The facility will be used for storage of equipment and possibly records used by the police department. Public Works Director Kyle Robinson said the present public works building at McLaughlin Run and Truxton Drive is packed with equipment. Space not intended for storage is being used for that purpose, he said.

Either expansion or construction of a new public works building has been on the township's radar screen since 1992.

The base bids were approved June 2 for $1.5 million.

The building is planned to be constructed into a hillside, with garages on the lower level and storage above.

About 10,000 square feet of the new building will be used for public works storage. Officials said part of the reason for the higher costs is that some sections of the building will have to be temperature controlled. Police records, for example, will not be left in an uncontrolled atmosphere. They will also have to be secured.

Robinson said there's no room to expand at the present location. When the original building was constructed, contractors had to dig into a hillside to the rear, and had to shore up the McLaughlin Run side in the front.

Initial discussion pertaining to the storage building raised questions about adding "green" amenities in the design including the roof. These plans were scrapped in part, with one provision---a series of skylights---put on hold for discussion later. Installation of solar panels and the skylights were bid as design alternates. Solar panels generating electricity were scrapped because the savings would take over 100 years to make up the installation costs, commissioners said.

The option to install skylights will be revisited after township administration gets more information about the installation and potential for energy savings. Commissioner Russell DelRe said May 27 that skylights are prone to leak and that costs to repair them could be excessive.

Commission President Ched Mertz said the solar panel option could be revisited at a future date, as the building will be situated to take advantage of the sunlight, and that retrofit will be possible at minimum cost.