Luzerne County remodeling former Air Reserve Center in Wyoming for recycling office

Luzerne County is remodeling the former Air Reserve Center in Wyoming in an environmentally-conscious way to house the county recycling department, with officials stressing county general fund tax dollars won’t be used to fund the project.

County Recycling Coordinator Beth DeNardi said she has been saving leftover landfill fees and grants for many years to create an office capturing the importance of recycling and protecting the environment. This funding must be used for recycling and cannot be reprogrammed to cover roads and bridges or other county expenses, officials said.

The county had taken possession of the vacant former reserve center on Wyoming Avenue around 2019, in part because it is near the county-owned Wyoming Valley Airport and County West Side Annex.

“Every effort will be made to ensure the building is reflective of products made with recycled materials, from the ceilings to the floor,” DeNardi said, noting all choices must conform with fire safety regulations.

For example, the plan includes carpets made with recycled plastic bottles. The county operational services division also is looking at tiles and ceiling blocks created from recycled material, she said.

“The theme is to be as green as we can make it,” said DeNardi.

Previously located in the West Side Annex, the recycling office was moved into the county engineering building on Reichard Street in Wilkes-Barre five years ago.

Contractors hired

The self-funded recycling center project was included in the annual county capital plan that county council approved last year, with a total $4 million anticipated budget.

County Acting Manager Brian Swetz signed off on five primary contracts related to the project after contractors were procured through an open bidding process, according to publicly posted documents.

The breakdown:

• General construction, Multiscape Inc., Pittston, $2,199,274

• HVAC, Troy Mechanical Inc., Moosic, $746,580

• Plumbing, Linco Construction Inc., Hunlock Creek, $134,800

• Fire protection, Integrity Fire Protection, Harveys Lake, $256,517

• Electrical, Apollo Group Inc., Kingston, $604,000

All five contracts contain a Jan. 26 completion date.

County Operational Services Division Head Greg Kurtz said the former reserve structure stood empty for years but is still in good condition.

“We will remodel the entire building and bring it back into use again,” Kurtz said. “This will provide some opportunity for expansion of recycling and storage to keep materials.”

DeNardi said she is currently the lone employee in the recycling office, and her county position is required by the state.

The landfill fee stems from a county solid waste plan enacted every 10 years specifying where the county and all 76 municipalities are permitted to dump their trash. The county and municipalities must negotiate per-ton dumping fees with their selected landfills, and part of the fee returns to the county to fund recycling programs, including public education and assistance with municipal electronic and glass recycling collections and paper shredding events, DeNardi said.

Once the new recycling office is operational, DeNardi wants to make its meeting room available for organizations and municipalities to hold classes and other gatherings.

“We’re looking forward to it. We are trying to think outside the box with this whole project,” DeNardi said.

Airport

Separate from the recycling office project, county council members are entertaining the possibility of allocating millions of dollars of the county’s federal American Rescue Plan funds for updates at the 110-acre Wyoming Valley Airport, which falls in both Forty Fort and Wyoming.

Established in 1929, the airport was acquired by the county in the 1940s.

Councilman Kevin Lescavage had proposed a $6.5 million American Rescue allocation for the airport.

Lescavage said he met with airport representatives to learn more about the facility and strongly believes it is an asset to the area. Upgrades are needed to keep the airport operational, he said.

In the past, the facility has required little county general fund subsidy because the state and federal government have covered most capital project costs, officials have said. The county receives a portion of revenue from fuel sales at the facility.

Some taxpayers had suggested selling the airport over the last two decades, but county officials have maintained it’s worth keeping for economic development and quality of life.