New industrial operations are on the horizon in Falls Township.
During Tuesday’s Falls Supervisors meeting, the board granted preliminary and final land development approval for construction of a cold storage facility, as well as areas for the storage and production of mulch and compost.
With the approval Agile Cold Storage will construct a 232,596-square-foot warehouse on a 14.5-acre parcel situated on the south side of Cabot Boulevard East. Once built, the warehouse would operate in two shifts with 70 employees working during the busiest work shift, according to attorney Mike Meginniss, who represents the property owner.
The facility, he said, would be used for the sole purpose of storing cheese and French fries.
“That’s two of my five food groups,” Chairman Jeff Dence joked.
In addition to the new warehouse, a new rail spur, driveways, parking, entrance roads, a guardhouse and stormwater facilities would be added to the parcel. Supervisor John Palmer, the lone no vote on the project, raised concerns about the waiver related to sidewalk construction, stressing that walking along Cabot Boulevard for employees who take mass transit would be unsafe.
The board also granted preliminary and final land development approval to Britton Industries to clean up the junkyard at 4 M-Y Lane and transform it from “an eyesore” to a “positive use for a good business in Falls,” according to Meginniss, who also represented the applicant.
The company intends to create eight lease areas ranging in size from 1.76 acres to 1.99 acres on the 17.34-acre property for outside storage and production of mulch or compost. Existing buildings will be demolished, and no new buildings will be constructed, according to the plan.
In other business, the board approved creating a 501c3 nonprofit organization to oversee township charitable fundraising efforts, including the annual Touch a Truck fundraiser. The organization is tentatively called Friends of Falls Township Park, but Dence said another name will likely be chosen.
Township attorney Lauren Gallagher is in the process of drafting the necessary articles of incorporation for creation of the nonprofit. She expects the nonprofit be established by the first quarter of 2025.
Dence said “all fundraising” would be undertaken through the nonprofit organization.
