LOCK HAVEN — Lock Haven City Council has formed a committee to look into the feasibility of offering police services to other municipalities.

Councilmen Jeff Brinker and Doug Byerly brought the idea to council after doing research into the city’s attempts at regionalization in 2017.

At the time, Gov. Tom Wolf presented a bill that would have seen municipalities without police forces pay a fee for state police service.

Joseph L. Kirschner, a police peer consultant, wrote the study for the Pennsylvania Governor’s Center for Local Government Services for free at the time.

Since then, the bill has fallen to the wayside but may not be entirely out of play, Byerly said.

Brinker said he reviewed the feasibility study completed in 2017 and spoke with members of the community about why the possibility of regionalization was met with such discontent.

“One person said it was a good idea for the county. But felt it was forced on them,” Brinker said.

City Manager Greg Wilson noted that the city only joined the discussion when asked in 2017. He added, of the seven possible ways the regionalization could have played out, four didn’t involve the city.

Brinker also heard from community members who expressed sticker shock at the possible costs. The study divided the estimated costs of each option by the population in each municipality.

Regardless of the past, Brinker said he felt looking into what the city’s police force could offer to other municipalities would be worth council and staff’s time.

“I think we need to reassure our neighboring communities. We can have conversations — a separate committee — and start some out-of-the-box thinking of what we can provide,” he said. “We’re not taking over, we’re providing a service. This is just a starting point of what we have to offer.”

Brinker noted that other municipalities have done something similar. Mill Hall Borough’s police department currently provides coverage in Castanea and Lamar townships.

Byerly noted that, according to Mill Hall Mayor Thomas Bossert, it’s possible the borough could offer coverage in other municipalities in the future.

“If you look at it objectively… you really have on a small scale regional police already,” he said.

Byerly said possibly contracting out the city’s police department to other municipalities could lead to a regional police discussion further down the road. But only if other municipalities are interested.

Councilwoman Barbara Masorti agreed with Byerly and Brinker’s idea to form a committee to explore the topic.

“It’s just a conversation. I don’t see why we can’t do that now. I’m not talking spending 20 hours a week on this. Just an hour here or there,” Masorti said. She said hearing from Police Chief Kristin Smith, Wilson and others knowledgeable in the topic could be beneficial for future decisions.

Councilman Rick Conklin said looking at the numbers wouldn’t be a bad idea.

“But I hope if a suggestion is made a year from now (to regionalize) it’s made by another municipality,” he said. “Because it will not be received well from the city.”

Councilman Richard Morris was also on board with the discussion.

Councilman Steve Stevenson was the only member of council to voice his opposition to the proposed committee.

Stevenson served on council during the discussion in 2017 and noted the “sticker shock” many municipalities felt when they saw how much they could have paid for regional police services.

He noted that, for many, they don’t have anything to provide beyond funding due to a lack of a police force.

In many cases, it was cheaper for the municipality to pay for state police services if it had come to that, he said.

“I don’t know if us putting the time and energy into this is worth it as our staff is already busy,” he said. “We should let the municipalities come to us. They didn’t want us then and I’m not sure they’ll want us now.”

“2017 is done. There are other leaders out there — there are new leaders. Just because it happened in the past doesn’t mean it’ll be the same in 2022,” Brinker said.

It was pointed out by a few members of council that these would strictly be discussions. If anything were to come from the committee, it would be brought to council for further discussion or approval.

Regionalization is not on the table. Just providing services to other municipalities, Byerly said.

In a 6-1 vote, with Stevenson voting against, a committee was formed to discuss the possibility of offering police services to other municipalities in the region.

Brinker, Byerly and Masorti will serve as council liaisons with Wilson and Chief Smith rounding out the committee.