Luzerne County hires new project management staff

Luzerne County’s operational services division has filled four new management positions that were created as part of an engineering office restructuring, according to administration.

The new positions are: project management director, senior project manager, facilities/maintenance project manager and road/bridge manager.

Four engineering positions were eliminated to create the four new management positions.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo has said most counties this size do not have a department of staff engineers, and much of the actual project work is contracted out. She predicted the restructuring will improve the county’s oversight of repair projects and maintenance of county-owned buildings, roads, bridges and other infrastructure, with emphasis on meeting deadlines and cost projections.

Nick Vough was hired as project management director at $72,775 annually.

A Pittston native and property owner in the city’s downtown, Vough is a 2016 graduate of the Penn State University Smeal College of Business, with a focus in management information systems and supply chain management. He has worked at TFP Limited the last 2½ years, where he was heavily involved with the company’s business processes and real estate development projects.

Vough, who started Feb. 23 based on the monthly personnel report, will manage engineering consultants and the construction/maintenance of county infrastructure, according to the job posting.

Kevin Clocker was promoted to the senior project manager position on Feb. 9 at $64,000 annually, the monthly personnel report said.

Clocker has worked as the county’s road and bridge supervisor since March 2023.

The senior project manager is responsible for overseeing the road/bridge and facilities/maintenance project managers and handling all facets of projects, including planning and allocating resources, preparing budgets, monitoring progress and keeping stakeholders informed, according to the prior job advertisement.

County Operational Services Division Head Jennifer Pecora confirmed the hiring of the remaining two managers because their names and compensation won’t be publicly posted until the March personnel report is released in April.

The new workers: Thomas Kundrat, facilities/maintenance project manager, $58,000, and Vince Zerblas, road/bridge manager, also $58,000.

The facilities/maintenance project manager concentrates on county buildings.

County-owned structures include the historic courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre 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. Other holdings include the 911 center and a records storage building that also houses the coroner’s office in Hanover Township and, in Forty Fort and Wyoming, the Wyoming Valley Airport, West Side Annex and former Air Reserve Center under renovation to house the county recycling department.

The road/bridge project manager must focus on the approximately 120 miles of county-owned roads and 297 county bridges.

Pecora said she looks forward to working with the new project management team.

“They are skilled and dedicated individuals who have much to offer Luzerne County,” Pecora said.