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Ephrata council OKs land appraisals
BY LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff Writer
Ephrata Borough Council OK'd two land appraisals Monday aimed at selling or leasing one property and maybe buying another.
Council voted to spend up to $4,000 to determine the value of the former Pennsylvania State Police building at 21 Springhouse Road. The borough owns the building, which it leased to state police Troop J as a sub station from 1999 until last year, when the station closed due to state budget cuts
The 6,614-square-foot building has been empty ever since.
Borough Manager Robert Thompson said there has been interest in the building, both to lease it and to purchase it. The appraisal, he said, will determine the selling price and a price per square foot for a possible lease agreement.
Council also voted to spend up to $4,000 to get an appraisal of a tract of land at 35 E. Fulton St.
"The property owner came to us and said they are interested in selling and wanted to know if the borough had any interest," Thompson said. "We can identify a number of future uses, but we need to know what the value of the property is before we decide."
The site is currently a machine shop.
Council also voted to award a bid to ELA Group of Lititz for a feasibility study for a road salt distribution and storage facility.
Currently, the borough stores 400 tons of road salt at its public works site. It is looking to upgrade that amount to 1,400 tons at more than one location.
The study, which will cost $15,120, will assess possible locations for storage units, and will provide design plans for preparing and building the structure, Thompson said.
Also at Monday's meeting, Councilman Melvin Weiler reminded council and residents about the borough's Energy Smart Rebate Program.
Weiler said he just bought a new washer and got a $50 rebate check.
After the meeting, Thompson told a reporter that residents who click on the electric customer resources link on the borough's website will find a list of energy-saving appliances that, when purchased, qualify the buyer for a cash rebate.
Thompson said the site also provides discount coupons for the purchase of energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Ephrata's program is in connection with American Municipal Power, a nonprofit corporation that owns and operates electric facilities to provide generation, transmission and distribution of power to its 129 members.
Ephrata is a member of AMP.
lalexander@lnpnews.com
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