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LOCK HAVEN -- After lengthy discussions about dissolving the Lock Haven City Authority between Lock Haven City Council and authority board members, council chose to table the ordinance.
Council's meeting on Monday began an hour earlier, to give the authority time to speak about the potential move.
Board President June Houser and Rich Marcinkevage, former city manager and authority treasurer, asked a multitude of questions to council about the move.
Marcinkevage said the authority was first approached by representatives from council in June 2022 about it being dissolved. The board didn't hear anything new until a letter was sent to members in July of this year.
"The authority has to question why there was no interaction in the year," he said, noting if they were aware of the decision it may have chosen not to move forward with certain projects and agreements. Among them was the potential creation of trails for recreational use in the city's watershed property near Zindel Park.
Marcinkevage said the authority had been working with the county's Recreation Advisory Committee, the Commonwealth Bureau of Forestry and DCNR on plans for the project.
"The authority was in the process of getting estimated costs and preparing a grant application," he said. He noted the Bureau of Forestry's work was dependent on the completion of the authority's study.
Marcinkevage, on behalf of the authority, posed a wide range of questions to council about what would happen if the authority were to be dissolved and how it would affect operations -- especially if a Joint Municipal Authority with Castanea and Wayne townships wasn't formed in its place.
At a previous meeting, council proposed the Joint Municipal Authority as a means to avoid large costs from petitioning the Pennsylvania Utility Commission each year regarding rate changes.
City Manager Greg Wilson, at the time said the costs could be upwards of $300,000 a year for 10 years.
Councilmember Barb Masorti -- who serves on the authority subcommittee -- said the questions posed could not be answered as talks with Castanea and Wayne townships continued.
Following lengthy discussion, Councilmember Richard Morris proposed the ordinance be tabled to allow talks between the authority and council to continue.
Morris's motion was seconded by Councilmember Doug Byerly and approved in a 6-1 vote, with Councilmember Rick Conklin voting no.