Woman offering reward for return of ‘priceless’ ring

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Networking for seniors at Kingston Active Adult Center

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Permits for the $40 million expansion of Wilkes-Barre General Hospital brought in much needed revenue to the city at a time when a draft of its most recent monthly financial statement reported a negative balance for the general fund budget.</p><p>The fees paid to the city totalled $641,318, according to documents obtained by the Times Leader through a Right to Know request.</p><p>J.E. Dunn Construction Co. of Kansas City, M0., issued a check for that amount on Nov. 15 to cover the costs of inspections and plan reviews for the three-story vertical addition and the installation of construction trailers and a tower crane on the job site.</p><p>But not all of the money goes to the city. Northeast Inspection Consultant, the contractor hired by the city last year, gets $225,641, more than a third of the total. Wilkes-Barre is left with $415,677.</p><p>&#8220;It helps with our cash flow. And it&#8217;s a great project for the city,&#8221; Ted Wampole, city administrator, said Wednesday.</p><p>The for-profit hospital that&#8217;s part of the regional Commonwealth Health system plans to expand by building on top of the Emergency Department and Heart &amp; Vascular Institute. The project that&#8217;s expected to be completed by late 2017 brings 34 critical-care beds to the third and fourth floors. Mechanical systems and equipment will be located on the fifth floor. In the existing hospital, approximately 200 rooms will be converted to private from semi-private.</p><p>The revenue was included in the $1.1 million line item in this year&#8217;s $51.5 million balanced budget, Wampole said.</p><p>As of the draft financial statement from Oct. 31, just $403,215 or 36 percent of the total was collected. The city also reported a negative balance of $20,360 for the month. Pension payments and other expenses eliminated the $7.4 million balance from September.</p><p>The swing to the negative worried Mayor Tony George as the city headed toward year&#8217;s end with still more bills to pay. He&#8217;s warned of an impending shortfall and blamed his predecessor Tom Leighton for including &#8220;phantom numbers&#8221; or revenues that have either not materialized or fallen far short of their budgeted amounts. The building permits were not among them, however.</p><p>George has proposed a $47.9 million balanced budget that includes a 30-mill property tax hike next year. City council has until the end of the year to approve the spending plan.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Barriers have been set up in preparation for the $40 million expansion project at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital that&#8217;s brought in more than $415,000 in budgeted revenues from fees and permits to the city of Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_permits01.jpg</photo0><caption0>Barriers have been set up in preparation for the $40 million expansion project at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital that&#8217;s brought in more than $415,000 in budgeted revenues from fees and permits to the city of Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_permits02.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The city of Wilkes-Barre received more than $415,000 in budgeted revenues for permits and fees from the $40 million expansion set to begin at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_permits02.jpg</photo1><caption1>The city of Wilkes-Barre received more than $415,000 in budgeted revenues for permits and fees from the $40 million expansion set to begin at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></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 @TLJerryLynott</p></shirttailMeta></div>

WBGH expansion helps Wilkes-Barre’s cash flow with more than $415K from permits