April 28 marked the second Emmaus Borough Council meeting focused on remodeling efforts to the borough hall, police station and EMS/fire station.

This meeting was for discussions and questions from members of borough council and the general public, as the preceding meeting was a presentation of the proposed plans for remodeling. Department managers and representatives from W2A Design Group, the architectural team, attended to answer all questions.

“This is also the opportunity for members of the public to comment and give input,” Emmaus Borough Manager Shane Pepe said.

However, Pepe asked members of the public not debate with council members on topics.

All items discussed in the April 28 meeting were voted on at the regular borough council meeting May 3.

There were a few immediate questions answered regarding the designs for the borough hall. Questions included: How high will the entryway be to the new town hall?

If the current garage is made public space, will a public restroom be added?

How large will the police station evidence room be?

The entryway will be about 12 feet.

New public bathrooms will be added to the basement level. A question was asked if members of the public will have 24/7 access to the restrooms and where security cameras will be placed. Security cameras will be placed at entryways.

The evidence room will be expanded, but not ridiculously, according to discussion at the meeting.

However, answers may change as discussion of the remodel continues.

Emmaus Borough Council President Brent Labenberg was opposed to adding a garage to the back of borough hall, as the current garage is suitable and less money can be spent. However, the current designs are conceptual and the cost may change.

In the presented design, the new garage addition would provide needed space for the police force and vehicles. Currently, five police vehicles park outside.

Labenberg said throughout the meeting he is trying to save taxpayer money as much as possible.

Discussion next moved to the central EMS/Fire station.

If an addition to the building at 100 N. Sixth St. would be added, the biggest issue would be moving the baseball field next to the fire station parking lot. Pepe felt this would not really be an issue, but just a domino effect of the remodeling effort as the public works department can take care of it. This is if the proposed “master plan” is approved for the remodeling efforts.

A question was asked about where the current training facility in the building is. Fire officials stated there is a current training room, but the new design would relocate the training facility into a bigger space. It is not just the EMS or fire teams training in the space. Others can request to use it.

Code compliance issues will be addressed with the proposed remodeling designs. An example is a fire safety system will be added, where one does not currently exist.

Discussions and questions about the police station designs were next. There were three conceptual designs presented.

A question was asked if the canopy concept for police parking would be needed. Police Chief Charles Palmer said the canopy idea came about after discussions about if a one-way is constructed. Officials do not want to have everyone parking next to each other.

A W2A Design Group representative said about $260,000 is saved if no canopy is constructed. Such funds could be used to remodel the existing station for a bigger evidence room. Palmer said keeping a sally port drive-thru is a priority.

After a long discussion, Labenberg concluded the new evidence room should be relocated to where storage and the K-9 room are. Council members seemed to agree. It was noted evidence can be stored off-site, so if additional evidence storage is needed, that can be figured out and stored somewhere else. It appears the only thing needed for adjustment at the police station is for evidence space. The addition of a new garage was found to be unnecessary.

Council members seemed to think addressing the borough hall and the central EMS/fire station were priorities and the police station should get an evidence storage update.

Palmer said additional workspaces, instead of cubicles and more storage space would be supremely beneficial for the station. Currently officers use cubicles, without computers. Palmer wants to optimize workspace for the officers. Pepe said the cost to do so would not be significant.

Following discussions on the concepts for the buildings, construction management for the designs was brought up.

Hiring a construction manager or a firm, hiring a project manager or a firm and the accompanying cost were the topics.

It was mentioned hiring an individual project manager for the year would cost around $200,000. From council discussions, it seemed a firm was preferred, as a firm could also take on multiple projects simultaneously.

Meeting discussion then moved to hires necessary if any projects are agreed upon.

Environmental engineering, structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, information technology and telecommunications, towers on buildings, security systems as well as consulting and architectural teams will be needed. Local consultants are preferred, according to Pepe.

Council members also talked about whether if multiple projects are decided upon, will projects be executed at the same time or consecutively?

According to the presentation, doing the projects concurrently will save costs and shorten project length. Moreover, the displacement of borough hall staff and public meeting space will be up to one year. An elongated schedule could make the displacement longer.

Labenberg agreed a concurrent project schedule would be beneficial for the borough. No disagreements came from anyone in the council. Additionally, it was noted in Pepe’s presentation one primary contractor was recommended.

During the financing portion of the discussion, Council Vice President Chris DeFrain expressed concern about costs and taxes that may be incurred 15 years down the road. DeFrain suggested spreading out the costs, rather than trying to pay everything too quickly. He cited the rocky status of the roads in Emmaus as a result of not having funds to fix problems.

The last topic of discussion was hiring a financial consultant.

The current remodeling team and the architects recommend hiring a financial consultant.