The future of Chester Township’s road department garage hangs in the balance as trustees are at a stalemate over whether to rebuild the facility or explore other options.
The future of Chester Township’s road department garage hangs in the balance as trustees are at a stalemate over whether to rebuild the facility or explore other options.
Four years ago, Lakewood-based Larsen Architects assessed the garage and determined the roof needed to be replaced or it was at risk of eventually caving in, according to previous reporting.
Officials originally planned to replace the existing roof, but Larsen Architects estimated the project would cost $600,000. Trustees concluded a full rebuild would be a better long-term investment.
App Architecture, of Englewood, projected the cost for a new garage at $5 million, Township Administrator Mark Purchase said during the Nov. 13 Chester Township Trustees meeting.
Since then, the proposed design has been simplified, said Todd Gindelberger and Maria Mundy, of App Architecture, during the Jan. 8 trustees meeting.
Mundy said the firm reduced the building by 1,500 square feet and eliminated one bay, keeping the structure at six bays. Officials had been considering six or seven bays during the Nov. 13 meeting.
“By lessening the bays by one … (Road Superintendent John Onyshko) has a little more room to get those trucks in,” Purchase said Jan. 8.
Trustee Brandon Davis, however, expressed concerns about potential unanticipated cost increases and questioned the location of the new garage and whether building it now is the best use of township resources.
The current garage is located at 8558 Parkside Drive. The new garage would be built at an angle on the front of the existing property, in front of the second garage building, which will remain, Trustee Craig Richter said Jan. 13.
Davis suggested the township consider combining the road garage project with other upcoming capital improvements, such as a new police station.
While more expensive up front, a combined project could reduce the need to relocate utilities near the police department in the future, Davis said.
“If the (township) is thinking of these projects, even if they are separated by a few years, then we should make decisions that are the best decisions when considering all those plans or projects,” Davis said Jan. 13. “If we are relocating the police department possibly in (the) next several years, would it make more operational sense to have the road garage over there somewhere? Which might also reduce some of the underground utility work that needs to be done with the current road department drawings or design that was presented that evening.”
Purchase, however, emphasized Jan. 8 the structural issues with the current garage make it an immediate concern.
“This started four years ago because the building is so old that the roof has been caving in … and so all we know is that building is going to cave in and on top of our people or our equipment, so we gotta address it,” Purchase said. “This building’s gotta get replaced.”
Roger Riachi, of App, agreed.
“From our perspective, why we went down that road (is) because we’re not sure when the police station is going to happen, number one. Number two, the existing (road garage) is literally falling apart and (a rebuild) was needed,” Riachi said. “So, from that perspective, yeah, I mean, if you want to look at an overall master plan, it makes sense (to combine them), but when is the police station project going to happen?”
Though the timeline of the police station project remains unknown, Davis still proposed the idea of putting the new garage closer to the station, at 12696 Opalocka Drive.
That part of the property has elevation issues, Mundy replied.
There would be a lot of stormwater and flooding problems if the road garage were moved toward the police station, Onyshko added.
Gindelberger said the firm would like to go out to bid for the project in March and asked trustees to come to a consensus before early next week.
App would then finalize the construction plans and bring them back to trustees for approval before going out to bid.
