Luzerne County unveils operations building largely remodeled with recycled materials

Small signs tell visitors why Luzerne County’s newly remodeled operations building in Wyoming is unique.

In the group meeting room, the carpet is made with 100% recycled fishing nets.

Downward arrows in a lobby area note the wall base border below is made from a PVC-free rubber base. Another directs the viewer to look up at the ceiling tiles made with 76% recycled content.

There’s also vinyl floor tiling made with 39% recycled content and a water station that tracks the number of plastic bottles not used when non-disposable beverage containers are filled.

Longtime county Recycling Coordinator Beth DeNardi dreamed of an office building that would showcase environmentally-conscious remodeling and has been saving leftover landfill fees and grants for many years to make it a reality without any impact on the county’s general fund operating budget.

The approximately $4 million she accrued to complete the remodeling must be used for recycling and cannot be reprogrammed to cover other demands, such as road and bridge repairs, DeNardi has emphasized.

The landfill fee stems from a county solid waste plan enacted every 10 years specifying where the county and all 76 municipalities are permitted to dump their trash. The county and municipalities must negotiate per-ton dumping fees with their selected landfills, and part of the fee returns to the county, DeNardi has said.

Officials toured the Wyoming Avenue building, which was previously an Air Reserve Center, during a grand opening Friday.

The building now houses county recycling/solid waste department and operational services offices and a technology-equipped meeting room that will be available for both government meetings and private rental bookings that can generate revenue, officials said.

The room is designed for up to 98 occupants.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo cited an example of a private use, saying council has earmarked $6 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding for capital improvements at the nearby 110-acre, county-owned Wyoming Valley Airport in Forty Fort and Wyoming.

Crocamo said business leaders and developers flying to the county airport could book the room for meetings catered by area restaurants.

She also envisioned holding one of her town hall meetings there.

County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said his office could use the space for training sessions and other meetings.

County Controller Walter Griffith also saw many county operational uses for the room.

“It’s really a great idea to have this for county usage,” Griffith said.

County Operational Services Project Manager Director Nick Vough told the group plenty of parking is available at the site.

“This is a great building, and I’m proud of all the work Beth put into this,” Crocamo said.

DiNardi said plans have not stopped.

Rain barrels eventually will be installed to collect water from the roof that will be used to water a rain garden planned out front.

“The plan is to bring it outside as an educational tool for the public,” DiNardi said, adding, “There’s no other building around like this.”

Council members were impressed.

Council Chairman John Lombardo said the operations building and airport investment show the county is committed to a regional presence and not only focused on Wilkes-Barre, the county seat.

“It’s a great collaboration effort,” he said of the project.

The county had taken possession of the vacant former reserve center on Wyoming Avenue around 2019, in part because it is near the Wyoming Valley Airport and county-owned West Side Annex.

Council Vice Chairman Brian Thornton said the improvements at the operations building and airport are a worthy investment because they will provide benefits for many years. He expects some airport users will use the new meeting room.

“We’re hoping to market Luzerne County in a better manner, and this is part of it,” Thornton said.

Councilman Jimmy Sabatino said he wholeheartedly supports projects that protect the environment.

“I think it’s great that they used recycled materials, and I hope to see more projects like this going forward,” Sabatino said. “We need to keep that going.”

Operational offices in the Wyoming building were previously in the county engineering building on Reichard Street in Wilkes-Barre. Crocamo said the administration plans to complete a space study that will assess the best uses for all county-owned properties.