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UPPER BERN — Developers of a warehouse in Upper Bern Township will pay $82,390 to address outstanding issues they failed to complete before selling the building to the Trump administration and ICE earlier this year.
The money will help township officials clean out the culvert on Schoolhouse Road, close a stormwater permit, and locate a sanitary sewer line for the over 500,000-square-foot warehouse at 3501 Mountain Road.
The payment comes after township officials granted Transwestern Development Company, through GACSD Industrial Development LLC, a 10th extension on the project’s land development agreement on March 12. The agreement protects a municipality and its residents from being stuck with unfinished or faulty infrastructure if a project goes bankrupt or the developer disappears.
The township Board of Supervisors agreed to end the land development agreement on May 14 and approved a “termination agreement” with the developer. The termination absolves the developer from addressing the outstanding deficiencies. Instead, the Texas-based company has agreed to pay the township to do the work.
The Trump administration purchased the warehouse for $87.4 million with plans to convert it into a deportation processing center, part of a nationwide “detention reengineering initiative.” The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has since blocked the Department of Homeland Security from connecting to water or sewer, or occupying the warehouse, until the federal agency complies with state environmental laws. DHS has appealed, and the challenge is pending.
The termination agreement is unrelated to those administrative actions. It solely focuses on deficiencies in the construction of the building.
Board of Supervisors Chair Gloria Grim stressed during the May 14 meeting that she wants to be certain $82,390 will cover any costs associated with cleaning out the culvert on Schoolhouse Road and locating the sanitary sewer line for the warehouse.
“We don’t want to bear any cost to the township,” she said. “I just want to make sure we’re not shortchanging ourselves.”
The payment includes $62,000 for cleaning out the culvert; $10,390 to locate the sewer line under Mountain Road; and $10,000 to close out a DEP permit, according to the termination agreement.
Other maintenance issues at the vacant warehouse site were discussed during the May 14 meeting, including unmowed grass. The supervisors did not make any decisions on how to handle those.
After DHS purchased the warehouse in late January, the township told Transwestern the company still needed to complete road stabilization and stormwater-related work.
Transwestern requested its ninth extension shortly after the purchase by ICE, and Upper Bern’s supervisors unanimously granted the request until March 13.
The elected township board gave developers another extension during its March meeting, hoping attorneys for the township and developer could resolve the outstanding items. But because of the purchase by the federal government, the developers said they couldn’t access the property to address the issues.
A Spotlight PA review of township property records showed some of these problems have been unresolved for years. The documents also revealed a fraught relationship between township officials and the developer, which broke down shortly after the parties signed the land development agreement in 2020.
The federal government’s plan to turn vacant warehouses into detention centers and processing facilities for undocumented immigrants was paused following the departure of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Recent news reports suggest DHS is moving forward with plans in some areas, like Texas. Upper Bern officials have said the effort in Berks County is still on pause. County officials haven’t received updates in weeks.
DEP and DHS are required to discuss a settlement regarding the administrative orders blocking access to the building’s drinking and wastewater facilities by June 8, according to a pre-hearing order from the Environmental Hearing Board. Experts previously told Spotlight PA the challenge could take years to play out.
It’s unclear whether the state’s actions could prevent Upper Bern Township from closing out the stormwater permit for the warehouse. DEP officials would not comment on the litigation.
The township so far has chosen not to intervene in the DEP action against the federal government, but Grim said they stand “ready to comply” with DEP orders.
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