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Only eight Luzerne County Council members are expected to vote Tuesday on a replacement for former councilman Eugene Kelleher.
Councilman Robert Schnee had abstained from participating, citing a conflict with at least one of the applicants.
Now Councilman Matt Vough said he won’t be attending the meeting in person or by phone. Vough said Friday he had a scheduled trip and planned to be back before Tuesday’s meeting, but a corrective flight change involving his reward points will put him in the air while the meeting is underway.
Four applicants left
The number of choices to fill Kelleher’s seat through Jan. 6 also has been reduced from five to four because a record check found applicant Frank Wojtash’s Republican registration did not date back to Kelleher’s November 2015 election as required by the county home rule charter.
After verifying that information, council Chairman Tim McGinley said he informed Wojtash, 22, of Plains Township, that he was not eligible for consideration.
The remaining contenders: Reed J. Dunn Jr., Rick Morelli, Anthony Ryba Jr. and Michael G. Vacendak.
At least six council members must support a nominee for an appointment to take effect.
Meeting schedule
Tuesday’s county meetings are on-the-road at the Back Mountain Regional EMA building on Route 118 in Dallas.
A council committee developing proposed changes to county codes will meet at 5 p.m.
Council will convene at 5:45 p.m. for a public hearing on a proposed ordinance amendment that would prohibit county council candidates from filling council vacancies that arise while they are on the ballot.
Council’s voting meeting is set to begin at 6 p.m. In addition to decisions on the ban and filling the vacancy, council plans to vote on the district attorney’s request to accept $40,000 in state Attorney General’s Office funding to create five part-time drug task force officer positions.
A work session will follow the voting meeting, with discussion topics that include a 2018 audit update and the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce’s request for a 10-year Keystone Opportunity Zone tax break extension on a Wright Township property it wants to sell for a new construction project.
Billboard
The county is once again seeking proposals from entities interested in designing, constructing and operating billboards on county-owned property.
Proposals are due Sept. 12.
The county issued a similar request earlier this year, but there were no responses, according to the purchasing department.
Billboards were recommended in the county’s five-year financial recovery plan prepared by consultant Public Financial Management in 2015 as a way to generate revenue.
The county has identified 13 prospective county-owned billboard sites in various municipalities, according to the posting at www.luzernecounty.org.
Election board
The county’s election board asked its solicitor Michael Butera last week to research the board’s powers.
Differing opinions have been offered over the years on whether the board or county administration ultimately controls decisions on personnel and the purchasing of equipment, including voting machines.
Before home rule, the three county commissioners also served as the election board except during periods they were on the ballot. Since home rule’s 2012 implementation, five citizens serve on the board.
Sports feat
On a lighter, non-government note, McGinley had a hole-in-one Aug. 4, the Wyoming Valley Country Club has announced.