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<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; Finding the money to repair ice-making equipment at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza sparked a heated discussion Wednesday among the board members overseeing the facility.</p><p>The Luzerne County Convention Center Authority eventually approved allocating $25,000 and will tap into bond money budgeted for a $3.8 million expansion project.</p><p>Parts and equipment costs are approximately $18,000 and the work will be done in-house, negating the need for putting it out to bid, said Donna Cupinski, authority chairwoman. The authority approved a higher amount however to pay for any additional parts that will be needed once the work begins.</p><p>Board member David Capin, who joined the 11-member authority last month, questioned why there was no account set up to pay for repairs. The authority has previously decided to forgo spending $60,000 on repairs to the parking lot and use the money for other ongoing maintenance, he said.</p><p>&#8220;What I want to make sure is that we don&#8217;t have these conversations on an ongoing basis,&#8221; he said.</p><p>&#8220;Well, welcome to the arena board,&#8221; Cupinski said, referring him to speak with the other board members about maintenance issues that have to be dealt with when they arise.</p><p>A contingency fund set up for maintenance and repairs is paying for a settlement reached in a lawsuit over the construction of the arena, explained board member Ed Harry.</p><p>He said he wished they had the revenues to replenish the fund but &#8220;you just got to wing it.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not cool with the word winging it,&#8221; Capin replied.</p><p>Cupinski acknowledged there&#8217;s no &#8220;mechanism&#8221; in place to refill the account.&#8221;We want to do things the right way, but the simple fact of the matter is we don&#8217;t have the money,&#8221; she said.</p><p>The industry appears to be turning around from a downturn in traveling shows over the last couple years and that could help, she said. In the meantime, money keeps getting pulled from the budget of the construction committee in charge of the expansion, she said.</p><p>Angelo Answini, the board member and chair of the committee, interjected, &#8220;You&#8217;re dealing with a 15-year-old building here and there&#8217;s a lot of peaks and valleys in what happens day to day. Every time you turn around there&#8217;s a problem maintenance wise.&#8221;</p><p>He said the final design of the expansion should be ready next month and be put out for bid by Dec. 1. Initial bids for the project adding bar/lounge space on the concourse and suite levels were rejected in June after they came in between $6.4 million and $6.9 million, too high for the authority&#8217;s budget.</p><p>Capin even raised the possibility of halting the expansion if the authority has to continue to deal with maintenance and repairs.</p><p>&#8220;If we&#8217;re having these conversations why are we talking about an expansion?&#8221; he asked.</p><p>Alex Milanes backed Capin, saying, &#8220;We&#8217;re adding new infrastructure that we have to maintain and we&#8217;re having trouble maintaining the infrastructure we have now.&#8221;</p><p>Answini inquired about a $100,000 Local Share Account grant from gambling revenues from the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino in Plains Township. The state awarded the authority the money for the installation of acoustical panels in the arena&#8217;s ceiling.</p><p>When told legislation restricted the use of the money for the purpose listed on the grant application, Answini remarked, &#8220;Laws are made to be broken.&#8221;</p><p>At the end of the board&#8217; s meeting he asked a reporter not that his include his comment in a news story.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Cupinski </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_lccca010.jpg</photo0><caption0>Cupinski </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLNews</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Mohegan Sun Arena board struggles to find funds for maintenance, repairs