County Council members tour Flood Protection Authority buildings
Jul. 19—FORTY FORT — Seven members of Luzerne County Council on Tuesday got to see where some of the county's American Rescue Plan allocation will be used to improve facilities and equipment of the county's Flood Protection Authority.
The council members visited the authority's headquarters on Wyoming Avenue in Forty Fort to tour the facility's command center and its levee maintenance building.
Chris Belleman, the authority's executive director, and Dominic Yannuzzi, board chair, acted as tour guides for council members Lee Ann McDermott, Tim McGinley, Gregory Wolovich, Brian Thorton, John Lombardo, Carl Bienias and Matt Mitchell. Michele Sparich, Grants Writer for Luzerne County, also attended the meeting/tour.
Belleman and Yanuzzi said the authority purchased the 7,100-square-foot facility adjacent to the county-owned Wyoming Valley Airport for $565,000 in December 2021 and moved there in September after renovations were completed, which they said resulted in savings of about $70,000 per year on rent.
Behind the new headquarters, the authority's levee maintenance building also will be expanded and reconfigured with a projected $1 million in American Rescue funding. That project is currently in design. Belleman and Yanuzzi said the current building may be demolished and a new one built, but that determination has not yet been made.
Another American Rescue-funded project discussed Tuesday was the partnership with Wilkes-Barre on the city's plans to demolish its recreation storage building at Kirby Park and construct a new structure to house both city recreation storage and the authority levee equipment.
Belleman and Yanuzzi said the authority and city will split the cost based on the percentage of the structure used by each. They said approximately six trailers full of authority equipment will be stored there, including Market Street Bridge flood gate closure components.
Construction of the new building at Kirby Park is projected to be completed in mid-November.
"These projects will make things more convenient for us in case of another flood emergency," Belleman said. "With locating our equipment basically adjacent to the Market Street Bridge, we will be able to have the gates in place within minutes. Prior to this, we never had everything centralized."
The authority oversees the levee and received a $264,000 casino gambling-funded Local Share Account award on the heels of an $8 million federal American Rescue Plan allocation from county council.
Yanuzzi and Belleman said the gambling funding is covering five new mowers to maintain the levee, a trailer-mounted air compressor and an electric vehicle, which were approved by the authority board on Tuesday.
Yanuzzi showed the county council members 1,900 square feet of vacant space at the headquarters that will be leased to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for offices for the Northeast Pennsylvania region.
"It will take about $110,000 to $140,000 to renovate and will take about three weeks to complete," Yanuzzi said. "We will sign a five-year lease with the Department of Homeland Security. "
Yanuzzi said the five-year lease payments are expected to be around $3,250 per month. He said the restrooms would be the only shared space with the tenant, although Homeland Security will have access to the authority conference room when there are no authority meetings. The plans call for the federal agency to have approximately 12 work stations and 20 parking spaces, officials said.
Board meeting notes
—The board awarded a contract for the "LCFPA Command Center Tenant Upfit" to Bognet Inc., 1298 North Church St., Hazle Township, in the amount $108,480.00. The work was publicly advertised and Bognet was the lowest responsible bidder out of two received. Contract price and award is contingent upon receipt of a fully executed lease agreement with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).
—Approved an agreement with the A+E Group, Inc., 140 Maffett St., Wilkes-Barre, to provide professional building design services on the "Forty Fort Levee Maintenance Facility Project" in the amount $97,775. This project was identified for reimbursement under our ARPA grant award.
—Approved the purchase of one (1) 2023 Sullair Model 185 CFM diesel portable air compressor from Cleveland Brothers, 441 Route PA-315, Pittston, in the amount of $28,400. The purchase is under the COSTARS procurement program and was identified for reimbursement under our 2022 LSA grant award.
—Approved the purchase of two (2) Harper ATM 72LC Hillside Mowers from Trius Inc., 6475 Ruch Road, Bethlehem, in the amount $60,491.00 per unit ($120,982 for both). The mowers need to be built and will be ready for delivery by Spring 2024. The purchase is under the COSTARS procurement program and was identified for reimbursement under our 2022 LSA grant award.
Next regular meeting is set for Aug. 15, at 1 p.m.
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Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
