Ross Township Commissioner Calls State of Public Works Garage "Precarious"

From the outside, Ross Township's Public Works garage appears sturdy and on solid ground, but the view from the inside, said Ross Commissioner Peter Ferraro, is not nearly as reassuring.

"It's very precarious," he said after touring the building last week with fellow commissioner John Sponcer and Public Works Director Michael Funk.

Ross commissioners voted 9-0 Nov. 19 to spend thousands of dollars to rent equipment to shore up the second floor of the building, where the township's heavy dump and salt trucks park. The initial cost of the equipment is $17,120, and the township will have to pay $135 a day to keep the material in place.

At that meeting, Funk told the commissioners that several walls are cracked and he feared for the safety of his workers. "This is a problem which should have been addressed a long time ago," he said.

After viewing the building for himself, Ferraro agreed that the building, erected in 1967, is in bad shape.

"It looks like the front part of the building is sinking," he said. "This is a situation that needs to be addressed, and it won't be a simple 1-2-3 fix."

Ferraro said he wants to get a second engineer's opinion before proposing what action to take, but he admits it won't be cheap.

"That building will need extensive work and likely extensive dollars," he said.

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