Lansford Borough’s garage is about 60 years old, and officials say that it’s ready for retirement.

The garage, located on West Spring Street, has numerous deficiencies, and the state Department of Labor & Industry has ordered the borough to make repairs by March 23.

Borough workers say they have complained about rotting floors and holes in the roof for years, and the new council that took over this month has made it one of its priorities.

“To repair this old garage is actually throwing good money after bad. It would cost more to repair this old garage, probably, than to build a new one,” Councilman Joe Butrie said.

There have been several attempts over the years to fix the garage, but funding has been an issue.

The borough has a $160,000 grant to help the project, but based on past estimates it is expected to cost much more than that.

Current conditions

The garage was built in the late ’50s, and expanded in the ’60s, according to borough workers.

It is too small to house all of the borough trucks and their attachments. The borough stores a lot of its large equipment outside.

The four borough workers share a bathroom in the basement of the building, which has no sink. The basement ceiling has sheets of jagged, rusting metal hanging from it, from years of road salt and melting snow flowing down through the concrete floor above.

The rusty metal was once the base on which the concrete first floor was laid, workers said.

Every time a worker wants to use the bathroom, he has to duck beneath it.

The building is also structurally compromised. One wing is used for salt storage. The weight of the salt has caused one wall to crack and lean. The walls have also pulled away from the roof, letting sunlight — and rain — into the building.

Violations

On Dec. 15, the state Department of Labor & Industry identified five violations in a notice issued to the borough.

• The south wall of the building is cracked and leaning.

• The roof of that section of the building has holes which leak water into the area.

• The basement ceiling has mold, rot and wood decay.

• The electric panel needs to be updated.

• The bathroom facilities are insufficient.

They said the borough has until March 23 to fix them.

The code enforcement firm hired by the borough, Lehigh Valley Inspection Services, filed its own notice of violation on Dec. 15, ordering the borough to vacate immediately.

Borough solicitor Michael Greek said that LVIS’ notice didn’t apply, because its enforcement powers come from the borough, and it would essentially have to bring a case against itself — with any fines levied being paid to and by the borough.

“The state said that the building is in bad shape, we know it’s in bad shape, and we’re trying to do what we can with it,” Greek said.

Past efforts to fix garage

Workers say they’ve raised issues with the borough multiple times over the years, but they’ve been told there is not enough money.

In November, council asked for bids for a new garage, to be built across the street from the current one. The two companies both came in over $400,000, in part because the proposed location is on a slope, and they were rejected.

But council discussed the garage even before that. In 2014, Butrie told council about the cracked wall, and feared that the structure would collapse. Braces were added to try to prevent it.

Mario Marconi, who has worked for the road crew for more than 20 years, recently questioned how the borough was able to expand its police force to seven full-time officers this year, but was not able to fix the garage.

“I understand we need police protection, but we also need a borough garage,” he wrote. “The walls falling down, the roof is leaking bad, electrical needs to be updated, the beams are in bad shape.”

New council

Council threw around several ideas for a new garage during a regular monthly meeting last week. Councilman Matt Walsh agreed with Butrie that renovating the current garage is not an option.

Marconi said he favors rebidding the pole building project during a more desirable time of year, something that council has discussed.

One option that was recently discovered is a lumber yard in the borough. Butrie said the owner is considering retiring and selling the property. He said that would be ideal for not only the borough workers, but potentially the office staff and police department. Marconi, who attended the meeting, said he was skeptical about the cost.

“That’s going to be $1 million. Bob isn’t going to sell that cheap. You might as well build a new garage right next to the old one,” he said.

But neither solution will be ready in time for the March 23 deadline. So the borough is currently looking at a temporary rental until they can find a long-term solution. A garage in town that suits their needs may be available for lease.

They are also exploring storing some items at the shuttered Lansford Pool until they finalize a new space.

“We have to do something here soon. We can kick it back to committee, but we’re going to have to be here and figure something out, all of us,” Walsh said.