Several Luzerne County government meetings scheduled before Thanksgiving holiday

Luzerne County government has a busy virtual meeting schedule in the three days leading up to Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday.

The county Election Board is set to meet at 9 a.m. Monday to vote on certification of the Nov. 3 general election results.

County council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, and the election board will meet to discuss various post-election matters at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Attendance directions for both election board meetings are posted under council’s authorities/boards/commissions online meeting link at luzernecounty.org. The link to council’s meeting is through its public meetings online section.

Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving are holidays in the county’s collective bargaining contracts and non-union personnel policy, although buildings are on a reduced operating schedule until Nov. 29 regardless due to rising coronavirus cases and three workers testing positive.

Juvenile detention

Council’s Tuesday voting agenda includes decision on a resolution authorizing the county manager to negotiate a sales agreement with Wilkes-Barre-based Castillo Real Estate LLC for the former juvenile detention center.

In response to the county’s public advertisement, Castillo submitted the lone $50,000 purchase offer, with plans to renovate the property for office space and loft apartments.

Constructed as a women’s prison in 1937, the three-story brick Wilkes-Barre building has been vacant since the county stopped sending youths there in 2002. The structure overlooks the county’s Water Street prison and is accessible from a now-gated driveway off North River Street.

Budget amendments

Several 2021 budget cuts proposed by county Councilman Walter Griffith also are on the voting agenda.

Council held off on these reductions in the judicial services and records division and correctional system to give impacted managers an opportunity to respond.

Another tabled item was Griffith’s suggestion to reduce the Luzerne County Transportation Authority’s allocation by $180,037. Council unanimously agreed to wait and obtain a response from the authority, including verification on whether the county match decrease could jeopardize the authority’s receipt of state funding.

Repository

A lengthy list of proposed repository sales is up for discussion during the work session.

Repository properties are available for sale at any time because they did not sell at prior popular delinquent real estate tax auctions.

The proposed sale list is posted with the agenda.

As with all work session matters, council would have to vote at a future meeting for the sales to take effect.

LCTA consolidation

Also on the work session agenda is a county Transportation Authority request for council to appoint members to a committee focused on the authority’s proposed management consolidation with the County of Lackawanna Transit System (COLTS).

The authority board wants to pursue this option to save money and improve the quality of management and efficiency, according to a letter from authority board Chairman Charles Sciandra.

The committee would contain representatives from both counties and make recommendations on how to proceed after reviewing costs and benefits and expected reductions in payment matches required from both counties, Sciandra said.

Budget presentation

As part of council’s ongoing proposed budget review, the county operational services division will present its requested expenditure and receipt figures for 2021 during Tuesday’s work session.

This division covers the planning/zoning, building/grounds, road/bridges, engineering and 911 departments, the boiler plant and emergency management agency.