web1__Dallas-School-.jpg

Dallas School Board advances $18.5M elementary plan

web1_Jamie-Anderson.jpg

Olympics Roundup: Canada gets skating gold, Anderson wins slopestyle

<p>DALLAS TWP. &#8212; The township&#8217;s municipal offices will not be moving into the former Hildebrandt Learning Center in Dallas Borough.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Supervisor Vice Chairman William Grant abstained due to his prior involvement with Hildebrandt Leasing LLC. Grant divested himself from the company in May 2015.</p><p>&#8220;The municipal building should be centrally located in the township,&#8221; Frank Wagner said.</p><p>The two-hour meeting was standing room only, as township residents came to hear the dollars and cents behind last year&#8217;s decision to pursue a purchase the former childcare center offices at 105 Lt. Michael Cleary Drive, as well as a comparative cost analysis for renovating the existing municipal building.</p><p>&#8220;The numbers are very close,&#8221; Grant said.</p><p>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&#8217;s police forces under one roof, Grant said.</p><p>The main floor would have housed municipal offices for the secretary, zoning and code enforcement officer, police chief and a public meeting room.</p><p>State Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, would have leased 1,000-square-foot office space on the third floor for $12,000 a year, Grant said.</p><p>The cost of purchasing and renovating the building would have totaled $1.97 million, and would have been 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.</p><p>The township&#8217;s annual payment would be $51,340.</p><p>But township engineer Ryan Doughton estimated the cost to expand the current 4,182-square-foot municipal building at $1.6 to $1.8 million.</p><p>The cost to finance the remodelling 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, he said.</p><p>Many 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.</p><p>Township resident Jan Goeringer admitted she signed a petition against purchasing the property.</p><p>&#8220;I was told our taxes would go up, but that is not what I heard here tonight,&#8221; Goeringer said.</p><p>Robert Wagner felt he made the right move.</p><p>&#8220;I am standing by what the people voted me in for,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I spoke to a lot more people than those who came to the meeting.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Dallastwp.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dallas Township Supervisors, from left, Frank Wagner and Robert Wagner, listen to Supervisor William Grant explain a cost comparative anaylsis on buying the former Hildebrandt Learning Center and renovating the existing municipal building Monday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Dallastwp.jpg</photo0><caption0>Dallas Township Supervisors, from left, Frank Wagner and Robert Wagner, listen to Supervisor William Grant explain a cost comparative anaylsis on buying the former Hildebrandt Learning Center and renovating the existing municipal building Monday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Eileen Godin | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Eileen Godin</p><p>egodin@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Dallas Township won’t buy Hildebrandt building