Luzerne County Controller Tim McGinley presents first annual report

Tim McGinley presented his first required annual report as Luzerne County’s new elected controller during last week’s council work session.

McGinley, a past county councilman who replaced Walter Griffith as controller, said two of his four staff positions were vacant when he took office in January.

He hired Lauren Moritz and Amy Chappell to fill both vacant internal auditor positions. Moritz has a master’s degree in accounting and experience as a staff accountant with a CPA firm. Chappell has 29 years of experience in a federal credit union, including office management, McGinley said.

The remaining workers include: internal auditor II Nancy DeFluri, a 12-year county employee; and Deputy Controller Tom Sokola, who has been in that position for more than three years and previously worked as Geisinger’s region chief administrator and the vice president, chief financial officer, and finance officer of Geisinger’s central region.

McGinley outlined auditing plans and said the office plans to focus more on revisiting past audits to determine if recommendations have been implemented. Maintaining a professional working relationship with all county offices and vendors will be a top priority, he said.

His report is posted in council’s work session agenda at luzernecounty.org.

Council committees

Three new committees have been created under a council bylaw change approved last week:

• Operational Services to assess and plan improvements of county-owned infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and government facilities.

• Correctional Services to review correctional policies, monitor capital needs, and evaluate fiscal performance in the county prison system.

• Community Planning and Development to review strategic planning, land use coordination, and economic development policy, including land bank and redevelopment initiatives.

All three committees would provide goals, future plans, and recommendations to the full council.

Council Chairman Jimmy Sabatino said he is in the process of naming council members to the committees.

More appointments

Councilwoman Joanna Bryn Smith was appointed to the Luzerne-Wyoming Counties Mental Health and Developmental Services Program Advisory Board at last week’s meeting.

In appointments under the selection of the chair, Sabatino announced he will serve as the council representative on the Luzerne County Library System Board, and he has appointed Councilwoman Denise Williams to the county’s Arts Advisory Board.

Crestwood project

Council must approve temporary easements with property owners to improve existing roadway drainage structures in the Crestwood Industrial Park in Wright Township, according to discussion at last week’s work session.

Nick Vough, county operational services project management director, told council the project will be bid out soon and covered by federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, meaning all work must wrap up before the end of this year to comply with funding regulations.

No payment will be made to the 10 participating property owners because the drainage structures are not new, officials said.

Williams asked about property owners who did not reply to the easement request. Vough said the county sent letters and attempted other communications to all impacted owners over several months, but approximately 40% did not respond. The project was redesigned to exclude the non-responding properties because the county must proceed to meet deadlines, he said.

Vough said he does not know why some property owners did not accept the request because the project will improve drainage and won’t negatively impact their property.

Council is expected to vote on the easements at its next meeting on March 24.