Times Leader

Prison litigation settlement on Luzerne County Council agenda

Luzerne County Courthouse

Luzerne County Council plans to vote Tuesday on a $390,000 payment toward the settlement of litigation filed by the estate of a county prison inmate who died of suicide while incarcerated in 2018, the agenda says.

Sarah Schiavone and Mickayla Meredick, administrators of the estate of Hailey Povisil, filed the litigation in federal court against the county and prison health care providers Wellpath LLC and Correct Care Solutions LLC, the resolution said.

The total settlement is $780,000. The county’s $390,000 contribution must come out of the general operating budget because the county had exhausted its coverage limits due to other prison litigation settlement claims stemming from this time period, officials said.

Council’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with instructions for remote attendance posted under council’s online meeting link at luzernecounty.org.

Council also is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the first round of outside federal American Rescue Plan awards.

County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce and Controller Walter Griffith are both set to present their required annual reports during council’s work session, which follows the voting meeting.

Office shuffle

The county’s tax claim office, operated by Elite Revenue Solutions, has relocated from the county courthouse to the third floor of the county’s Penn Place Building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre as part of a plan to free up more space for court functions in the courthouse.

County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Michael T. Vough said the first-floor courthouse space previously occupied by tax claim will become a courtroom, with work projected for completion the end of this year.

When completed, the county will have six jury-ready courtrooms in the courthouse, allowing judges to simultaneously conduct that number of civil and criminal trials as needed based on demand, Vough said.

The treasurer’s office in the courthouse also recently moved to Penn Place, allowing the court to use that first-floor courthouse office area for a treatment court headquarters, Vough said.

Overall, the goal is to centralize all court operations at the courthouse and county’s nearby Bernard C. Brominski Building to make the best use of available space and improve efficiency, Vough said.

Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge

Options for replacement of the Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge over the Susquehanna River are expected late this year, according to the county administration.

Alfred Benesch and Associates recently started the preliminary engineering design, which should be completed toward the end of September, said county Operational Services Division Head Greg Kurtz.

A county council majority recently approved the county engineering department’s request for $450,000 in American Rescue Plan funds to cover the engineering study to “determine the best and most economical” replacement structure.

Final design of the bridge replacement would be completed by the end of 2024, Kurtz said. The work would then be bid out in 2025, with construction scheduled through 2026 and early 2027, he said.

Unless other funding is received, county officials plan to pay for the bridge replacement with a large portion of up to $55 million in casino funding available for county infrastructure projects.

Based on authorizing state legislation, the county redevelopment authority entered into a borrowing agreement to create the infrastructure fund that will be repaid with $3 million provided annually for 25 years from the casino-gambling Local Share Account (LSA). The authority won’t have to activate the borrowing and draw down funds until the money is needed for county projects. In the interim, authority board members have been discussing options to invest the casino receipts to maximize interest earnings and ultimately increase the amount of money that will be available for projects.

Replacement of the Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge is necessary because there is no rehabilitation that can be completed to preserve the load-bearing capacity, county Engineer Lawrence Plesh has said. The bridge dropped to a 15-ton limit and could be further reduced or shut down at any point if warranted based on an inspection, he has said.