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Trump urges ban on gun devices like bump stocks

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The Wilkes-Barre Parking Authority agreed Tuesday to collaborate with the city in a comprehensive study of parking and committed nearly half of the $45,000 it will cost for the review.</p><p>The authority approved a one-time payment of $20,000 on the condition it be included in the discussions as a stakeholder rather than a party to the agreement between the city and Chicago-based consultant Desman Design Management.</p><p>&#8220;I welcome this. I think it&#8217;s excellent,&#8221; said Tom Torbik, executive director of the authority.</p><p>Wilkes-Barre contracted with Desman last month for the study that could ultimately lead to the sale or lease of the parking system and provide stability to the city struggling with short- and long-term financial issues.</p><p>But the authority that dealt with Desman in 2012 when the city tried to monetize parking assets, including the authority&#8217;s garages, did not want to retrace those steps and voted to limit its participation to the study&#8217;s first phase.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s technically not about what was done before at all. It&#8217;s more of a study of everything,&#8221; Torbik told the authority.</p><p>Authority solicitor Murray Ufberg said he and Torbik had discussions in the past with Desman and recently held a conference call with company officials.</p><p>&#8220;And these guys are the best in the business,&#8221; Ufberg said of Desman.</p><p>Ufberg said he supported the city&#8217;s effort to better the parking situation by means of the study. He also advised the authority that if it agreed to commit funds, it had to be assured it was &#8220;entirely in the loop.&#8221;</p><p><ins>&#8220;We have to be at the meetings. We have to receive all reports and recommendations. We can&#8217;t be surprised by anything,&#8221; Ufberg said. </ins></p><p>Torbik acknowledged he was unsure if the study had begun. Ufberg added that he would contact Desman associate vice president Gerald Salzman and city Administrator Ted Wampole.</p><p>Aside from the study funding, the authority voted to increase the maximum daily rate at its garages to $15 from $7.50 effective as early as next week. The hike is the result of more people using the garages after the city doubled the hourly rate at its meters to $2 to raise revenues to balance its $49.4 million budget. The higher garage rate affects people who do not have long-term deals with the authority that charges $70 a month.</p><p>The authority also agreed to lease office space at its North Main Street garage to A Better Today Inc., a Scranton-based firm that provides substance abuse treatment services.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Torbik </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Tom-Torbik-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Torbik </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Parking authority to pay $20K toward WB study