Luzerne County Council halts vote on $500,000 allocation to repair county fair flood damage

Due to outstanding questions, a Luzerne County Council majority chose not to vote Thursday on a $500,000 American Rescue Plan Act allocation for the county fair’s nonprofit overseer to repair flood damage at its Dallas fairground.

Councilwoman LeeAnn McDermott urged her colleagues to remove the matter from the agenda to further review how much funding remains and other internal and outside requests. McDermott said she is only seeking a delay until council’s next meeting on June 25.

With interest earnings factored in, the county has approximately $10 million in American Rescue funding not earmarked for projects.

But McDermott said the county administration has compiled a roster of new requests totaling more than $10.9 million that should be the top priority to avoid future county tax increases.

The entire council also just received requests four municipalities had submitted seeking additional American Rescue allocations, and McDermott said this information should have been presented before council was asked to vote on the fairground one. She noted the nonprofit county fair operator — Dallas Area Fall Fair Inc. — also previously received a $100,000 American Rescue earmark for water and sewer line installation.

McDermott said council did not agree to consider any new outside funding requests or establish a procedure to do so, and she maintained one should not be approved unless all are considered.

“How do we decide who is going to get more money?” McDermott asked, noting the other requests could be deemed equally or more pressing than the fair’s because they involve emergency response.

The other new outside requests:

• Kingston, which received $1.8 million to purchase a new ladder truck, is requesting $247,263 to cover an increase in the truck cost and purchase police firearms and 10 solar-powered radar speed machines.

• Pittston City and the Greater Pittston Regional Ambulance received $200,000 toward a new emergency response facility. The city is seeking an additional $250,000 to cover rising construction and material costs for the project and additional sitework that wasn’t originally anticipated.

• Wilkes-Barre received $350,000 toward the purchase of a new ambulance and is seeking an additional $250,000 to help purchase a new $850,000 fire engine.

• The Wyoming Area Regional Police Department received $500,000 for building renovations and to purchase personal protective equipment, and it is now seeking $250,000 more to complete additional renovations at its new headquarters, including an ADA-accessible conference center for meetings and trainings.

Council Vice Chairman Brian Thornton said Thursday he agrees county government projects should receive first priority, but he considers the county fair a “quasi internal project” because it is a countywide event. There is not enough time to seek a second round of funding requests from interested outside entities because the county’s deadline to earmark funds is the end of this year, he said.

Councilwoman Brittany Stephenson said she completely agrees with McDermott and believes she made valid points for delaying a decision.

Councilman Gregory S. Wolovich Jr. said the entire council must fully informed and collectively decide how to proceed. He said council had rejected a second American Rescue allocation for West Hazleton’s bridge project and instead agreed to provide a loan to the municipality, which could be an option in this situation.

Councilwoman Joanna Bryn Smith said due diligence is necessary to establish available funds and ensure all prospective recipients are considered equally.

Councilman Kevin Lescavage said he agrees with Thornton on supporting the county fair and internal projects and told McDermott he believes she has “an axe to grind.”

Brenda Pugh, chairwoman of the county fair for 11 years, defeated McDermott for the Republican nomination in the April 23 primary election contest for state representative in the 120th District.

McDermott said outside the meeting it is not sour grapes and that she would be raising the same concerns regardless of the individuals involved.

Only three council members voted against removing the matter from the agenda — Lescavage, Thornton and council Chairman John Lombardo. Those in support of removal, with a few emphasizing they are strong supporters of the fair: Harry Haas, Patty Krushnowski, Chris Perry, Jimmy Sabatino, McDermott, Stephenson, Smith and Wolovich.

Alan Pugh, president of the nonprofit Dallas Area Fall Fair Inc.’s executive board, told council the fair attracts 50,000 people, boosts the local economy and helps many organizations. He reiterated the site is used for other civic and public purposes, with extensive support from volunteers and fundraising events. The flood damage was caused by severe September 2023 rain.

“I hope you consider it in the future,” Pugh told council of the nonprofit’s request.

In other business Thursday, council unanimously approved the latest batch of 21 entities requesting more time to complete American Rescue-funded projects, include a public parkade at the former Hotel Sterling site in downtown Wilkes-Barre.