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Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, made a stop in Jersey Shore Thursday morning to announce $1,000,000 in community project funding to support the construction of the new Jersey Shore Public Safety Building.
The new building, to be constructed along Locust Street near the expansion to West Pharmaceuticals, will house borough police and fire departments, as well as local government offices.
"When we started to explore the process of building a new building for the police, we found that the fire company and ambulance service was also in the process of updating their facility, and finally, the borough of Jersey Shore has building needs with regards to our public works facility, so rather than three new buildings at different sites, the decision was made to pursue the combined public service building," borough manager Sean Simcox said, adding that the project has now received funding from all levels of government as well as from the private sector, including a grant from the First Community Foundation.
"One of the most difficult challenging tasks any government, any group of public officials or appointed officials face every day is keeping our community safe, here in Jersey Shore, here in Lycoming County, and across our commonwealth," Casey said.
"This $1 million federal investment will support Jersey Shore's public safety departments and their mission of keeping the people of Lycoming County safe," he said, adding that the building will help streamline emergency response.
"In a larger sense, it'll help this community deal with some of the challenges that so many of our communities face throughout Pennsylvania, especially small towns and rural areas, not just with regard to public safety generally, but in particular, the horrific scourge of fentanyl trafficking that we have to do a lot more about at the federal level," he said, while touting the recently passed Fend Off Fentanyl that was part of the broader Ukraine funding bill.
Due to the recent police regionalization, the borough police have grown from a six man department in 2003 to a 23 man department today, according to Lycoming Regional Police Chief Nathan DeRemer, stressing the necessity for adequate work space.
"As the Senator referenced narcotics and drugs, we don't have the space in this facility to safely package the evidence when you have other officers working in those areas, so the need is great," DeRemer said.
"Combining our resources and using that building with the fire department, we have partnered with the EMS and created an attendance program where we're actually working hand in hand with EMS and fire so to have this all under one roof is really invaluable," DeRemer said.
"We train together, we work together, why not be in one building, DeRemer added.
Additionally, moving to a location uptown will remove police headquarters from the flood plain and allow easy access to the highway, DeRemer said.
"The fire department alone covers seven municipalities, as well as provides mutual aid to many municipalities throughout Lycoming and Clinton County and the ambulance service," Casey Lowmiller, operations director, Jersey Shore EMS & EMS director, Citizens Hose Company said.
"We primarily staff for 14 municipalities, roughly 500 square miles, so as our organization continues to grow, our reach and our service to additional communities continues to grow, we have found that this building is no longer meeting our needs," Lowmiller said, echoing the sentiments of DeRemer.
The company began in 1956 with a building designed containing three bays for relatively small fire trucks by today's standards, he explained.
"We actually have specifically designed fire trucks to be lowered to fit out those doors, and along with that, we are now staffing two ambulances 24/7 with paid staffing," Lowmiller said.
In addition to a full five bays for fire equipment, the building will have a storage area for police vehicles, which are currently being housed outside of police headquarters.
"This building is a generational project. This building will serve the community in the region for years to come," he said.