Restructuring of Luzerne County engineering department planned

The position list accompanying Luzerne County’s proposed 2024 budget shows all four staff engineer positions have been eliminated and replaced with project managers.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo said most counties this size do not have a department of staff engineers, and most of the actual project work is contracted out.

Project managers would not have to be engineers, and she believes the restructuring will improve the county’s oversight of pending projects and planning of work that will be needed in coming years, including ongoing maintenance.

“We really do have a plethora of different projects involving county-owned buildings, roads, bridges and other infrastructure, and expertise and specialized focus is needed on those projects to make they are completed in a timely manner and within projected costs,” Crocamo said.

Most county-owned buildings are old, and “each presents their own challenges of improvements that have to be made,” she said.

They include the historic courthouse on River Street and these also in the city: Bernard C. Brominski Building, North Street; Courthouse Annex, River Street; Penn Place and the human services buildings, both on Pennsylvania Avenue; the prison, parkade and Emergency Management Agency building on Water Street; and the engineering/road and bridge and prison minimum offenders building on Reichard Street.

One current county engineer position is vacant, and the three remaining staff engineers have been informed of the potential plan and encouraged to apply for the positions if the plan proceeds, she said.

Crocamo said she will be sending notice of the proposed job eliminations/creations to council as required under county procedures to see if any questions or concerns are raised.

The county’s 2023 position list report says the existing engineer salaries are $55,712, $56,046, $72,543 and $78,275.

They were replaced with the following positions and 2024 salaries in the new proposed list, which is posted under the budget/finance section at luzernecounty.org:

• Building and grounds project manager, $62,525

• Director of project management, $72,775

• Road and bridge project manager, $62,525

• Senior project manager, $64,575

Courthouse sub-basement

Crocamo described a situation that unfolded this week as an example of the need for enhanced project management.

It involves the courthouse sub-basement. A council vote on funding for a project to help stop water infiltration on the east side of the sub-basement was removed from an agenda earlier this month because council members first wanted further information on the contractor and technique that would be used to address the leaks.

Council members Tim McGinley, Kevin Lescavage and Brian Thornton all visited the sub-basement and found issues with other leaks and sewer pipes that also needed to be addressed, she said.

Lescavage told her sewer pipe deterioration was “very serious” and could eventually advance to a significant problem requiring the courthouse to be shut down, Crocamo said.

She contacted a plumber to evaluate the situation earlier this week, which resulted in the discovery of leaking pipes that required a section of the wall to be opened up in the GIS/Mapping department located upstairs, she said.

An emergency repair is underway to fix those two sewer line leaks, she said.

The plumbers found other problems in the sub-basement, including deteriorated piping, that will be further examined to generate a scope of work and estimated cost, she said.

That expense will be in addition to the original leak repair, which will cost $205,000 for the first phase.

“It will be a long-term project, but we have to address it,” Crocamo said, observing that she will be concentrating on the bowels of the structure, including the sewer, compared to a necessary but more appealing past project that restored interior artwork.

“I knew when I took the job that the innards of the building were going to have to be looked at and taken care of. I just didn’t realize it was going to be so soon and significant,” she said.

Located below the heavily-used basement of the structure, the sub-basement mostly houses mechanical equipment, surplus inventory and building/grounds maintenance office space.