Minersville council members unanimously approved moving forward with renovations to its current Borough offices and other things they called “major needs” at their regular meeting on Tuesday.
To accomplish its goals, Minersville is authorizing a bond issue in the amount of $4,065,000. On Tuesday, council members agreed to a 30-year bond with an annual repayment of $265,000. Options of 25 years and 20 years were on the table, too, but the lower repayment total was chosen. Minersville is getting the bond financing witha 4.63% interest rate. Solicitor BJ Evans said the rate is low because Minersville’s money is part of a bond package that closes on Sept. 18.
In addition to the slightly more than $4 million in bond financing, Minersville also plans to use $640,000 it received in a Local Share Account (LSA) grant plus money it’s stashed away in a Capital Improvements fund over the last several years to pay for its projects.
Borough Manager Megan Paul said Minersville has more than a year’s worth of debt payments already tucked away in that Capital Improvements fund, in addition to the LSA grant money.
Here’s a listing of the projects Minersville wants to address with the funds along with the estimated cost of them:
- Borough building upgrades: $3.21 million
- Borough building parking lot: $210,000
- New borough garage: $620,000
- Pool roof: $140,000
- Salt shed: $45,000
- Adventureland parking lot: $250,000
- Pool slide and toy: $160,000
Council president Jamie Kuehn admitted that approving the bond financing and going forward with these capital improvements will cause a property tax increase in Minersville. But he thanked those council members in attendance for taking on the difficult decision. He said in his approximately 20 years serving on council, previous boards have pondered these projects but never ultimately moved forward.
“It scared everybody away,” he said. “I commend everybody.”
Council members had less hesitancy to move forward than in the past because the debt service it was paying for the last 15 years on the Borough’s swimming pool has ended.
Kuehn said council members will have to consider whether or not the tax increase will be a one-shot hike or incremental
Councilman Jeff Enders noted that the board is “going to upgrade everything the borough has.”
Notable among these improvements is the Borough office building at 2 E. Sunbury St.
Paul said the building needs to be totally gutted. Meanwhile, the garage attached to the building will house the Minersville Police Dept. and the current pole building where the police are currently headquartered will become a police parking lot.
Kuehn said the Borough asks residents to maintain their properties but having an office building in the condition it’s in sends the wrong message.
“We don’t lead by example,” he said.
Evans said council must have a special meeting, which was scheduled for Aug. 25, to adopt an ordinance to approve the bond financing. It’ll likely have the funds by mid-September.
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Scoob
August 19, 2026 at 12:47 pm
Also on the list: Home Improvements and cash payouts to all on borough council