Harmar wants to buy fire substation to house public works equipment

Harmar supervisors are making a bid to buy an Allegheny Valley Volunteer Fire Department substation that is not being used.

The board wants to use the No. 2 substation building at 1000 Freeport Road as the headquarters for the township’s public works department.

“Knowing they (fire department) don’t use that building, it’s a perfect opportunity,” Supervisors Chairman Bob Seibert said.

Supervisors on Thursday authorized township Secretary-Treasurer Ian Fitzgerald to submit an offer to the fire company. Seibert said discussions about buying the building have been ongoing for about a year.

“We’ve made no formal (previous) offer,” Seibert said. “We’ve just had conversations about it.”

Seibert said he would not disclose the proposed offer because the would-be deal is still being negotiated.

Real estate negotiations are one of the exceptions allowed for closed meetings under the state’s Sunshine Law.

Seibert said if a deal is reached, details would be made public and the proposed sale would be voted on at a public meeting.

According to the Allegheny County Real Estate website, the building sits on a lot that is just under 41,000 square feet. The land is valued at $190,900 and the building is valued at $345,800 for a total property value of $536,700, the website said.

Moving the public works equipment under one roof is a priority, Seibert said.

Currently, some equipment is housed at the public works garage on Russellton Road, while other equipment is sitting outside a salt shed on Acme Avenue, according to Seibert. Other equipment is stored at the municipal building garage on Freeport Road, preventing the township from housing all of its police vehicles there, he said.

Should the township buy the substation building and move all public works equipment there, all police vehicles could be housed in the municipal building garage, Seibert said.

“It’s perfectly natural for us to get that building because we own the parking lot next to it,” Seibert said.

Tom Yerace is a freelance writer.