Kutztown Weighs $515K Strand Grant, $578K Building Bill

Kutztown Borough Council meets Tuesday night with a request to seek $515,352 in state gaming money for the Strand Theater, a $577,579.39 payment on the borough's new Administration and Public Works building, and six change orders on that building, three with the dollar amount left blank on the posted agenda. First, at 6 p.m., the Finance and Electric Committee walks through the draft 2027 budget fund by fund.

Council meets at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, at the Kutztown Train Station, 110 Railroad St., according to the borough's meetings page; the agenda itself prints no time or venue. Residents may speak at the start on items not on the agenda, and on each item as council reaches it (p. 6).

A $515,352 grant request for the Strand

The Kutztown Community Partnership is asking council to adopt a resolution "authorizing to request a statewide Local Share Assessment Grant" of $515,352 from the Commonwealth Financing Authority (p. 2). The state calls the program the Local Share Account, or LSA; under the state Gaming Act it distributes gaming revenue through the Commonwealth Financing Authority, an independent state agency with a seven-member board. The borough applies, and the state decides.

The money would go to "the following phase of the Strand Theater project: construction and life-safety systems/restrooms, continued engineering and construction management fees, and an allocation for the independent audit required upon grant closeout" (p. 2). The partnership also gives council a Strand update (p. 1). In August it asked council to waive borough permit and inspection fees for the renovation, per the Aug. 18 agenda and our preview. Council granted it: the Aug. 18 minutes record the motion amended to waive the fees "up to $9,500.00," which "Passed by unanimous vote" (p. 3).

The new borough building: $577,579 now, more unpriced

Council is asked to approve Payment Application No. 13 from Kinsley Construction for $577,579.39, an invoice from Acela for $22,437.15 "for their work" on the building (p. 4), and an agreement with Premier Office Solutions, Inc., doing business as Premier Environments, "for the design and purchase of furniture," with no amount listed (p. 5).

Then come six change orders, five of them from Kinsley Construction (the agenda names no contractor on No. 41, p. 3). Three carry prices:

• No. 37, $74,592.63: cutting in windows, painting exposed ceilings, flooring, a ceiling in room 203, plumbing upgrades and an oil storage tank, reworked hand railings, electrical and lights.
• No. 38, $8,555.88: flooring and base in room 111, framing and drywall to cover bathroom water lines, and second-floor soffits "to complete the fire rating requirements."
• No. 39, $12,755.08: thermostat locations, air handling units and unit heaters.

Three more are printed with the cost as "$___________." No. 40 would revise the exterior plans to add a second on-street handicap parking space, an accessible walkway from Railroad Street to the police entrance, and gutters that send all rainwater underground. No. 41 is an alternate that would replace the accessible ramp and stormwater system at the police entrance of 45 Railroad St. with "an upgraded stormwater and ADA compliant ramp." No. 42 covers HVAC field changes; ductwork and piping had to be moved "to maintain adequate ceiling heights" (p. 3).

For scale, council approved Payment Application No. 11, $710,873.43, and a $132,393.70 change order for fire dampers in August, both unanimously, per the Aug. 18 agenda (pp. 2-3) and minutes (p. 4), and took up Payment Application No. 12, $728,648.21, in September, per the Sept. 15 agenda and our Sept. 15 preview. The meetings page lists minutes only through Aug. 18, so the September votes are not in any posted record.

The Public Works section also opens with one line: "An Executive Session is requested to discuss potential litigation of a Borough contractor" (p. 3). The agenda names neither the contractor nor the project. The state Sunshine Act lets a council meet privately to consult its attorney about litigation, but "official action on discussions held" there "shall be taken at an open meeting" (65 Pa.C.S. § 708).

What to do with 45 Railroad St.

Council is being handed three feasibility-study proposals for a "potential 45 Railroad Street building renovation project," the current borough office, with a staff memo and comparison. The Community Development and Public Safety Committee "will discuss the proposals in more detail at their November meeting" and wants council to study them "before being asked to take action at the Council meeting in November" (p. 3). No vote is scheduled Tuesday; the agenda lists neither firms nor prices. The committee's Oct. 13 agenda lists three proposals, MSKD, Denny Sowers and Watkins, directly ahead of a "Feasibility Study Proposal Comparison" and a memo to council.

The 6 p.m. budget session

The Finance and Electric Committee's special meeting agenda sets a 6 p.m. start in the multipurpose room at the municipal building, 45 Railroad St. The committee plans to review the history of tax rates, the 2026 employee headcount, the history of wage increases, electric and telecommunications rate comparisons, "the Current and Projected New Building Costs," and the draft budget for the fire, ambulance, recreation, road, liquid fuels and unemployment funds. Public comment is listed at the start and end. No figures are posted. The next special session is Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 6 p.m.

Kutztown runs its own electric utility, and the council agenda previews the rate comparisons. Electric Superintendent Evan Muller gave council two, one residential and one commercial. The agenda's note, in the first person, says "we are located around the middle of the pricing spectrum when compared against other municipal electric utilities" and "we are priced better than Met-Ed on both comparisons" (p. 5). The comparisons themselves are not posted.

A council "fact witness" for Maxatawny hearings

Under Water and Wastewater, council is asked to appoint Councilmember Lisa Ladd-Kidder "as a representative of the Kutztown Borough Council, at any and all future Conditional Use Hearings for the 222 Capital Partners project and the 23 Max project in Maxatawny Township as a 'fact witness' on specific issues pertaining to the local water supply, i.e., the quantity and the quality of the Sacony Creek Watershed," drawing on what she has learned as a councilmember and liaison to the Environmental Advisory Commission (the agenda calls it a "Committee" in this item, p. 5).

A conditional use is a land use a zoning ordinance allows only after the township's governing body holds a hearing and votes; under the state Municipalities Planning Code, the body "shall hold hearings on and decide requests for such conditional uses" and "may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards" (§ 913.2). The agenda does not describe either project or say when the hearings are. Our Oct. 12 Maxatawny preview covers that township's zoning.

Also on the agenda

• Accepting an LSA grant for radar speed signs, with the police chief and Finance Director Sharon Dalickas as signatories, and a DocTract agreement for police policy-management software. The agenda prints the chief's name as "Paul Clery" in the radar item and "P. Michael Clery" in the DocTract item; neither lists an amount (p. 2).
• Payment Application No. 1 from Construction Master Services, LLC, $36,792.00, for the 2026 Street and Storm Sewer Improvements project (p. 3).
• A Signal Service, Inc. traffic signal maintenance agreement; the 2027 refuse and recycling schedule; electronics recycling events May 22 and Aug. 7, 2027, $1,790.00; and an easement to use Kutztown Area School District land as a walking trail (p. 4).
• The Kutztown Community Library's annual report and funding request, with no amount stated (p. 1).
• Pat Snyder's resignation from the Planning Commission, effective Sept. 28, 2026 (p. 4). The Sept. 15 agenda listed her as one of two applicants for the vacant Ward 1 council seat; the Oct. 20 agenda now lists her as a councilmember chairing Personnel (p. 4) and still prints her on the Planning Commission roster (p. 2). The Sept. 15 minutes are not posted.
• Reappointing Derek Mace, George Kusterer and Charles Lawson to the Police Pension Advisory Committee and appointing Andrea Coaxum, terms ending Nov. 1, 2028 (p. 4).
• Open seats residents can apply for (p. 1): Code Appeals Board (five members, one alternate), Planning Commission (two), Zoning Hearing Board (two alternates), Housing License Appeals Board (two members, three alternates) and Environmental Advisory Commission (one).

Three items from October committee agendas are not on this agenda: switching the local services tax collector from Berkheimer to the Berks EIT Bureau (Finance and Electric, Oct. 8), the Knox Box program's Ordinance 1-2026, and a Kutztown Fire & Rescue LSA request (Community Development and Public Safety, Oct. 13).

How to attend

Council meets at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, at the Kutztown Train Station, 110 Railroad St. The 6 p.m. Finance and Electric special session is in the multipurpose room at 45 Railroad St. For meeting dates across the county, see our guide to finding your township or borough meeting schedule.