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A $54,731 payment for water at the River Common fountain has been raising eyebrows at Luzerne County government meetings.
The 2016 payment was made public in the administration’s recent updated report on how the county spent its natural gas recreation funding.
The county has received $228,623 to $307,629 in funding annually from natural gas drilling annually since the state authorized such earmarks under Act 13 in 2012.
In addition to the fountain, the funds have been spent on black fly spraying, recreation grants to outside entities and up to 10 percent of the salaries for building and ground and engineering workers as permitted by law, the new report says. The council is seeking proposals to award a portion of the $65,457 in remaining funds.
According to the county administration’s new report, a total $260,263 in natural-gas funding was spent on the fountain from 2012 through 2016, including expenditures for insurance, testing, repairs and chemicals.
The annual fountain payments ranged from $30,614 to $56,285 from 2012 to 2015 but increased to $82,568 in 2016, largely due to the water bill.
Councilman Stephen A. Urban questioned and mocked the fountain water expense at two recent meetings. C. David Pedri told him the bill stemmed from a fountain leak that predated his hiring as county manager.
This week Councilwoman Kathy Dobash sent an email seeking answers about the “outrageous” water bill, including the meter reading.
The fountain at the park along the Susquehanna River was designed to capture and recirculate water.
County Operational Services Division Head Edmund O’Neill said Friday the bill predates his hiring and was caused by a leak when the fountain was last turned on in 2014. The bill was not paid until 2016 because the solicitor’s office had questioned the amount and sought a payment reduction, but O’Neill said he wasn’t involved in those negotiations.
Prior operational head Tanis Manseau publicly discussed the problem at a 2015 county recreational advisory board meeting, saying he had suspected a serious leak because the county’s water usage increased when the fountain was turned on in 2014.
Cameras sent through the pipes verified cracks in several spots that would cost about $200,000 to repair, Manseau said at that time.
Recreation advisory board members had pushed for reactivation of the fountain on weekends in 2014. Located at the Wyoming Valley levee portal opening between the county courthouse and Market Street Bridge, the fountain had been rarely used since it was added to the revamped riverfront recreational area unveiled in June 2009, largely because county officials said they couldn’t afford water testing.
County officials agreed to the turn it back on in 2014 after lawyers determined the fountain doesn’t fall under the same category as public swimming pools, which require water testing twice a day when they are operational.
The administration did not ask the council to earmark past-borrowed funds or natural-gas funding for fountain repairs due to more pressing needs.
County engineer Larry Plesh said last year estimated the county’s water bill would increase at least $2,000 to operate the fountain only one weekend without repairs.
“It’s like literally turning on a 3-inch water hose and letting it run all weekend. We can’t afford that,” Plesh has said.
O’Neill said he shut off water service to the fountain last year as a precaution, and he is not pushing to repair and reactivate the amenity.
“Yes it would be nice to get it operational, but at this point I don’t feel it’s a priority to get it fixed,” O’Neill said. “It’s far too costly to operate. It’s an operating nightmare.”
Wilkes-Barre officials also have encountered problems with the Public Square fountain, which has been out of commission for years, he noted.
City officials have been studying options for a Public Square facelift since 2015, but its still unclear if the fountain or another water feature will return, city Administrator Ted Wampole said Friday.
Coming up with a vision is easy, but funding it is the problem, Wampole said. The city doesn’t have the funds to repair the fountain, and investing in something that may not remain does not make sense, he said.
The fountain was first placed on Public Square in 1977 and has been out of service since 2010, according to published reports.