Centre County approves emergency repair for sinkhole in sheriff’s office parking lot
Centre County leaders approved emergency funding to assess and repair a sinkhole that unexpectedly opened up in the Centre County sheriff’s department west parking lot over the weekend.
During Tuesday’s Centre County Commissioners meeting, County Administrator John Franek said although the opening to the sinkhole is small, it’s very large and deep beneath the surface. The situation is an emergency, he said, prompting the board to take immediate action.
“There is a history of sinkholes or depressions in that parking lot and this seems to be following that trend, so we really want to get in there and get ahead of this before there would be a more significant impact to the area,” Franek said during the meeting.
The Centre County Commissioners unanimously approved a maximum $70,500 contract with LandServ, Inc. for emergency repair of the sinkhole, which is located in a parking lot near the Centre County Courthouse, though Franek said they’re not expecting it to cost that much and it is an “absolute worst case scenario.”
It is expected that LandServ will need to open up an area that is 20 feet wide, 20 feet long and 20 feet deep, with hopes that they’ll hit bedrock before they get to that depth, he said.
The board also signed off on a professional services agreement with CMT Labs to provide engineering services for the repair; services will be billed on an hourly rate of $150. Both contracts are pending solicitor review.
The engineer recommended that the lot not be used, so the area is cleared and won’t be used until the sinkhole is repaired.
“When the engineer went out and looked at it, it is a very small opening. But … if you look in further, it kind of fans out and it’s a much bigger opening underneath. And that’s why we had to shut things down because it’s right in the travel lane,” Franek said. “With vehicles coming in, it could be a problem. Especially with the weather that we’re having around here lately with the severity of the storms, we felt it best just to close it off and cover that up to try to keep it from further eroding.”
The sheriff’s office, located at 213 E. High Street, Bellefonte, posted on Facebook that though the parking lot is unusable, the office is still open. People should utilize street parking and the sidewalk to get to the front door, the post states.
