Politics & Government

Borough Council Votes to Form Space Needs Committee

The members of Hellertown Borough Council voted unanimously Monday to form a space needs committee to study the possibility of future renovations or additions to Borough Hall and other borough buildings.

The members of Hellertown Borough Council voted unanimously Monday to form a space needs committee to study the possibility of future renovations or additions to Borough Hall and other borough buildings, with the expectation that a recommendation will be made by the committee to council early next year.

The decision to form a committee came after Councilman Tom Rieger expressed dissatisfaction with a space needs study commissioned earlier this year.

That study was completed by the engineering firm Barry Isett and Associates, and Rieger said he didn't think it was up to snuff.

"I'm not happy with the money we paid BIA to do this," he said, calling the two proposals that council was given to review "a Google map with a highlighter."

Rieger said he thinks council needs to be able to consider a third option for finding more room for administration, police and public works employees -- one that will consider "interior needs only" and attempt to make better use of wasted space in Borough Hall, which he said exists in abundance.

“We have a lot of hallways in this building," Rieger said. 

He attributed the excessive amount of dead space to the fact that Borough Hall was originally a private residence, and over the years has seen extensive renovations and additions in order for it to be usable as an office building.

Rieger also said he would like to know where the public works department could potentially be relocated, and how much that might cost.

The public works department is currently housed in a building, commonly referred to as "the stables," directly behind Borough Hall.

Council discussed the possibility of moving the police department into that building, if public works is relocated elsewhere—possibly to a more remote location.

Another reason for moving public works to another location is that the department's equipment is currently stored at five different places around town.

Rieger requested that Public Works Director Tom Henshaw conduct an inventory of his current space as well as the department's future needs, and report back to the space needs committee with the results.

Photo: The Hellertown Borough Public Works Department is currently headquartered in a building called "the stables" behind Borough Hall.


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