Dormant Luzerne County airport advisory board to start meeting again

Luzerne County’s Forty Fort Airport Advisory Board will hold its first meeting in years on Wednesday at the courthouse.

Council members have been pushing to reactivate the board by filling long-vacant board seats. The board focuses on the Wyoming Valley Airport, a 110-acre complex in Forty Fort and Wyoming acquired by the county in the 1940s.

While four seats are still vacant, six citizens have been appointed to serve in the volunteer role — enough to start meeting again. The board members: Michael Berish, Alice Frantz, Nandakumar Palissery, Theodore Ritsick, Scott Serafin and David Sieminski.

County Councilman Kevin Lescavage is serving as the county liaison on the board. Valley Aviation, the airport’s fixed base operator, also will be involved in the board meetings.

Wednesday’s public meeting is set to start at 6 p.m. at the courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Instructions for the remote attendance option will be posted under council’s authorities/boards/commissions online meetings section at luzernecounty.org.

The agenda says the board will elect officers and discuss objectives, goals and next steps.

Lescavage and Councilman Brian Thornton are pushing for increased investment in the facility, including an allocation from the county’s federal American Rescue funding. In addition to typical airport services, the complex operates a pilot training program and serves as a fueling station for medevac and law enforcement aircraft.

Election board

The county’s volunteer, five-citizen election board will hold a special meeting at 1 p.m. today at the courthouse to vote on certifying the May 16 primary election results.

Board members spent two weeks adjudicating mail and polling place ballot issues and processing write-in votes, and June 5 is the deadline to certify the results.

Instructions for the remote attendance option are posted under council’s authorities/boards/commissions online metings section at luzernecounty.org.

Audit

Council’s Budget, Finance and Audit Committee will meet at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the courthouse.

The committee is set to discuss progress completing the county’s 2022 audit, which is due June 30 under the county’s home rule charter.

Remote attendance directions are posted under council’s online meetings section at luzernecounty.org.

Arts board

The county’s new Arts Advisory Board will meet at noon Wednesday at the county’s tourism office, known as Visit Luzerne County, in the historic former train station at the corner of Wilkes-Barre Boulevard and Market Street in Wilkes-Barre.

This board was formed to “advise, encourage, stimulate and pursue the advancement of the arts” across the county, council said.

Wednesday’s agenda said board discussion topics will include a review of goals and suggestions regarding arts and cultural needs in the county.

This meeting will be in-person only because it is not at the courthouse.

Union contracts

Negotiations are still ongoing with two county unions still operating under contracts that expired the end of 2022, the administration said.

The impacted workers:

• Probation and domestic relations support officers covered by the Court Appointed Professional Employees Association.

• Court-appointed support staff represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), including secretaries and clerks in the probation, domestic relations and magisterial district judge offices.

A proposed contract with the probation/domestic relations officers may be presented to council for consideration at its June 13 meeting.

The administration also is expected to start negotiations soon with the prison union, which is represented by LIUNA Local 1310. That contract expires the end of this year.

Courthouse repair

The county is seeking bids for a project stopping water infiltration on the east side of the county courthouse sub-basement, which is the side facing River Street. Work will include sub-basement wall repair.

Bids are due Tuesday.

Located below the heavily-used basement of the historic structure, the sub-basement mostly houses mechanical equipment and some surplus chairs and other furniture. Two building/grounds maintenance workers also have space in the sub-basement.