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Duryea Borough will apply for grant for new police body armor

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Tunkhannock’s Dalton Ray signs with Clarion University

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; City residents, and the world for that matter, should soon be able to view council meetings on the Internet.</p><p>At its work session Tuesday council received an update on a proposal and will have the opportunity to vote at Thursday night&#8217;s public session on a resolution pertaining to the broadcasting of the meetings.</p><p>Councilwoman Beth Gilbert, who has spearheaded the project, said a back-up camera and equipment are still needed and estimated the cost at $600. She said she&#8217;s been working with Louis Lau of the city&#8217;s information technology department about the setup.</p><p>&#8220;We will do all the recording in house. He will post it to the YouTube channel,&#8221; Gilbert said. The video would then be put on the city&#8217;s web site for viewing, she explained.</p><p>Council&#8217;s resolution calls for the purchase of the equipment through the state&#8217;s COSTARS cooperative purchasing program. There was no start-up date provided.</p><p>Another resolution deals with the approval of the transfer of a restaurant liquor license to Stegmaier Mansion LLC from Joyce Nice in Plymouth. The license will be used at the Mary Stegmaier Mansion on South Franklin Street. Joseph Matteo, a managing member of the business, said the transfer is needed to cater weddings and banquets at the mansion.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;d like to bring a liquor license in to better serve our customers,&#8221; Matteo said.</p><p>Council held a short public hearing on the transfer after opening and adjourning the work session. Matteo and his attorney Ralph Johnson addressed council. They said there is public support for the transfer from the Downtown Residents Association and Wilkes University. No one spoke up at the hearing in opposition.</p><p>Matteo said the Frederick Stegmaier Mansion, located a few blocks away, has no liquor license and as a bed and breakfast is too small to host the receptions and other catered-events.</p><p>Last November, the city&#8217;s Zoning Hearing Board approved Matteo&#8217;s request for a variance to add a social hall-banquet room to the Mary Stegmaier Mansion, named for Frederick&#8217;s sister.</p><p>When council resumed the work session after the hearing, one of the agenda items was the appointment of Vaughn Koter to the Zoning Hearing Board.</p><p>Mayor Tony George has accepted names from residents to serve on boards and authorities and selected Koter of Irving Place to replace John Yencha whose term expired in 2013 and stayed on.</p><p>In addition to the Koter&#8217;s appointment, council will be asked to approve a request by the mayor to sell Zorro, a K-9 dog for 10 years with the police department, for $1 to officer Stan Wychock. Zorro &#8220;has served the city with loyalty, honor and distinction,&#8221; underwent emergency surgery and Wychock has agreed to buy and care for Zorro who is retired from the department, the resolution said.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_WB-City-logo-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_WB-City-logo-2.jpg</photo0><caption0></caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_WB-K-9-Zorro-and-others-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre city council will vote Thursday on a resolution to sell Zorro, right, a retired K-9 dog, to his handler office Stan Wychock, second from right. The Wilkes-Barre Crime Watch Coalition is raising funds to purchase a new dog for the department. Left to right, Crime Watch President Charlotte Raup joined Ted Wampole, formerly of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group and city administrator, who presented a check to Police Chief Marcella Lendacky for the K-9 fund. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_WB-K-9-Zorro-and-others-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wilkes-Barre city council will vote Thursday on a resolution to sell Zorro, right, a retired K-9 dog, to his handler office Stan Wychock, second from right. The Wilkes-Barre Crime Watch Coalition is raising funds to purchase a new dog for the department. Left to right, Crime Watch President Charlotte Raup joined Ted Wampole, formerly of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group and city administrator, who presented a check to Police Chief Marcella Lendacky for the K-9 fund. </caption1><photoCredit1>Photo courtesy of Wilkes-Barre Crime Watch Coalition </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Plan calls for video of sessions to be posted to YouTube</subheadMeta></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 @TLJerryLynott</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre City Council meetings to be seen soon on the web