Administrator: Sinkhole partially under Luzerne County’s rail line in Ashley has been addressed

A sinkhole partially under Luzerne County’s rail line in Ashley has been addressed, county Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Margaret Thomas said Tuesday.

The authority, which owns the rail line, was informed of the sinkhole on March 7. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation concluded the hole was not coal mine-related.

As a result, the authority’s rail operator, R.J. Corman Railroad Group, filled in the hole with rock and other material and resumed use of the rail line that services the Hanover Industrial Park, Thomas said during Tuesday’s authority board meeting.

R.J. Corman is closely monitoring the site and will advise the authority if any concerns develop, Thomas said.

Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge

The authority board voted Tuesday to continue requiring the county to submit invoices if it wants payment from an approximately $55 million casino gambling fund administered by the authority.

This fund was established through state legislation to fund county infrastructure projects. The legislation placed the authority board in charge of overseeing the financing, which comes from an annual $3 million casino fund allocation.

Tuesday’s vote was prompted by a county communication seeking advance payment of the full contract amount for Modjeski and Masters Inc. to perform design and engineering for the county-owned Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge over the Susquehanna River.

County Council unanimously approved the contract with Modjeski and Masters last month, with a $1 million cap for work set to be completed within two years.

Authority Board Chairman Scott Linde said he is not prepared to deviate from the past protocol of releasing payment after invoices are submitted.

Thomas said the authority will be audited, and she does not want the authority to be penalized if actual payments for bridge work end up less than the amounts forwarded to the county.

Board Vice Chairman Stephen Phillips said he supports continuing the invoice requirement to preserve the audit paper trail.

Rail offers

Trenton, N.J.-based Strauss & Associates/Planners is continuing to document county rail line assets in preparation for an eventual public request for proposals to purchase the county rail line, officials said Tuesday.

Linde said the consultant is immersed in securing property titles and working with county GIS/Mapping to generate a map detailing all property, including inactive lines.

An entity must also be retained to determine a valuation figure once all holdings are identified, authority members have said.

The authority board members had reluctantly decided that offers should be considered, but only through a public process open to all interested entities. Reading & Northern Railroad Chairman and CEO Andy M. Muller Jr. made an unsolicited $10 million offer to purchase the county line in October, stating he would increase freight service and introduce passenger train excursions from Wilkes-Barre to Pittston.