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Districts opting for many different options

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Luzerne County Council members want answers on tossed ballots

JENKINS TWP. &mdash; The Bi-County Airport Board was expected to appoint a new Director of Public Safety at its virtual meeting Thursday, but the matter never came up.
				Tim McGinley, chairman of Luzerne County Council and vice chair of the Airport Board, said at an executive session held prior to the public meeting, it was decided to conduct a second round of interviews with three top candidates.
				McGinley said none candidates were interviewed for the position and the top three will be called back for a second interview.
				Until a decision can be reached, George Bieber will continue in his role as part-time interim public safety director, which he held for years before retiring earlier this year.
				In July, the Bi-County Airport quietly accepted the resignation of the recently appointed safety director Gary Vogue and brought back his predecessor, Bieber, on an interim basis.
				Bieber, of Moosic, had retired in January following a lengthy career at the airport.
				The board unanimously accepted Vogue&rsquo;s resignation and announced that the Pennsylvania State Police had opened an internal investigation into the status of Vogue, a PSP captain who was hired in February as the director of public safety at the airport. Vogue never resigned his state police position, despite telling the airport he would, and returned to that position.
				Vogue was hired on Feb. 11, and began working at the airport in April, at a salary of $70,000. His state police salary was reported as $146,883.
				In other business Thursday, the board:
				&#8226; Heard another dismal report from Executive Director Carl Beardsley that detailed air travel at the airport remains down significantly, noting that 2019 was a record-breaking year for the airport.
				Beardsley again attributed the dismal number to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
				Beardsley reported that passenger enplanements for the month of August 2020 decreased 72.6% to 7,396, from 27,006 in August 2019.
				Enplanements for August 2020, compared to enplanements for August 2018, decreased by 18,126 or 71.0%.
				In August 2020, 393 departing flights were cancelled &mdash; 392 for the COVID-19 pandemic and 1 for weather. Beardsley said this accounts for 22,160 (70.9%) out of a total 31,254 departure seats. Also, 393 arriving flights were cancelled &mdash; 392 for the COVID-19 Pandemic and 1 for weather.
				Beardsley noted that less seats are available due to a reduction in the number of flights going out of the airport.
				&#8226; Heard a report from Geisinger&rsquo;s Jerry Splitt and Red Lines, on the Life Flight operation at the airport.
				&#8226; Awarded a contract for elevator/escalator maintenance to ThyssenKrupp Elevator Corporation, Allentown, in the amount of $159,753.00 (total 3-year base bid), subject to final administrative review and solicitor&rsquo;s concurrence.
				McGinley took exception to having only one bid, but the board approved the contract.
				&#8226; Approved an agreement between Tipsy Turtle Airport Pub, Inc., and the Bi-County Airport Board d/b/a the Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport.
				&#8226; Heard a report from Gary Borthwick, Assistant Airport Director, on revenue and expenses that showed the airport year to date the has a loss of $1,778,793, compared to an income in 2019 of $1,074,030.00, which is a difference of $2,852,823.00.

Bi-County Airport Board tables appointment of public safety director