Lansford Borough Council is working toward completing a new borough garage before a state grant expires.

Council voted Wednesday night to have the borough’s engineering firm, ARRO Consulting, move ahead with the project and administer a $160,000 state grant.

The borough has already received multiple extensions on the grant. Council President Bruce Markovich said the state won’t extend it past June 30, 2023.

Council wants to build an approximately 5,000-square-foot pole building along Dock Street, on property it received in a donation from Silberline Corp. last year.

The estimated budget for the project is about $1 million. The grant only covers part of the project. Council also voted to seek an $850,000 loan for the project.

Markovich said he is hopeful that the project can be completed for under $1 million.

“I’d hate say we’re going to spend $1.2 million. I’d hate to think it’s come to that in this country,” he said.

The borough hasn’t had a permanent garage since 2018, when its old building was condemned by the state. It currently uses a building on the Silberline property.

Council plans to use the money it gets from leasing other buildings on the 44-acre Silberline property to pay back the loan. The borough currently gets $44,000 a year in lease money from buildings on the site, and will eventually lease the building used by the borough crew.

“$1 million does seem like a lot of money, but we’re not going to use any taxpayer money on this garage,” Markovich said.

ARRO’s work will include creating site development and construction drawings, and preparing bid packages for contractors. It has already completed some design work on the project.

Markovich asked Bill McMullen if he thought the project could be completed before the deadline. McMullen said that the firm recently oversaw projects where similar buildings went up in less than two days - though planning will take longer.