LH City Council Grapples with Airport Agreements and Negotiations, Propaganda, Water Woes, and More at Monday’s Meeting
By Emily Wright
LOCK HAVEN—Prior to the regular bi-weekly Lock Haven City Council meeting Monday night, an executive session was held with representatives from city-hired attorneys Eckert Seamans to discuss matters relating to the potential consolidation of local water systems. At the beginning of the 7 o’clock council meeting, Mayor Joel Long mentioned that the executive session was held and stated that there were discussions regarding “potential legal issues” throughout the consolidation process. No further information was provided due to exceptions under the Sunshine Act that allow for discussions to be held privately when they pertain to legal advice or real estate transactions.
Nils Mantzoros, a long-time hangar owner at the William T. Piper Memorial Airport, addressed the city council during the “Public Comments and Requests” portion of the meeting to express his frustration about a lack of communication regarding the Through The Fence (TTF) agreement with airport tenants.
“As of early spring, you’re well aware that the property owners at the airport were severely criticized for not communicating with the city manager. Shortly thereafter, we had the fence fiasco that most likely cost the city several thousand dollars,” Mantzoros said. “Myself and Craig Care submitted a contract that would take effect June 1st, and we were willing to sign immediately. It’s now been almost six weeks since, and there has been zero communication from anybody at all about this. I know it was received because I hand-delivered it in person to the city solicitor. In my opinion, lack of communication has never done really well in resolving a problem.”
Council member Barbara Masorti responded to Mantzoros, stating, “We did have an update at the last council meeting about where the Through The Fence Agreement stood.” City Manager Greg Wilson added that the six hangar tenants who needed to sign the TTF agreement were notified by the city solicitor that no further revisions could be made to it because it was already under review by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). “Three [hanger tenants] did submit more edits, but again, it had already been communicated that we can’t do any more edits until we hear back from the Bureau of Aviation (BOA) and/or the FAA, so we can’t do any more of those,” Wilson said.
Mayor Joel Long asked Wilson if there was a timeline in terms of receiving an update about the status of the TTF agreement and the requested changes to it, and Wilson offered, “We’ve been trying. We did finally hear back from someone from the Bureau [of Aviation], but we have not heard back from the FAA representatives yet.” Wilson added that the BOA’s Compliance Division also needs to review the pilots’ requested changes to the TTF agreement. “The FAA wants to review those to make sure they still feel that those agreements are compliant,” Wilson said.
Mantzoros replied, stating that he and other pilots have not been notified about the FAA’s review process, leaving them uncertain about the status of their requested changes to the agreement. Wilson assured Mantzoros that he would contact the city solicitor, who he claims had informed him that each pilot would be notified that the requested revisions to the agreement needed to be reviewed by the FAA and BOA.
Mantzoros reiterated that he and the other pilots did not receive any of this information and are awaiting a response. “We’re all waiting, but you should have been told,” Masorti asserted before adding that everybody deserves to be kept up-to-date.
Next to address the council during the public comment period was Joshua Hudson, who spoke about white supremacist propaganda that’s recently been posted in different areas throughout Lock Haven. “I’m sure all of you are aware that hateful propaganda has made its way through our city, and as a concerned citizen of this town, I just want to know, is the city taking any action for the removal of these items to prevent it in the future?” he questioned.
“I’m not aware of anything that we’re doing officially,” Mayor Long said before City Manager Greg Wilson offered that the city police are currently investigating the matter. “The police have been in contact with people in the downtown area to see if anyone has cameras that may have picked up someone, so it is absolutely something that we’ve been working on since it was first brought to our attention over the weekend,” Wilson said.
“Has there been action towards, like, checking to ensure if the things have been removed?” Hudson questioned once more. Wilson confirmed that action had been taken to remove the propaganda and that local volunteers played a role in the process. “I personally walked around parts of Lock Haven University because I live in that neighborhood to make sure that there weren’t any white supremacist stickers in that area,” he shared. Council member Tami Brannan added that she and Council member Masorti had also taken action, “Barb and I, during our ‘Walk With a Council Member” on Saturday, walked all through downtown to ensure that we had caught everything the night before,” she said.
The Record asked the city council when the propaganda was first discovered in the city. Wilson said that the first report to the city about the posted infographics came at approximately 11:00 p.m. on Friday, July 12.
Next on the agenda was a request made by Servant Keeper PC, a local church software company that works to reduce administrative burdens on churches. Servant Keeper PC requested the use of the Hanna Park Pickleball courts for a team competition on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, from 6:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. On a motion made by council member Brinker, seconded by council member Brannan, and carried unanimously, the request was approved.
Living Hope Church of Lock Haven made a request to use the Tiger Den playground in Lock Haven on Saturday, August 3, 2024, from 12:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. for a community outreach day. The church plans to provide snacks, drinks, and activities for children in the community and will also have a school supply giveaway. On a motion made by council member Brinker, seconded by council member Conklin, and carried unanimously, the request was approved.
The first unfinished business agenda item to be discussed was an update from the Airport Advisory Subcommittee of the City Council. On July 7, 2024, the Piper Airport Advisory Subcommittee of Council sent an email to city council members regarding negotiations on airport ownership. The city’s Airport Advisory Subcommittee and Clinton County representatives have been meeting on a monthly basis since February 2024 to explore the possibility of a joint partnership to help support the airport. The email states, “Representatives have brought ideas to the table, all of which are being vetted by legal counsel to determine if a mutually beneficial agreement between the governmental entities can be achieved.”
Greg Wilson said that both the county and the city are working towards reaching a mutually beneficial agreement to sustain long-term supportive operations of the Piper Airport. “If both the county and the city are successful in reaching a mutually beneficial term for an agreement to sustain long-term supportive operations of the airport, that plan, of course, will be publicly discussed and adopted locally by each entity,” he said. Wilson also noted that any such plan would require approval from PennDOT’s Bureau of Aviation and the FAA to ensure compliance with their rules and regulations.
Council member Masorti emphasized the importance of cooperation and mutual understanding in moving forward with airport improvements, hoping for a positive outcome that benefits all community members. “I think ultimately we all want something good to come out of what we’re trying to accomplish here– a better use of the airport and a different type of ownership, and more satisfaction for pilots and people who are using the airport. That comes from cooperation, and it comes from mutually understanding one another and working together,” she said. “I think, as far as the committee is concerned, we really are looking at this very positively as something that is going to be good for everybody in the community.”
Other unfinished business that the council discussed at the meeting related to the ongoing water issues in Castanea Township. On June 28, 2024, City Manager Wilson sent a letter to Castanea Township Supervisors to inform them that the city, in addition to two professional agencies, conducted multiple leak detection tests and found no leaks in the city’s water main or customer-owned pipes. However, a more advanced leak detection conducted by Fluid Pinpointing found an anomaly at 14 West Keller Street.
Wilson stated in the letter that upon further investigation by the city’s water crew, it was revealed that the anomaly was caused by an old stormwater pipe belonging to Castanea Township, which was full of water and not draining properly, resulting in flooding to residential properties.
Residents of 14 West Keller Street had reported what they suspected was a water main leak, however, Wilson clarified that the water was actually from the old stormwater pipe and not from the city’s infrastructure. “I have included a photo of that to Castanea Township to show them that that location does not have city water infrastructure in it and likely is some kind of stormwater infiltration, whether it’s an official one that is no longer in service or whether it’s an individual property owner,” Wilson said during the meeting. “That is not a city water leak; that is some kind of stormwater infrastructure.”
Wilson emphasizes the importance of ongoing communication between the city and Castanea Township so that the city can keep its water customers informed about the Township’s findings.
