County to seek prisoner store bids

The Luzerne County Prison Board voted Monday to bid out commissary purchases, ending a no-bid deal that led to more than $300,000 in sales to a company with ties to a county official.

Prison Warden Gene Fischi said he thought the board wants him to bid out the hundreds of commissary items individually, from toiletries to fruit pies.

Board Chairman Wister Yuhas had the same understanding, but Commissioners Greg Skrepenak, Maryanne Petrilla and Stephen A. Urban said they thought the prison would be bidding out the package to one company.

Skrepenak, Petrilla and Yuhas voted for the change during Monday’s prison board meeting. Urban attended by conference call but lost telephone contact during that vote.

He supports the individualized bidding because he wants the business to continue going to local companies. An overall management contract would likely go to one of two out-of-state companies that have expressed an interest in the work, he said.

Skrepenak said he made the motion with the understanding that everything will provided by the one successful bidder. He expects a company from outside the area will receive the entire package.

“My whole thing has been to keep business local. Unfortunately, it won’t be that way anymore,” he said.

Urban said he supports an award to one company. The prison wouldn’t have to pay the company anything, and the county would receive a percent of the company’s profit to spend on inmate services that would otherwise have to be purchased with tax dollars, he said.

Also, two commissary employees could then be eliminated to save money, Urban said.

The commissary purchases were not bid out in the past because some officials argued that inmates use their own money to buy the products.

Prison board members decided to rethink that stance after recent discoveries that no-bid work was steered to businesses owned by the friends of county officials.

For example, $320,342 in candy bars and snacks was purchased for the commissary from FR Wholesale, which is owned by Frank Rodano. Rodano is a close friend of Skrepenak and former county chief clerk/manager Sam Guesto.

“I just think full disclosure to the public is what’s needed for us to regain public trust,” Petrilla said.

Last year, the prison bought about half a million dollars in commissary goods and then marked them up 7 to 15 percent before inmates purchased them. The profit is used to buy inmate extras such as cable TV, newspapers and haircuts.

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Monday, the board awarded numerous bids for meats, dairy products, frozen foods and grocery and non-perishable foods.

The bid awards include items that were previously part of a no-bid contract given to Commonwealth Foods Inc., as well as items that were bid out earlier this year, but were put on hold due to the controversy that erupted over the Commonwealth Food contract, said Greg Hunsinger, purchasing director.

•Groceries and non perishables: Wholesale Liquidation, Philadelphia, $177,115.65 for 49 items; Karetas Foods Inc., Reading, $153,363.59 for 102 items; Schiff’s Food Service, Taylor, $61,479 for 46 items; DW Richards Sons, Avoca, $37,876.15 for 14 items; Keyco Distributors, Nanticoke, $7,332.50 for one item; City Mager, Wilkes-Barre, $3,740.15 for 11 items; Glen Carbonic Gas Co., Plymouth, $2,175 for one item.

• Fresh and frozen foods: Schiff’s Foods, $32,379 for 14 items; DW Richards Sons, $20,128.05 for 11 items; Keyco Distributors, $17,805 for three items; West Side Dairy, $9,000 for one item.

• Dairy products: West Side Dairy, $23,400 for one item; City Mager, $4,819 for two items.

• Meats: Karetas Foods Inc., $85,644 for 34 items; Darling Meats, LaPlume, $15,430 for three items; DW Richards Sons, $11,358 for four items; Schiff’s Food Service, $7,502 for six items; Keyco Distributors, $2,190.25 for one item.

Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.

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Prison Board officials differ on what kind of bids to ask for.

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