web1_10.28-concerts-Rev.-Jefferson.jpg

Concert Listings: Oct. 28 to Nov. 3, 2016

Wilkes University announces students selected to be Kirby Scholars

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; As much as Jim Casey maintains the city has a responsibility to check into documented environmental hazards at the former county juvenile detention center, City Hall disagrees.</p><p>Casey, a Wilkes-Barre businessman, said Thursday an engineer&#8217;s report he received from Luzerne County as part of his rejected offer to buy the long vacant property for $20,000 lists the presence of asbestos, lead paint and other problems in the center built in 1937.</p><p>The county hasn&#8217;t addressed them, as evidenced by the environmental assessment report it paid more than $11,000 for, Casey said. That leaves it up to Wilkes-Barre to enforce its own building codes and laws, he said. He declined to provide a copy of the report.</p><p>But the city won&#8217;t act on its own and instead is waiting for word to visit the hilltop center located a few blocks from the county courthouse along a busy roadway. Casey reacted with surprise to the reactive approach and wondered why an obvious eyesore wasn&#8217;t in the city&#8217;s sights.</p><p>&#8220;They can&#8217;t wait for somebody to yell fire,&#8221; Casey said.</p><p>As of Thursday no one&#8217;s complained and neither has the city been given a copy of the report.</p><p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t, even with that knowledge, we can&#8217;t go up there,&#8221; said Ted Wampole, city administrator.</p><p>He compared it to city inspectors, knowing many of the older houses have lead paint, trying to gain entry to check for the hazard. There has to be &#8220;just cause,&#8221; for action on the city&#8217;s part, he stressed.</p><p>However, if there are life-threatening conditions the city would take immediate action on a property, Wampole said.</p><p>But Casey said the report gives the city reasons to act.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what the environmental assessment report is saying. If they (the county) go to tear this building down, this is life threatening, and they have a written report saying that,&#8221; Casey said.</p><p>The center that&#8217;s been closed 2002 has been a much publicized topic of discussion over the past few weeks between Casey and county council that Tuesday rejected his offer to buy it, renovate it and operate a long-term residential program for recovering female addicts. Casey was the only one who responded to the county&#8217;s request for buyers of the three-story brick building.</p><p>County Manager C. David Pedri was not able to provide the environmental assessment report and said crews have been cleaning up the property. In the long term, the county will comply with city building codes, close up the property, abate the asbestos and determine what to do with the building that&#8217;s been taken off the market.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re not interested in selling the building at this time,&#8221; Pedri said.</p><p>For his part, Casey doesn&#8217;t want to deal with county council anymore. He said he was treated unfairly and put a lot of time and money into his offer.</p><p>&#8220;I find my dealings were less than honorable, and I do not go back and deal with people that are less than honorable,&#8221; Casey said. Pedri, on the other hand, is an honorable man, Casey said.</p><p>He said still has hopes to make the women&#8217;s facility center a reality. He has operated a men&#8217;s residential rehabilitation and treatment facility on South Main Street since 1999. The 50-bed James A. Casey House is state licensed to provide drug and alcohol programs.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_juvie01-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre officials said the city has to receive a complaint in order to inspect the former Luzerne County juvenile detention center that a potential buyer said is in poor condition and should be condemned. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_juvie01-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes-Barre officials said the city has to receive a complaint in order to inspect the former Luzerne County juvenile detention center that a potential buyer said is in poor condition and should be condemned. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>City says it can&#8217;t act without a complaint</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>

No calls, no inspection by Wilkes-Barre of closed county detention center