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Local blues band looks back at legacy of Stevie Ray Vaughan at Kirby Center show

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Questions raised in bond-release issue related to W-B Area high school site

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; With a new administration taking over in January and so much unknown about the proposed sale of the sewer system as a solution to the city&#8217;s financial problems, council Thursday slowed the pace of the plan into next year to gather more information and public input.</p><p>Council chairman Mike Belusko heeded the pleas of residents who opposed deciding on a quick fix before considering the long-term consequences.</p><p>&#8220;This is not going to happen fast that I guarantee,&#8221; Belusko said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t even know if it&#8217;s going to get done, but I want the new administration to come in here, take a look at it, see what their thoughts are, before it comes to us.&#8221;</p><p>Voters on Tuesday elected George Brown to be the new mayor and John Marconi as the new councilman for District E. Belusko and the three other council members, Beth Gilbert McBride, Tony Brooks and Bill Barrett were reelected.</p><p>Council members were going to be briefed in groups this week about Mayor Tony George&#8217;s plan to sell the sewer lines with the hopes of a vote by the end of the year before his term expired. Without a quorum of three council members, the briefings would have skirted the state Sunshine Law for open meetings.</p><p>Council still will meet behind closed doors in an executive session prior to the Nov. 19 work session, said City Administrator Rick Gazenski. The Public Financial Management group, the Philadelphia-based financial adviser that&#8217;s been working with the city on the proposed sale, will take part in the private discussions and follow up with public presentations at the work session and the next council meeting on Nov. 21.</p><p>What&#8217;s known so far is that two companies &#8212; Aqua American and Pennsylvania American Water &#8212; submitted bids to buy the lines that run through the city to the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority&#8217;s treatment plant in Hanover Township. The monetization of the asset was offered as a recommendation by PFM that&#8217;s been working with the city on a multi-year plan under the state&#8217;s Early Intervention Program for municipalities in serious financial trouble.</p><p>The promise of millions of dollars from the sale acts an enticement for council to make a quick decision to pay into underfunded pension plans and take care of other bills, but it also come with risks once the asset is no longer in the city&#8217;s hands, warned resident David Saxton.</p><p>&#8220;This is the equivalent of a sugar high, &#8217;cause the money will come in and the money will be gone and a decade later when the guarantees wear off, all of a sudden we got somebody at our throat saying, &#8216;I want more,&#8217;&#8221; Saxton told council.</p><p>The private owner of the system could raise rates as it looked to turn a profit on its investment, Saxton pointed out.</p><p>&#8220;I realize the city of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s got serious issues and I trust the good intentions of everyone here in regard of trying to deal with this, OK. But I think you&#8217;re stepping into a bear trap and it&#8217;s the wrong thing to do,&#8221; Saxton said.</p><p>He along with resident Sam Troy called for a referendum on the proposed sale.</p><p>&#8220;Your sugar highs can turn into sugar lows next year if nothing is done,&#8221; Gazenski said. &#8220;And what I mean by that is your millage will go up, as I stated many times. Your taxes are going to go up. I hope to God we don&#8217;t go Act 47.&#8221;</p><p>Last year the state denied George&#8217;s request to have the city declared financially distressed under Act 47 and told him to continue to work with PFM in the Early Intervention Program.</p><p>City Controller Darren Snyder encouraged the administration to apply for state funds to enter the EIP. He initially resisted PFM&#8217;s push to refinance debt, he said.</p><p>&#8220;Somebody told me that you have to trust the professionals,&#8221; Snyder added.</p><p>Given the financial pressures on the city, something has to be done and it&#8217;s better that the city call the shots, Snyder said.</p><p>&#8220;But the idea inaction, I don&#8217;t think is feasible because then that would lead us into a state of Act 47, (with) the state taking over and we&#8217;re no longer in control of our own decision making and our destiny,&#8221; Snyder said.</p><p>Council approved the following agenda items:</p><p>&#8226; The submission of an application for a $2 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant from the state for the expansion of the pharmacy program at Wilkes University under the Wilkes University Pharmacy Initiative Project.</p><p>&#8226; The first of two readings of an amendment to the ordinance regarding the storage of motor vehicles on private grounds. The proposed amendment eliminates the description of a motor vehicle nuisance as a motor vehicle that is &#8220;unable to move under its own power&#8221; and lists 20 physical defects that render a vehicle a nuisance such as, broken windshields, missing doors and missing tires.</p><p>&#8226; The first reading on an ordinance that would vacate portions of East Ross Street and South Pennsylvania Avenue for the construction of the new facility the Luzerne County Transportation Authority plans to build for its operations on the former Murray Complex property.</p><p>Council wanted to learn more about Jean Brodie-Druby and her qualifications and pulled a resolution from the agenda for her appointment to the Shade Tree Commission for a term that expires on Dec. 31, 2023.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Snyder </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_Darren-Snyder.jpg</photo0><caption0>Snyder </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>

Residents don’t want proposed sale of Wilkes-Barre’s sewer system rushed