Luzerne County needs worker to oversee boiler plant

Luzerne County is seeking applicants with a master mechanical plumber or industrial boiler operator certification to fill a hands-on position overseeing the boiler plant that provides heat for multiple county government buildings in Wilkes-Barre.

The mechanical systems manager is the lone boiler plant employee, and the position is open because Robert Dudick recently resigned, the administration said.

The non-union position is advertised at $39,000 to $42,500 annually, according to the posting in the Human Resources Department’s career opportunities section at luzernecounty.org.

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Monday.

Two other openings in the Operational Services Division will remain posted indefinitely until they are filled — a practice deployed when the county wants to attract more applicants. The positions — facilities/capital projects engineer and infrastructure/maintenance engineer — are both advertised at $57,000 to $60,000 annually.

Hazleton sale

County Council is set to vote Tuesday on the above-asking-price sale of the county-owned Broad Street Business Exchange in downtown Hazleton.

Council had set the starting bid at the $2.1 million appraised value. YMSF Family Partnership LP submitted the lone bid last month for $2.42 million through its managing partner, Susan Friedman.

The limited partnership plans to continue operating the property as a commercial office and mixed-use building.

The four-story property at 100 W. Broad St. in Hazleton, which contains an attached wing, was constructed in the 1930s and once housed the Deisroth department store.

The county had accepted ownership of the structure in 2009 from the nonprofit Alliance to Revitalize Center City Hazleton, so it would not risk losing more than $1.8 million the county had loaned to that entity. As a result, the sale proceeds must be used to help repay those county community development loans and a $290,000 lien Hazleton also has on the property. However, the county will be entitled to first recoup general fund money that had been spent maintaining and repairing the structure — an amount that is still being tallied, the administration said.

Tuesday’s council meeting will start at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Instructions for the remote attendance option will be posted in the council’s online meeting section at luzernecounty.org.

New division

Tuesday’s agenda also includes a vote to introduce an ordinance required to create a new county Infrastructure, Community, and Economic Development Division.

This would be the first new division added since the January 2012 implementation of the county’s home rule structure, which created eight divisions.

At least four votes are required to introduce ordinances. A public hearing and majority council passage would be necessary at a subsequent meeting for the ordinance to take effect.

Council seats

Council members will select a council representative on several boards, including the Wilkes-Barre Riverfront Parks Committee and the county Retirement Board, which oversees the employee pension fund.

An appointment to the board that oversees the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Pittston Township is not necessary because Councilwoman LeeAnn McDermott’s prior appointment was for four years, which means she has two years remaining, said Council Chairman Jimmy Sabatino.

As the new chairman, Sabatino also has a seat on the airport board and retirement board unless he chooses to name a council designee in his place. Sabatino said he will appoint Councilman Chris Belles to his seat on the bi-county airport board, but he has not yet decided whether he will serve or appoint a designee to the retirement board.

Work session

Discussion topics at Tuesday’s work session, which follows the voting meeting, include a resolution expressing concern regarding proposed electric utility rate increases.

The resolution would urge the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to ensure a fair, cost-based utility rate structure that “protects residential and small business customers from unintended cost shifting by large-scale, high-load users, including data centers.”

It refers to PPL Electric Utilities’ pending request for an increase before the PUC.

If approved at a future meeting, the resolution would be sent to the PUC, the Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate, the Pennsylvania Office of Small Business Advocate, PPL, and the county’s state legislative delegation.

Sabatino said the resolution was initiated by Councilwoman Denise Williams and jointly prepared. He testified before the PUC last month regarding the PPL rate hike.