Dallas Twp. to receive bids for police station renovation, expansion – Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice

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STEPHANIE PANNY / STAFF PHOTO Dallas Twp. board of supervisors discuss a plan for expanding the police station during the meeting on Tuesday.

DALLAS There are no showers in the Dallas Twp. Police Department.

Although there is a locker room, fashioned out of one of the old meeting rooms of the former Dallas Twp. Municipal Building, police Chief Doug Higgins said officers have no place to wash off the grime of a shift before going home. Hopefully, that will soon change.

Its been years since theres been any remodeling, Grant said. Well convert it into a modern, high-tech building for the police.

On Tuesday night during its regular meeting, the Dallas Twp. board of supervisors updated citizens on those plans.

Earlier that day, Grant said the board met with 15 individual contractors looking to bid on the project. Grant said the contractors each received complete plans for the renovations and updates, which were prepared by a hired architect.

The potential contractors, who also saw the police station, Grant said, will spend the next week figuring out how much the construction will cost by talking to estimators and asking the architect detail-oriented questions. The four contracts include the 1,240-square-feet addition, associated site work and additional renovations to the existing building.

Contractors have until 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, to submit their bids to the architects office, Douglas F. Trumbower & Associates, and those bids will be opened by the supervisors at a special meeting held 2 hours later. Grant said the contractors who submit the lowest bids for each of the four individual contracts will be awarded the projects after the board reviews the bids with the architect.

To pay for the project, set to begin in the spring and finish by the end of October, Grant said the board will add up each cost and apply for a state grant by Dec. 20 for approximately 25% of the total. It plans to pay for the rest using its own funds.

The renovation has been discussed for at least a year, Grant said, when they moved the township offices into their new building at 105 Lt. Michael Cleary Drive and the police moved into the old building. Higgins said the old municipal building was halfway to where it needed be to be a functioning station, even after the officers fixed it up, and said the board thought simply upgrading the building would be cheaper.

However, Higgins said the necessary upgrades accumulated until it was just easier to do a big renovation. Although the first set of plans didnt work, the second draft was liked by all.

The police officers had involvement in it, and so did the chief, in the proper design of the police department, Grant said.

Higgins said the expansion and renovation, which also includes a bigger evidence locker and two cells with toilets inside so the officers dont have to share with those they arrest, will both upgrade the work environment and boost the morale of the officers who work there.

Higgins said he wants this expansion to be big enough to sustain growth 25 years into the future.

As time goes by, we grow. So, you have to grow with the times. You have to grow with your community, Higgins said. We really havent done that too much in that building. Nows the time we have to do that.

Contact the Writer:

spanny@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2051

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Dallas Twp. to receive bids for police station renovation, expansion - Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice