Preliminary approval given to new city police department building

By Scott Johnson
For The Record

LOCK HAVEN, PA – City Council has given its preliminary approval for a new location to house the city police department. On a 5-2 vote Monday night, council approved a first draft to “pursue the plan to build a new City Police Department facility at 45 E. Church Street.” Mayor Joel Long and Councilman Richard Morris voted “no.”

The new building – if ultimately built – would occupy the eastern third of the municipal E. Church Street parking lot across from the Gearhart-Herr building.

The first steps of this process began with a positive vote by council on May 13. City Manager Greg Wilson recommends the new building be constructed as soon as feasible. He said in working with the city’s architect from Buchart Horn, the cost for the one-story, 6,500-square-foot building would be about $2.1 based on the high-end cost of $325 per square foot. “There’s a very strong possibility for a $1 million grant, meaning there would be – on the high side – $1.6 million of the cost to be borrowed for city rehabilitation,” Wilson said.

The city has also looked at possibly moving the police station to the Ross Library, but that project has been estimated at around $2.1 million, Wilson said. “It would be a half-million dollar penalty for taking it across the street (compared to the Ross Library), but I always find it (Ross Library) a gloomy and foreboding space for the police to work in,” said Morris.

Meanwhile, Councilman Richard Conklin noted it’s positive to be in a position to get a million dollars toward the ultimate cost. “That’s a pretty good bet, $1.7 million for a good work environment” he said.

In voting against the measure, Long said he didn’t like the plan due to the police department being “spaced out” from the rest of City Hall. However, “It’s an exciting opportunity for our town and our police force,” Long said.

Plans for a new building on the Church Street parking lot is a relatively new development. There had been earlier talk of a new building along Bellefonte Avenue on a vacant lot near the 5-Way intersection and further down on E. Church Street at the present home of the Hope-Hose Fire Company.

Before Monday night’s meeting, Roberts held a public hearing on the city’s 2023 Community Development Block Grant (CDBC) Program. The city has been allocated $309,392. A total of $55,000 (or 18 percent) has been directed to administration. Complete information on this year’s proposed program can be found at the city’s Web site.

In other action during the meeting, it was announced the city will hold its first reading of a proposal from Tom McMasters to construct a parking lot on the site of the former Walker’s Hardware on First Street at its meeting on Aug. 7.

Council member Jeff Brinker, who participated through a video chat, voted against the hearing saying he had not yet had the opportunity to discuss the matter with staff in person. He had wanted to abstain but was not allowed to because it did not present a “conflict of interest.”

Lock Haven Fire Chief Robert Neff also announced his retirement from the department, effective Sept. 4, 2023.

At the recommendation of the city’s Fire Advisory Board, the city hired Jacob C. Neff to replace Robert Neff as the full-time Fore Driver in training for Hand-in-Hand Hose Co. effective July 25, to become the Hand-in-Hand full-time driver effective Sept. 3.