March 29 – Chambersburg Borough Council will talk tonight about possibly leasing a building for the Chambersburg Police Department during renovations of the current building.
Allen Coffman, Council member from the First Ward, talked with First News this morning about tonight’s council meeting.
The borough has been working for a few months on renovations to modernize and expand the Chambersburg Police Department and now is the time to make it happen.
The police can’t occupy the building while the renovations are happening, so the council will discuss and possibly vote on leasing a building temporarily on Orchard Drive tonight.
The police will likely be housed on the second floor of 1540 Orchard Drive, which is right next to the Orchard’s Restaurant.
The building is owned by the Franklin County Area Development Corporation, so the lease agreement would be with them and it would have to include a change order to make the second floor useable for the police department. SGS Architects, who have done work for the borough in the past, will be tapped for design renovation and some inspection to the location.
We’re looking at a year to a year and half for the police to be on Orchard Drive.
One issue could be trains.
There may be a time when both tracks (the one near Rutters and the one closer to Wayne Avenue) are occupied at the same time by trains, effectively boxing in the police department.
Although on any day, police cars are always on the move through the borough and aren’t really all that stationary at the department.
We’re certain Chambersburg Police Chief Camacho will have that well in hand, but he will be invited to First News at a later date to discuss the issue.
