Luzerne County Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on five collective bargaining agreements, the agenda shows.
Impacted union employees have been working under expired contracts since the end of 2021.
The agreements are with the AFSCME residual union, AFSCME court-related union and Teamsters Local 401-represented employees in Children and Youth, Mental Health/Developmental Services and the Area Agency on Aging.
Council’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.
The proposed contracts are not included with the agenda, which states information will be released during the voting meeting. Council members are set to meet in closed-door executive session at 5 p.m. to review the proposed contracts.
The court-related union covers sheriff deputies and clerical workers in various departments, including the civil and criminal court records, wills, deeds, public defender’s and district attorney’s offices.
Described as the “rank-and-file” contract, the residual agreement covers 911 telecommunicators, security guards and some employees in road and bridge, building and grounds, mapping, voter services and several other offices.
Instructions to attend Tuesday’s meeting remotely are posted under council’s online meetings link at luzernecounty.org.
American Rescue
With the support of new county Manager Randy Robertson, the administration is again asking council to retain Columbia, Maryland-based Booth Management Consulting for up to $350,000 to provide guidance on eligibility screening and funding administration for the county’s federal American Rescue Plan funding.
The administration has argued the outside expertise is needed to ensure complicated regulations are followed, withstand future auditing and determine which projects seeking funding are eligible before council proceeds with more earmarks for non-county entities.
The county still has $96.3 million in federal American Rescue funding not yet allocated for projects.
To bring the Booth Management contract back up for vote, one of the council members who rejected it last time must request reconsideration.
Six council members had voted against hiring the consultant in April at a cost of $254,706, with some citing a desire to wait for Robertson’s June 13 arrival so he could weigh in. Those council members: Carl Bienias III, Kevin Lescavage, LeeAnn McDermott, Brian Thornton, Stephen J. Urban and Gregory Wolovich Jr.
The administration attributed the consulting cost increase to the rise in applications. The original request-for-proposals was based on 30 applications, but the county has received approximately 175 with more to possibly come, the agenda said.
Additional contracts would be needed to receive Booth’s assistance in future years, it said.
Board seat
Council also is set to declare a vacancy on the Luzerne County Community College Board of Trustees due to the resignation of Todd Hastings.
Citizens interested in serving on the community college board or other county boards, authorities and commissions can obtain information on open seats and applications under the council section of the county website at luzernecounty.org.
Audit
An update on the county’s 2021 audit is scheduled during council’s work session, which follows the voting meeting.
County officials say they are confident the audit will be completed before the June 30 deadline stated in the county’s home rule charter.
County allocations
The work session also includes discussion on two proposed American Rescue allocations for county government projects.
As previously reported, the first would use $1.86 million to resurface a deteriorated 3.1-mile stretch of county-owned Sweet Valley Road in Ross and Union townships, running from state Routes 4024 to 4016.
County officials have said most of the American Rescue funding cannot be used for road rehabilitation, with the exception of a category known as “lost revenue” that is more discretionary and based on the dollar amount of receipts the county lost as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Approximately $4 million of $8.9 million is still available in the lost revenue category for council to allocate, officials have said.
The second American Rescue request set for discussion would provide an additional $235,000 to replace two elevators at the county prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre.
Council had authorized $300,000 in American Rescue funding toward the elevator project in January to supplement $350,000 in county capital funds already earmarked, making $650,000 available.
However, the agenda said Otis Elevator was the only company to submit a bid, and another $235,000 is required.