By Chelsea McClure
The Express-Times
PALMER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Palmer Township has been awarded $1.5 million in state funding that will go toward the construction of a proposed new police station.
There is still a hefty price tag on the whole project, and more funding is needed.
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The township received the funding through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP). The grant is expected to help pay for a station that would include visitor parking, perimeter fencing, covered fleet parking, a sally port and an evidence garage.
The proposed station is estimated to cost between $29.7 million and $32.6 million. Township officials had sought about $16 million in RACP funding but were awarded $1.5 million, meaning the township will continue looking for additional funding sources to help cover the project’s cost.
The need for a larger police facility has been under consideration for more than a year. Architectural firm Alloy 5 spent the first half of 2024 evaluating potential locations and the police department’s needs before recommending a new station at the municipal complex, south of the parking lot in front of District Judge Susan Hutnik’s courtroom.
The proposed facility is intended to address the limitations of the township’s existing police station. According to Baron Vanderburg , Palmer Township Board of Supervisors vice chairman, the department currently has 38 officers.
“Our police station is inadequate, and it has been for quite some time,” Vanderburg told Lehighvalleylive.com. “It’s quite impressive that the police force has been able to operate the way that they have been with limited facilities.”
He also pointed to the township’s population growth as a factor in the need for a larger facility.
After designs are complete and the project is approved, construction would take an additional 18 to 24 months.
The project came up for discussion at a recent supervisors meeting, where an architect presented the original plans to newer members of the board who had not been involved in the station’s earlier planning process.
With the project’s estimated price tag still significantly higher than the funding secured so far, the board will have to determine whether to continue pursuing additional funding, scale back the proposal or consider a combination of the two.
Vanderburg said he supports building a new police station and considers public safety a high priority for the township.
“It’s my priority to get [the police] into a new building sooner rather than later,” Vanderburg said.
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