Salem schools to buy bus storage facility

SALEM -- The city school district soon will have a new home for its buses.
The Salem Board of Education agreed Thursday to buy a former tractor-trailer repair garage for $186,992 to serve the district's bus fleet.
The building, which has two service bays and an office, is at 1150 Pennsylvania Ave.
The district expects to take possession of the structure in the next few weeks, schools Superintendent Dr. David Brobeck said today.
Permanent improvement levy money is being used to make the purchase, Brobeck said.
The district has been keeping its buses temporarily at the high school after moving the nearly 17-bus fleet there earlier this year. The buses had been at a private facility in the city where they were stored and maintained.
District officials have decided the system can save money by housing and maintaining buses using its own personnel and facilities.
Even factoring in the cost of buying a bus garage and running it, the district is estimating a $70,000 annual savings from the move, Brobeck said.