Butler Township held a ribbon cutting recently for its new municipal building and police station complex in the CAN DO Corporate Center in Drums. Pictured are, from left: Walter James, representing American Legion Butler Township Post 795; Atty. Donald Karpowich, solicitor for the Butler Township supervisors; Kevin O’Donnell, CAN DO president and CEO; Mary Malone, Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce president; Rep. Tarah Toohil; Rev. Michele Kaufman, pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church; Jennifer Pecora, Butler Township manager; Dr. Frank Polidora, Butler Township supervisor; Brian Kisenwether, chairman of the Butler Township supervisors; Charles Altmiller, Butler Township supervisor; Brian Sabatini, Butler Township police chief; Senator John Gordner; David Pedri, Luzerne County manager; and William Magnotta, chairman of the CAN DO Board of Directors.

Butler Township hosted an evening of Halloween fun on October 14 at the Butler Township Community Center.

Dozens of area children came dressed in their best Halloween costumes and joined in some ghoulish fun, including a Halloween parade, pumpkin decorating and arts and crafts.

Click below to view more pictures from the festivities.

Read more: Butler Township hosts Halloween event

Butler Township officials hosted a groundbreaking on Wednesday at the future home of the Butler Township municipal building and police station on Site 11 in the CAN DO Corporate Center in Drums.

The $4 million building project includes a 13,500-square-foot facility that will house Butler Township’s police station, detention area, administration building and zoning office and an additional 4,300-square-foot police storage garage. Township officials expect to move into the new facility in February of 2018.

Butler Township officials finalized the purchase of the five-acre lot on Site 11 in the Corporate Center late last year. Butler Township was looking for a location that would help it better serve the township’s growing population in terms of emergency response time and convenience when conducting municipal business.

Brian Kisenwether, chairman of the Butler Township board of supervisors, said, “I speak for my fellow board members and myself when I say that public safety has always been a top priority for this administration. We want to make sure we have a strong and effective police department for our residents. As our population grows, so must our services. We outgrew our current municipal building about a decade ago but we did not want to make a move of this magnitude until we had sufficient revenue resources to do so without impacting our current tax rate. We are also hopeful with this progressive move to the CAN DO Corporate Center that we can attract more business and jobs to this beautiful area in the Butler valley.”

Although township officials considered several properties for the new municipal building, they ultimately found several benefits from the CAN DO Corporate Center location that helped finalize the selection process. The pad-ready site will allow the township to save a significant amount of money in construction costs and access to the Corporate Center’s natural gas resources will provide a savings for a building that will be operational around the clock.

Butler Township Manager Maryanne Petrilla said working with CAN DO to select the site and finalize the deal was a smooth process and township officials are looking forward to their new home.

“CAN DO has been a great partner to us over the years in improving our economic development and creating jobs. They have been extremely easy to work with and we look forward to a continued relationship,” she said.

CAN DO President and CEO Kevin O’Donnell said, “CAN DO’s relationship with Butler Township goes all the way back to 1989 when a search committee recommended that CAN DO purchase 1,025 acres of land here at the intersection of Route 309 and 80 to be used principally as a business park. That was the start of the CAN DO Corporate Center.

“Our vision for this business park was shared by the Butler Township Board of Supervisors in 1989, and Butler Township remains a supportive partner in economic development and we are excited to have the township’s office complex in the Corporate Center.”

The CAN DO Corporate Center is located along State Route 309 and just minutes from Interstates 80 and 81. The park offers a number of infrastructure incentives including easy access to utilities as well as a telecommunications network. The state-of-the-art telecommunications system features 100-percent digital switching, a fiber-optic network and available, dedicated internet access.

Pictured, from left, are: Brian Sabatini, Butler Township police chief; Dr. John Madden, CAN DO Board of Directors chairman; Kevin O’Donnell, CAN DO president and CEO; Dan Guydish, representing the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce; Charlie Altmiller, Butler Township supervisors vice-chairman; David Pedri, Luzerne County manager; Brian Kisenwether, Butler Township supervisors chairman of the board; Bob Dougherty, from RJD Engineering; Dr. Frank Polidora, Butler Township supervisors secretary/treasurer; Maryanne Petrilla, Butler Township manager; Gregg Pavlick, from Barry Isett, Inc.; Joe Calabrese, from RJD Engineering; John Sidari, from M&J Excavation, Inc.; Jim Vozar, construction manager from JVI, Inc.; and Paul Lewis, architect from Williams Kinsman Lewis Architechture.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE      

BUTLER TOWNSHIP POLICE SEIZE GUN, DRUGS AND CURRENCY

DURING TRAFFIC STOP

Butler Township Police seized a gun, drugs and currency as a result of a traffic stop on May 4, 2015 around 10:30 PM. Police were on patrol along E. Butler Drive near Forest Ave when they observed a BMW that had an equipment violation.

Police stopped the vehicle and spoke with the driver, who was identified as Melvin Cabrera, age 22 of Hazleton. During the investigation Cabrera was found to be in possession of marijuana and was taken into custody.

A back seat passenger, Adonys Javier Alvarez, age 20, of E. Diamond Ave, Hazleton, was subsequently identified and found to have concealed 280 packets of heroin in his girlfriend’s purse, which was next to him. Officers subsequently located a 9 mm pistol in the vehicle and Alvarez was in possession of $775. Alvarez was ineligible to be in possession of a firearm due to his age and because of the illegal drugs found in the vehicle.

Alvarez was wanted by the Luzerne County Sheriff’s Department for failing to appear for a previous charge.

Alvarez faces charges of possession with intent to deliver, firearms not to be carried without a license – both felonies; possession of a controlled substance and use/possession of drug paraphernalia. He was taken to the Luzerne County Prison to await an overnight arraignment.

Cabrera faces the charge of possession of a small amount of marijuana.

Alvarez faces a preliminary hearing later this month.

#     #     #

Released-  5/11/2015 5:22 am

Released by: Cpl. William J. Feissner              

POLICE ARREST 2 PEOPLE FOLLOWING UNDERCOVER

DRUG INVESTIGATION AND SEARCH WARRANT

Butler Township Police, in conjunction with the Hazleton City Police Narcotics Unit, arrested 2 people last Wednesday afternoon following an undercover drug operation. The operation yielded more than 100 packets of heroin, along with crack cocaine, marijuana and more than $3,300 dollars.

Police executed a search warrant around 4 pm at 740 Manhattan Court, Hazleton after making undercover purchases of crack cocaine from the residence. As officers entered the residence, one of the occupants, Hassan S. Harrell, aka “Solo”, age 23, attempted to destroy evidence. Harrell unsuccessfully attempted to flush drugs down the toilet and was trying to smash a cell phone following his arrest. He also fought and kicked at police while they tried to stop him from destroying the phone.

Harrell was identified in the investigation as selling crack cocaine. Harrell also distributed drugs though Erin M. Hughes, age 22, of the same address. Police also purchased drugs from her in the area of 10^th Street and Manhattan Court, which is near the Hazleton Elementary Middle School.

Harrell was charged with criminal conspiracy, delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver, possessing a controlled substance, 2 counts of tampering with evidence and resisting arrest. Hughes was charged with criminal conspiracy, delivery of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance.

Harrell was also arraigned on separate charges filed by the Hazleton City Police Narcotics Unit on charges of conspiracy, delivery of a controlled substance, 2 counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. The charges stemmed from an October 2014 incident.

Harrell received minor injuries and was initially transported to the hospital by ambulance. He was treated and released and subsequently transported to the Luzerne County Prison.

Butler Township Police and Hazleton City Police are members of the Luzerne County Drug Task Force. The case was developed by Butler Township Police following an investigation in their jurisdiction. Police are continuing their investigation and additional arrests are expected.

#     #    #

Released-   5/11/2015

Released by: Cpl. William J. Feissner              

20150422_Press_Releases.pdf