Luzerne County Council’s Tuesday special meeting is cancelled

Luzerne County Council won’t start voting on outside American Rescue Plan awards this week because Tuesday’s special meeting has been cancelled.

Council Chairwoman Kendra Radle sent council an email Sunday evening saying the meeting won’t be held “due to pushback.”

Council Vice Chairman John Lombardo said Sunday that several council members indicated they could not attend.

Councilman Kevin Lescavage informed his council colleagues in an email Friday that he had a prior scheduled commitment Tuesday night that will prevent him from attending in person or remotely.

He complained that the special meeting was scheduled without any inquiries about council members’ availability and said it should be rescheduled due to the “magnitude” of the decision. Lescavage also argued bylaws required the chair to consult with all members regarding availability.

Radle had mentioned the possibility of a Tuesday special meeting during a public comment inquiry in last week’s public meeting and sent notice of the time and date the next morning.

Lombardo said it’s likely council will wait until the next regularly scheduled meeting on March 28 to vote on the first outside awards.

Voting plans

Under the plan discussed last week, the first batch will cover awards that fully allocate requested amounts because they meet or fall below caps set by a council majority.

Based on the latest version, that would now be 77 entities.

There were 78 on the list last week, but Councilman Matthew Mitchell said New Roots Inc. is no longer on the fully funded roster because it was categorized as a nonprofit when it is a business. The drug recovery center is seeking $409,392, but the council-approved cap for businesses is $200,000.

The other caps are $500,000 for nonprofits and $2 million for municipalities and municipal authorities.

Council must wait to decide on awards for 36 eligible outside projects set to receive less than requested due to the caps, including New Roots.

These entities will have to submit revised budgets demonstrating how they would scale back their projects or provide additional funding through other means to complete them as originally proposed.

According to a proposed plan, the entities will be notified of the revision process and then have two weeks to submit paperwork through an online portal they used for their original applications. Online instructional sessions and technical support would be available.

If approved as is, the combined allocation to 113 entities would be $55 million — $24.9 million for the first 77 and $30.1 million for the 36 partially funded.

Council members are still unclear on how they will structure the award approval process.

The agenda for Tuesday’s cancelled meeting contained two options — a separate resolution for each award or one resolution covering the entire group.

Both resolution formats contain clauses stressing all awards must be used by recipients for the project described in their application and in accordance with the rules and regulations set forth in the award package the county will be issuing to American Rescue fund recipients.

First batch

The proposed list of awards to receive full funding:

Avoca Hose Company No 1, $75,515; Back Mountain Recreation Inc., $156,900; Beaver Brook Association, $120,000; Beech Mountain Lakes Association Inc., $500,000; Freeland borough, $2 million; Borough of Freeland Municipal Authority, $227,400; Shickshinny borough, $358,000; Butler Township, $500,000; Candy’s Place Cancer Wellness Center, $115,900; Hazleton city, $995,357; Common Ground Ministries, $500,000; Conyngham borough, $785,000; Conyngham Valley Civic Organization, $119,507; Coslett Dental Solutions, $94,366; Courtdale borough, $475,410; Dallas Area Fall Fair Inc./The Luzerne County Fair, $100,000; Dantone Vending LLC, $40,000; Diamond City Partnership Inc., $494,624; Dinners For Kids, $200,000; DMC Graphics, $8,075; Dr. Joseph Costello, $50,000; Dress for Success Luzerne County, $147,150; Dupont borough, $99,861; Edwardsville borough, $341,170; Edwardsville Hometown Committee, $50,000; Erwine Home Health and Hospice Inc., $ 50,240; Geisinger Health, $100,000; General Municipal Authority of Harveys Lake, $500,000; Greater Hazleton Senior Citizens, Inc., $385,000; Greater Wyoming Valley Area YMCA, $487,353; Harveys Lake borough, $855,000; Hazle Township, $2 million; IBEW Local 163 JATC, $500,000; Jenkins Township, $122,000; Junior Achievement of Northeastern Pennsylvania, $150,829; Laflin borough, $64,546; Lang Beverage Company, $50,000; Larksville borough, $400,000; Lower South Valley Council of Governments, $500,000; Luzerne County Library System, $204,506; Maternal and Family Health Services Inc., $469,141; Michael C Baloga (The Foot and Ankle Center), $63,300; Michaelene’s Mission, $50,000; Kingston, $1,824,475; Newport Township, $395,738; North Branch Land Trust, $122,125; North Lake Improvement Association, $88,980; Oblates of Saint Joseph, $79,868; Parking Authority of the City of Wilkes-Barre, $975,000; Patte’s Sports Bar and Restaurant, $155,000; Plains Township Fire Department, $539,854; Power and Success Inc., $100,000; Ryba’s Auto Sales, $80,000; Sanitary Sewer Authority of the Borough of Shickshinny, $387,000; Staggers Southern Cuisine, $25,000; Street Art Society of NEPA Inc., $33,000; Sugar Notch borough, $650,250; Sugarloaf Township $35,500; Swoyersville Little League, $40,000; Swoyersville Parks and Recreation Board, $250,000; The Institute, $150,191; The Lands at Hillside Farms, $32,450; The Philharmonic Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania, $50,535; The Wandering Brew, $45,000; United Way of Greater Hazleton Inc., $200,000; United Way of Wyoming Valley, $210,000; ValentinXStudios, $10,975; West Hazleton Fire Company, $155,000; Whiskers World Inc., $66,250; White Haven Rescue Unit, $117,000; Wilkes Barre Metropolitan Development Corporation, $72,100; Wilkes-Barre Area Community Gardens, $40,000; Wright Township, $583,330; Wyoming Area Regional Police Department, $500,000; Wyoming borough, $1,138,700; Wyoming Valley Habitat for Humanity, $48,615; and Yatesville borough, $224,100.

Pending suggestion

Related to this list of 77, Councilman Brian Thornton has asked his colleagues to consider removing small businesses from current awards and requiring their requests to be processed through a separate small business program.

Council voted last week to award at least $5 million for a small business grant program that will be administered by the Greater Pittston, Greater Hazleton and Wyoming Valley chambers of commerce.

Some council members have said they believe it would be unfair to remove the small businesses already in the 77 set for approval because they have completed all eligibility requirements.