Peters Township Meals on Wheels wants rent waived
Peters Township Meals on Wheels has asked township officials to be treated as a township service, like the library and the recreation department.
The Meals on Wheels board of directors also asked the township to waive its rent, which totals $4,000 a month for 5,000 square feet of space in the Peters Township Volunteer Fire Department on East McMurray Road. The group’s lease is up in 2017.
Councilman James Berquist, who met with members of the nonprofit earlier this month, said the township is barely breaking even on the space.
“I asked them what their rent should be and they said zero,” Berquist said during the Aug. 24 council meeting.
Since moving into the space, the organization installed a new kitchen, windows, a roof with skylights, brought the restrooms up to ADA standards, installed a freezer and a pantry. Meals on Wheels signed a lease in 2008 for five years with an additional five-year option.
“There is no doubt they have increased the value of the building with the build outs,” he said.
The point of contention between council and Meals on Wheels is the area that the organization serves. Only 50 of the 200 meals served by the group go to Peters Township residents. It also serves Bridgeville, part of South Fayette, parts of Eighty Four, as well as Canonsburg, Muse, Hendersonville, Houston, Finleyville and Lawrence.
Berquist suggested to board members that funding options should be explored and to talk with the other municipalities it serves.
“Their rent was suppose to increase to $54,000 a year, but we kept it at $48,000,” he said.
Township manager Michael Silvestri, who attended the meeting with Berquist, said the fire department is going to need more room in the building, which totals nearly 12,000 square feet, as the township continues to grow.
“I would hate to see them move out,” said Berquist, who said council has a fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers and rent needs to be charged. “They fill a need. We need to give them a plan.”
Officials from Meals on Wheels have been asked to submit a specific proposal to Council for consideration.