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<p>Do four Wilkes-Barre council members really have all the information they need before committing the city to yet another municipal authority?</p><p>And what was the urgency to hold a special meeting at 10 a.m. Monday when few could attend, even if they wanted to, for beginning the process of forming a new city sewer authority to levy fees on neighboring communities for using the city&#8217;s sewer lines?</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to be very candid with you,&#8221; Councilman Bill Barrett said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a good package. It doesn&#8217;t cost us anything to have an authority.&#8221;</p><p>Maybe, maybe not.</p><p>One of the three representatives from Cardno BCM, which stands to benefit financially, said it will cost $100,000 just to get the authority off the ground but said the fees collected should net the authority $150,000. Times Leader reporter Joe Dolinsky, who covered the meeting, told me Barrett was persuaded by that argument when the councilman said the authority would cost nothing.</p><p>But again, it seems premature to surmise the authority should net a bonanza in fees.</p><p>The three Plymouth Meeting wastewater engineering company reps also said they will need $12,000 for a Harrisburg lawyer to begin legal proceedings.</p><p>I&#8217;m guessing that $12,000 in legal fees is just for starters.</p><p>Remember the city parking authority, which paid city Mayor Tom Leighton&#8217;s former administrator J.J. Murphy almost $35,000 for part-time consulting work over four months to pursue Leighton&#8217;s failed brainchild to lease the city&#8217;s parking assets to make a quick buck?</p><p>The only ones who made a buck were Murphy and Murphy&#8217;s brother&#8217;s Philadelphia law firm. The parking authority paid that firm, Fox Rothschild, more than $100,000 for Phase 1 of the plan, which never made it to Phase 2.</p><p>And who knew until recently that, thanks to the city redevelopment authority, a $6.3 million judgment, including interest, hung over the city&#8217;s head for years which Leighton recently acknowledged could have &#8220;absolutely destroyed us&#8221;?</p><p>Relax, because a settlement was reached in which the city only had to pay the contractor $200,000 after it got shafted in a botched 2001 theater/parking garage project. PHEW. Only $200,000.</p><p>In 2006, Newcrete Products sued when it was not paid its $4.3 million for the precast concrete beams it delivered for the project. The redevelopment authority didn&#8217;t have the money to pay the supplier, so the company went after the city. But the court ruled the city wasn&#8217;t liable because the redevelopment authority is a separate entity.</p><p>&#8220;Coincidentally, the redevelopment authority was also in debt to the city since 2005 for the same amount - $4.3 million,&#8221; the Times Leader reported in June. So the city purchased some authority properties at a sheriff&#8217;s sale, which assistant city attorney Bill Vinsko said &#8220;essentially extinguished&#8221; the debt, while telling the TL that those properties &#8220;aren&#8217;t worth anywhere near $4.3 million.&#8221; HUH?</p><p>But all&#8217;s well that ends well. Thanks to the settlement, the city redevelopment authority is up and running again, Vinsko said. &#8220; &#8230; we have a functional redevelopment authority where we can move ahead and get grants again.&#8221; YIPPEE!</p><p>That was sure worth a nine-year legal battle. Wonder how much was spent defending that lawsuit, and who was the lucky lawyer(s) who did the work?</p><p>Another authority comprised of political appointees who oversee a lot of public money is the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority. Did anyone notice that with little fanfare it raised everyone&#8217;s quarterly fee this year from $46 to $49, or by 6.5 percent? And property owners must pay this $196 annual fee even if they have a home, apartment or business which is vacant. In other words, you pay for no services rendered, and there&#8217;s nothing you can do about it.</p><p>And, of course, who hasn&#8217;t heard of the Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority? Like the city one, this quasi-governmental body also ran out of funds after the county gave it almost $6 million to buy Thom Greco&#8217;s Market Street Square train wreck. But instead of protecting the county&#8217;s hefty investment, the authority allowed the eyesore to decay even further.</p><p>So now another municipal authority is about to be born. Council members Mike Merritt, George Brown, Maureen Lavelle and Barrett voted for this. Tony George vehemently protested before voting no.</p><p>We&#8217;re not sure whether the council has a clue how much money the city can reap in fees or if Wilkes-Barre Township and others targeted will fight back.</p><p>But after Leighton appoints the expected five members to this new authority board, they will likely employ a solicitor. Ka-ching! And who knows &#8212; maybe an executive director will be needed.</p><p>Lavelle said having an authority &#8220;insulates us from PUC (Public Utility Commission) oversight.&#8221; That&#8217;s a good thing? But at least &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t cost us anything to have an authority,&#8221; Barrett said.</p><p>Famous last words.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Betty Roccograndi</p><p>Zeroing In</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Betty Roccograndi is a Wyoming Valley resident and award-winning journalist. Zeroing In appears weekly.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Zeroing In: Wilkes-Barre City Council should rethink sewer authority decision