DUBOIS – The new consolidated city’s municipal building topped the agenda of the DuBois-Sandy Consolidation Joint Board meeting Wednesday.

The board voted to accept a KTH Architects bid for architectural work on the new consolidated city’s municipal building.

The board previously decided it will use the current DuBois City building to house the municipal offices of the new city following renovation work.

The police department will be housed on the first- and third-floors, with the second-floor to house administrative staff. It will be renovated and expanded to provide more office space and a locker room.

The Sandy Township Municipal Building will be used for long-term document storage and emergency management while its garage will house off-season street department equipment.

The renovations and maintenance of both buildings will be around $3.5 – $4 million, 50 percent of which should be covered by grant funds, according to a previous article.

The board’s approval included two stipulations—that costs be capped at $4 million, and that an architectural study be done to confirm the city building would be usable for at least 30 years.

Police Transition

Township Manager Shawn Arbaugh reported on the consolidation solicitor’s recommendation regarding the consolidation of the Sandy Township and DuBois City police departments.

First, the current and consolidated city will be a third-class city.  Third-class cities require police officers to be hired through a civil service system, which is currently not required or utilized by Sandy Township.

The solicitor recommended the safest legal option and the attorney representing the police union is in agreement. This option would seek declaratory action from the court to legally “grandfather” in current Sandy Township officers.

It would cost up to $15,000, which would be covered by the STMP grant.