City prepares move to relocate public safety operations to Hope-Hose site

LOCK HAVEN, PA – The agenda for next Monday’s Lock Haven city council meeting lists a vote on a resolution to seek a $500,000 grant toward a new city Public Safety Building at the current site of the Hope-Hose Fire Company.

Approval would be the first concrete step since council heard a consultant’s update in June to relocate the city police department from city hall to the fire company site on E. Church St. As proposed, the plan calls for acquisition of the vacant lot on the fire hall’s east side. That plot would see construction of a new garage to house the fire trucks, while the current truck bay portion of the building would be converted for police department use.

As proposed in June, the Hope-Hose proposal would cost just under $3 million, as compared to earlier proposals, including a new city hall, at a cost upwards of $6 million. Council collectively had expressed some concern about the latter price tag.

According to the latest information from city officials, the city has $2.5 million set aside for the project. Receipt of the $500,000 grant would put available city funds at $3 million.

The grant would flow from the state’s Keystone Communities Program to, per city officials, “provide gap funding in the creation of the Lock Haven Public Safety Building.” Additionally, it is stated that the application is in response “to City Council’s direction to pursue the option of moving the police department into the Hope Hose Station following extensive renovations for both fire and police use.” The grant funding would be used in combination with borrowed funds to complete the project