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Perkiomen Valley SD explores Wortman parcel, Clement Drive purchase or new build for operations hub
Summary
Administration outlined three options for an operations hub: buy the Wortman Road parcel (50,000 sq ft) if legal encumbrances are cleared; purchase 107GP Clement Drive (~$2M) which allows expansion; or build a new ~9,000 sq ft facility (~$3.5M). Parking and rezoning emerged as constraints.
Administration presented options to relocate or expand district operations. Staff described three primary paths: negotiate first-rights and resolve legal issues on a 50,000-square-foot Wortman Road parcel that adjoins district property; pursue purchase of 107GP Clement Drive, a township-approved building the district could buy for about $2,000,000 with room for expansion; or construct a new ~9,000-square-foot operations building at an estimated $3,500,000 with a one-year turnaround.
Joe Fabrizio noted practical tradeoffs: Wortman Road has utilities and adjacency benefits but squatters and rezoning/variance needs; Clement Drive is township-approved and expandable but carries a purchase price; building new avoids legal entanglements but raises cost and parking limitations (the district is near its impervious-surface cap and would need variances for added parking).
Speakers stressed alternatives such as reconfiguring existing warehouse space at the district office to create a large conference room and consolidate technology and special-education staff — options that would avoid a multi-million-dollar capital project but might not meet all operational storage needs. Fabrizio said any purchase or eminent-domain step would require school-board authorization.
The committee asked staff to continue exploring options and noted that final decisions would require board-level approval and attention to parking, rezoning and neighbor concerns.
