Bellefonte Borough Council approves several actions; RACP waterfront forms and cooperative agreements move forward

Bellefonte Borough Council members recorded a series of votes on Feb. 15 on consent items, grant and cooperative‑agreement actions, budget and procurement procedures, and police policy updates. Several motions were unanimous or near‑unanimous; two measures carried with recorded minority votes.

Why it matters: The council approved administrative steps that affect municipal capital projects, grant administration and contracts and formalized updated police policies that will govern department conduct.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to move items not on the agenda to an earlier position for public comment: unanimous (roll call vote: all present voted yes). No further action beyond procedural change.

- Motion to table the executive session and move it to March 3, 2025: recorded and approved by roll call (vote recorded as yes by a majority present).

- Consent agenda (routine items): passed unanimously by roll call.

- RACP funding forms for waterfront redevelopment (approval to submit and sign contingent on updated cooperative agreements): passed 7–2 (motion carried). The motion included a request that borough staff review and update cooperative agreements before signing.

- Paving bid process: council authorized staff to open bids, review, adjust to the budget and approve the lowest responsible bidder; unanimous.

- Ordinance amendment (Chapter 108 police section): motion to advertise amendment for council vote on March 3, 2025; passed unanimously.

- Resolution adopting updated Bellefonte Police Department policies (Resolution No. 021882025‑01): passed by roll call (unanimous vote recorded in the meeting minutes).

- Request for proposals (RFP) for grant writing services (authorization to issue an RFP): passed 6–3 (motion carried). The motion authorizes staff to advertise and solicit proposals for grant writing; council members debated whether to retain in‑house capacity.

- Cooperative agreement assistance for the former Sutton Engineering property (Belfonte Works): council approved contingent assistance and directed staff to have the cooperative agreement reviewed and updated by the borough solicitor; unanimous.

What the motions mean: The RACP waterfront and Sutton Engineering cooperative‑agreement approvals move both projects into a phase where borough staff and solicitors will finalize formal agreements prior to execution, and the paving bid authorization allows staff to reconcile bid totals with the borough budget before awarding contracts. The police policies resolution finalizes an updated policies manual for the department; the advertised ordinance will be considered at the March 3 meeting.

Notable dissent and follow‑up: Two votes split 7–2 and 6–3; council members questioned timelines and asked staff to return with corrected cooperative‑agreement language and to confirm budget line items for the grant‑writing RFP. The council instructed staff to post the Center County transportation update and authorized follow‑up reporting in several instances.

Ending: Council did not take final construction or funding actions that evening but authorized staff and solicitors to move forward on contracts, cooperative agreements and procurements; several items will return to council for final approval at future meetings.