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One person injured in shooting on Wyoming Street on Thursday

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Sunny skies expected this weekend

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Negotiations between Wilkes-Barre Area School District and Panzitta Enterprises regarding the Times Leader building are on hold pending &#8220;guidance&#8221; from the state about the whole deal, Solicitor Ray Wendolowski said Thursday.</p><p>At its <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/510789/w-b-area-school-board-votes-to-lease-times-leader-building-superintendent-announces-retirement" target="_blank">Feb. 8 meeting</a>, the school board voted 7-2 to negotiate a deal in which Panzitta would buy the building on North Main Street, renovate it to hold two grades from Coughlin and lease it to the district for 20 years. The district would then take ownership.</p><p>Supporters of the idea felt so strongly about the option that board member John Quinn moved to pursue direct purchase of the building if the Panzitta deal fell through, and to look into seizing the property by eminent domain if a purchase couldn&#8217;t be arranged.</p><p>Despite more than a month passing since that vote, Wendolowski said negotiations with Panzitta have not really begun because the idea &#8212; typically referred to as a public-private partnership, or P3 &#8212; is new to Pennsylvania, at least when it comes to schools.</p><p>&#8220;Unless we can get some assurance from the state that this concept has legs, it doesn&#8217;t make a heck of a lot of sense to proceed&#8221; with negotiations, Wendolowski said. &#8220;This whole P3 concept is virgin territory.&#8221;</p><p>Wendolowski voiced similar concerns last August when area businessman Bob Sypniewski told the board several investors were interested in funding any construction project.</p><p>Sypniewski said the investors could provide up to $300 million, probably to be paid back with interest over 30 years. Under the proposal, the investors would select architects and contractors for the job, while the district would own and maintain the buildings.</p><p>At the time, state Department of Education Spokeswoman Jessica Hickernell said there was <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/377424/private-investor-school-plan-in-wilkes-barre-creative-but-fraught-with-risks-expert-says" target="_blank">no record of such an arrangement</a>, a sentiment shared by Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials Executive Director Jay Himes.</p><p>Himes called the plan &#8220;a very creative approach,&#8221; but also &#8220;likely fraught with many legal and operational questions.&#8221; The plan was never fully fleshed out; the investors <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/379887/investors-decide-not-to-be-involved-in-w-b-area-school-project" target="_blank">withdrew the offer</a>.</p><p>The Panzitta proposal seems to differ in two key aspects: At no point would the district borrow money from Panzitta; it would lease the building. And while the district would be responsible for maintenance, it would not own the building until the lease expired.</p><p>The Panzitta plan would solve a festering problem for the district. The board had voted to consolidate the Meyers and Coughlin high schools in a new building to be erected on the Coughlin site, but the district still needs to house the students until the project is done.</p><p>Grades nine and 10 moved into a renovated Mackin Elementary Building after Christmas vacation and the original part of Coughlin &#8212; more than 100 years old and deemed structurally unsafe by the district &#8212; was made off limits. The two higher grades have been restricted to the annex.</p><p>The board has discussed three options for housing the higher grades during demolition and construction: modular classrooms, buying or renting another building, or split schedules, which would have half the students attending at Mackin in the morning and half in the afternoon.</p><p>Parents and students overwhelmingly rejected the split schedule idea during a Feb. 2 meeting set up to gain input. Six days later, the board voted to pursue the Panzitta proposal, first presented to board members less than a month earlier at the end of a marathon monthly meeting <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/502488/new-option-presented-to-w-b-area-on-high-school-project-involves-tl-building" target="_blank">Jan. 11</a>.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Times Leader Building. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_TimesLeaderBuilding.jpg</photo0><caption0>Times Leader Building. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

W-B Area negotiations to lease TL building on hold pending state guidance