Meeting set over resignation

The Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority has called a special meeting to discuss the expected resignation of Executive Director Allen Bellas, authority board President Paul Paternoster said Friday.

The meeting will be at noon Oct. 13, he said.

Bellas had informed Paternoster on Wednesday that he would be resigning within 10 days because of something connected to the federal corruption probe. Paternoster said Bellas indicated that he was “in trouble.”

Paternoster said he had not received Bellas’ resignation as of Friday afternoon.

Bellas has not been in the authority office since he notified Paternoster of his resignation, Paternoster said. Bellas is using vacation days, workers say.

Workers believe Bellas has accumulated about 100 unused vacation/sick days, though that could not be verified through records Friday.

It’s also unclear if acceptance of Bellas’ resignation would force the authority to reimburse him for unused leave.

Paternoster said he will discuss that matter with authority Solicitor Garry Taroli.

Taroli said Friday he is reviewing the authority’s personnel policy and will discuss his findings regarding unused vacation and sick time with the authority board.

Bellas, who is paid $59,000 as authority executive director, could not be reached for comment Friday.

Paternoster said the authority will have to discuss numerous issues, including who will be in charge until a replacement is found and what project documents must be revised to remove Bellas’ name. There is no assistant executive director. Paternoster said a veteran executive assistant and controller have been running the office in Bellas’ absence.

Its main mission is operating and rehabilitating more than 50 miles of active train track.

The authority and its management division, the Luzerne County Rail Corp., had agreed to lease and then buy the rail line for $7.8 million from Dunmore businessman Louis DeNaples in 1996.

The authority helped the community by taking over the rail line when DeNaples and his company, the former Pocono Northeast Railway, went out of business in 1993, abruptly halting service.

The county came up with $3.5 million to save the rail in 2001, when the authority defaulted on a mortgage. The bailout came from bond funds and a $1.8 million community development loan.

County commissioners had hoped last year that the authority would start repaying the loan to help with the county’s financial struggles, but Bellas told the county that the agency is “broke.”

The authority also bought the Market Street Square train station in downtown Wilkes-Barre more than three years ago for $5.8 million using county community development funds. Renovation of the historic station has been on hold indefinitely due to a lack of funds to renovate the property, Bellas has said.

A neighborhood revitalization project in Edwardsville and Kingston is also being managed by the authority.

The authority also oversees a tax-incentive program to redevelop the Valmont Plaza shopping center site on Route 93 in West Hazleton. Roughly 80 percent of new property taxes generated by the project over the next 17 years will be used to pay off a $4.7 million infrastructure improvement loan for the site.

A source familiar with the investigation said Bellas has signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors and is expected to be charged soon with accepting money in connection with some official action.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he did not know if the alleged wrongdoing was related to Bellas’ position on the authority, the school board or some other entity.

Bellas was appointed executive director of the Redevelopment Authority in August 2004, even though he had been arrested several months earlier on charges of drunken driving while in a vehicle owned by the authority. He previously served as assistant executive director.

The authority is overseen by a five-member board. Commissioners appoint the authority board members but have no say in the board’s activities or those it employs.

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County Redevelopment Authority calls special session over executive director Bellas, who said he’s ‘in trouble.’

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