Moon Lake will reopen full time

PITTSTON – Moon Lake Park will soon be open seven days a week again – the campground included – thanks to stimulus funding, Luzerne County Commissioners announced during Thursday’s on-the-road meeting at Pittston City Hall.

County Human Resources Director Doug Richards was informed moments before the meeting that about eight stimulus-paid workers hired by the county Workforce Investment Development Agency will be assigned to the county-owned Plymouth Township park to provide maintenance and security.

The county workforce agency received about $2.2 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to create summer employment for the jobless and young adults in Luzerne County, Richards said.

Camping and regular hours should be restored in a week or two, Richards said. Though that won’t help those who wanted to camp there Memorial Day weekend, the camp will be up and running for the July 4 holiday, Richards said.

The pool will likely remain closed because it may be tough to find available lifeguards who meet program requirements on short notice, county officials said.

Budget problems prompted county officials to eliminate camping and swimming at the park and reduce operating hours.

The subject came up when Rich Adams, owner of Around Town Bicycles in Wilkes-Barre, presented 125 student letters and a petition signed by 3,600 county voters urging commissioners to reinstate park services.

Adams said he is selling more bikes because of an increasingly popular 20-mile beginner-to-expert trail built by volunteers at Moon Lake Park. He and other bike enthusiasts say they could draw hundreds of tourists to the area by holding national racing circuit biking events at Moon Lake – an idea embraced by the commissioners. These events would generate food sale and campsite revenue for the county, they say.

Commissioners said they will try to restore park funding in the 2010 county budget.

“Hopefully our next series of budget negotiations won’t be as dreadful as last year’s were, and that this problem won’t be before us for next summer,” said Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla.

Commissioners also unanimously voted Thursday to hire the Rosenn Jenkins & Greenwald law firm for $200 an hour to represent the county assessment appeals board in a property assessment mediation challenge filed by Hanover Township resident Vic Kopko.

Kopko also plans to file a lawsuit attempting to throw out the county’s reassessment.

Taxpayer Walter Griffith, who won the Republican nomination in the county controller race, asked commissioners why outside counsel is needed when the county has several staff solicitors.

The commissioners said assessment appeal board solicitor David Schwager is the only staff attorney who may handle the case by law because Kopko’s action is against the appeal board. However, Schwager is busy processing assessment mediations, and commissioners said they thought it would be unfair to put mediations on hold so he could focus on the Kopko matter.

Court filings are due because Kopko is trying to obtain court approval to perform discovery and reassessment company 21st Century Appraisals Inc. is trying to intervene in the matter, commissioners said.

Commissioner Greg Skrepenak said he’s criticized the new values but joined the other two commissioners in hiring outside counsel because he doesn’t want the new tax base – the county’s revenue “lifeline” – to be thrown out.

Commissioners also unanimously voted to grant the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry’s request to defer $2 million in loan repayments until the end of 2010. The organization requested the extension because of financial struggles.

Skrepenak said the chamber could be forced to file for bankruptcy if the payments aren’t delayed. That would hurt economic development and possibly prevent the county from recouping the money, he said.

Minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said he agreed to the request because chamber officials have assured him that the $2 million would be paid in December 2010. The organization also agreed to give commissioners quarterly updates on chamber finances until the money is repaid, he said.

Urban disagreed, saying the county waits until taxes are overdue two or three years before selling properties at back-tax sales. The county’s tax claim division is also willing to negotiate installment payments for property owners who have fallen behind in their taxes, Urban said.