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Yankees’ Ben Heller working way back from Tommy John surgery

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Wilkes-Barre man admits robbing Turkey Hill, sentenced to year in prison

<p>KINGSTON &#8212; The Luzerne County Transportation Authority has taken another step toward securing a new home at the former Murray Complex in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>Board members at a special meeting on Tuesday afternoon voted to give the authority&#8217;s solicitor and Executive Director Norm Gavlick approval to begin negotiations and ultimately make an offer for the 11.633-acre disused industrial site.</p><p>It is owned by Daniel Siniawa and Associates of Dickson City, under the name Siniawa 6 L.P.</p><p>The board&#8217;s authorization said the transaction is &#8220;not to exceed fair market value as determined by appraisals and review obtained by the authority.&#8221; Siniawa paid $1.5 million to purchase the 11.63-acre property from Thomas Murray at a bankruptcy auction in 2004, records show.</p><p>LCTA Board Chairman Charles Sciandra said he was not at liberty to say how much the expected purchase price could be.</p><p>Once complete, the move would take LCTA from the four-acre landlocked site that has long been its main base to a property where it can store all vehicles at one location with ample room for expansion.</p><p>While there is no definitive price tag yet, Gavlick said the ultimate project cost could be in the $20 million to $30 million range.</p><p>Currently operations, maintenance, fuelling and storage for LCTA&#8217;s 40 fixed-route buses is done at the Northampton Street site in Kingston, while its shared-ride vans are housed at a site in Forty Fort.</p><p>Officials say bringing all operations together at the Murray Complex is key as the transit system grows to meet increasing demand, especially from industrial parks and logistics employers, many of whose workers rely on public transportation.</p><p>It also would save money, Gavlick said. In addition to duplicate utilities and other costs for maintaining two buildings, Gavlick said the shared-ride vans must be fuelled in Kingston at the end of the day before returning to Forty Fort.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s going to make us a lot more efficient having everything in one place,&#8221; he said.</p><p>It also would put customer service offices for fixed- and shared-ride transit in one office, close to the heart of Wilkes-Barre and more easily accessible by bus routes, Gavlick added.</p><p>The new terminal also would offer expanded compressed natural gas fueling capabilities, which will be important <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/713896/lcta-receives-two-new-cng-buses" target="_blank">as LCTA replaces its older diesel buses with the cleaner CNG </a><a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/713896/lcta-receives-two-new-cng-buses" target="_blank">models</a>. Currently there are two of those on the roster, with five more expected by year&#8217;s end, Gavlick said.</p><p>The fueling station also could include a retail CNG operation to serve school buses and other fleet vehicles, officials have said. <a href="http://www.cpbj.com/article/20170728/CPBJ01/170729803/wolf-joins-shipley-to-celebrate-cng-station-opening" target="_blank">State officials have been pushing transit systems to use more CNG, which can be produced using shale gas extracted in Pennsylvania</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/630514/lcta-looking-to-make-murray-complex-its-new-home" target="_blank">The Murray Complex project has been under discussion for several years</a>, with the plans <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/699171/lcta-project-delayed-but-could-begin-by-early-summer" target="_blank">requiring cooperation of the current owner as well as funding and approvals from state and federal sources</a>.</p><p>A first phase of archaeological work was underway for the past two years, Gavlick said. A second phase is required, but the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) last month gave LCTA a conditional exception letter, allowing LCTA to move ahead with sale talks as long as it commits to performing that work later.</p><p>Sciandra and Gavlick said LCTA still hopes to be in the new complex by 2021 or 2022.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Roger DuPuis</p><p>rdupuis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

LCTA board OKs negotiations for Murray Complex purchase