Dallas City News

A recommendation to replace two Luzerne County-owned bridges with interest earnings from American Rescue Plan Act funds is up for discussion at Tuesday’s council Infrastructure Committee meeting, the agenda said.

The Sleepy Hollow Bridge in Butler Township and the Harris Hill Road Bridge in Kingston Township are listed as the recommended projects, it said.

If recommended, county council would have to approve the projects at a future council meeting.

Both bridges were on the county operational services division’s request list if American Rescue funding became available.

Replacement of the stone arch Harris Hill Road Bridge is estimated at $1.8 million.

Approximately $1.1 million would be needed to replace the steel truss Sleepy Hollow Bridge. That span was added to the state’s Transportation Improvement Plan for future funding, which means construction must wait until 2027 unless other funding is identified.

Tuesday’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Chaired by Councilman Jimmy Sabatino, this committee also includes Harry Haas, Patty Krushnowski and LeeAnn McDermott.

Instructions to attend the meeting remotely are posted under council’s online meetings section at luzernecounty.org.

Election Board

The county’s five-citizen Election Board will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the courthouse.

Remote attendance instructions are posted in council’s authorities/boards/commissions online section at luzernecounty.org.

Study commission

The county’s Government Study Commission will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday in the courthouse.

Council Chairman John Lombardo was asked to attend for a discussion on the council section of the home rule charter.

Authorized by county April 23 primary election voters, the commission will have nine months to report findings and recommendations and another nine months if it is opting to prepare and submit government changes. An extra two months is allowable if the commission is recommending electing council by district instead of at large.

Voter approval would be necessary for recommended changes to take effect.

Because the commission is an independent body, the county Information Technology Department created a separate link last week to access its information on the main page at luzernecounty.org. The link previously was located under the council section.

Instructions to attend Thursday’s meeting remotely are posted in the new segregated online section.

Community College

Council voted last week to declare a vacancy on the 15-member board of trustees that oversees the Luzerne County Community College due to the resignation of Erin Keating.

Keating, of Edwardsville, said she can no longer commit the necessary time to the unpaid post because she has been appointed as superintendent of the Scranton School District.

Six citizens are on the eligibility list for possible appointment by council: Arthur Breese, Joseph Timothy Cotter, James Dennis, Bernard Graham, Robert Linskey and Patrick Wills.

Information on applying for seats on county boards, authorities and commissions is posted under that section at luzernecounty.org. Prospective applicants must complete a public interview.

Repository

Council members agreed to vote Aug. 27 on the latest batch of purchase requests for tax-delinquent repository properties.

However, council members expressed support for removing one of the 42 requests from consideration due to concerns raised by a Kingston resident that the Main Street repository parcel up for grabs is necessary to access his property.

Properties land in the repository if they do not sell in the initial upset auction or subsequent free-and-clear auction.

Sales are encouraged because the county has amassed approximately 1,000 repository properties that are in limbo, with no active owners to maintain and pay taxes on them. While some are sold each year, new ones are added after each sale.

Job posting

The county is seeking an elections operations specialist at $40,000, according to an online posting in the human resources department section at luzernecounty.org.

This position is open because Steve Hahn was promoted to deputy election director.

Applications are due Aug. 27.

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