Luzerne County Courthouse File photo At tonight’s meeting, Luzerne County Council is set to vote on a tax break, an earmark for mold remediation in judicial chambers and a request for funding toward a parking lot in front of the Wyoming Area Catholic School in Exeter.
Wyoming Avenue Development Group LLC is seeking a tax break for a troublesome 16-acre tract on Wyoming Avenue in Exeter.
The request is under the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) program for blighted properties, which means the property owner continues paying real estate taxes on the land and receives a real estate tax discount on the new development portion for up to a decade.
Wyoming Avenue Development proposes these abatements on new construction: 90% the first three years; 80% in the fourth and fifth years; 70% in the sixth year; 60% in the seventh; 50% in the eighth; 40% in the ninth; and 30% in the final year.
Exeter Borough Council and the Wyoming Area School Board both approved breaks for the four parcels with addresses of 1714, 1800 and 1946 Wyoming Ave.
Attorney Raymond A. Hassey, manager of Wyoming Avenue Development Group, said he took on the project to address years of complaints about the eyesore property, which had attracted criminals and a 40-person homeless camp.
The site is not in a high-traffic retail center and has obstacles that will add to development costs, including two mine shafts requiring mediation and deteriorated infrastructure from a prior mobile home park that had been set up for those displaced in the 1972 Susquehanna River flood, he has said.
The storm sewer system fronts Wyoming Avenue, which means costly underground retention basins will be needed to attract businesses that want to be as close to the highway as possible, he said.
Preliminary development plans show construction of four structures at the site: a 20,487-square-foot grocery store; a 5,585-square-foot convenience store; and two retail stores measuring 10,640 square feet and 7,600 square feet — along with related parking areas.
More than 75 permanent jobs are projected to be created.
Judicial chambers
The county administration is asking council to approve an emergency earmark of $169,570 from federal American Rescue Plan funding interest earnings to cover remediation of mold and lead in the courthouse chambers of county Court of Common Pleas Judges Lesa S. Gelb and Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr., the agenda said.
Environmental testing of paint and plaster was completed, and the lengthy inspection reports are posted with the agenda at luzernecounty.org .
County Manager Romilda Crocamo has said there is no safety issue for the public.
Parking lot
The agenda proposes a $280,000 allocation from the county’s natural-gas recreation funding to the Diocese of Scranton to create the school parking lot.
Natural-gas funding is available because council had opted to keep the money in reserve in case it decided to reactivate a recreation grant program for outside entities or use the funding for eligible internal projects. Approximately $600,000 is in reserve, which would leave $320,000 if the earmark is approved.
According to the submittal from Monsignor John J. Sempa, pastor of the linked parishes of Corpus Christi and St. Barbara and the clergy member assigned to the Wyoming Area Catholic School, the parking lot also would service nearby sports fields and community events.
Bids obtained last July revealed the project will cost $450,000 before permit fees and contingency allowances, and the school system and parish are only able to cover the original $240,000 estimated price.
The parking lot currently used by the school and youth football team and for Memorial Day parade veteran ceremonies and other events is part of the now-closed adjacent St. Cecilia’s Church property planned for eventual sale, the submittal said.
Heating/ventilation/air conditioning
In another scheduled vote, the operational services division is asking council to allocate an additional $441,415 in American Rescue funding for a heating, ventilation and air conditioning replacement project, saying the $1.5 million originally requested and provided won’t be enough.
The agenda said the original application estimate was “grossly underestimated” and that equipment costs have increased. Without additional funding, planned improvements cannot proceed at the courthouse and county-owned Penn Place building in downtown Wilkes-Barre as specified in the original application, it said.
As an example, an attached chart said the courthouse chiller replacement would be $640,000, but the updated estimate is $975,000. Officials have said the courthouse air conditioning system must be replaced because the chiller unit is old and oversized for cooling needs since new courthouse windows were installed as part of an energy efficiency project.
At Penn Place, the chiller replacement was originally estimated at $350,000 but is now updated to cost $570,000, the agenda said.
To date, the county has entered into contracts for new HVAC units at two county-owned properties as part of the American Rescue project — the courthouse annex on River Street in Wilkes-Barre and the record storage building/coroner’s office in Hanover Township.
Tonight’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, and instructions for the remote attendance option are posted under council’s online meetings link at luzernecounty.org .
Airport work
In the work session that follows, council is set to discuss a proposed five-year agreement with Delta Airport Consultants, Inc. for engineering and planning services tied to projects at the county-owned Wyoming Valley Airport in Forty Fort and Wyoming.
Three companies had responded to the county’s request-for-qualifications: Benesch, Delta Airport Consultants Inc. and KBA, officials have said.
Following interviews and independent ranking, five of six county selection committee members ranked Delta Airport Consultants, Inc. as their first choice, prompting the Delta recommendation, the agenda said.
A consultant is needed because council had voted in July to earmark $6 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for capital improvements at the 110-acre airport, with some council members saying the county largely ignored the facility’s needs for decades. Additional funding also is available through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Bureau of Aviation, the agenda said.
Some of the work is necessary to comply with current aviation standards, such as enhancements to taxiway areas that accommodate aircraft landing and taking off, officials have said. New hangars also are in-demand and would generate revenue.
American Rescue projects must be completed by the end of 2026, officials have said.
A vote would be required at a future council meeting to proceed with a contract.
Transportation exchange
Council also has been asked to consider an “agility agreement” with PennDOT District 4 and the county road and bridge department to swap services, according to the work session agenda.
If one of the entities completes work on the other’s infrastructure, reciprocal work would be performed for the same value or cost.
Examples of possible work includes drainage, patching, snow removal, pavement marking, signs, guiderails, lighting, sweeping, deer removal and roadside mowing, it said. A five-year agreement is proposed, with the option to terminate sooner.
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