MANOR -- The Armstrong School District may have found a buyer for the former North Buffalo Elementary School.
Paul Maxin, president of OmniTech Partners, asked the school board last night to consider giving his company, Optical Systems Technology (OST), 90 days to complete the necessary steps to determine if the building suits the company's expansion needs.
"We have outgrown our current location near Northpointe in South Buffalo Township and believe that the school building would be a good location to expand," he said. "We have been in the area for 10 years now and would like very much to stay in the area."
Maxin said the company, which designs night vision equipment for military and other applications, currently employs 70 people and would like to add another 50 employees to its ranks.
"We would seed the facility with staff from our current location, and after about 6 or 8 months, we would begin looking to hire more people," he said. "We already employ local workers and plan to continue that at this facility."
The company offered to buy the property for $150,000.
Board members voted 7-0 to approve the option for the sale and give the company 90 days to handle its dealings with township and zoning issues and to determine whether or not the building, in fact, suits their needs. Board members John Monroe and Cindy Calarie were absent from the meeting.
Superintendent William Kerr said he felt the agreement is a "win-win situation," and would allow the property to be placed back on the tax rolls, along with bringing additional jobs to the area.
Kerr said once the company determines that the building is suitable for its needs, the two sides would enter into a sale agreement for the property, located along Route 128.
Earlier this year, OST and its sister company, Keystone Applied Technologies, purchased the former Gilpin Elementary School to help expand its production.
The 10-year-old company produces Star*Tron Night Vision Products, which include night vision scopes for defense agencies and law enforcement.
One of its products, the Star*Tron Catadioptric Night Visions Lenses, was used in the dramatic rescue of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, of West Virginia, in Iraq in 2003. U.S. Special Operations Forces also employ another night vision product the company makes called the Universal Night Sight, which provides vision in almost complete darkness.
