Tonight, Luzerne County Council will vote on a tax break, money for getting rid of mold in judicial chambers, and a request to fund a parking lot in front of Wyoming Area Catholic School in Exeter.
Wyoming Avenue Development Group LLC wants a tax break for a problematic 16-acre area on Wyoming Avenue in Exeter.
The request is part of the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) program for rundown properties. This means the property owner keeps paying real estate taxes on the land and gets a real estate tax discount on the new development portion for up to ten years.
Wyoming Avenue Development is suggesting these reductions for new construction: 90% in the first three years; 80% in the fourth and fifth years; 70% in the sixth year; 60% in the seventh; 50% in the eighth; 40% in the ninth; and 30% in the final year.
Both Exeter Borough Council and the Wyoming Area School Board have agreed to give breaks for the four properties located at 1714, 1800, and 1946 Wyoming Ave.
Lawyer Raymond A. Hassey, manager of Wyoming Avenue Development Group, stated that he took on the project to address years of complaints about the unsightly property, which had attracted criminals and a 40-person homeless camp.
The site is not in a busy retail center and has challenges that will increase development costs, including two mine shafts needing mediation and degraded infrastructure from a previous mobile home park set up for those displaced in the 1972 Susquehanna River flood, he has said.
The storm sewer system faces Wyoming Avenue, meaning costly underground retention basins will be needed to attract businesses that want to be as close to the highway as possible, he said.
Initial development plans demonstrate construction of four buildings at the site: a 20,487-square-foot grocery store; a 5,585-square-foot convenience store; and two retail stores measuring 10,640 square feet and 7,600 square feet — along with associated parking areas.
Over 75 permanent jobs are expected to be created.
Chambers used for legal proceedings
The county administration is requesting council approval of an emergency allocation of $169,570 from interest earnings on federal American Rescue Plan funding to cover mold and lead remediation in the courthouse chambers of county Court of Common Pleas Judges Lesa S. Gelb and Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr., as per the agenda.
Checking for environmental issues in paint and plaster has been finished, and the lengthy inspection reports are available on the agenda at luzernecounty.org.
County Manager Romilda Crocamo has stated that there is no safety problem for the public.
Parking lot
The agenda suggests an allocation of $280,000 from the county’s natural-gas recreation funding to the Diocese of Scranton for building the school parking lot.
The natural-gas funding is accessible because council chose to keep the money in reserve in case it wants to restart a recreation grant program for outside groups or use the funding for qualifying internal projects. Approximately $600,000 is in reserve, which would leave $320,000 if the allocation is approved.
Monsignor John J. Sempa, who is the pastor of Corpus Christi and St. Barbara parishes as well as the clergy member for Wyoming Area Catholic School, submitted a proposal stating that the parking lot would also be used for nearby sports fields and community events.
Last July, the bids showed that the project would cost $450,000 before permit fees and contingency allowances. The school system and parish can only cover the original $240,000 estimated price.
The current parking lot used by the school, youth football team, and for Memorial Day parade veteran ceremonies and other events is part of the adjacent St. Cecilia’s Church property, which is now closed and planned for eventual sale, as stated in the proposal.
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
The operational services division is requesting an additional $441,415 in American Rescue funding for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning replacement project, as the originally requested $1.5 million won't be enough.
The original application estimate was way too low, and equipment costs have increased, so without extra funding, planned improvements cannot go ahead at the courthouse and county-owned Penn Place building in downtown Wilkes-Barre, according to the agenda.
For instance, the courthouse chiller replacement was originally estimated at $640,000, but the updated estimate is $975,000. Officials have indicated that the courthouse air conditioning system needs to be replaced because the old chiller unit is too large for cooling needs after new courthouse windows were installed as part of an energy efficiency project.
At Penn Place, the chiller replacement was initially estimated at $350,000 but is now expected to cost $570,000, according to the agenda.
The county has already contracted for new HVAC units at two county-owned properties as part of the American Rescue project — the courthouse annex on River Street in Wilkes-Barre and the record storage building/coroner’s office in Hanover Township.
Tonight’s meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, and instructions for the remote attendance option are available under council’s online meetings link at luzernecounty.org. Airport work.
In the work session that follows, council will discuss a proposed five-year agreement with Delta Airport Consultants, Inc. for engineering and planning services related to projects at the county-owned Wyoming Valley Airport in Forty Fort and Wyoming.
Three companies responded to the county’s request-for-qualifications: Benesch, Delta Airport Consultants Inc., and KBA, according to officials.
After interviews and independent ranking, five of six county selection committee members ranked Delta Airport Consultants, Inc. as their first choice, leading to the Delta recommendation, as stated in the agenda.
A consultant is required because in July, council voted to allocate $6 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for capital improvements at the 110-acre airport, with some council members saying the county had largely ignored the facility’s needs for decades. Additional funding is also available through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Bureau of Aviation, according to the agenda.
Some of the work needs to be done to meet current aviation standards, like improving areas where planes land and take off. New hangars are also needed and would make money.
The American Rescue projects have to be finished by the end of 2026, officials say.
A decision would need to be made at a later council meeting to move forward with a contract.
Transportation exchange
Council has also been requested to consider an “agility agreement” with PennDOT District 4 and the county road and bridge department to exchange services, according to the work session agenda.
If one party works on the other’s infrastructure, reciprocal work of equal value or cost would be done.
Possible work includes drainage, patching, snow removal, pavement marking, signs, guiderails, lighting, sweeping, deer removal and roadside mowing, it said. A five-year agreement is proposed, with the option to end earlier.
Tonight, Luzerne County Council is expected to vote on a tax break, funding for mold removal in judicial chambers, and a request for funding for a parking lot in front of the Wyoming Area Catholic School in Exeter.
