Some answers, but more questions, on Luzerne County funding requests

Project descriptions were not released with Luzerne County’s list of 75 top-scoring outside entities slated to collectively receive $60 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding, raising questions about how the money would be used.

The county publicly posted the names of the applicants and the dollar amounts of their proposed awards because county council may vote on the awards Tuesday.

No project summaries were prepared for the released list. All the data submitted by applicants is housed in the consultant’s electronic portal that had been viewed by council members to complete their scoring, with each using a unique password. The consultant has not yet opened up portal access to the public and administration, which means contacting the applicants individually is the only way to find out more about the planned projects.

Parks project

Gary Bernstein, chief executive officer of the Jewish Community Alliance of Northeastern Pennsylvania, said the release of the list without a project description created issues because many concluded the alliance itself was receiving the highest allocation — $15.3 million.

At the request of state Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, the alliance agreed to serve as an applicant and pass-through entity to complete recreational enhancements along the west side of the Susquehanna River, including Nesbitt Park and Kirby Park.

Bernstein said the alliance would receive “zero funding” from the allocation.

Kaufer said the allocation, which may not end up reaching $15.3 million, would restore long-intended access to publicly-owned wooded areas, including a riverfront swath that was cut off from the rest of Kirby Park when a levee bisected the park in 1936.

Past county officials had expressed interest in tackling improvements at Kirby and Nesbitt parks and a proposed “Riverbend Park” once the east side River Common enhancement project was completed, but the plan fell off the radar as administrations changed and funding for discretionary projects dried up.

Designed to remain mostly natural, Riverbend Park would stretch from the Veterans Memorial (Pierce Street) Bridge to south of the Cross Valley Expressway.

Kaufer said Kingston, Forty Fort, Wilkes-Barre and the county Flood Protection are all on board with advancing the projects, but there was no regional entity equipped to seek the American Rescue funding on their behalf. He thanked the Jewish Community Alliance for serving as a conduit and said they should be commended for “stepping up.”

The county’s American Rescue allocation would allow those involved in the parks to update a past design plan and proceed with enhancements, Kaufer said.

“Those on the West Side were left behind when upgrades were completed at the River Common recreational area, and this will take advantage of a huge asset along the river for generations to come,” Kaufer said. “This is something that has been talked about close to 20 years, and we need to carry it out.”

Private businesses

County council opted to open up the America Rescue funding opportunity to all entities, which meant some private businesses applied, met eligibility requirements and made the cut through council scoring.

A council majority had rejected a proposal to carve out a pot of American Rescue funding specifically for small businesses with targeted outreach and defined parameters — an approach that had been used with a previous federal COVID-19 recovery funding source — the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Amy Bezek Photography LLC made the list with a request for $300,000.

Bezek had appeared at county council meetings to discuss her application, but council members more recently told Bezek and a few others they cannot accept comments about specific pending applications because it could be perceived as lobbying.

Bezek said Friday she struggled to keep her decade-old, in-home photography studio functioning during the coronavirus pandemic because it is 104 square feet, which is too small to operate with social distancing. Working with the Small Business Development Center at Wilkes University, she developed a business plan to acquire a former autobody property on Wyoming Avenue in Forty Fort to house her business.

Bezek said she carefully planned the budget and funding for the project, but every expense has doubled or tripled due to supply chain issues and inflation. It resulted in a $330,000 overage, and Bezek said every penny of the American Rescue funding will go toward the infrastructure costs.

She said she painstakingly completed the American Rescue application when she determined she was eligible and believes the project is worthy because it will help a small business and rehabilitate a deteriorated structure in the community. Bezek also said she already holds frequent holiday photo shoots to raise money for local nonprofits, and the larger space will allow her to expand those fundraising efforts. She also plans to bring in interns to encourage more young adults to remain in this area after graduation.

Bezek said she has received mixed responses since the county list was made public Thursday night.

“I was negatively impacted by COVID on multiple levels, and I have every right to receive the funding as anyone else,” Bezek said.

Donna Cupinski, owner of DMC Graphics on Carey Avenue in Wilkes-Barre, was grateful to make the cut with her request for $8,075, saying she needs the funding to purchase a furnace.

Her existing furnace is 50 years old, and the amount she requested was based on the lowest quote for a basic model with no “bells or whistles.”

“Because of COVID, my business suffered drastically, and I don’t have money to get it myself. I’m just worried it could go at any time,” said Cupinski, who serves as chair of the county’s volunteer Convention Center Authority Board, which oversees the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township.

Cupinski has operated the printing business for more than 25 years.

Staggers Southern Cuisine on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre is slated to receive $25,000 in American Rescue funding, according to the list.

Co-owner Darryl Mathis, who opened the eatery in November, said the funding will allow him to hold free community events to provide food and social interaction for veterans, the homeless and the LGBTQ community.

Mathis said he already makes sure leftover food is provided to those in need.

“I’m excited just to know we’re on the list,” Mathis said. “This would be a very nice thing to add to what we’d like to do here.”

ValentinXStudios, off Public Square on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre, also made the list, with a request for $10,975.

Owner Daniel Valentin said his photography studio would use a portion of the funding to reduce the price of professional head shots of the owners of small businesses so they can use them to develop and promote their brand on websites and through social media.

“There are a lot of small businesses opening up in our area, and a lot of them cannot afford this service,” said Valentin, who opened his business in 2021 in Kingston and relocated to Wilkes-Barre last March. “This would definitely help those new businesses tremendously.”

Public project

Plymouth Borough Councilman Adam Morehart was elated his borough’s request for $2.5 million made the list due to its impact.

The borough sought the funding to repair 400 feet of retaining wall along Coal Creek because an engineering inspection found subsidence that may cause it to fail.

If that happens, traffic won’t be permitted on Coal Street, resulting in a 7-mile detour to the borough’s downtown, he said.

Wall failure also could damage a 36-inch Pennsylvania American Water Co. water main that crosses the stream, causing service disruption to 40,000 customers in the borough, Plymouth Township, Larksville, Courtdale, Wilkes-Barre, Ashley, Sugar Notch and Nanticoke.

It gets worse. Loss of that water line could cause 5 million gallons of water to drain from a tank at the top of Coal Street within minutes.

While he doesn’t want the public to panic, Morehart has described it as a “very serious matter” that must be addressed.

The channel was constructed decades ago and has been subjected to wear-and-tear from rocks and other debris flushing down the mountain, causing the walls to start caving in. Coal Creek has a history of flooding, including a serious flood in 2011 that caused millions of dollars in property damage, he said.

“I’m super stoked about it. This is something that desperately needs to happen,” he said of the county allocation to address the problem.

Council plans

While adoption of the 75 projects is slated for a council vote at Tuesday’s 6 p.m. meeting in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, it’s still unclear if a majority will seek to table a decision pending further review.

Instead of relying on a council or administrative committee recommendation, the 11 council members decided to screen the applications themselves so they would all have an opportunity to participate.

The county’s American Rescue consultant — Columbia, Maryland-based Booth Management Consulting — set up the online portal for council members to individually review and score the 139 outside applications based on uniform factors, such as a project’s impact on county priorities, community outcomes, racial equity and inclusion and a review of the overall project budget.

Because the list of awards is based on council’s independent scoring and parameters, council members are not supposed to alter it without cause because adding and deleting once the names are released would defeat the purpose of the evaluation system that had been set up, officials have said.

Council members have said this is an unusual situation because they did not collaboratively choose recipients through the typical discussion, debate and majority preference.

While this process was intended to prevent bias and outside intervention and lobbying, council members were uneasy having no idea which recipients would appear on the award list and how both council and the public would react to the end result.

Some council members are now questioning and reviewing the scoring to assess why some projects did and didn’t make the list.

Council Vice Chairman John Lombardo said Friday he and his colleagues have received additional information on the scores, and Booth is in the process of researching other inquiries.

Lombardo said some unsuccessful applicants are questioning why similar projects scored higher.

“I’ve been getting calls literally nonstop since yesterday,” Lombardo said. “As it stands right now, I don’t foresee us voting on it Tuesday.”

The list of recipients is posted on the main page of the county website at luzernecounty.org.