Luzerne County Courthouse

Luzerne County Courthouse

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Tuesday night is shaping up to be busy for Luzerne County Council, with decisions set to be made on a Hazleton area project tax break, requested elected tax collector raises and two proposed home rule charter change ballot questions.

Numerous seats also may be filled on outside boards and authorities, and there’s a work session discussion planned on a revamped zoning ordinance that will require council adoption at a future meeting.

County Manager C. David Pedri also is set to present a report on how the county spent is coronavirus stimulus funding.

Instructions on attending all council virtual meetings is posted on its public meetings online link at luzernecounty.org.

First on schedule

Tuesday’s virtual gathering starts with required public hearings on Councilman Walter Griffith’s proposal to place two charter-change questions on the May 18 primary election ballot for voters to decide.

Hearings are an opportunity for citizens to share their opinion on the matter.

The first hearing is at 5:30 p.m. on a ballot question about changing the county election board structure.

Five citizens currently serve on the election board — two Democrats and two Republicans appointed by council and a fifth citizen of any party affiliation selected by the four council-appointed citizens. This fifth citizen serves as board chair and currently is a Democrat, although past chairs have been Republican and Independent.

Griffith wants to eliminate the fifth citizen/chair seat and add three county council members to make it a seven-member board.

With this plan, a council majority would appoint all seven board members. The four citizen seats would have to be two Democrats and two Republicans, but there is no political party affiliation requirement for the three council seats.

Second hearing

A public hearing will follow at 5:45 p.m. on Griffith’s proposed ballot question about allowing council to hire its own solicitor instead of relying on the county law office.

Drafters of the charter that took effect in 2012 argued a unified law division representing all county officials and departments would end litigation between county departments, reduce the number of solicitors and allow the lawyers to represent the county as a whole instead individual branches.

Griffith has argued the law office has an inherent conflict in representing council because it falls under the supervision of the county manager, or executive branch.

Voting meeting

Council is slated to vote on both ballot questions during the voting meeting that starts at 6 p.m.

A synopsis of some other matters to be decided:

• Appointing council members to a joint-county committee studying potential benefits of consolidating the Luzerne County Transportation Authority and County of Lackawanna Transit System (COLTS). Hazleton Transit, which covers transportation in the county’s southern half, also would be invited to participate, council Chairman Tim McGinley said.

• Setting rates for 68 tax collectors who are elected this year, with any changes taking effect for their new four-year terms that begin in 2022. Elected collectors currently receive $2.50 for each paid county tax bill and requested a 10-cent increase annually, bringing their per-bill receipt to $2.90 in the fourth year. It’s possible a different structure will be proposed because several council members expressed concerns about the raise.

• Approval or rejection of a tax break for a $500 million project to construct five warehousing and manufacturing structures totaling 5.5 million square feet on a tract badly scarred from past coal mining and two dumps in Hazleton and Hazle Township.

The developer may be proposing a payment in lieu of taxes Tuesday that would help compensate the county for giving up real estate tax revenue on the structures (not the land) for a decade. The site was idle for decades and likely will remain undeveloped for decades more without a tax break, supporters say.

• Select citizens to fill unpaid seats on several outside boards, including two on the county Convention Center Authority that oversees the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township, one on the county Flood Protection Authority that manages the Wyoming Valley Levee and one on the Luzerne County Community College Board of Trustees.

Work session

During the work session following the voting meeting Tuesday, Pedri will provide a county spending breakdown for its federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding.

The county received $30.8 million in coronavirus funding. In July, the administration announced plans to keep $8.6 million for specific projects and coronavirus expenses in multiple departments and to earmark $22 million to small businesses, municipalities, police departments, nonprofits and other outside entities impacted by the pandemic

Also on the work session agenda: discussion of a proposed county zoning ordinance update — the first in decades.

Thursday meetings

The Luzerne County Cares Commission will meet virtually at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Council’s Election Inquiry Committee will gather virtually at 6 p.m. that night to finish drafting its report of recommendations.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.