The Schuylkill Transportation System facility at the Saint Clair Industrial Park will be receiving a $2 million makeover.
The county commissioners approved a motion during a work session Wednesday for capital improvement projects at the facility totaling $2,340,000.
Renovation and expansion of the facility was budgeted for $1,926,300. STS is also buying six 14-passenger small transit buses for $414,000. Mike Micko, executive director at STS, said the purchase is for replacement vehicles.
The project consists of $1,541,040 in federal funds and $735,116 in state funds. The local match from the county is $64,144.
STS has used the Saint Clair facility as a maintenance and administrative building since 1988 and renovation plans have been talked about for years, Micko said.
"Like with any building as you expand employment and technology, we just grew out of it," Micko said.
Micko said representatives from the state Department of Transportation recently toured the current facility. Micko said Michael Baker Jr. Inc., Harrisburg, is in charge of designs. The company provides construction management services for PennDOT.
Micko said the designs will dictate whether the building will be renovated or parts will be torn down and built from scratch. The garage area will remain intact.
There is currently no target date for completion, Micko said. He said STS will probably use a temporary trailer or run the facility at another location during construction. Once there is a design, the project will be placed out for bid.
The county balance has increased by more than $10 million. According to the monthly treasurer's report, the county balance was $63,290,409.14 on Wednesday, up from $52,568,112.59 on May 13.
Jeffrey A. Feeser, director of housing at Schuylkill Community Action, said there is $159,208.97 in affordable housing trust funds available for allocation for affordable housing in the county for the year. There were seven requests for funding totaling $218,000, exceeding the available amount. Feeser said the Schuylkill County Affordable Housing Trust Fund board met June 4 to review the requests and recommend the funding for the projects.
The proposal will be voted on by the board of commissioners June 26 during the public meeting.
In the proposal, three projects were recommended to receive the grants they requested.
They were: Schuylkill Community Action's bridge housing program, $13,000, and senior or disabled housing repair program, $60,000; and Barefield Development Corp.'s independence square, $25,000.
Funding for four projects were recommended to be reduced. They were court of common pleas' Schuylkill County mortgage foreclosure diversion program, from $15,000 to $10,000; Gilberton borough's housing rehabilitation project, from $25,000 to $15,000; Schuylkill Community Action's Schuylkill County housing counseling program, from $20,000 to $15,000; and the Schuylkill County Housing Authority's Minersville high rise energy and ADA improvement program, from $60,000 to $20,000.
The board will also vote to approve repository and judicial sales. Girardville borough had the highest bid for a property at Fourth and B streets, Girardville, for $100. Tremont borough had the highest bids for 50 and 60 E. Main St., Tremont, for $301 each. All three properties are scheduled for demolition.
There were 84 parcels sold to the highest bidder at the May 17 the judicial sale.