Kutztown weighs $200,000 for firehouse repairs

Kutztown Borough Council meets Tuesday night with a $200,000 request from the local fire company on its agenda, a councilmember’s resignation to accept, and another large payment due on the new borough building.

The meeting is Tuesday, August 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the Kutztown Train Station, 110 Railroad St. Council meets there on the third Tuesday of each month, in person, with time set aside for public comment.

$200,000 for the firehouse

Among the requests before council is one from Kutztown Fire & Rescue to release $200,000 from the borough’s fire tax account to help pay for firehouse upgrades and renovations, according to the meeting agenda.

Under Pennsylvania’s Borough Code, a borough may levy a property tax dedicated to fire protection, including helping a fire company buy equipment or build and maintain a firehouse. That money is kept in its own account, separate from the general budget, and council decides when to release it. The agenda does not give the account’s balance or spell out the full scope of the repairs.

Fire protection is one of the municipal services a borough runs itself, separate from the county and the school district. Our guide to how Berks County government works explains who controls what, and the property tax explainer breaks down the county, municipal, and school portions of a Berks tax bill, of which a fire tax is one municipal piece.

A council seat opens up

Council will also consider accepting the resignation of Councilperson Katharine Keegan, listed on the agenda as effective immediately. Keegan chairs the borough’s Personnel Committee and sits on two others, so council plans to temporarily reassign a sitting member to cover her committee seats until the vacancy is filled.

Her departure adds to a long list of open borough positions. The agenda opens with vacancies on the Code Appeals Board, Planning Commission, Zoning Hearing Board, Kutztown Municipal Authority, Housing License Appeals Board, and Environmental Advisory Commission. Residents interested in serving can contact the borough office.

Paying for the new borough building

Kutztown is building a new Administration and Public Works building, and the meeting carries the next round of bills for it. Council will consider Payment Application No. 11 to Kinsley Construction for $710,873.43, along with three change orders: $4,618.33 to seal a corner where the new building meets the old, $4,406.28 for added data connections, and $132,393.70 to add fire dampers. A fourth change order, for additional windows, is on the agenda with the amount left blank.

A separate change order would add the reconstruction of Rhodes Alley, between Keiter Alley and Peach Street, to the borough’s 2026 street and storm sewer project for $47,296, using state grant funds the agenda lists as Main Street COVID small water and sewer money.

Other business

Council will consider waiving borough building-permit and inspection fees for the ongoing Strand Theatre renovation, at the request of the Kutztown Community Partnership. It will also weigh sending a draft Conditional Use Procedures and Standards Ordinance to the borough and Berks County planning commissions for review, hiring Justin Calin as a community service officer pending background checks, and service agreements for the borough’s computer power supply and water-testing equipment.

How to weigh in

The meeting is open to the public at the Kutztown Train Station, 110 Railroad St., at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, with a public comment period on the agenda. The borough office is at 45 Railroad St.; the phone number is 610-683-6131. For meeting dates across the county, see our guide to finding your township or borough meeting schedule.