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Community day held to raise awareness of addiction

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Beyond the Byline: Mitigate, mitigate, mitigate

Luzerne County Council appointed several residents to vacant seats on boards and commissions last week.
				Michael Berish will serve on the advisory board overseeing the county-owned Wyoming Valley Airport in Forty Fort.
				The citizens appointed to boards that assist county human services agencies: Nicholas Wilson and Charles Blewitt, Drug and Alcohol Executive Commission; Raelene Daring, Mental Health and Developmental Services Advisory Board; Don Warren, Aging Agency Advisory Board; and Olga Papa, Children and Youth Advisory Board.
				County Cares
				Six citizens also were appointed to the new County Cares Commission, which will focus on homelessness and drug and substance abuse and recovery: Justin Behrens, Amanda Blaine, Carol Fahnestock, Nicole Ferentino, Marcella Garvin and Joseph Grilli.
				Councilman Walter Griffith did not receive enough votes to alter the commission structure at last week&rsquo;s council meeting. Griffith said he disagreed with the county solicitor&rsquo;s opinion that council members also are permitted to serve on the commission under the county&rsquo;s home rule government structure. Council members Linda McClosky Houck and Stephen J. Urban agreed with Griffith&rsquo;s position.
				Leases
				Council renewed its lease with Kingston to house magisterial district court in the municipal building on Wyoming Avenue.
				The county will pay $2,000 per month, or $24,000 annually, for two years, with the option to continue the lease two additional years at the same amount.
				In the prior lease, the county paid $1,000 per month. An increase was warranted because the municipality added security enhancements and upgraded the space with new flooring and other improvements, a court representative told council.
				Council also approved a lease for the county domestic relations department to continue paying the county for space it occupies at the Bernard C. Brominski Building on West North Street in Wilkes-Barre. Primarily covered by state and federal funding, the department will pay the county $33,788 per month in 2021, or $405,459 for the year.
				Busing allocations
				Council agreed last week to provide two public transportation funding matches &mdash; $682,929 to the county Transportation Authority and $180,036 to Hazleton Public Transit.
				Tax extension
				Griffith reminded county property owners that council extended the deadline for no-penalty county tax payments from June 17 to Aug. 18, which means they don&rsquo;t have to add a 10% penalty during that period.
				Council approved the change in April to help property owners amid the coronavirus pandemic and agreed to revisit the matter in mid-July to determine if another no-penalty extension is still needed and feasible.
				Election review
				Now that the June 2 primary election results have been processed and certified, Urban wants to hold a public hearing to discuss concerns he encountered.
				Council Chairman Tim McGinley said a hearing will be scheduled in July.
				Earlier this month, Councilwoman Sheila Saidman said she received emails and phone calls from voters who were &ldquo;very happy&rdquo; with the election and thought it ran &ldquo;very smoothly.&rdquo;
				Griffith said there were some concerns but stated, &ldquo;It could have been a whole lot worse&rdquo; due to the volume of paper ballots mailed in and filled out at polls.
				Urban has raised complaints about a lack of poll worker training and voters receiving the wrong ballots.
				&ldquo;It may have been smooth in some areas, but definitely not where I vote,&rdquo; Urban told his colleagues.

Luzerne County Council fills board seats