Firefighters Call On Public To Oppose Plans To Condemn Newtown Borough Police Station

NEWTOWN, PA — The Newtown Fire Association (NFA) is calling on the public to oppose a resolution by the Newtown Borough Council to condemn 22 Liberty Street, currently used as the borough's police station.

The council plans to introduce the resolution at its Wednesday, July 16 meeting that would exercise its power of eminent domain to acquire the property for continued use as a police station.

After negotiations failed to produce an agreement on rent between the borough and the Newtown Fire Association, which owns the property, the council announced plans earlier this month to begin the process of taking the property from the fire association through eminent domain, or condemnation.

Eminent domain is the power of the government to take property for public use, even if the owner does not want to sell. The power is balanced by the requirement that the government must provide just compensation to the property owner for the taking.

The borough has leased the property for the past the 25 years from the association. Its current lease is set to expire on July 31.

According to borough solicitor Greg Heleniak, the borough has been in negotiations with the fire association for the past sèveral months, but were unable to reach an agreement “to reflect a financially supported rent” for the borough.

“The fire association presented a proposal for future rents for the property, which the borough sought to confirm underneath our obligations as a municipality, whether those rents were
supported under fair market value,” said Heleniak. “Our office, on behalf of the borough, had an appraisal done which we presented to the NFA through the negotiations but the borough and the NFA were unable to reach an agreement.”

The NFA said for more than 25 years, the borough has leased the building at a rate “significantly below market value.” In May, the NFA said it proposed a "fair market rent adjustment" - based on independent real estate consultation - to reflect current commercial rates in Newtown.

“Rather than continuing negotiations, the borough has taken steps to forcibly acquire the property through eminent domain,” said the NFA in a statement.

According to the NFA, the rent that would have been paid under the proposed lease would have gone directly to support the fire department’s operations - funding equipment, emergency response, volunteer training, and fire prevention efforts throughout the community.

“The NFA is a long-standing volunteer organization that has served Newtown for generations,” said the NFA. “In addition to providing life-saving emergency services, it has subsidized the borough’s use of its property for decades - relieving financial pressure on local government and taxpayers alike.”

The July meeting of the Newtown Borough Council begins at 7 p.m. at the Chancellor Center.

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