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<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; The Luzerne County Convention Center Authority approved Wednesday insurance coverage renewals and parking lot repairs for the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.</p><p>Insurance premiums will increase slightly for a variety of policies provided by several carriers.</p><p>Joe Joyce of Joyce Insurance Group of Pittston said the package for employment-related practices liability totaled $10,829.</p><p>&#8220;We went out to the markets this year and we took a look at trying to get a better price. The price came in about $800 more than last year,&#8221; Joyce said.</p><p>Joyce advised the authority against increasing the deductibles to try to save a few dollars.</p><p>Edward Miller, of Assured Partners Inc. of Plains Township, said his company also went out to the markets in search of better deals for property, liability, umbrella and automobile coverage. Miller said the prices for existing carrier Chubb remained flat, but Liberty Mutual, which provides the umbrella policy, increased approximately $1,800.</p><p>The deadly terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena in Great Britain last May will likely affect insurance costs in the future, Miller told the authority. &#8220;Where we go from here, I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; he said.</p><p>The authority approved Assured Partners&#8217; quote of $129,936.</p><p>Authority member Donna Cupinski, chairwoman of the capital improvements &amp; strategic planning committee, provided updates on the ice rink replacement and acoustical-panels projects.</p><p>&#8220;Manufacturing has begun on all the acoustic panels,&#8221; Cupinski said. Installation is expected by mid to late August. She said the contract calls for the job to be completed by Dec. 15.</p><p>Work on the ice rink replacement is a week ahead of schedule. But Cupinski said that doesn&#8217;t mean the project will be completed earlier than expected. It has to be done before the start of the hockey season for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The home opener for the anchor tenant of the arena is Oct. 7.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s different people working on different factions so we might finish a week ahead with what we&#8217;re doing now and not be able to start because the next entity isn&#8217;t ready yet,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Meanwhile, bids were opened Friday for repairs to the parking lot and the low bidder of the five received was American Asphalt of Shavertown, Cupinski said. She added that Borton-Lawson engineers and architects recommended the authority accept American Asphalt&#8217;s base bid of $906,457 to clean the storm drains, stabilize the unpaved areas and pave the access road and parking area in the rear of the arena. With the addition of alternatives to repair, seal and line-paint sections of the lot, the total cost rises to $1,343,879, Cupinski said.</p><p>Because the parking lot project will exhaust the approximately $950,000 remaining from the bond issued for capital improvements, the authority will have to tap into the surplus held by trustee PNC to cover the difference, explained Carrie Grantuskas, finance director for the arena. The surplus for capital projects stands at $1,178,682. The authority agreed to ask PNC to approve the allocation of surplus funds for the parking lot and an additional $47,000 to pay for other smaller projects such as replacing glass panels and supports for the rink.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins center Oskar Sundqvist, left, looks to pass ahead of Providence goalkeeper Zach McIntyre in Game 5 of an AHL Atlantic Division Semifinal Sunday afternoon at Mohegan Sun Arena.  Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_pens-loss-1-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins center Oskar Sundqvist, left, looks to pass ahead of Providence goalkeeper Zach McIntyre in Game 5 of an AHL Atlantic Division Semifinal Sunday afternoon at Mohegan Sun Arena.  Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_lccca010.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Cupinski </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_lccca010.jpg</photo1><caption1>Cupinski </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>

Authority approves repairs to parking lot of Mohegan Sun Arena