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WILKES-BARRE — The Luzerne County Transportation Authority has the land needed for its new facility, but not two public streets it’s asking the city to vacate for the project.
Attorney Joseph Blazozek, solicitor for the LCTA, and Lee Horton, its executive director, during city council’s work session Monday night presented a project update and appealed for an ordinance that would turn over sections of East Ross Street and South Pennsylvania Avenue.
Blazozek stressed the section of South Pennsylvania Avenue in question is on the books, but not part of the adjacent thoroughfare with the same name.
“It will have nothing to do in any way shape or form with the current flow of traffic, but it will give us total control of the site and that will allow us to move forward with the development that’s on the drawing boards right now,” Blazozek said.
The ordinance will be on the agenda for council’s voting session Thursday night and the first of two readings necessary for the transfer.
LCTA acquired the former Murray Complex site to consolidate its operations and move them from the West Side. The project estimated to cost between $22 million and $27 million is funded mainly by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
“There’ll be a lot of things happening, but unfortunately a lot of the things that do occur with this project are timed through PennDOT, which is the primary source of our funds, ” Blazozek said. “So there isn’t a lot of detail we can go into tonight about that.”
Horton said the project will bring 175 jobs to the city and completion is between four and four-and-a-half years away.
State funds are being sought for another project. City Administrator Rick Gazenski briefed council on a $2 million request for funds through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program for the Wilkes University Pharmacy Initiative Project.
With council’s approval the city would apply to the state for the money that’s being repurposed from a $4 million grant awarded in 2008 for the Stegmaier Lofts project, Gazenski said. “The project was never able to get off the ground,” he said.
Some of the money went toward renovating the former Springbrook Water Co. building on North Franklin Street for the engineering school at King’s College, Gazenski said.
Council also will be asked to amend an ordinance pertaining to the storage of motor vehicles on private property. As it’s worded, a motor vehicle “unable to move under its own power” is labeled a nuisance. The change eliminates that language and instead lists 20 conditions including broken headlamps or tail-lamps, missing tires, doors or windows that rendered a vehicle a nuisance.
The appointment of Jean Brodie-Druby to the Shade Tree Commission is on the agenda too.
Sewer system sale
Following the work session Gazenski said council members will be briefed on Mayor Tony George’s proposal to sell the sewer system in order to stabilize the city’s finances. The details were not available to be included in the mayor’s 2020 general fund budget presentation last month.The proposed $52.6 million balanced budget does not contain a property tax increase.
George estimated the sale could raise $30 million. Without a sale, the city’s options are raising property taxes or applying for a financially distressed declaration from the state under Act 47, Gazenski said.
The briefings will be done Wednesday and Thursday and none of them will have a quorum of three council members so there will be no violation of the state Sunshine Law, Gazenski said.
Public Financial Management of Philadelphia, the city’s financial adviser, has been reviewing the two bids from Aqua American and Pennsylvania American Water and preparing a presentation for council to vote on in a public meeting, Gazenski said.