LINESVILLE — Linesville Borough Council members assured a resident Tuesday that there are no immediate plans for a new borough building.
Responding to last month’s mention of the need for a new borough building, the woman voiced concerns about taxes. “Everybody is being taxed,” she said, adding she would hate to see council act about a new building “without taking input from the public.”
She asked about the safety of the building. “We did not say it was not safe,” Council President Kevin McGrath said, adding that the borough needs more space. He said before COVID hit the borough was told the cost to upgrade the building would be $400,000 — and noted the prices have increased since then.
“The question is whether it is worth $400,000,” he said.
“It is not going to fall down around us,” council member Katie Wickert said, but said there are “a lot of issues” that need to be addressed, including the fact that it’s not handicapped accessible.
“The decision on the building is down the road,” council member David Schaef said, adding that council has been very “pro-active” when dealing with issues to avoid the need for raising taxes.
Council said many of the recent changes being made are being funded through grants or low-interest loans.
One example was a new police cruiser, which was purchased with funds from a grant.
Also noted was the borough is facing some new state-mandated programs, which council is taking pro-active roles to keep the cost down.
One example was a new regulation requiring all boroughs to inventory all the water lines and determine what material they are made of. Council has purchased a machine to do that and when it is done, council will rent the machine to other municipalities to recoup some of the costs.
Another new mandate is the need for a cyber security program.
Council noted several examples of computers being hacked and the state wants to ensure that all the borough computers have security programs. For Linesville, that would include the police department, borough computers, and the laptop computer of McGrath’s, who is the public works director.
Council had a quote for services that were discussed at a work session. Council has one proposal, but chose to seek other options. It hopes to act on that issue next month.
Schaef cited the incident that PENNCREST School District had when its system was hacked recently.
Council assured the woman that it is doing everything possible to meet the needs and the mandates without having to add more tax burdens to borough residents.
McGrath told the woman that all decisions made by council are done at public meetings.