Luzerne County Council facing decisions in Butler Township land sale

Luzerne County Council members have decisions to make in advancing the sale of prime county-owned land in Butler Township.

A survey and subdivision sketches were completed as required for the county to take action on selling some of the land for residential development.

Now council members must determine what level of involvement the county will have in the subdivisions carved out for housing, county Interim Operational Services Division Head Jennifer Pecora said at a council work session earlier this month.

One option would be selling the raw tracts as is and leaving it up to the purchaser to complete infrastructure and other work necessary to prepare individual lots for sale, Pecora told council.

Council also could decide the county should take on more of the work in carrying out the subdivision plan, which would require more county expense but could yield higher purchase prices, the administration said.

Councilwoman LeeAnn McDermott told her colleagues she believes council should consider all possibilities but cautioned there will be a cost if council chooses the second.

“This is quite a project to undertake. Yes, it will make money, but a lot of work has to go into it,” McDermott said.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo said the administration will develop a packet for council so it can make an informed decision on how to proceed at a future meeting.

Council Vice Chairman Brian Thornton said Monday he already is certain he won’t support the county handling additional work and “becoming developers and realtors.”

“That’s better left to the private sector,” Thornton said.

Council Chairman John Lombardo concurred.

“We don’t have the resources,” he said.

The subdivision plans propose approximately 62 single family residential lots —most along Old Turnpike Road, Middle Road and Lions Drive.

Pecora, who started as temporary operational services overseer in December, told council a major residential plan of this size would require a large underground holding tank to accommodate the properties if there is a fire. Utility connections are another consideration, she said.

County officials had periodically suggested selling the land for many years to bring in revenue and boost the tax base.

McDermott said she started pushing for surveying of the site several years ago when the administration suggested the initiative would generate revenue from both the sale and ongoing real estate tax payments on properties added to the tax rolls.

“I’m thrilled at least to get it to this point where we will be able to make an informed decision,” said McDermott, who has been involved in the land sale advancement through council’s real estate committee.

McDermott emphasized three sections currently farmed would remain in agricultural use under the subdivision plan.

In total, the county owns approximately 530 acres in the township because it operated the Kis-Lyn work camp for juvenile delinquents from 1912 to 1965.

Two tracts cannot be sold and must be sectioned out because the county is locked into long-term leases for a youth music camp (17.8 acres) and the Keystone Job Corps Center, which operates a federally funded, residential educational/vocational program on 122.9 acres, officials said.

The land earmarked for sale also would not include a section identified by outside entities as a possible plant location to treat pollution from the Jeddo Mine Drainage Tunnel, officials said. This tunnel discharges acid mine water from Hazleton area mines into the Little Nescopeck Creek, polluting the creek and, eventually, the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay, with iron, manganese and aluminum.

Last summer, township supervisors altered the zoning of the county-owned land as part of a comprehensive township-wide rezoning. Much of it was changed from urban residential to suburban residential to allow single homes on individual lots instead of high-density housing units.