Inconsistent block generation time in a private POA network

[NullByteGTK]

• OpenEthereum version: 3.0.1
• Operating system: Linux
• Installation: Release binaries
• Fully synchronized: yes
• Network: Private network (POA)
• Restarted: yes

Currently running a private POA network with 2 nodes and force sealing enabled.
(Node2 was stopped which is why you see "0/25 peers" in the logs but it behaves the same even when both are up and running)

• Expected behavior:
  The time between each generated block should be close to the step duration.

• Actual behavior:
  Even though blocks are usually generated in 3 second intervals, sometimes it takes around 30seconds to generate a new block.

2020-10-13 03:24:26 UTC Imported #9634 0xeed6…981c (0 txs, 0.00 Mgas, 0 ms, 0.57 KiB)
2020-10-13 03:24:29 UTC Imported #9635 0x30b0…3cd0 (0 txs, 0.00 Mgas, 0 ms, 0.57 KiB)
2020-10-13 03:24:32 UTC Imported #9636 0xbc91…9572 (0 txs, 0.00 Mgas, 0 ms, 0.57 KiB)
2020-10-13 03:24:35 UTC Imported #9637 0xb264…341b (0 txs, 0.00 Mgas, 0 ms, 0.57 KiB)
2020-10-13 03:24:40 UTC    0/25 peers   83 KiB chain 8 bytes db 0 bytes queue 492 bytes sync  RPC:  0 conn,    1 req/s,  154 µs
2020-10-13 03:25:02 UTC Imported #9638 0x3df9…ebc6 (0 txs, 0.00 Mgas, 0 ms, 0.57 KiB)
2020-10-13 03:25:05 UTC Imported #9639 0xb120…68ba (0 txs, 0.00 Mgas, 0 ms, 0.57 KiB)
2020-10-13 03:25:10 UTC    0/25 peers   83 KiB chain 8 bytes db 0 bytes queue 492 bytes sync  RPC:  0 conn,    1 req/s,  154 µs
2020-10-13 03:25:38 UTC Imported #9640 0xe10d…61f2 (0 txs, 0.00 Mgas, 0 ms, 0.57 KiB)
2020-10-13 03:25:40 UTC    0/25 peers   84 KiB chain 8 bytes db 0 bytes queue 492 bytes sync  RPC:  0 conn,    1 req/s,  184 µs
2020-10-13 03:25:41 UTC Imported #9641 0xf505…12c8 (0 txs, 0.00 Mgas, 0 ms, 0.57 KiB)
2020-10-13 03:26:05 UTC Imported #9642 0x90f4…36e5 (0 txs, 0.00 Mgas, 0 ms, 0.57 KiB)
2020-10-13 03:26:08 UTC Imported #9643 0xa941…05a4 (0 txs, 0.00 Mgas, 0 ms, 0.57 KiB)
2020-10-13 03:26:10 UTC    0/25 peers   84 KiB chain 8 bytes db 0 bytes queue 492 bytes sync  RPC:  0 conn,    2 req/s,  157 µs
2020-10-13 03:26:40 UTC    0/25 peers   84 KiB chain 8 bytes db 0 bytes queue 492 bytes sync  RPC:  0 conn,    2 req/s,  154 µs