Luzerne County to examine office space layouts

Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo is forming a committee to examine the configuration of offices within county buildings, she told county council last week.

The subject came up during council’s work session, when Crocamo presented a proposal to lease space at Hazleton City Hall on Route 309 to reactivate a southern county annex. Councilman Stephen J. Urban asked if space will be consolidated in Wilkes-Barre area county offices as a result.

Crocamo said she has obtained blueprints of all county buildings and a past strategic plan.

“I can say we are not using our space efficiently,” Crocamo told council.

The committee’s goal will be bringing connected departments together so the public won’t have to visit multiple buildings, Crocamo said.

In recent years, the administration has moved several offices to the county-owned Penn Place Building on Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown Wilkes-Barre to free up space for court-related functions at the county courthouse on River Street, also in Wilkes-Barre.

However, the mapping/GIS department remains in the courthouse basement, while the assessor’s office and deeds/wills offices are across the street in the county annex building on River Street.

In another example of space issues, a council majority also voted in March to continue leasing a privately-owned property at Union and State streets in Wilkes-Barre for a total $1.77 million over five years to house some human services offices. Council members had reservations about another option to consolidate staff at the county-owned human services building on Pennsylvania Avenue in the city so the leased space would not be necessary.

Hazleton annex

Several council members expressed initial positive feedback for the restoration of a southern annex last week.

The last southern annex ended in September 2005, when prior majority county commissioners stopped leasing space on Broad Street in Hazleton on a suspicion of toxic mold that was later deemed unfounded. Today, that building houses state legislative offices.

Crocamo told council she was at a viewing after her hiring as county manager in May, and four people approached her asking when they would be able to purchase gun permits in Hazleton so they don’t have to travel to Wilkes-Barre.

An attorney, Crocamo said she herself used the southern annex before it closed to file documents, and lawyers frequently approach her about bringing back an annex.

While discussing the matter with Hazleton Mayor Jeff Cusat, she learned space would be available in Hazleton City Hall because the city police department is relocating to new space, also on Route 309, she said.

The concept expanded because county court officials also wanted space at city hall for a southern central court and probation officers, she said.

Court officials set up a central court in October 2017 in a building adjacent to the Water Street prison in Wilkes-Barre.

This central processing of magisterial-level criminal cases allowed streamlined scheduling and immediate access to all parties involved in the criminal justice system, including representatives of drug court and other diversionary programs, officials have said.

The existing central court only involves magisterial district judges in the county’s northern half, and Crocamo said a counterpart in the south would bring those benefits to the southern end.

“Since the announcement, I’ve been getting messages from police officers saying they’d really appreciate having central court at Hazleton City Hall,” Crocamo told council.

The county probation office performs drug testing at the county-owned Broad Street Exchange building but is assigned to the basement because the rest of the building is leased out to Luzerne County Community College and other entities, she said.

Crocamo said use of the basement is a concern because there is only one ingress/egress.

For background, the county accepted ownership of the Broad Street Exchange in 2009 from the nonprofit Alliance to Revitalize Center City Hazleton because the property was headed for back-tax auction. The nonprofit owners owed the county’s community development office more than $1.8 million on loans, which could remain unpaid if the property was sold to the highest bidder, officials said at the time. The four-story structure with an adjoining wing once housed the Deisroth department store.

County court officials also want to relocate the Hazleton magisterial district judge office in Hazleton City Hall, which would save the county $62,676 annually. The county pays $5,223 per month to lease space on East Broad Street in Hazleton for this magisterial court, officials said.

Hazleton Magisterial District Judge Joseph Zola has informed the court he will be retiring the end of this year, which means the office may be filled by a legislative appointee for the remaining two years of his term, officials said.

The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, or AOPC, would have to approve the establishment of a southern central court and relocation of the Hazleton magisterial office.

Crocamo said she would have a satellite office at Hazleton City Hall under the plan along with representatives of the recorder of deeds, register of wills, prothonotary (civil court records/filings), clerk of courts (criminal court records/filings), treasurer’s, assessment and elections departments. Gun permits also would be processed there.

Citizens in the county’s southern half have “waited long enough” for ready access to county services, Crocamo told council.

“I think it’s long overdue,” she said.

The Hazleton City Hall lease for the property would be $6,450 per month, or $77,400 annually, and run from Jan. 1, 2024 through the end of 2026, with options for four additional one-year renewals at a rate negotiated by both parties.

The lease expense was factored in the administration’s proposed 2024 budget.

County Administrative Services Division Head Jennifer Pecora also told council she is obtaining quotes from the information technology and sheriff departments on additional costs for security and technology work that will be necessary. Those figures will be presented to council, she said.

If the lease is approved by council, the county offices would start making accommodations to begin moving at the end of this year.

Councilman Kevin Lescavage said a southern annex is a “great idea” because he believes residents deserve access to representatives of county offices. However, Lescavage said he wants the administration to ensure city council has no issues with the plan and provides any approval required under the city’s government structure.

Councilman Brian Thornton said he is pleased the county would be eliminating the nearly $63,000 magisterial lease as part of the package.