Good news and bad news for Bellefonte Ave.

LOCK HAVEN - There's good news and not so good news on the Bellefonte Avenue Streetscape Project.

The good news is PennDOT's Hometown Streets Program has given an additional $200,000 toward Phase I of the work, which is already underway and on schedule.

The not-great news is even though Nestlerode Contracting Co. Inc. may complete the major portion of the project in just a few weeks, Phase II won't be able to follow it this fall. Funding timetables may cause it to wait until spring, City Manager Rich Marcinkevage told City Council on Monday.

Phase I is running from West Church to Commerce Street, and the Lock Haven contractor is installing sidewalks and curbing right on schedule, the city manager reported, in spite of an unexpected underground line discovered near KFC Restaurant.

Phase I also includes re-shaping the avenue's intersection with First Street for better traffic flow.

Because the new light poles have been delayed and still have not arrived, they may not be installed until after the majority of Phase I is completed, Marcinkevage said. The ornamental trees that will line the avenue also will be installed later, he said.

Phase II will continue the same sidewalk design, taking it from Commerce up the hill to North Jones Street.

Because the avenue has more of a boulevard feel than the Main Street shopping district, the sidewalks feature a smaller strip of brick and a larger strip of concrete than those along Main Street. The avenue street lights also will alternate from pedestrian height to boulevard style.

PennDOT originally gave the project $350,000, and the city planned to finance the rest with $720,000 of its Community Development Block Grant funds, money it has set aside year after year toward this project. However, Phase I bids came in higher than originally expected, with Nestlerode's bid totaling $979,714. The engineering costs also increased.

Earlier this year, the estimate for Phase II was $722,519.

The city turned to PennDOT for help, which is coming in the form of the additional $200,000.

A new CVS store and a new coffeehouse are proposed for Bellefonte Avenue where Phase I improvements are now taking place.

The coffeehouse, proposed by the Christian and Missionary Alliance, is to be installed in the former One Stop Audio building.

As designed, it does not meet the off-street parking requirements for "restaurants" under the city's zoning ordinance. However, this may no longer be a problem. Council voted Monday to change its ordinance so that coffeehouses have their own regulations.

To be allowed in the central business district and commercial zones, coffeehouses would be required to have only one off-street parking space per 150 square feet of floor space open to the public.

Restaurants are still required to provide one parking space per 50 square feet of public floor space.

Council will make the matter official when it takes it second and final vote at an upcoming meeting.

What is the difference between a coffeehouse and a restaurant, council asked.

"It's based on what they are serving," answered Zoning Officer Cyndi Walker.

Also with an eye to local development, council approved a letter of support for the Durrwachter Alumni and Conference Center on the Lock Haven University campus. Money toward the now-completed building is reportedly in the state's capital budget, but has not yet been released.

The letter calls the center "an important catalyst in the City of Lock Haven's downtown development" and states in part: "This newly-opened conference center will complement the... ongoing redevelopment project at the former site of Painter Stadium and Hanson Field. The city project, which includes a hotel, two 6,000-square-foot restaurants and residential condominiums, is estimated to generate an annual tax gain of $118,000 for the City of Lock Haven. The attractiveness of this development opportunity is greatly increased by the new Durrwachter Conference Center. The success of these two projects is clearly linked."

Plans are to link the center and the development site, now named Susquehanna Square, with a landscaped walkway, which also should encourage students to walk to and from the downtown shopping district.

Renovations to Hanger 1 at the city airport also are coming along well, council heard. A water leak there over the weekend was reportedly dealt with by the contractor.