In addition to receiving and announcing the three manager finalists Tuesday, Luzerne County Council is set to vote on the administration’s request to keep the county’s American Rescue Plan consultant at a cost of up to $908,392 for three more years.
Council had unanimously voted last June to hire Columbia, Maryland-based Booth Management Consulting for up to $350,000 to provide guidance for one year on American Rescue eligibility screening and funding administration.
The county budget/finance division said Booth is nearing completion of its first-year contract and recommended retaining the company for continuity in processing recently awarded grants to ensure all federal compliance requirements are met.
To date, council has approved 145 American Rescue allocations, including internal ones.
In a lengthy discussion two weeks ago, some council members said they want to consider a change and seek proposals from other entities.
Consultant head Robin Booth said the extensive documentation and reviews her company performed to date were essential to withstand federal scrutiny and said some challenges encountered with the application process stemmed from the 11-member council’s decision to handle the award determination instead of relying on a smaller committee experienced in such evaluations.
Tuesday’s voting meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with instructions for remote attendance posted under council’s online meeting link at luzernecounty.org.
Public hearings
Before Tuesday’s voting meeting, at 5:40 p.m., council will hold public hearings on two ordinances up for approval that evening.
The first would allow weight limits on county-owned roads, starting with Honey Hole Road in Butler Township. Companies that want to regularly use the road for repeated heavy truck traffic would have to obtain a permit and put up money to help compensate the county for damage, officials said.
The second ordinance would amend the county’s capital budget to earmark $357,111 for the sheriff’s department to purchase Tasers, soft body armor and rifle plates and make upgrades involving magnetic door locking systems at county facilities. County council had cut county Sheriff Brian Szumski’s funding request to cover the expenses in the 2023 general fund operating budget in December, promising to find other funding sources.
County Acting Manager Brian Swetz said the capital fund contains approximately $2 million not earmarked for projects.
Manager search
During the work session, which follows the voting meeting, the county’s three-citizen Manager Search Committee will provide an overview of the process it used to choose three finalists for the top manager position.
The committee also will hand over the names of the three, in ranked order, along with supporting documentation.
Council Chairwoman Kendra Vough said the finalists’ names will be publicly announced Tuesday evening, which was the practice followed in the prior search. She also expects the finalists will be publicly interviewed by council as they were the last time.
Vough said she is hopeful council can make a selection before its May 23 meeting. Seven of 11 council votes are required to hire the manager.
Swetz has been acting manager since prior manager Randy Robertson ended work in November.
Duryea development
Also during the work session, council will discuss two matters related to complaints raised by Duryea residents about auto auction business Copart-Scranton’s expansion, which cleared out a wooded area along residential properties that had emerged after coal mining ceased there many years ago.
Council members said they don’t have authority to stop the expansion but would work on a letter urging Copart to consider a tree buffer zone along the portion of its site fronting McAlpine Street residences.
The proposed letter attached to the agenda informs Copart that council has received numerous complaints about the “unsightliness and loss of natural resources.” It acknowledges Copart has secured all zoning permissions, permits, land development and stormwater management plan approvals to pursue the work it has completed to date and asks the company to consider installing a fence that is not see-through and planting a strip of evergreen trees to improve the appearance of the site in all seasons.
The draft letter also proposes an earthen berm to block noise.
“Best of luck with your business. Please let us know if you can be a good neighbor and accommodate any of our requests,” it said.
Secondly, council will discuss a new policy requiring the county to use certified mail instead of regular mail when property owners are notified of zoning change hearings involving nearby properties in Duryea and other municipalities that rely on the county for zoning.
State and county law does not require the county to send these notifications, but it has long been informal county practice to notify neighbors of zoning hearings, county Planning/Zoning Director Matthew Jones has said. At some point before his tenure, the informal county practice changed from certified mail notices to regular mail, he said.
Prison requests
Two county correctional services division requests are on the work session agenda.
Correctional Division Head James Wilbur is seeking additional county American Rescue funds toward prior-approved projects addressing deteriorating parapet walls atop the prison and replacing both prison elevators.
Otis Elevator Company, the lone bidder for the elevator project, submitted a $42,222.75 change order for labor and material increases due to a delay in the project award, the agenda said.
Meanwhile, Bloomsburg-based C&D Waterproofing, the low-bidder awarded the $1.4 million parapet wall contract, submitted a $55,910 proposal to perform additional work on a section of the roof that was found to be unrepairable, the agenda said.
The parapet project was necessary because the damaged masonry is causing water to infiltrate inside, mainly along two cell block areas, officials have said.
The prison’s two elevators date back to the 1980s. Some repairs were completed after a fifth-floor elevator door swung open at the base in 2016, resulting in the deaths of a correctional officer and an inmate, but officials said the motor system and controls must be updated.
The second prison request seeks a one-year contract extension with WellPath for inmate medical services. The current three-year contract expires on May 14. Extensive documentation is posted with the agenda outlining the proposed contract changes.
Opioid funding
County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce is asking council to form an Opioid Advisory Committee to recommend allowable and valuable uses for compensation from litigation against opioid manufacturers and wholesale distributors, the work session agenda says.
The county has $4 million in settlement receipts from 2022 and 2023 and is expected to receive more.
Sanguedolce said in his work session submission that he and other overseers of departments impacted by the opioid epidemic suggest the following serve on the committee: a county council member, the county manager, the county drug and alcohol administrator, the human services division head, a provider/consumer representative, the court administrator and the district attorney.