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<p>In a sign of reconciliation, Luzerne County and the county authority that oversees the 16-mile Wyoming Valley Levee system have developed a proposed new intergovernmental cooperation agreement.</p><p>While both sides always agreed it would be &#8220;all hands on deck&#8221; if the Susquehanna River rises, the county Flood Protection Authority left the county government mother ship to become a standalone entity based in Plains Township around 2016. Reliant mostly on a levee fee implemented a decade ago, the authority had previously reimbursed the county for space at the engineer&#8217;s office in Wilkes-Barre, staff, insurance and other support services.</p><p>Then-county manager Robert Lawton thought a separation was in the county&#8217;s best interest, and a council majority at the time did not attempt to stop it. In recent months, officials have been rethinking the division and working to rebuild a connection.</p><p>&#8220;We both want to do this. I think it&#8217;s a very positive thing,&#8221; authority Executive Director Christopher Belleman said of the proposed agreement, which is on Tuesday&#8217;s authority board meeting agenda for possible approval.</p><p>The meeting starts at 1 p.m. at the authority offices, 300 Laird St., Suite A-1, in Plains Township. County council approval also would be required for the agreement to take effect, he said.</p><p>Belleman said the proposed document would replace a 1998 agreement that was only a few pages and vague.</p><p>&#8220;This goes into more detail and captures the current relationship between the county and us,&#8221; he said.</p><p>A summary of proposed agreement highlights provided by Belleman:</p><p>&#8226; In a flood event, the county agrees to deploy available staff, resources and equipment, including road and bridge workers to help set up flood gates and other closures at levee openings, sheriff deputies to provide security and, if possible, minimum security inmates to help fill some of the thousands of sandbags needed along the system.</p><p>&#8226; At the county-owned River Common along the levee in Wilkes-Barre, a vegetated berm on the river side will be maintained by the authority because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could flag it as a levee system concern if it becomes overgrown. The authority also will continue winter removal and spring reinstallation of handrailing at the River Common fishing pier so it won&#8217;t be damaged by river ice.</p><p>&#8226; The authority will continue to plow the main road into the county-owned sports complex in Forty Fort, which is now being managed by the borough, because levee crews must use the road to access the levee if it floods.</p><p>&#8226; When the authority&#8217;s lease at a privately owned Plains Township office building expires the end of 2020, the authority must consider moving into the county-owned Penn Place building at the corner of Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>Belleman said county Manager C. David Pedri indicated the authority could yield savings leasing vacant space at Penn Place, but the authority would not have a binding obligation to relocate.</p><p>&#8226; The county must assess what it would cost the authority to include its staff and property in the county&#8217;s health, workers&#8217; compensation and property insurance coverage plans. Belleman said he believes the authority could realize savings, particularly with health insurance. As in the proposed Penn Place relocation, neither side is locked in if the insurance change has negative financial impacts.</p><p>&#8226; Skateboarding also is addressed in the agreement. County administrators would agree to work with Wilkes-Barre officials in an attempt to beef up policing along the levee in the city&#8217;s downtown.</p><p>&#8220;Not only are they destroying the riverfront park. They&#8217;re destroying some of our facilities,&#8221; Belleman said of skateboards.</p><p>&#8226; The county must allow the authority to continue using around eight aging vehicles and equipment that were titled to the county, even in cases where authority funds had been used for the purchase. The authority will return them to the county for possible auction when they are no longer usable for flood protection.</p><p>&#8226; County GIS/mapping support to the authority will continue, including assistance when it is not flooding.</p><p>Belleman said the most important part of the agreement is a lengthy companion flood response plan that specifies levee system response protocols and responsibilities during Susquehanna flooding. The plan currently in place is not as comprehensive and wasn&#8217;t disseminated widely enough, he said.</p><p>Some have called for an even closer relationship between the county and authority &#8212; a return to the original county funding of the authority so the levee fee could be abolished. That idea has not advanced because county officials would have to figure out how to cover the expense amid other fiscal challenges.</p><p>County council appoints the five citizens who serve on the authority board, which had consisted of the three county commissioners and two county employees before the 2012 switch to a home rule county government structure.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Belleman </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_Belleman-Chris.jpg</photo0><caption0>Belleman </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></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>

Agreement proposed between Luzerne County and Wyoming Valley Levee overseer