BELLEFONTE — At its meeting this week, the Bellefonte Borough Council addressed several routine but important matters, including the scheduling of compost loading dates, selecting a new police officer candidate, opening bids for a traffic signal project and discussing collaboration among local nonprofits, among other items.

Dates for loading compost

Borough employees will be available to load compost onto trailers and into pickups at the Musser Lane Compost Facility on Saturdays — Aug. 23, Sept. 20 and Oct. 18 — from 8 a.m. until noon.

To cover equipment and personnel costs, a fee of $15 per cubic yard (approximately one skid steer loader bucket) will be charged. Fees must be paid in advance at the Bellefonte Borough Administrative Office at 301 N. Spring St., Suite 200, in Bellefonte, during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A signed waiver is also required.

The borough is not responsible for damage to vehicles during loading or compost hauling.

June Budget vs. Actual

Report tabled

Councilwoman Joanne Tosti-Vasey motioned to table the Budget vs. Actual financial report for June 2025, noting that the document only included revenues and did not reflect expenditures.

“I contacted Lori. She said that was an error, and she wants to bring it back at the September meeting,” Tosti-Vasey said.

The motion was seconded by Councilman Doug Johnson and passed unanimously.

Candidate selected

for police force

Council unanimously voted to approve the selection of candidate Gage Baumgardner from the police officer eligibility list and to extend a formal offer to join the Bellefonte Police Department.

If he accepts the offer of employment, Baumgardner will be sworn in at the council’s meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

Traffic signal project bids opened

Council opened three bids for the Parkview and Zion Road traffic signal project.

The first bid came from M and B Services, LLC, of Clarion, at $298,452.38. Kuharchik Construction, based in Exeter, submitted a bid of $342,556. The lowest bid was submitted by Bruce & Merrilees Electric Company, of New Castle, at $297,821.75.

Council unanimously approved a motion to authorize the borough engineer to review the bids, determine the lowest responsible bidder and proceed with notification and approval.

Project updates

— Interim Borough Manager Don Holderman met with representatives from SEDA-COG and PennTerra at the Potter Street Railroad Spur to discuss the planned subdivision. Holderman said PennTerra expects to complete its survey and subdivision work within a month, after which they plan to meet with council.

— Elsewhere in the borough, the Locust Lane stormwater project is scheduled to begin in early August.

“This is to fix the problem under a homeowner’s garage on Locust Lane,” said Councilwoman Joanne Tosti-Vasey.

— Laurel Asphalt will begin work this week on installing stamped crosswalks along Spring Street. The affected intersections include Bishop Street and Spring Street, as well as High Street and Spring Street.

Tosti-Vasey noted that the borough is also interested in extending stamped crosswalks to other areas of the commercial district. She asked Holderman for a projected timeline. He said the borough intends to use Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, which would put the timeline at approximately a year and a half.

— Council also motioned to pursue an agreement with Bellefonte Waterfront Associates and the borough addressing the construction and maintenance of Dunlop Street, along with the associated easement.

Community manager

discusses collaboration among local nonprofits

Lorraine Mulfinger, community manager for Downtown Bellefonte, Inc., spoke to council about efforts to improve cooperation among Bellefonte’s nonprofit organizations.

She explained that around March, several local nonprofits began discussions about working more efficiently together. These groups include the Bellefonte Intervalley Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Bellefonte, Inc., the Bellefonte Cultural and Historical Association and Historic Bellefonte, Inc.

“All of those groups indicated interest in finding ways to work better together,” Mulfinger said. “We all need more efficient ways to cover phones, to have budget work supported, but we don’t all need individual staff.”

She shared that a letter of support has been submitted for a one-year planning grant to help consolidate services among these 501(c)(3) organizations and begin collaborative planning with the borough.

“We feel we are at the point where a one-year planning grant will help us consolidate services for these 501s and start planning in concert with the borough,” said Mulfinger. “Moving forward, we want to support Bellefonte in strategic planning.”

Councilwoman Joanne Tosti-Vasey requested that once the grant is finalized, a copy be sent to the borough for public review.

The letter of support for the planning grant was passed unanimously.

Borough bicentennial

medallions sought

by sculptor

During the Bellefonte Arts and Crafts Fair, Tom Wilson and Councilwoman Joanne Tosti-Vasey spoke with sculptors Roger and Joanne Pollock about five commemorative medallions created by Roger in 1995 to honor Bellefonte’s bicentennial.

The medallions are approximately 10 inches in diameter — four made of bronze and one of stainless steel.

“He is now trying to find out what actually happened to them,” Tosti-Vasey said.

It’s believed one medallion may have been given to the Bellefonte Police Department, another to the borough, a third possibly to one of the historic museums or libraries in town, but the whereabouts of the remaining two are unknown.

“If you have any knowledge of these, please let Tom Wilson or myself know, and I will get in touch with him,” Tosti-Vasey added.

Tax Bills Reminder

Councilwoman Deborah Cleeton reminded residents to watch for their real estate tax bills in the mail.

“Keep an eye out because it’s very easy to mix it up with other mail,” she said.

In other business:

— Received a Request for Determination Letter from Keller Engineers Project Manager Michael Pratt relating to the Stage at Talleyrand Park, where they ask if council agrees with the interpretation that the project is exempt from the requirement to manage stormwater runoff rate and volume.

— Received communication from Thomas Songer, managing partner of Bellefonte Waterfront Associates, that the Multimodal Transportation Fund Grant Submission for the Bellefonte Waterfront Project has been submitted to the Commonwealth Financing Authority.

— Received a request for use of county property for the 2025 Bellefonte Victorian Christmas.

— Approved the consent agenda.

— Approved resolution No. 080420205-01 which authorized the sale and disposal of unnecessary personal property with a volume less than $2,000.

— Thanked Don Holderman for his time as interim borough manager while they sought out a new candidate. Monday was his final meeting.