Sep 29, 2015 By Cara Host 3 min read

Bethel Park officials are in the early stages of preparing a budget for next year, and at least at this point, no tax increase is planned.

However, if council decides to move forward with plans to build a new public works building, a tax hike might be necessary, but perhaps not until 2017.

Council asked its architect, Mark Edelmann of EPM Architecture, to scale down the project after estimates put the total cost of the new building at $10 million. Edelman presented a new preliminary design to council at its committee meeting Sept. 28. The total cost is now $8.3 million.

“It’s still too high,” said council president Tim Moury.

However, the existing building will need major repairs in the near future, and some council members said the municipality will have to do something to the building or risk damage to the millions of dollars of equipment that is housed there.

“There’s not a lot of value in putting money into that structure. The building is over 50 years old and it has seen its better days,” Edelmann said.

Moury said Bethel Park could possibly look into doing the project in 2017, but council will have to decide whether or not to move forward by the Oct. 26 committee meeting. The municipality will have to float a bond to pay for the project and some council members expressed concern about rising interest rates if Bethel Park waits to do the project.

The new plans eliminate a wash bay. Instead, the garage bays will be capable of washing salt and other corrosive materials from municipal equipment. Edelmann also recommended a cheaper fabric covering to house surplus salt and anti-skid material. He said he could not reduce the size of the building too much and still expect to house all of Bethel Park’s equipment. Excavation and other site work would also remain the same, regardless of the type or size of the building.

“There’s not a whole lot of fat to take out of this project,” Edelmann said.

Edelmann recommended a pre-engineered steel frame with a masonry facade on the bottom portion of the structure. The masonry makes the building more attractive, but its main function is to protect the building from corrosion and to make it as low maintenance as possible.

Councilman Jim McLean presented a preliminary budget for 2016. He said the $24 million spending plan holds the line on taxes, but it is still fairly early in the budget process.

In other business, council hired four new police officers to replace several people who retired from the force in the past few months. Bethel park received 10 applicants for the positions and council picked the top four performers on the oral and written portions of the civil service exams. Moury said council and police Chief Timothy O’Connor also interviewed the candidates.

Tonight’s decision “is the culmination of a lot of work from the Civil Service Commission and the police chief,” Moury said.

The new officers are Rachel Boyer, Ryan Weister, Timothy Sherman and Stephen Hozella.