No Wyoming Valley Levee fee increase proposed for 2026

The Wyoming Valley Levee fee won’t increase in 2026 under a proposed $2.4 million operating budget the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority presented Tuesday.

Implemented in 2009, the fee impacts approximately 14,200 levee-protected properties and is based on the assessed value of structures, with total annual fee payments ranging from $63 to $1,213.

The last fee increase was in 2017.

Fee revenue must be used to maintain the 16-mile flood control system along the Susquehanna River, which protects properties in parts of Exeter, Wyoming, West Wyoming, Forty Fort, Luzerne, Pringle, Edwardsville, Plymouth, Swoyersville, Kingston, Hanover Township, and Wilkes-Barre.

Authority Executive Director Christopher Belleman told the authority board Tuesday he is not advocating an increase in the fee. It is the largest revenue generator for the budget, bringing in approximately $1.6 million annually, he said.

However, Belleman cautioned that maintaining the same fee will make 2026 a “challenging year” to cover rising expenses.

“We’re trying to hold the line as best as we can,” Belleman said after Tuesday’s meeting.

The authority board is set to adopt the operating budget at its December meeting, along with spending plans for separate capital and project funds.

Belleman said the budget includes allocations to perform practice drill installations of the flood closure structures on Route 11 in Edwardsville and the Kingston side of the Market Street Bridge. Work is also planned on relief wells, which resemble trash cans above ground and serve as valves to relieve water pressure that could compromise the levee.

Authority Board member Jay Delaney, who is Wilkes-Barre’s fire chief, credited County Council for earmarking $8 million of the county’s federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for a range of authority capital projects.

This earmark has allowed the authority to “keep our fees in check” while addressing capital needs, Delaney said.

Erosion repair

Authority members are still awaiting a survey of the land and river where erosion is creeping toward part of the flood wall along Riverside Drive in Wilkes-Barre.

The authority board held a special meeting in late October to unanimously approve the hiring of Verdantas LLC in Plains Township for $24,670 to complete the survey. The work utilizes lidar (light detection and ranging) technology, in which variations in light pulses between the surface and a drone are measured to map the topography precisely.

Survey results are expected by the end of this week.

Authority board members — also including Vice Chairman William Hardwick, Coray Mitchell, and John Maday — reiterated Tuesday that they will likely call a special meeting to discuss the results and advance repair plans.

Authority Chairman Dominic Yannuzzi, an engineer, has said surveying is necessary to assess the cause and determine if further data, such as core borings, must be obtained to identify the solution. Survey results also must be compared to historical geotechnical data to see how conditions at the site have changed over time, he has said.

The spot of concern is near the intersection of Riverside Drive and Academy Street by the Black Diamond railroad bridge. Belleman said this section has been stable for decades, but started to slough in recent months. On slopes, slough is soil, rock, and debris that has moved downhill, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Belleman has estimated a permanent fix could cost $375,000 to $500,000.

Executive director replacement

The authority has publicly advertised Belleman’s position at lcfpa.org.

Belleman, an engineer, announced in September he will be leaving the position Jan. 9 after a dozen years as part of his retirement plans.

The minimum compensation is $80,000 for the professional engineering, management-level position, as stated in the job description. Duties include overseeing levee maintenance and operations, as well as coordinating emergency protocols during river flooding.

Applications are due Dec. 15, it said.