Credit: Amanda Kuehnle/LevittownNow.com
The parking lot and patrol cars were still damp Tuesday evening as Falls Township residents gathered in the sand stucco municipal building to discuss its fate. The current building, a 44,340 square foot edifice, standing outdated and in-cohesive in regards to current and future township needs has residents and board members bickering over the details.
Martin Kimmel, of Kimmel Bogrette Architecture + Site presented a final presentation of the proposed township building – complete with a precise outline detailing each step in the process. This process – averaging 30 months in length would produce a brand new, modern, 76,550 square foot building adjacent to its current location at 188 Lincoln Highway.
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After deciding last month to take more time to discuss the plan, the Falls Township Board of Supervisors eagerly commented and agreed about the issue, with Chairman Robert Harvie Jr. stating the board was “looking forward to the expenditure.” Although not all the details were in place, Falls Township residents were eager to disagree about the pros and cons of constructing the building to be environmentally friendly.
Guido Mariano, a resident, stated his fear was that board members were focusing too much on long term environmental benefits, rather than immediate cost. “I’m frightened to death,” he said with intense passion. “I want to make sure we are not spending money on an environmental dream.”
Another unidentified resident confirmed with the board that although participation in Leadership in Energy Environmental Design (LEED) would be a great asset to the building, that the township would not be spending extra money for a ‘plaque on the wall’.
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“You can trust we will make decisions on facts and figures, not what we like or dislike,” stated Supervisor Jonathan Snipes, who conversed in a heated argument with resident Mariano about the true financial benefits to environmentally friendly infrastructure.
In turn, the board voted unanimously to reward Kimmel Bogrette roughly $700,000 this fiscal year to begin the design and site work required for the project. The total project, estimated to cost the township roughly $15 million will be broken down throughout the next three to four fiscal years- with an estimated ground breaking date of June 2014.
