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BELLEFONTE -- Centre County officials are continuing to evaluate a sinkhole which opened up near its correctional facility early last week.
Chief Administrator John Franek told the county's board of commissioners this week that a consultant engineer is working with officials for the overall evaluation of the sinkhole, which formed on July 21 near the entryway to the prison.
"We've reached out to multiple excavation companies on hourly rates. Once we've identified a good price for that work we intend to start doing some exploratory digging," Franek said on Tuesday morning.
Commissioner Steve Dershem asked if there was an idea on how large the sinkhole might be.
"It's a relatively small opening. However, it's next to a paved roadway and it's very deep. We stuck a probe down through there and it's at least 20 feet," he said.
Franek said this initial finding indicates a portion of the road, which leads into the correctional facility, will likely be lost during the exploratory phase. He noted it hadn't appeared to have grown in size since initially opening up.
However, the county is working as quickly as possible to get the sinkhole taken care of.
"We're operating under an emergency order. It's just getting the appropriate assistance on board to help us with that," Franek told the board.
Board Chair Mark Higgins noted sinkholes are an unfortunate part of life in the county due to the topography of the region.
"But that gives us all the great beautiful caves in the county and great drainage and trout streams. So I guess we'll take the good with the bad," he said.