The Falls Township Board of Supervisors set forward Monday in several directions on the municipal building renovation project.
The board voted unanimously to authorize advertisement of bids for upgrades to the existing 60,000-square-foot municipal building. Construction is tentatively slated to begin this spring and continue for about a year.
While work is underway, administrative staff, as well as police will be relocated to 450 Lincoln Highway, Suite 225 in Fairless Hills. Beginning May 1 and continuing to April 30, 2024 Falls will occupy 12,482 square feet of the first floor and roughly 10,833 square feet of the second floor of the social security administration office, which occupies 430-450 Lincoln Highway. If necessary, the township will continue leasing the space on a month-to-month basis thereafter.
For the most part, the temporary relocation is for “any of our services that residents walk into and need to see an administrator,” according to Supervisors Vice Chairman Jeff Boraski. Chairman Jeff Dence was absent.
Once complete, approximately 80 percent of the existing building will be completely updated.
As a precursor to the impending construction the board authorized advertisement of an amendment to its existing responsible contractor ordinance. Township attorney Mike Clarke said the proposed change is meant to close a “loophole” following a legal challenge in another municipality. If adopted as proposed, the change would require that the construction manager or lead contractor responsible for the project “shall ensure that at least 70 percent of the craft labor workforce shall be comprised of either journeyperson, workers who have successfully completed an apprenticeship training program registered with and approved by the U.S. Department of Labor or a state apprenticeship agency or registered apprentices currently enrolled in such programs.”
“This will close that loophole,” Clarke said. “You’re getting highly qualified and highly skilled p. doing the work.”
In addition to setting the wheels in motion for the building project’s renovation, the board also voted 4-0 to approve an engagement letter with Concord Public Finance, the township’s financial advisor for the building upgrades.
The Supervisors also passed a resolution authorizing for the payment of expenses related to the municipal building project from funds currently on hand and for those expenses to be reimbursed via bond issuance.
