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Competition is king for Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford

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Wilkes-Barre official says DPW employees voted in favor of new contract

<p>FORTY FORT &#8212; What Thomas Dombroski saw as a wrong, attorney Ray Wendolowski viewed as a right exercised by the Wilkes-Barre Area school board when it bought land for the new high school.</p><p>The final decision rests with District Justice David Barilla, who heard mainly from Dombrowski on Wednesday, arguing that the $4.25 million the school board paid for the reclaimed mine land in Plains Township last year was too much.</p><p>Dombrowski, who lives in Dallas but owns property in the school district, filed a civil complaint saying the board should have paid no more than $800,000, the highest appraised value of the more than 70 acres chosen as the site to consolidate GAR, Coughlin and Meyers high schools. The board paid more than five times the appraised value and did not get the mineral rights for the coal underground, according to the deeds for the parcels, Dombroski said.</p><p>&#8220;I feel taken advantage of. They totally swindled the taxpayers,&#8221; Dombroski said.</p><p>He demanded a judgment of $12,000, the maximum allowed in district court, and roughly equal to what it cost him to prepare and present his case.</p><p>&#8220;My time has value, just like your time has value,&#8221; Dombroski said, referring to Wendolowski.</p><p>Wendolowski, solicitor for the district, listened patiently as Dombroski represented himself in the nearly hourlong hearing before Barilla. When it was his turn, Wendolowski asked that the case be dismissed.</p><p>&#8220;Unfortunately the law doesn&#8217;t provide you with relief,&#8221; Wendolowski said.</p><p>Barilla said he would make his decision within five days.</p><p>Afterward Wendolowski disputed the claim the district does not have the mineral rights. &#8220;We&#8217;ll certainly look into what Mr. Dombroski raised, but I don&#8217;t believe he&#8217;s accurate,&#8221; he said.</p><p>The board did its due diligence in the sale and looked at other properties located in R-3 zones approved for schools in Wilkes-Barre and Plains Township, Wendolowski said.</p><p>&#8220;Mr Dombroski is a very passionate man. I give him all the credit in the world for pursuing his First Amendment right to complain,&#8221; Wendolowski said.</p><p>&#8220;The law invests in the board the right to make these decisions and &#8230; an individual taxpayer doesn&#8217;t have the right to contest government action unless there&#8217;s a constitutional deprivation that they can allege and prove. Clearly there&#8217;s none here,&#8221; Wendolowski said.</p><p>Dombroski corrected Wendolowski&#8217;s earlier comment that he opposed the construction of the school. &#8220;I&#8217;m not against this in any way, shape or form. I&#8217;m all for a new high school,&#8221; Dombroski said.</p><p>The school board is prepared to sign $88.2 million in contracts for the construction of the school and a groundbreaking is set for 11 a.m. Friday.</p><p>Dombroski&#8217;s complaint focused on the sale and the board&#8217;s alleged failure to obtain appraisals for comparably sized tracts of land.</p><p>&#8220;In the real estate business the most respected value is the appraised value,&#8221; said Dombroski, noting his family has been in the field for more than 50 years.</p><p>His family has owned the property on Forrest Street in Wilkes-Barre since 1983 and had been current on the property taxes until 2017. He said he owed more than $12,000 in taxes, interest and fees on the property last year. &#8220;I did that out of protest,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wendolowski </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_Wendolowski-Ray.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wendolowski </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></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>

Decision pending in complaint over Wilkes-Barre Area’s purchase of land for new school