Council approves architectural services to study police facility across from City Hall

Lock Haven — The city council approved an agreement for architectural services to support planning and bidding for a proposed police department facility adjacent to City Hall.

Council discussed whether to begin certain design phases before a potential $1 million grant is formally awarded. Speaker 7 raised concerns about numerous exclusions in the architect’s proposal and asked who would complete tasks listed as excluded from the scope. City staff (Speaker 5) said the first phase — described in the meeting as site development and schematic design — would likely constitute about $30,000 of the architect’s fee and take roughly six to eight weeks.

Consultant Scott Orchard attended the meeting and staff confirmed the agreement includes performing the bidding process if council chooses to proceed. Speaker 2 emphasized that approving the architectural agreement does not commit the city to construction and that reimbursement rules mean the city cannot rely on grant reimbursement for expenses incurred before a grant award.

After discussion, the council voted to approve the architectural-services agreement. Councilors asked staff to provide the total spent to date on architectural services and to return with clarifications on exclusions and responsibilities for follow-on work before bidding.