Plans to mothball Luzerne County’s juvenile detention center were put on hold until council members again explore what they want to do with the deteriorating structure overlooking the county’s Water Street prison in Wilkes-Barre.
Council members decided Tuesday they will vote March 14 on whether to proceed with a commercial appraisal of the structure.
Six of 11 council members had voted in October to reject local businessman Jim Casey’s offer to buy the building for $20,000 to create a long-term residential program for recovering female addicts, with some council members citing the lack of an appraisal as a reason for their no votes.
County Manager C. David Pedri estimated a commercial appraisal will cost $3,000 to $5,000, although he said he will shop around seeking a lower price. Pedri said he was hesitant to spend the money if a council majority is determined to keep the property for possible future reuse.
“In my opinion we had a decent offer from the last individual who came up here. County council decided otherwise,” Pedri said, stressing he respects the council’s jurisdiction over real estate matters.
Council Chairwoman Linda McClosky Houck, who had supported the sale, suggested a council vote on the appraisal to gauge if a majority wants to continue pursuing a possible sale.
Councilman Rick Williams, another advocate of Casey’s purchase, pushed for an appraisal, saying the results may sway more colleagues to support a sale that would put the three-story building back into productive use and on the tax rolls.
“The prison is at risk now with that unoccupied property. Anybody could get up there and toss a tennis ball over the fence with contraband in it. There are some advantages to having an active security system there and having it occupied,” Williams said.
Casey said last month he is still interested in the detention center project.
The delay concerns Operational Services Division Head Edmund O’Neill because the county received a low bid of $78,000 to remove asbestos and other hazardous material and seal up the structure — an amount he said is better than expected due to the project’s timing before the peak construction season.
The bids, which came in up to $188,000, are good for 60 days, or until April 8, said O’Neill. In light of the council-requested delay, he has asked the bidders to honor their prices for an additional 30 to 45 days, but he has not yet received a response. If the bidders won’t, O’Neill said he will ask Pedri to inform the council of the ramifications.
“I don’t want to lose that price,” he said.
At minimum, he believes the county should proceed with the environmental abatement because it would be necessary if the building is demolished, sold or kept. He was not sure which portion of the $78,000 bid was for abatement.
O’Neill said the work should have been performed years ago because broken windows and an opening near the roof have allowed pigeons inside. The upstairs floor was caked with bird feces during a 2015 council tour of the building.
“The longer that place is unsealed, the worse it’s going to be and less marketable it will be,” said O’Neill, who started working for the county in July. “There’s no reason why that building should have been left in the condition it was.”
The building has been vacant since former judge Michael Conahan decided to stop sending juveniles there in 2002.
Prison officials had scrapped an idea of converting the center into a prison for female inmates years ago due to the $6 million cost estimate.
