The Port Matilda Borough Municipal Building sustained damage after a man who police say was driving under the influence of alcohol crashed into it on Tuesday night.
State police at Rockview responded at about 10:50 p.m. after Dodge Ram pickup truck crashed into the building at 400 S. High St. The driver, a 32-year-old Port Matilda man, was arrested for DUI. Charges have not yet been filed.
A borough council meeting had ended shortly before the crash, Port Matilda Mayor Ida Lively wrote in an email. Lively, four council members and the borough secretary/treasurer were still in the building finishing administrative duties when the crash occurred.
“One of the borough council members present is an EMT. She provided immediate assistance to the driver of the vehicle, who was uninjured,” Lively wrote.
No one inside the building was injured.
County dispatch reported “heavy damage” to the building.
Port Matilda and Alpha fire companies responded to the scene and used stabilizing jacks to support the building so the truck could be removed, Lively wrote. Damage and repair costs have not yet been estimated.
The borough has temporarily suspended in-person operations and is operating remotely.
“The Port Matilda Fire Company has offered the use of their facilities in which to hold meetings,” Lively wrote. “Public notice will be sent out once we have confirmed location/meeting space(s).”
Also impacted are the Port Matilda Sewer Authority, which hold meetings in the borough building on the first Monday of every month, and the Upper Bald Eagle Halfmoon Council of Governments, which holds meetings there the first Tuesday of the month.
