During Storm Ida, the Hershey Building (located at 22 Mountain Avenue) was flooded. The building serves as the administrative offices for the Department of Public Works and storage for large machinery. The garage received a few feet of water, while the offices got about 20 inches. Currently DPW is working out of the Center Street location, using one of the employee lunch rooms as the office.
Back in March, the architectural plans for renovations were received and the project went out to bid. However, during the previous township committee meeting, Township Administrator John Bussiculo shared that all bids had been rejected, and the township had decided to handle the project. “All four bids were rejected because they were extremely above what our threshold was for the bids. We had budgeted X amount of dollars, and they were like double.”
DPW Supervisor Robert Boettcher will be overseeing the renovations. The plan for the offices is to fill it with concrete to raise the floor to prevent possible future flooding. A new sewer line and electrical wires will be installed. Everything in the administration offices was lost, including furniture and cabinets.
At this time, no renovations are planned for the garage section of the building. It serves mostly as storage for large machinery, some of which are kept on a high platform. After Ida, stormwater and mud were swept out; and the floor power washed. Damaged items were removed or thrown away including bags of calcium salt, multiple recycling equipment and tools. Some tools got carried away by the water during the storm and were never found. Residents may be aware of the reusable bags being given away on the 2nd floor of Townhall. Those are the second batch. The original bags were kept in the Hershey Building and about 1500 were lost to the storm.
As always, the township will keep residents updated on the building’s progress.
