2 appraisals performed on station tracts

Luzerne County performed two appraisals before paying $5.8 million for Thom Greco’s Market Street Square train station in Wilkes-Barre in 2006, and both appraisals concurred that the property was worth $5.74 million, county Community Development Director Andrew Reilly said Tuesday.

The county’s earmarking of money to buy the property has became an issue because Greco revealed in federal court Monday that he bought televisions for an elected official who was involved in the county allocation.

Evidence points to former county commissioner Greg Skrepenak as the recipient of the free televisions because the other two elected officials who voted to allocate the money – county Commissioner Stephen A. Urban and former commissioner Todd Vonderheid – vehemently deny receiving anything from Greco.

Two well-placed sources also confirmed Greco provided the televisions to Skrepenak. Skrepenak could not be reached for comment Monday or Tuesday. His lawyer, Pete Moses, said Tuesday he has not spoken to Skrepenak about Greco’s claim.

Reilly said the primary appraisal was performed by Alan Rosen, of Rosen Real Estate Inc.

Stanley Komosinsky, a certified general appraiser from Hazleton, performed a review appraisal concluding that Rosen’s $5.74 million was accurate, Reilly said.

“A review appraisal is done to substantiate the initial appraisal. It’s like a backup,” Reilly said.

Based on the appraisal, the county Redevelopment Authority purchased the property with $5.8 million in federal community development funds provided by the county.

The purchase included three parcels totaling a little over 6 acres, according to county property records.

The train station, purchased for $3.56 million, is 4.16 acres. The remaining two parcels, totaling 2.08 acres, were purchased for $2.236 million and house a strip mall and former passenger train car. The strip mall has four units, and two are available for rent.

The authority won’t have to repay the $5.8 million to the county if the property remains under authority ownership, Reilly said. However, the county must be repaid if the property is sold, he said.

Commissioners said they were supporting the project to preserve the historic train station and make the site a hub for the county’s tourist promotion bureau. County officials also said the site could become a rail terminal if a passenger line connecting Northeastern Pennsylvania to Hoboken, N.J., materializes.

The train station property has continued to deteriorate because the authority has no funding to renovate the complex. Urban said he believes the authority should proceed with plans to borrow funds to make the structure suitable for occupants, using rental income to repay the loan.

County Tourism Director Merle Mackin said Tuesday that his agency is still interested in moving from Public Square to the Market Street site, but the agency can’t afford to pay more than its current rent of roughly $19,000 per year.

“Our desire would be to take a portion of that building. We were to have a small piece,” Mackin said.

The authority had approved a design plan estimating renovation at $3.5 million, but that included creation of an eatery and banquet areas. Former authority director Allen Bellas, who was charged as part of the federal corruption probe that ensnared Greco, said in 2009 that he believed the design could be scaled back to a cost of about $2 million.

Reilly, who has also been serving as acting authority director since Bellas’ departure, said the project is on the back burner because of a lack of government funding or private investors willing to take on such a project in a struggling economy.

The train station, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, still contains original paneling, molding and stained glass windows, though the windows have been put in storage because of a theft attempt.

Greco, 53, pleaded guilty Monday before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Thomas Blewitt in Scranton to a felony charge of failing to report a crime. He faces a maximum prison sentence of three years and a $250,000 fine, though federal sentencing guidelines call for zero to six months.

A statement read in court, affirmed by Greco, said Greco was approached by a public official trying to get televisions below retail prices. After delivery, Greco requested payment from the official, but the official declined. Greco ended up paying for the sets.

The elected official considered the televisions a gratuity or reward for the county’s loan to the redevelopment authority for the purchase of the Market Street property, the statement said.

When the FBI interviewed Greco about the televisions, he told investigators he was reimbursed for the televisions but couldn’t recall if it was by the elected official or a third party, according to the statement read in court. The charge against Greco stemmed from his failure to report his purchase of the televisions to authorities, said lead investigator John C. Gurganus Jr.

The two sources said Greco delivered the televisions to a local business at Skrepenak’s request, and they were later taken to Big Ugly’s Sports Bar & Grill, a now-closed Wilkes-Barre establishment owned by Skrepenak’s father.

The younger Skrepenak pleaded guilty in December to accepting a kickback from a contractor who benefited from a tax diversion program for a Jenkins Township construction project. Skrepenak, who lives in the township, awaits sentencing.

The Big Ugly’s liquor license remains in safekeeping with no request to reactivate it, according to the state Liquor Control Board.