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WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Plans for the proposed $28 million hotel and conference center downtown are on track and agreements to purchase private properties as well as city land are moving forward, an attorney for the developers said Tuesday night during city council&#8217;s work session.Attorney Jack Dean representing Sphere International LLC of Mumbai, India, provided council with an update on the project and some minor changes to a resolution on the sale of city property for $500,000 to the developers.&#8220;The purchase price is wired into to my escrow account so they&#8217;re ready to go,&#8221; Dean said.Sphere International changed from a corporation to a limited liability corporation and shortened the time period to four from five years for the project site to revert to the city if the developers don&#8217;t build or complete it, Dean explained.&#8220;The four-year reverter clause is shortened to speed up development,&#8221; he said.But the city shouldn&#8217;t have to worry about it not being built, Dean noted.Last October Sphere International announced it would build a privately funded 10-story structure on the corner of South Main and West Northampton streets, a Keystone Opportunity Zone that provides tax breaks. It banked on a market study supporting the need for the project that includes a yet-to-be identified franchise hotel, retail space, rental housing and condominiums and complements the mixed-used theater project across the street.The city partially cleared the way for the project in 2013 when structural problems forced it to demolish properties it owned that sandwiched buildings owned by Barbara A. Coffee at 67 S. Main St. and Ken Pollock Inc. at 63 S. Main St. The demolition forced The Place One at the Hollywood dress at 67 S. Main to relocate to its Scranton store. Frank Clark Jewelers at 63 S. Main temporarily shut down during the demolition. It reopened, but lost valuable time during the holiday shopping season and could not recover, leading it to close its doors.Dean said the Coffee property has agreed to sell and the Pollock property has already signed off on a sales agreement. The developers expect to work out some title issues with the city for its properties, he said.Once the land deals are taken care of the developers expect to get underway, Dean said.&#8220;They&#8217;re excited They&#8217;re very excited. They see it as a great opportunity,&#8221; he said.The same group plans to build an $11 million hotel along Mundy Street in Wilkes-Barre Township. Dean also said they are in the process of renovating a former Holiday Inn in Dunmore that was shut down due to structural problems. They&#8217;ve paid several hundred thousand dollars in back taxes owed to Lackawanna County and are working toward a June opening, he said.Besides the property sale two other agenda items also are designed to generate revenue for the city.Council will be asked to give its approval to the second and final reading of an ordinance changing the grading of possession of drug paraphernalia to a summary citation from a misdemeanor offense. The switch would allow city police to decide to move the possession charge to the district judge court level and out of the county court system. But more importantly the citation would carry a $300 fine, payable to the city.Council will also be asked to approve the first reading of an ordinance allowing PA Fire Recovery Service of Allentown, at no cost to the city, to collect insurance payments for the fire department&#8217;s response to motor vehicle crashes, hazardous material incidents and structure fires. PA Fire Recovery would take a 15-percent cut of the insurance payment on the first collection attempt and 20-percent fee for the second attempt, explained Deputy Fire Chief Alan Klapat.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jerry Lynottjlynott@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott</shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre Council gets update on hotel/conference center