Luzerne County is seeking a new drug and alcohol administrator, according to an online posting.
According to the administration, the position is open because Ryan Hogan was terminated, and no specifics were provided due to personnel confidentiality.
Hogan had been appointed drug and alcohol administrator at the start of 2020.
The position is advertised at $70,000 to $76,000, and applications are due Monday, said the posting under the county human resources department career opportunities section at luzernecounty.org.
Coroner position
The county coroner’s office is seeking a senior field investigator/lab assistant at $42,025 annually, with applications also due Monday, another posting said.
This position is open because Kaitlin Keating-Storz was promoted to chief deputy coroner last month, according to the latest personnel report.
County audit
County Budget/Finance Division Head Mary Roselle said the county’s outside 2024 audit will be publicly released Monday, which is the county home rule charter deadline.
That deadline will change if voters approve a new charter in November.
The proposed revised charter extends the June 30 audit completion deadline two more months due to concerns the schedule is too aggressive.
Study commission
The county’s Government Study Commission, which is drafting the proposed new charter, will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.
Instructions to attend remotely will be posted under council’s online meetings section (scroll down) at luzernecounty.org.
Recreation complex
County council voted last week to continue an agreement for Forty Fort to manage and maintain the county’s 35-acre sports complex, which is located off Wyoming Avenue near the county-owned Wyoming Valley Airport.
In lieu of rental payments to the county, the borough must use any money collected from usage fees and other sources to maintain the complex and provide programs and recreational activities.
There are three leases covering different sections of the complex that run through the end of 2029, with the option to extend for additional terms.
The borough operates and maintains a compost facility on a portion of the land and allows the Forty Fort Soccer Club to lease some fields for its youth soccer program, officials said. Separate from the portion leased by the Forty Fort Soccer Club, the complex also includes nine soccer fields, two softball fields, a pavilion, cricket course and nine-hole disc golf course. The borough is considering adding a dog park.
County officials first sought outside assistance in 2010 because the complex was operating at a loss.
Whitewater Challengers Inc. took on the risk of leasing and operating the complex but chose not to renew the agreement in 2019, prompting the borough to step up as part of an overall plan to make the complex a recreation center.
American Rescue
Council also approved an extension for the Beaver Brook Association to complete its American Rescue Plan Act-funded project from June 30 to the end of this year.
The association was awarded $120,000 to purchase a water connection system for its Hazle Township residential community. It recently obtained a list of materials that will be required for the connection and joined the state’s COSTARS cooperative purchasing program. More time is needed for the association to work with COSTARS to obtain the best pricing for the materials, its submission said.
Beaver Brook will be connecting to a water line constructed as part of an adjacent warehouse project, it said. The association will store the connection materials until the water line is completed.