Jan 17, 2017 3 min read

Burgettstown Council has rejected an offer from volunteer firefighters who wanted to buy the building attached to their station from the borough.

Members of Burgettstown Volunteer Fire Co. argued their $60,000 purchase of the building that houses the Kids Center – which is attached to the fire station – would give them a place to hold fundraising events and save the borough money.

“We want this sale to happen,” said Mike Bartoletti, president of the fire company. “We’re going to continue to pressure to buy this building.”

Borough solicitor Lane Turturice told the fire company in a letter dated Jan. 12 the “building is not presently available for sale, but the borough has decided to take your offer under advisement. The borough appreciates your interest and will keep your offer in mind as it moves forward with any plans for the property.”

Bartoletti approached council to make the offer last week.

Officials briefly discussed the proposal later during a closed-door executive session and adjourned the meeting without a vote, Bartoletti said.

“There was just a slight discussion,” said Council President Jim Reedy. “The building was bought to be a youth center years ago, and there’s this feeling of there being a need (for it).”

The building was originally owned by the fire department but later it was purchased by the Burgettstown senior center. The borough later purchased the building after a new senior center was built.

The nonprofit Friends of the Kids Center was founded in 2008 and subsequently took over operating the center from the borough parks committee.

Reedy, who directs the nonprofit, said the group donated $5,000 a year until last year to defray the borough’s mortgage on the building, which is now paid off. He said there has been discussion of a lease between the borough and Friends of the Kids Center, but no such formal agreement has been finalized.

Based on two different land surveys, the fire company and borough each assert they own the property next to the center, and Bartoletti said he hoped to resolve that dispute by buying the building.

“We’re willing to go to court,” he said.

Councilman Ken McKinney also supports selling the building.

“I strongly believe that the fire department should have that building back,” he said, adding he has “nothing against the Kids Center.”

“It’s a money thing,” he said, adding the borough shoulders the cost of utilities – about $7,500 a year – and maintenance at the center.

“That’s a substantial amount of money that could be used somewhere else.”

He also pointed out a lack of use of the center, saying it’s no longer rented out for events and hosts few gatherings.

Reedy acknowledged that “there is a lull right now, but that’s not to say that it won’t reopen.”

“It’s had tons and tons of different programs over the years, and it provided a clean, safe place for the kids to go.”