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Bond issue to fund new community center, municipal building expansion in North Fayette
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North Fayette is poised to provide more space for community programs and township employees in the growing municipality.
Supervisors Jim Morosetti, James R. Mangan and Bob Doddato voted unanimously April 10 to approve a $5 million bond issue for building renovations and construction, including a new community center and expansion of the municipal building.
Township manager Bob Grimm said up to $4 million of the bond issue will be earmarked to build a community center. The remaining $1 million will go toward municipal building renovations and possibly improvements to the old community center.
Mr. Grimm said the current community center "doesn't meet our needs for a growing recreation program." According to the 2010 Census, North Fayette has 13,934 residents and is the fifth fastest-growing municipality in Allegheny County.
Mr. Mangan, vice chairman, said the township has preliminary plans to build a community center for recreation, athletics, meeting rooms and rental space at Donaldson Community Park on Donaldson Road. "We need a community center we can be proud of," Mr. Mangan said.
The 34-acre park, which opened in 2010, is next to West Allegheny's Donaldson Elementary School, just up the street from the municipal complex.
Mr. Grimm estimated a new community center could be built within two to three years.
The township's current 13,000-square-foot community center at 8042 Old Steubenville Pike consists of a meeting room, a gymnasium and spaces leased to District Judge Anthony Saveikis and the Western Allegheny Community Library. The library is seeking a new building and is likely to move out.
Township officials have brainstormed multiple possibilities for reuse of that facility, Mr. Grimm said. Ideas have included selling the building or moving some operations there from the overcrowded North Branch Road municipal complex.
"We are out of room," Mr. Grimm said of the municipal building. "We are at that point where you couldn't expand the staff right now because there isn't a place for the person to sit."
The municipal building currently houses the administration, police and public works.
"At this point, we don't take anything off the table," Mr. Grimm said.
A new public works garage will be built at the North Branch Road complex using about $1.7 million remaining from proceeds of a 2009 bond issue.
"We've been discussing the space needs for a couple of years now, and looking at how to approach meeting those space needs," Mr. Grimm said. "And now we are poised to move ahead and address them and respond to our growth."
The board also agreed to refinance about $4.1 million from the 2009 bond to save an estimated $520,000 to $780,000 over the next 26 years. Mr. Morosetti, board chairman, said it was a good time to borrow new money and refinance existing debt because of low interest rates.
"We're looking ahead," he said.
First Published April 19, 2012 5:17 am
