During the August 5th meeting of Conshohocken’s borough council, there was a presentation on the current state of the borough’s public works facilities and an available-for-purchase property at 680 Colwell Lane in Conshohocken (Plymouth Township) that is being recommended for acquisition. The presentation was given by Ray Sokolowski, the borough’s head of operations, and Director of Public Services Frank Perry.

You can view the presentation here.

Sokolowski and Perry reviewed the current facilities operated by the public works department and how they do not provide the needed space, environment, and conditions the department needs to serve the borough. The facility on East Elm Street doesn’t have enough space to adequately park borough vehicles and store equipment, plus has limited meeting and locker room space.

The salt barn property, also on East Elm, has structural issues on the back of the property, and the barn itself is nearing the need for replacement or renovations. A small borough garage near Sutcliffe Park is also only accessible via a narrow alley and during winter weather, can become inaccessible.

The property on West 7th Avenue doesn’t have any enclosed storage space (storage boxes are used as needed). The property is also not flat and doesn’t have a proper loading dock. There have also been complaints from neighbors about the noise generated on the site.

The staff and the need for workspace and storage are only growing, according to Sokolowski and Perry. In recent years, the public works department has grown by six employees, and the borough has added four pocket parks to maintain. The department has also added a stormwater division that has required new equipment and storage, and in the near future, the new public safety building will need to be maintained.

The property at 680 Colwell Lane was previously the longtime home of Young Windows, which recently consolidated its operations in a nearby community. The property was purchased by an entity associated with local developer Ratowsky & Trainor in October 2025 for $4,650,000.

The property is 5.8 acres, and the building is 43,000 square feet. The combined square footage of the other facilities is just over 13,500 square feet.

The acquisition price for the borough, if it decides to move forward, is $5,975,000. It would be funded equally through the borough’s general and capital funds.

As MoreThanTheCurve.com reported earlier today, some of the property currently being utilized for public works could be converted to another use for the borough (such as a dog park at the West 7th Avenue property) or sold.

Any vote to acquire the property will be on the agenda of a future meeting of the borough council.

Photo – Google