New meeting, new building for Mercer Twp.
MERCER TWP — Supervisors conducted their first meeting in the new $300,000 township building situated on eight acres of land about a mile north of Harrisville on Monday.
“We did what we could possibly do to keep the taxpayer from paying,” said township supervisor John Bennett Jr. “This is their building. We're just managing it.”
For now, the township will keep its fleet of road-treatment trucks stored at the garage next to their old building at 152 Boomerang Road, according to board chairman Rick Stuchal.
The former township building was a one-room, 480-square-foot building without heat, air conditioning or plumbing. The new building has heat, air conditioning, a bathroom, an office and a meeting room that could also serve as a multipurpose room.
All of that is packed into 1,500 square feet of space that can fit up to 49 people.
“I just love the whole thing, and compared to what we had, it's the Taj Mahal,” said supervisor Pete Treese. “We're servicing the community. It offers more to them.”
Stuchal said the township made a deal with Allegheny Mineral Co. to tap into some limestone under the property. In return, the township received roughly $300,000, which the supervisors used entirely for the new building.
Stuchal said Allegheny Mineral has not started the project yet, but has about 10 years to do so.
“There's a time frame they have to start on it,” Stuchal said. “They have five years to complete the project and resurface the road.”
The culmination of that agreement and two years of effort has translated into a building that gives the municipality an official look, and gives the township residents a building they can be the proud to own and use, according to supervisors.
Secretary and treasurer Lori Giesler will also begin shifting from working at home to working at the office. Both she and the supervisors are planning to conduct office hours at the new building, but haven't decided on set time frames yet.
Giesler said the new building will also make meetings much easier for both residents and supervisors.
“I think it's going to be more efficient for them,” she said. “Everything is all at one place now.”
As Monday night's meeting came to a close, the supervisors put to vote what will likely be their final payment to Liberty Gait Homes of Slippery Rock, a total of $11,172.
“Aye,” they said.
Named after Gen. Hugh Mercer, who died in the Battle of Princeton in 1777, Mercer Township has an estimated population of 1,074 people and spans about 16.5 miles.
Its three-person board of supervisors meets on the third Monday each month.
