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Tour of new WB Area high school shows much of work completed

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Your view: Share the wealth, improve the planet

WILKES-BARRE — City Council Thursday night had plenty of questions for Mayor George Brown on a host of issues from the sale of city property and the rash of shootings to the status of $38.8 million in funding through the American Rescue Plan.

Based on Brown’s response, council approved the sale of the Morgan B. Williams field along North Wilkes-Barre Boulevard for $50,000 to developer Alba Properties LLC.

“They’re looking at investing $2.5 million and that should start very quickly. So we’re looking within a year that should be completed,” Brown said.

The buyer will pay $2,000 more than the assessed value of the 3.15-acre site and plans to construct two, 10,000-square-foot buildings, one for a granite, marble and cabinetry business and the other a showroom. Brown assured council the buyer was responsible for making the site was accessible with an entrance and exit to the busy roadway.

“Before we went into this <span class="NormalTextRun ContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2 SCXW149454664 BCX0">deal I mentioned to them that, understand, there are ingress and entrance problems and they’re fully aware of that and they’re still willing to pay $50,000 for the property,” Brown said.</span>

It’s not located in a Keystone Opportunity Zone that comes with tax breaks. And it’s up to the buyer to apply for government grants, Brown added.

During the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkiNRETGNFI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">online meeting </a>Councilman Mike Belusko asked when the city would receive the federal funding under the plan signed into law last month by President Joe Biden.

Brown told council he and his administration are still waiting for information from the Treasury Department on how the money can be spent.

“We think that, we’re hoping that the money, half of the money will be given to us within 60 days and we have to get an indication by then what we can use it for,” Brown said.

Police have been responding to shootings in the city, the latest on Tuesday night in the area of Garfield and South Franklin streets. Council Vice Chairwoman Beth Gilbert McBride questioned Brown about them.

“So I was just wondering, is there any plan that’s in place to help combat these recent rash of shootings and how can we assure the residents of Wilkes-Barre that Wilkes-Barre is safe?” McBride said.

Brown was reluctant to go into details and offered to have Police Chief Joseph Coffay contact her Friday.

“There’s ongoing investigations and I don’t feel comfortable saying much about it,” Brown said.

Although it’s not in response to the shooting, eight new police officers will be sworn in next week. Four of them are certified and ready to go to work, the others will be going to the Police Academy at Lackawanna College in Scranton, Brown said.

As for the camera system McBride asked about, Brown said the city bought 11 and is testing out four of them on Public Square. The other seven will be installed when the city’s bucket truck is repaired. The cameras are different types and a decision on whether to buy more and where they’ll be located depends on which works the best, the mayor said.

Council appointed Tracy Smith of Cleveland Street as Assistant City Clerk at an annual pay of $45,000 plus benefits effective May 3. Smith will fill the spot left by council’s appointment of Cathy Payne to City Clerk earlier this month following the retirement of Jim Ryan who held the position since 2001.

Council also approved:

• Outdoor seating on the city-right-of-way sidewalk for the Bank+Vine restaurant at 268 S. Main St.

• A line painting and pavement markings contract to the lowest responsible bidder. The funding will come out of the city’s 2021/2022 Liquid Fuels Budget.

• The second and final reading of the ordinance to adopt the 2021 Action Plan for the Community Development Block Grant and Home programs’ budgets totaling $1,522,259.

WB Council quizzes Brown about sale of city park, shootings and federal aid