Expanded bacteria testing continues at Lock Haven’s shut down City Hall; council meeting relocated
LOCK HAVEN, PA – As was previously announced, Lock Haven City Hall has been closed since Aug.30, upon learning that a sample from the facility’s HVAC water cooling tower came back positive for the presence of legionella bacteria, the cause of both Legionnaires Disease and Potomac Fever.
After disinfecting and flushing the HVAC water cooling tower at City Hall starting Aug. 30, a sample was taken from tower on Sept. 5 and sent out for culture testing. The city anticipates having the results of that test during the week of Sept. 18. Having followed the recommendations of the PA Department of Health (PA DOH) as well as professional subcontractors, the city is hopeful that the results will return showing that legionella bacteria is no longer present in the system.
As an added precautionary measure recommended by the PA DOH, the city has taken samples from other locations in City Hall including sinks and drinking fountains. The city expects to have the results of the testing of those samples during the week of Sept. 25. The preventative maintenance schedule for the City Hall HVAC unit has also been updated to include more frequent culture testing for legionella going forward. The recommendations provided to the city by the DOH are also available on the city’s website at lockhavenpa.gov.
Because City Hall will remain closed until all samples return showing that there is no longer legionella bacteria in the building, the regular meeting of the City Hall of Lock Haven already scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 11 will be held at the City of Lock Haven’s Hand-in-Hand Hose Company at 5 N Henderson Street.
In his release on Thursday, City Manager Greg Wilson said, “The city police will continue to operate from a temporary facility thanks to the generosity of our strong community partner Commonwealth University at Lock Haven.” The remaining offices regularly located at City Hall are operating out of the city Public Works facility at 99 Second Avenue and can be reached by calling (570) 893-5917. Those calling are reminded that more than six departments are sharing this single phone line and single office. To ensure the quickest response time from any City Hall based departments, email is preferred and a complete list of email addresses for departments can be found in the city directory on the city’s website at lockhavenpa.gov.
As results are known and more information is available, City Manager Wilson will continue to update the public through the city’s website lockhavenpa.gov and through the media.
