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Look Back: Luzerne man bombs priest house in 1915

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Your view: Tell your legislators to vote no on radar expansion

<p>Luzerne County stands to save money on parking for workers in its Penn Place building at the corner of Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown Wilkes-Barre because a lower cost option has surfaced.</p><p>The county currently pays around $60,000 annually for parking spaces at the Jewelcor property on the corner of Market Street and Wilkes-Barre Boulevard. The county said in 2017 the monthly charge was $35 per spot, but the administration did not immediately verify last week if that amount is still in effect.</p><p>In response to a recent county bid request, Jewelcor Inc. submitted a monthly price of $40 per parking spot. However, Gus Genetti, of Penn Avenue Realty Co., presented the low bid, at $29.75 per month for each space.</p><p>Genetti, who attended Friday&#8217;s bid opening, said the parking would be at his Pennsylvania Avenue lot closer to Northampton Street.</p><p>If the county needs all 150 spaces specified in the bid, the annual cost would be $72,000 for the Jewelcor lot and $53,550 for the Penn Avenue Realty one.</p><p><strong>Cyber attack</strong></p><p>County assessor&#8217;s office workers are still unable to access all property assessment records or input changes in their computer system due to a Memorial Day weekend cyber attack that forced a shutdown of the office database.</p><p>County Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik said he learned last week an outside vendor has unlocked some computer backup files that will help the database rebuilding. The administration is working to identify which data was salvaged and what must be reconstructed.</p><p>Once the database is restored, assessment workers must enter all backlogged data on property construction, demolition, sales and assessment reductions and increases that have occurred since the system was down.</p><p>Parsnik predicted the restoration will take months.</p><p>Counties are supposed to complete an annual official certification of the tax base by Nov. 15 to document all changes, officials have said. Parsnik said the administration is aware of that requirement and will address it.</p><p><strong>Union update</strong></p><p>Binding arbitration is scheduled the end of October with unionized assistant district attorneys/public defenders represented by Teamsters Local 401, the administration said.</p><p>Arbitration became necessary because both sides reached an impasse negotiating a new contract to replace one that expired the end of 2018, officials said.</p><p>Negotiations are still ongoing on the other contract that expired the end of last year with prison correctional officers and other staff in LIUNA Local 1310, the administration said.</p><p>The administration said it also is starting negotiations with Teamster-represented supervisors in three human service branches &#8212; Children and Youth, Agency on Aging and Mental Health/Developmental Services. Their memorandum of understanding agreements expire the end of this year.</p><p><strong>Council votes</strong></p><p>Council last week approved the sale of 24 properties in the repository, a pool of parcels that are available for purchase at any time because they did not sell at delinquent tax auctions. The purchases were $500 each.</p><p>Approval also was granted to turn over Road 38, also known as Walnut Avenue, to Conyngham borough now that it has been repaired &#8212; part of an ongoing effort to shed county-owned roads and bridges.</p><p>Council also passed an application process for municipalities seeking county Act 13 funds to help with gypsy moth spraying and wood-boring infestation. The procedures are posted with the agenda at <a href="https://www.luzernecounty.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09242019-1545" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.luzernecounty.org</a>.</p><p>Finally, council declared a vacancy on the county Transportation Authority board due to the recent resignation of Sid Halsor, who gave up his board seat in protest of the authority&#8217;s recent termination of executive director Norm Gavlick.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Courthouse </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_courthouse.jpeg-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Courthouse </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>

Luzerne County obtains better price in downtown Wilkes-Barre parking search