Luzerne County Council to vote on annual capital plan

Luzerne County’s annual capital budget is up for approval at Tuesday’s county council meeting.

The plan projects a total $4.9 million in spending on capital projects from 2025 through 2027, county Operational Services Project Management Director Nick Vough told council when the plan was submitted in June as required by the county home rule charter.

Approximately $700,000 in work is planned for 2025, Vough said.

The 2025 projects, according to the proposed plan:

• Repairing water damage in the budget/finance offices at the county Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre — $25,000

• New automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for use in medical emergencies at county buildings — $75,000

• Assessor’s Office software upgrade — $100,000

• Modifications on the third floor of the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre to create a courtroom for the eleventh county Court of Common Pleas judge to be elected in November — $397,073

• Vent cleaning in several buildings due to reports of black dirt — $50,000

• Emergency building repairs — $50,000

For 2026, the plan projects $3.1 million in capital expenses:

• Repair and replacement of corroded sewer pipes in the courthouse sub-basement — $1 million

• Renovations at the county-owned Bernard C. Brominski Building on North Street in Wilkes-Barre, which is adjacent to the courthouse, to house family court under one roof and add a public waiting area, including space for children — $1.5 million

• HVAC work at several county road and bridge garages — $50,000

• Second installment for the assessor’s office software — $550,000

In 2027, the final year of the plan, $1.125 million in capital projects are listed:

• Replacement of the leaking county boiler building roof — $100,000

• Security upgrade in the lobby area at the county prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre intended to keep the public and workers safe — $350,000 (reduced from a past $1 million estimate based on new proposals)

• Prison security camera upgrades — $125,000

• Third installment for the assessor’s software — $550,000

Vough told council said some projects in past plans have been scaled back or removed.

For example, the administration eliminated a prior $1 million plan to add a security entrance for judicial staff at the courthouse because further research would be needed to make modifications to the historic structure, he said.

County Budget/Finance Division Head Mary Roselle said during the June presentation the county has no choice regarding the assessor’s office software upgrade because support for the current system expires the end of this year.

Tuesday’s council voting meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse. Instructions for the remote attendance option are posted under council’s online meetings section at luzernecounty.org.

Prior to the Tuesday’s meeting, council will hold public hearings at 5:50 p.m. for a debt restructuring and at 5:55 p.m. for the capital plan.

The debt restructuring is projected to yield a net savings of $3.2 million on the county’s repayments without extending the 2030 date for the county to be out of debt, according to FSL Public Finance, the county’s outside financial advisor.

If approved, the advisor would lock in the interest rates at the end of September and close on the transaction Oct. 15.

Lease change

A lease modification with the federal government also is on Tuesday’s voting agenda for county-owned property on Wyoming Avenue in Wyoming, near the Wyoming Valley Airport.

The county has long leased the property to the federal government for military use, and the current agreement includes optional renewal terms through Sept. 30, 2028.

A Department of the Navy representative sent county Manager Romilda Crocamo a letter last month seeking the county’s “best and final offer” for the lease, citing the President’s Department of Government Efficiency February cost efficiency initiative and subsequent Secretary of Defense mandate to reduce Department of Defense lease costs by 30%.

If the county’s offer is deemed inadequate, the federal government may exercise any available lease options, including termination, to meet the required cost reduction, the letter said.

The proposal on Tuesday’s agenda would reduce the lease rental by 25%. The current lease rental is $49,078 per year, according to an online copy of the document.

Trail funding

Council also will vote on a proposal to co-sponsor a state grant request with the nonprofit Anthracite Scenic Trails Association for a stretch of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor trail in the county.

The trail association already has state grant funding to complete the first phase of the Black Diamond trail section from the Mountain Top Hose Company in Fairview Township to Laurel Run borough, which is set to be bid out later this year, it said.

Additional grant funding is needed for the second phase to construct a trail head, the agenda said.

The funding, if awarded, would come from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside grant program, which requires a municipal co-sponsor, it said.

No county funding will be required if the grant is approved, the agenda said.

The trail association currently maintains an eight-mile D&L stretch from White Haven to the Black Diamond Trailhead in Wright Township and a two-mile section from Johnson Street to the Mountain Top Hose Co.

An additional section connecting these two is in the early stages of development, it said.

Located along the former Lehigh Valley Railroad, the more than 165-mile D&L Trail will extend from downtown Wilkes-Barre to Bristol in Bucks County along the west shore of the Delaware River. There are currently 144 miles of open trail between Bristol and Mountain Top.