Luzerne County may loan Wilkes-Barre money for sewer repairs

Luzerne County may loan Wilkes-Barre $500,000 from county community development interest earnings for a city sewer repair project.

The proposed resolution up for discussion at Tuesday’s county council work session said the city’s sewer system “is in dire need of repairs.”

If the five-year loan authorization is approved at a future council voting meeting, borrowing terms would be negotiated between the county and city, the resolution said.

The work session follows a 6 p.m. voting meeting at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Instructions to attend remotely will be posted in council’s online public meetings section at luzernecounty.org.

Court lease

Council may vote Tuesday on a 15-year property lease of a Kingston property to house the county Domestic Relations office, the agenda said.

Domestic Relations, which must remain segregated under state requirements, is housed on the first and second floors of the county-owned Bernard C. Brominski Building on North Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Court officials want to relocate domestic relations to free up space so all family court judges and personnel can be housed in that three-story building along with a PFA office and waiting area for children involved in proceedings.

The court said state funding for Domestic Relations will cover the lease, not the county’s general fund operating budget. Several council members expressed concerns about the dollar amount and length of the lease.

JDP Realty Inc. owns the property at 310 Market St. that is proposed for leasing. Under the proposal, the county would pay $25,783 per month for approximately 11,900 square feet of office space, or $309,396 annually.

This price factors in remodeling costs and state reimbursement over time, which is why it was spread out over 15 years, the court said.

Tax break guidelines

Council also is scheduled to vote Tuesday on setting suggested county real estate tax break guidelines by category.

Councilman Jimmy Sabatino, who chairs council’s infrastructure committee, had proposed the idea to his council colleagues during discussion about a tax break in March, saying council should decide in advance what fees and discounts it deems acceptable for warehousing and logistic, manufacturing and tech-based development.

The infrastructure committee subsequently agreed to present the resulting recommendation to the full council for its consideration and input.

Under the suggestions, warehousing and logistics development would receive the least favorable break — five years instead of the maximum allowable decade, with a discount of 50% the first year and decreasing 10% annually to a final 10% off taxes in the fifth year.

A development fee of $5,000 per acre also would be owed to the county, it said.

The proposed discount for manufacturing and tech-based development would be 90% the first year and decrease by 10% annually, ending with 5% in the tenth year, it said.

Development fees would be $2,500 per acre for manufacturing and $3,500 per acre for tech-based development.

Council members presented mixed reactions during the last work session.

Opioid earmarks

Council is set to vote Tuesday on opioid litigation settlement earmarks totaling $1.5 million to cover medication-assisted treatment for inmates with opioid use disorder in the county prison system from 2024 through 2026, the agenda said.

The allocations come from a portion of settlement funding that must be spent by the end of June.

Figures indicate the county should receive approximately $30 million over 18 years from the state’s settlement against opioid manufacturers and wholesale distributors. The county’s Commission on Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement makes recommendations to county council on how to spend the funds.

County officials say the prison medication-assisted treatment program is an eligible use for the settlement funds. Without the settlement funds, the expense must be paid through the county’s general fund operating budget.

A breakdown of the proposed $1.5 million earmark: $477,969 for 2024 expenses; $518,674 for this year’s costs and $542,014 for 2026.

In addition, a request was submitted to de-obligate $92,515 remaining from a 2023 earmark for the medication-assisted treatment that was not needed based on actual costs.

Monday meetings

The county Election Board will meet at 10 a.m. in the county courthouse to vote on certifying the May 20 primary election results. A link to attend remotely will be posted under council’s authorities/boards/commissions online meetings section at luzernecounty.org.

Council’s Authorities, Boards and Commissions Committee will meet at 5 p.m. Monday in the courthouse to publicly interview citizens interested in appointment to county boards. A remote attendance link is posted in council’s online meetings section at luzernecounty.org.