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Fate of region, educational institutions ‘joined at the hip’

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It’s been a long road to recovery after last year’s tornado

<p>Kingston Mayor Paul Roberts views his municipality as unique because it holds two busy bridges over the Susquehanna River.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s basically the gateway to the West Side,&#8221; Roberts said, referring to the Market Street and Veterans Memorial (Pierce Street) bridges linking the municipality to downtown Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>The municipality&#8217;s bustling commercial strips and continued strength as a thriving bedroom community are evidence of a commitment to maximize its assets, said Roberts and Kingston Administrator Paul Keating.</p><p>Making the most of existing space is essential because the municipality is landlocked, they said.</p><p>&#8220;For a 2-square-mile community, we offer a lot,&#8221; Keating said. &#8220;All of us work very well as a team together and remain focused on keeping Kingston one of the premier communities in Northeastern Pennsylvania.&#8221;</p><p>Commercial properties on Market and Pierce streets and Wyoming Avenue rarely stay vacant for long because the thoroughfares have become appealing to banks, two car dealerships, eateries and a mix of businesses, Keating said.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s prime commercial real estate. It&#8217;s in demand. It&#8217;s high value,&#8221; Keating said.</p><p>Recent projects include the new Sidney and Pauline Friedman Jewish Community Center off Third Avenue in a building once housing a grocery store and the Geisinger Health System&#8217;s completion of a multi-specialty clinic on Pierce Street.</p><p>While attracting and keeping businesses is important, satisfying the needs of residential property owners is essential for the municipality&#8217;s financial health, Keating said, describing the its high-density housing as the &#8220;driving economic force behind Kingston&#8217;s budget.&#8221;</p><p>Approximately $4.2 million of Kingston&#8217;s $9.5 million general fund operating budget comes from earned income tax, Keating said.</p><p>In comparison, the municipality receives about $150,000 annually from business mercantile taxes and a little over $1 million from all real estate taxes &#8212; commercial and residential, he said.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s very important to us to offer top-level services that attract a key wage-earning residential tax base here,&#8221; Keating said.</p><p>He described Kingston&#8217;s police, fire and public works services as &#8220;second to none.&#8221; The municipality has 19 career police officers and 15 public works employees who have saved millions of dollars in recent year by performing construction, road paving, excavation and other work in house, he said.</p><p>Recreation enhancements are another amenity designed to keep and attract residents, Roberts said. The municipality of nearly 13,000 owns seven parks and playgrounds in addition to a community swimming pool.</p><p>For example, around $1.8 million was invested improving the pool and Keiper Park in the last five years, Keating said.</p><p>Another $425,000 is being spent in improvements at the Church Street Park, including conversion of an old field into a soccer complex with three fields that will open this fall and refurbishing of a mini football field, the mayor said.</p><p>A $300,000 grant for work at the recreation center on Third Avenue also has been awarded to Kingston, Keating said.</p><p>Then there are the trees.</p><p>The municipality has been designated a Shade Tree USA community for more than two decades and has an active shade tree commission.</p><p>&#8220;It makes it homey,&#8221; Roberts said of the trees gracing the public space between curbs and sidewalks.</p><p>Picking up fallen leaves consumes several public works staffers for weeks in the fall, but Keating said he believes most residents consider this investment a worthy trade-off for the aesthetic benefits of the trees.</p><p>&#8220;The trees add much value to the community, and I think the people who call Kingston home are very fond and proud of the well-kept, tree-lined streets that make up their community,&#8221; Keating said.</p><p><strong>Future plans</strong></p><p>Painted murals will soon grace exterior portions of several commercial buildings in Kingston and some other West Side municipalities thanks to a $50,000 casino gambling grant, said Amy Bezek, of the Street Art Society of NEPA.</p><p>Roberts said the art will add personality and provide &#8220;something to ponder&#8221; for residents, visitors and passing motorists.</p><p>Municipal officials also want to attract companies interested in providing fiber optics to boost technology capabilities and pursue other recreation improvements, including a dog park at the Church Street Park and a trail with pedestrian crossings linking Keiper Park to the recreation center, the new Friedman Jewish Community Center and Wyoming Valley Levee.</p><p>Recreation also is a priority in neighboring Forty Fort.</p><p>The borough recently took over management of Luzerne County&#8217;s 35-acre sports complex as part of an overall plan to make Forty Fort a recreation center.</p><p>Borough officials said they want to enhance the complex soccer fields to attract tournaments and visitors from other states, boosting business for local hotels, restaurants and stores.</p><p>Grants also may be pursued to add a playground and lighting at the complex, which would allow evening events.</p><p>Forty Fort also is trying to create a recreational path so bicyclists and other levee trail users won&#8217;t have to cross busy intersections due to a gap in the levee trail. A rainwater park near the Cross Valley Expressway also is under discussion.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_KingstonInnovation4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">High-traffic Market Street in Kingston has attracted numerous businesses. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_KingstonInnovation4.jpg</photo0><caption0>High-traffic Market Street in Kingston has attracted numerous businesses. </caption0><photoCredit0>Butch Comegys|For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_KingstonInnovation3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Businesses line Market Street in Kingston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_KingstonInnovation3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Businesses line Market Street in Kingston. </caption1><photoCredit1>Butch Comegys|For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_KingstonInnovation2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Pierce Street in Kingston, home of Geisinger Health System&#8217;s new multi-specialty clinic, is one of several commercial thoroughfares in the mostly bedroom community. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_KingstonInnovation2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Pierce Street in Kingston, home of Geisinger Health System&#8217;s new multi-specialty clinic, is one of several commercial thoroughfares in the mostly bedroom community. </caption2><photoCredit2>Butch Comegys|For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_KingstonInnovation1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Geisinger Health System&#8217;s completion of a multi-specialty clinic on Pierce Street in Kingston is just one example of the municipality&#8217;s bustling commercial sector. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_KingstonInnovation1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Geisinger Health System&#8217;s completion of a multi-specialty clinic on Pierce Street in Kingston is just one example of the municipality&#8217;s bustling commercial sector. </caption3><photoCredit3>Butch Comegys|For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Kingston making the most of its assets