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Luzerne County Council will hold its first public hearing on the proposed no-tax-hike 2021 budget on Tuesday.
				The virtual hearing begins at 5:3o p.m. and will be followed by a 6 p.m. work session to discuss budget proposals from the law and budget/finance divisions.
				Directions on attending are posted under council&rsquo;s online public meetings link at <a href="https://www.luzernecounty.org/1279/Public-Meetings-Online" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">luzernecounty.org</a>.
				Juvenile detention offer
				The county received one purchase offer for its former juvenile detention center by last week&rsquo;s deadline, according to the purchasing department.
				Council Chairman Tim McGinley said he forwarded the proposal to his colleagues. The document will first be reviewed by council&rsquo;s real estate committee, which made the recommendation to seek prospective buyers, he said.
				The proposal has not yet been made public.
				Constructed as a women&rsquo;s prison in 1937, the three-story brick Wilkes-Barre building has been vacant since the county stopped sending youths there in 2002. The structure overlooks the county&rsquo;s Water Street prison and is accessible from a now-gated driveway off North River Street.
				The county&rsquo;s last movement on the property was in September 2017, when it spent $78,000 to remove asbestos and bird droppings and board it up, although the pigeons have since managed to get in.
				Overdoses
				With three months left in 2020, the county is already approaching last year&rsquo;s drug overdose death count.
				The county had 103 confirmed overdose deaths and another 18 pending toxicology test results through September this year, according to the latest monthly division head report.
				In 2019, the county had 128 overdose deaths. Most are related to opioids and the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, the coroner&rsquo;s office has said.
				Gun permits
				The county sheriff&rsquo;s department processed 800 gun permits in September, the division report said.
				County Sheriff Brian Szumski has said his office received an &ldquo;abnormally high&rdquo; volume of 1,250 gun permits in August. The typical monthly count ranges from 275 to 500.
				Szumski largely attributed the increase to safety concerns amid civil unrest in the country and also noted permit spikes are common before major elections due to fear there could be legislative changes related to gun possession.
				His office processes 6,055 to 7,732 gun permits annually, according to statistics he released covering 2015 forward. With the addition of last month&rsquo;s 800, the year-to-date count is now more than 4,800.
				Information on gun permit procedures is posted on the sheriff&rsquo;s section at luzernecounty.org.
				Hazard mitigation
				A council majority voted last week to adopt a new 353-page hazard mitigation plan.
				Required every five years to be eligible for certain grants, the plan outlines potential natural and man-made dangers facing the county and actions to reduce risks.
				Cross Valley lighting
				The county&rsquo;s road and bridge department is seeking bids to replace and repair lighting fixtures on the North Cross Valley Expressway.
				Responses are due Oct. 30.
				At the request of the county administration, council earmarked $100,000 for the project in this year&rsquo;s capital plan. The LED highway safety lighting upgrade falls under the county&rsquo;s responsibility due to a 1976 agreement with the state, county Manager C. David Pedri has said.
				New windows
				The installation of more than 500 new windows at the historic county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre is now underway, with crews working nights and weekends to avoid disruption to operations inside, Pedri said.
				&ldquo;They look great,&rdquo; he said.
				The county entered into a $1.72 million contract with Clarks Summit-based D&M Construction Unlimited Inc. in January to complete the work, which will be funded by $7.9 million the county had borrowed to address energy drains.
				The administration will present an update on savings from energy efficiency projects as part of upcoming 2021 budget work sessions, Pedri said.

Luzerne County to hold first public hearing on proposed 2021 budget Tuesday