Luzerne County advocating federal infrastructure funding for Pittston/West Pittston bridges

At the request of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Luzerne County Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo has submitted a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg seeking federal infrastructure funding to rehabilitate or replace both bridges linking Pittston and West Pittston.

Under an agreement up for county council approval April 12, the state is willing to assume responsibility for the design and construction of the county-owned Firefighters’ Memorial Bridge because it would be bundled with the state’s work on its nearby Fort Jenkins Bridge.

The county-owned bridge over the Susquehanna River has been closed since early August due to concerns over a bent eyebar. If council approves the pending agreement, it would pay only 5% toward the cost of refurbishing or replacing its bridge, with the rest coming from state and federal funding.

However, the state transportation department would have the option to terminate the agreement if it does not receive the federal or state funds necessary to complete the project, it said.

Management position

Due to the recent retirement of Angela Zera, the county’s court system is seeking applicants for the chief of juvenile probation services position.

The position is listed at an annual range of $75,000 to $80,000, and resumes are due April 15.

Postings for this position and other county government vacant jobs are listed in the county human resources department “career opportunities” section at luzernecounty.org.

Possible vacant council seat

As previously reported, the 11-member council will have a vacant seat to fill if Councilman Robert Schnee wins Tuesday’s special election for state representative in the 116th legislative district.

Councilman Stephen J. Urban already publicly predicted there will be a disagreement over whether council must fill the seat with a Democrat or Republican.

Schnee’s was elected as a Democrat in 2019 but subsequently changed his registration to Republican.

Section 11.05 (G) of the county’s home rule charter says the person appointed “shall be a member of the same political party as the person he/she is to succeed and shall have been a member of that party continuously from the time the person whose office is to be filled was most recently elected or appointed to the office.”

Two other candidates are running in Tuesday’s election — Democrat Amilcar Arroyo and Libertarian Paul Cwalina.

Elevators

The county has hired Barry Isett & Associates Inc. for $48,750 to complete a professional engineering design of the prison elevator modernization project, according to a contract posted online.

Council agreed to use American Rescue Plan funding to provide the remaining allocation needed to replace both elevators at the prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre.

The prison’s two elevators date back to the 1980s, and officials said they are in constant use for the transport of meals, laundry and inmates heading to court appearances and treatment.

In another elevator project, the county also is retaining KONE Inc. to repair and update the elevator at the county-owned Bernard Brominski Building in Wilkes-Barre — work that will be funded by an allocation council had previously approved in the capital budget.

Because that elevator is now off-limits, the court is scheduling family court proceedings elsewhere for participants with disabilities, officials said.