer. The township population has grown over seven fold since the 1960s. This has vastly increased our need for sewage, zoning, and building code administration services. Addressing property owner permit needs and administering all the regulations has necessitated a significant increase in our staffing.

As our population grew, we have experienced much larger meeting attendance needs and there is an expanded need for public meeting room space to allow interaction with our citizens, as well as to provide adequate space for administrative operations. Our citizens and property owners have made it clear that our current space is inadequate.

Just as important, rising fuel costs is now a reality we can no longer ignore. Continuing to operate in a poorly insulated, energy inefficient building will have disastrous financial consequences to our taxpayers and us, if we don’t take action now. The economic reality is that it is more cost effective to build from the ground up and not try to retro fit. Also, it is more cost effective to build now than later. Experts say that there is no immediate end in sight of fuel cost increases. Prudent planning requires us to take action now. That is why we are asking for your support now.

Our current building is the township’s administrative hub. We provide a wide range of services for you, the citizens and property owners. Our staff provides triple the services it did years ago in the same space. Growing demand for our services is putting stress on our staff working in inadequate facilities. We need to keep up with growth.

Here are specific reasons we need a new building:
•        Our roof leaks badly and needs replacement. Our building and garage have severely deteriorated. Maintenance costs are high and we expect will get much higher each year.
•        Our building is not insulated for year-round use. Our furnace is a dinosaur, converted from an old coal stove. Our heating bills are rising out of control as fuel costs spiral upwards. We spent more than 40 percent more on fuel than in 2007. If we don’t do something soon, those costs will increase every year.
•        We have outgrown our garage and maintenance area. Our Dept of Public Works prides itself on keeping roads clear in winter. We have more road miles to maintain than any other Pike township. We now can’t house all our vehicles in the garage. Parking and working on vehicles outside is an eyesore to neighbors. It also shortens the life our vehicles. We must shelter our trucks from the weather when not in use to extend their useful life.
•        Our crews need a proper place to work to maintain the equipment to assure that our residents and business people can get to and from work in any weather. Our men have to work in very cramped quarters inside. They are working more outside than ever before, but they can’t work outside in mid-winter or rainy weather. Therefore, we now have to outsource some of the work, which is costly and takes longer. These working conditions are not fair to our road crew and hamper efficiency.
To improve service to our constituents, business owners, community developments, emergency service providers, and property owners, the new interior space design for the two buildings needs to meet the following needs:

•        Adequate supply and document storage areas.
•        Efficient work and meeting areas.
•        Room for vehicle maintenance.
•        Large enough for community meetings and community events, with kitchen facilities.
•        Enough bays to allow efficient storage and dispatch of vehicles.
•        Community shelter provision and emergency management command center.
•        User friendly, practical, and attractive.

The new exterior space design needs to meet the following needs:
•        Allow convenient public and staff access, handicapped access, and adequate parking.
•        Better integrate office, work, and community areas.
•        Be easily identifiable as a township, government, and public community facility. Gives a visual identify that expresses our community and rural values.
•        Provide an affordable, cost-effective facility that should be easy to operate and maintain in the future.

The proposed design meets all the above needs. Building now is an investment in our future and consistent with our Lackawaxen Comprehensive Plan. That document, which our planners are now developing with community input, will define our community for the next 20 years or more. Our proposed building has no frills and no gold-plated faucets or toilets. Delaying construction could place an unreasonable tax burden on property owners in the future and prevent meeting realistic space needs. We therefore seek your support on this project and thank you for all your continued support.