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Back-to-back and shoulder-to-shoulder, the Tiadaghton Valley Regional Police have been making their 50-year-old police station designed for a borough police force of around seven work for a regionalized force of 12.
And while the police force is persisting through space limitations and a facility that is in desperate need of updating, Jersey Shore Borough is in the planning stages of getting them into a functional, modern building that can keep up with the needs of the department.
In fact, the borough's new building will not just house the police, but local fire department Citizen's Hose too.
Jersey Shore Borough is exploring options related to constructing a new public safety building combining the services of a municipal building, police force and fire department into one, according to borough manager Cody Hoover.
The project comes on the coat-tails of COVID-stalled plans to construct a new police station for the
Tiadaghton Valley Regional Police, which was formed in 2010 from a regional merger between Jersey Shore Borough Police and Porter Township police.
The Tiadaghton Valley police station used to be the old Jersey Shore Borough Police station, which housed seven officers at the time of the merger. However, the police force quickly grew to 12 after the merger.
While the regionalization of the police resulted in a reduced cost for more efficient coverage of both Jersey Shore and Porter Township, it became very clear to Tiadaghton Valley Regional Police Chief Nathan DeRemer that the force had outgrown the 3,600-square-foot building at 221 Smith St., Jersey Shore.
"This building was not designed for a regional police. It was designed for borough police," DeRemer said.
Inside the station, officers huddle around a table in the middle of a central meeting room, back-to-back with other officers completing paperwork at desks against the wall.
"This is where we review evidence, clean our weapons and eat our food," DeRemer said, gesturing to the table.
The cramped nature of the meeting room sets an appropriate tone for the rest of the station. The front-entrance foyer was cut in half to make more space for officers to work. The police supervisors and the K-9 officer share a room.
The men's locker room shares space with equipment storage, while the women's locker room is confined. Water drips into buckets parked above withering lattice ceiling tiles in the men's bathroom. Their interview room, which also stores PPE donated by the county, is reminiscent of a old-time British telephone booth.
Lycoming County has significantly helped the police force with obtaining supplies and equipment, especially those which protect officers from COVID-19 exposure, but the station is constrained by having to store it in a building without a lot of space for it.
"You see this building," DeRemer said. "They deserve something better."
To address this myriad of problems, Jersey Shore Borough contracted a planner to create a floor plan of a new $2.2 million headquarters.
The new building, which would have been ready to build in early 2020 had funding been secured before the pandemic, has two levels that reach just more than 6,038 square feet. The building plans include a garage, a secure garage, office space for the department's leadership and separate bathrooms.
Some of Tiadaghton Valley's officers suggested a weight room, but DeRemer is not looking to build a Taj Mahal. He's content with getting the space they need to be functional without overspending.
The borough also sought out an R-CAP grant in 2019 to receive $1 million to help fund a new police station, which would have been located on Allegheny Street, behind the Jersey Shore Weis Market.
However, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the plans were put on hold. After some months, talks began to start anew of a new building that would not just give the Tiadaghton Valley Regional Police a new headquarters--but also the municipal government and the fire department as well.
"Citizen's Hose, Tiadaghton Valley and Jersey Shore are exploring options for a joint building," Hoover confirmed.
However, Hoover said a lot of plans remain under wrap until the borough is ready to make a meaningful announcement.
"We're not going to put out information before we have the details in concrete," Hoover said. "We mean business over here at Jersey Shore."