Irwin officials will study the possibility of moving the borough offices to another location downtown, which may mean constructing a new building to house the police and administrative offices.

Council President Rick Burdelski assigned the building committee the task of conducting a feasibility study on finding a new location for the borough offices, which are on the second floor above Rosendahl’s Appliance Center at 424 Main St. The office is not handicapped-accessible and requires visitors and employees to climb about 20 steps to reach the offices.

Burdelski said he wants the committee to study the benefits and risks of constructing a new building and its impact on the town. He also wants to consider the technology issues involved in moving the office to a new location.

The police department offices on the second floor in the rear of the building also are not accessible to a disabled person.

The borough could determine that it wants to move the offices to the space Rosendahl’s occupies when the current lease expires, Burdelski said.

The feasibility study could take a year or longer, Burdelski said, and he has not set a deadline for the committee to report on its findings.

The borough wants to keep the municipal offices and police department in the downtown business district, Burdelski said. It previously ruled out constructing a municipal complex — government offices and the police department — at the site of the former Sixth Street School because there would not be sufficient space on the property once the Irwin Volunteer Fire Department builds its new fire hall in that location.

The fire department continues to make progress on plans to construct a building to house the fire department and ambulance service at the vacant former school site.

Councilman Shawn Stitely, a deputy fire chief, said the fire department is in the process of finishing the paperwork for the borough to transfer the former Sixth Street School site to the department.

Council in October approved the transfer of the 2.3-acre parcel to the fire department. At the time, Fire Chief Justin Mochar said he had hoped to break ground in the spring and have the building constructed in about six months.

Department officials will meet with the contractor to determine where to place the fire hall on the property, Stitely said. Once that is decided, drilling could occur to take core samples of the ground to determine the composition of the soil.

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