LOCK HAVEN — The City of Lock Haven will send a letter to the Clinton County Voter Registrar and Keystone Central School District regarding the First Ward’s polling station.

A letter was presented to council Monday night, which is meant to inform the county and district its current polling station — at Hand In Hand Fire Company along North Henderson Street — will be closed by 2024.

Hand in Hand and sister company Hope Hose, located along Church Street, will be merging into the East Side Fire Company on Jan. 1, 2024. The fire station on North Henderson Street is currently up for sale.

“As part of the consolidation of the fire company, the city felt it was a good idea to notify the county board of elections and also the school district that the site of Hand in Hand Hose Company is currently up for sale and likely will not be used as a polling place in the First Ward. So they have plenty of time to think of that in advance,” City Manager Gregory Wilson told council Monday night.

The letter was approved, but with a large portion of its content removed through a request from Mayor Joel Long.

Following the first two paragraphs, which notify of the closure of Hand in Hand, it continues to outline that the city has not used a Ward form of voting for its government since 1971.

To do so, the city would have needed to equitably distribute its population following the completion of each US Census. Which has not been done in the last 50 years, the initial letter read.

“The city encourages the County Board of Elections and Keystone Central to examine the use of the city’s old “Wards” for the distribution of resources and representation in the city to ensure that equitable access to both polling places and representation is enabled for all our residents,” the initial letter concluded.

Long questioned when council had the opportunity to discuss its position on Wards that would lead to these statements being made on behalf of the city.

He requested the information regarding the Wards be removed from the letter before it was sent to the registrar’s office and the school district.

“We haven’t had a public discussion on how we could proceed with that. I don’t think it’s appropriate as far as this since we didn’t have that discussion,” Long said.

Councilmember Steve Stevenson said he felt it was okay to notify the county of the change at Hand in Hand. He said a discussion about the wards may be important to have in the future.

“The county talked a few years ago — I remember the conversation — about does the city need five wards? Because we don’t elect by ward, we elect city wide,” he said. “So maybe it’s time to consolidate first and second precincts.”

“I think it needs to be a public discussion. So the public can decide what it wants to send as encouragement (to the county),” Long said.

The letter was approved unanimously, with the removal of the content regarding its wards, by council.

No further discussion or information about any potential discussions about potentially consolidating wards within the city was had.

All members of council were present for Monday’s meeting, held at City Hall, 20 E. Church St. Council’s next meeting will be held on Monday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. in council chambers. The meeting is also available via live stream on the city’s Facebook and YouTube pages.