Proposed Luzerne County court lease terms have changed

The length of a proposed lease on Tuesday night’s Luzerne County Council agenda has been reduced from 15 years to a decade, county Court Administrator Paul Hindmarsh said.

Court officials want to lease an 11,900-square-foot property at 310 Market St. in Kingston to house the county’s Domestic Relations office.

During a prior work session discussion, Council Vice Chairman Brian Thornton had expressed concerns about locking in a lease for so many years.

“We went back to the negotiating table and had additional discussions with the landlord, who was agreeable to reducing the length of the term,” Hindmarsh said Tuesday.

Hindmarsh has emphasized state funding for Domestic Relations will cover the lease, not the county’s general fund operating budget. Under the proposal, the county would pay $25,783 per month, or $309,396 annually.

In exchange for a concession on the length of the lease, the property owner — JDP Realty Inc. — wants to extend the time the county would be permitted to end the lease if state, federal and local funding for Domestic Relations is reduced or ceases, which court officials are confident will not occur, Hindmarsh said. Initially, the county could opt out after 36 months, but the new proposal is after 60 months.

The updated proposal preserves a right of first refusal for the county if the property is listed for sale, he said. Officials said JDP is not interested in selling the property to the county at this time.

Finally, JDP agreed to fully cover the cost of removing an ATM machine from the property, Hindmarsh said. County Councilman Kevin Lescavage had complained about the original proposal for the county to pay $3,600 toward that expense.

Hindmarsh said he informed county council members of the lease alterations Monday.

Tuesday’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Instructions to attend remotely are posted under council’s online meetings section at luzernecounty.org.

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.