Council Rock Moves Forward With Purchase Of Newtown Borough Bus Depot

NEWTOWN, PA — The Council Rock School Board approved an agreement of sale at its September board meeting to purchase a bus depot at 470 South State Street in Newtown Borough.

Under the agreement with the VanArtsdalen family, the district will pay $3.2 million to acquire the property, subject to the completion of a due diligence period by the district.

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The 60-day due diligence period, with an option to extend for another 15 days, will give the district time to investigate the property for any environmental issues, with the option of renegotiating or backing out of the deal if anything major is found.

"We have until Dec. 1 to decide whether we go through with the purchase," solicitor Peter Amuso told the board. "Part of the due diligence is an environmental review, which we just got yesterday and on its face is looking good. Now we can enter our due diligence and review it closely."

Amuso said that between now and Dec. 1, the board will conduct due diligence on the property and meet multiple times in executive session to discuss the environmental report and any other issues that may surface.

"We will then decide whether the board is comfortable moving forward," said Amuso. "If you are, then we will go forward in accordance with the terms of the contract. If the board decides the terms of the due diligence requirements were not met, we would bring it back for a vote to terminate the agreement of sale."

Superintendent Andy Sanko said the VanArtsdalen family approached the district with an offer to purchase the property, which the district has used for decades as a bus depot.

(Jeff Werner/Patch)

"We're grateful to them for giving us the first chance to purchase this property," said the district's business manager Tony Rapp. "We looked at the possibility of what we would have to do if we were not able to purchase this property. I'd say our prospects of finding a new location were not very good at least within the district. We also looked at the cost of buying this depot versus what we would have to pay to secure land and build another depot. This is definitely the better deal."

According to Rapp, if the district purchases the property, "we would be able to secure the site for our buses to be stored and launched from in perpetuity."

For decades, the district has been leasing the property for a bus depot. It has been paying $250,000 annually in fees for the property, plus the district has been paying the real estate taxes on the site as part of the lease agreement.

"This is one of our two bus depots. It's essential to the district's operation," said board member Ed Tate. "Finding another property that would be suitable for a bus depot with all the traffic and other considerations in a reasonably central location would be almost impossible, beside the cost of relocation and everything else associated with it. I view this property as absolutely dispensable."

He added, "This is not as though we're going out and buying a new parcel to do something new in terms of district operations. This is a continuation of existing operations," said Tate. "This is a fantastic opportunity, and we can be very grateful to the current owners for this opportunity."

Board member Joseph Hidalgo thanked the family for their partnership with the district over the years in allowing the district to operate its transportation hub out of the property.

"I do believe their offering it to us is a real big help and takes a lot of headache off of our plate," Hidalgo said.

With that said, Hidalgo said having worked in the environmental field, it's important to get the due diligence right. "In this case, we don't have any exposure that I can see. The phase I environmental study was more extensive than what I thought, and it's positive. I'm not completely saying there are no loose ends, but it's looking very good.

"Everyone wants a slam dunk on this, but we still need to go through the due diligence," he said. "We have 70 days to look at it."

Board member Michael Roosevelt noted that the agreement of sale provides an escape clause for the district if anything unexpected comes up during the due diligence period.

"It allows the district to renegotiate based on what we found or to exit the agreement," said Roosevelt. "Over this 70 day period, the district does have the ability to get out of the agreement for a couple of different reasons."