At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting Wilkes-Barre Police Department Chief Joseph Coffay responded to a resident’s question about gun violence in the city. The department works with federal agencies and its Anti-Crime Unit has made more than 250 arrests since it was put together two years ago. This year the unit took more than 50 guns off the street, Coffay said.
                                 Jerry Lynott | Times Leader

At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting Wilkes-Barre Police Department Chief Joseph Coffay responded to a resident’s question about gun violence in the city. The department works with federal agencies and its Anti-Crime Unit has made more than 250 arrests since it was put together two years ago. This year the unit took more than 50 guns off the street, Coffay said.

Jerry Lynott | Times Leader

Also: Public Square rink will have ‘simulated ice’

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WILKES-BARRE — City Council Tuesday closed out the year by getting ready for 2022 when it will meet remotely through March.

Council Chairman Tony Brooks said city Health Director Henry Radulski requested that Council not hold in-person meetings as the COVID-19 omicron variant wave began to drive up case counts across the country.

“The 13th (of January) will be remote,” Brooks said after Council’s combined work session and public meeting.

“We’re going to take it at three month chunks and then we’ll revisit it,” Brooks said.

The announcement signaled a return to earlier attempts to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Council held virtual meetings for most of 2020 and up until June of this year, streaming its proceedings online for public viewing and taking questions and hearing comments from people who called a designated phone line.

However, Council will meet in person to reorganize on Jan. 3 and appoint Beth Gilbert McBride chairwoman and Mike Belusko, vice chairman.

ARP spending authorized

At its final meeting for the year Tuesday, Council approved all 11 items on its agenda and authorized the city to spend a combined $586,858 in American Rescue Plan funds for the police department and a new ice rink to be installed on Public Square.

The city was awarded $37.1 million in ARP funds earlier this year as part of the $1.9 trillion financial aid package President Joe Biden signed into law to help with the nation’s recovery from the pandemic.

Responding to inquiries from Council about the rink, Mayor George Brown said pending approval of its purchase at a cost of $55,990 it could be installed as early as next month even if the temperature was above freezing.

“It’s simulated ice,” Brown said.

The rink will be 23 feet wide and 73 feet long and located in a flat area in front of the stage. Skating will be free, but people must bring their own skates, Brown said.

“You use regular ice skates and it’s just like a regular ice skating rink only you don’t have to worry about refrigeration,” Brown said.

The rink can be purchased as a tourism expenditure under the ARP guidelines, Brown said. The other purchases fall under ARP-approved policing expenditures:

• $36,052 to Polaris Sales Inc. for the purchase of a Polaris Ranger Crew Side-by-Side and a Polaris 570 Premium Quad.

• $55,000 to upgrade weapons and related accessories for the Wilkes-Barre City Police Department.

• $197,232 to Action Target Inc. to fully refurbish the firing range in the basement of police headquarters.

• $224, 584 to Ford Rottet Motors Inc. and Kovatch to purchase two Ford 2022 Interceptor SUVs with cages for prisoner transport, one Ford 2022 Interceptor SUV and a Ford 2022 F-150 Police Responder pickup for the police department.

Council voted to expand the permit parking boundaries for downtown residents by a half block on West Ross Street from Barnum Place to South Main Street.

With the second and final readings of two other ordinances, Council lowered the annual recycling and sewer maintenance fees to $50 each.

Brown included the reduced fees in his $54.4 million balanced that Council approved at the Dec. 7 meeting. In order for the new fees to go into effect, Council had to amend the ordinances pertaining them.

Council approved a $3 million Tax and Revenue Anticipation Note for 2022 issued by FNCB. The city will pay approximately $22,000 in interest for the note that’s taken out at the start of the year to provide cash flow until revenues begin to come in. The note is paid off at the end of the year.

Council also agreed to allow the city to sell its outstanding tax claims for 2021, 2022 and 2023 to the Wilkes-Barre Finance Authority for the estimated amounts of real estate tax settlements for those years.

Coffay answers questions

Police Chief Joseph Coffay answered questions from resident Martin Dartoe about gun violence. Coffay said his door is always open to discuss issues raised by residents. He added the department partners with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI that will be housed out of police headquarters to work on the Safe Streets Task Force.

Coffay said the department’s Anti-Crime Unit has been very active since it was put together two years ago. “They have over 250 criminal arrests just in this past year. We’ve taken over 50 guns off the street that I can count. It’s probably even more,” Coffay said.

Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.