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By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
Jennifer Learn-Andes on Facebook   |   @TLJenLearnAndes on Twitter

Luzerne County Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said she wants to obtain a status report on the Triple-A baseball franchise that the county owns with Lackawanna County.

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Steve Horne (left with hat), director of field operations at PNC Field in Moosic talks with groundskeepers as they stand in right field Tuesday afternoon.

Don Carey Times Leader Photo

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Kristen Rose, president of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, speaks with a Times Leader reporter about the condition of the playing field Tuesday.

Don Carey

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“Luzerne County has not had any updates or meetings on this matter for a long time,” Petrilla said.

“With the controversy over the field these last few days I want to arrange a meeting with Lackawanna County Commissioners for an update on the whole project/franchise issue.”

A franchise is a claim to house a Triple-A team, and the franchise owned by both counties is currently filled by the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

Lackawanna County’s previous commissioner majority approved an agreement with SWB Yankees LLC in 2007 that includes a purchase option, which means the franchise could be sold if certain assurances aren’t met. Those assurances include construction of a new stadium.

Ongoing drainage problems in the outfield at PNC Field have forced the postponement of some recent games, raising concerns that the Yankees operation will eventually challenge the adequacy of the local facility and be more interested in exercising the franchise purchase option.

SWB Yankees is a partnership of Mandalay Baseball and the New York Yankees.

Luzerne County Commissioners voted two years ago to hire lawyers to protect the county’s ownership interests in the franchise, saying Lackawanna County shut them out of the 2007 agreement that might impact the future of the franchise. A lawsuit was threatened but never filed by Luzerne County.

These law firms were paid $60,904 in fees to date, at a rate of up to $300 per hour, according to the county controller’s office.

The county paid Harrisburg-based Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, P.C., $18,987 in 2007 and $60 in 2008.

The other firm -- Myers, Brier & Kelly, LLP, in Scranton – was paid $12,241 in 2007 and $29,616 last year.

Luzerne County minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said he supports Petrilla’s call for a meeting. He still wants legal clarification regarding the franchise because he doesn’t believe the 2007 agreement is valid without Luzerne County’s acceptance.

Urban said he wants to make sure the franchise stays here and that profits due to Luzerne County are not claimed by Lackawanna County.

The original franchise purchase agreement specified that franchise sale proceeds were to be split equally between the two counties, after reimbursing Lackawanna County’s stadium authority $345,000 for its cost to bring the franchise here 22 years ago.