Rain garden construction underway at Luzerne County’s Operations Building in Wyoming

Luzerne County has started work on a rain garden in front of its Operations Building on Wyoming Avenue in Wyoming.

Rain gardens are filled with native plants that thrive in the region and are designed to absorb stormwater runoff and filter out pollutants.

County Recycling Coordinator Beth DeNardi had announced the rain garden plans in June 2024, when the county unveiled the operations building that is largely remodeled with recycled materials.

The project will be covered by state grant funds and won’t require county general fund operating budget subsidy, the administration said.

The Newark, Delaware-based company, Delaware Environmental Construction, is completing the work for $60,300, according to a contract awarded earlier this year.

In addition to a rain garden, the project will include two pollinator gardens with plants that attract bees and butterflies, a gravel walking path, four art pads, and foundations for four educational wayside markers, according to the contract.

The rain garden is expected to be completed by May 15, a Tuesday release said.

“This is a major undertaking by the county for an environmentally-friendly project that will benefit not only the area around the building, but also reduce runoff into the nearby waterways,” county Manager Romilda Crocamo said in the release.

Crocamo said she is excited to share the garden with the public and show how it benefits the environment. The county wants schools to bring students there for educational purposes, the release said.

Its water filtration system will reduce pollutants and sediment entering Abraham’s Creek and the Susquehanna River, the release said.

The landscaping plan posted with the project bid indicated the rain garden will include a total of 43 plants of several varieties, such as bee balm, buttonbush, Blue Flag Iris, swamp milkweed, Liatris, switchgrass, and Joe Pye weed.

Reilly Associates, the county’s contracted engineer, designed the project.

Rain gardens typically dry out within 24 hours of a storm, which prevents the breeding of mosquitoes, the county release said.

DeNardi had saved leftover landfill fees and grants for many years to renovate the operations building with no impact on the general fund. The approximately $4 million she accrued to complete the remodeling had to be used for recycling and could not be reprogrammed to cover other demands, such as road and bridge repairs, DeNardi had emphasized.

The county had taken possession of the vacant former Air Reserve Center at 1199 Wyoming Ave., near the county-owned Wyoming Valley Airport, around 2019.