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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2012
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THE TIMES LEADER
40 West offers student living Fourth, fifth and sixth floor of W-B’s YMCA aimed at Wilkes, King’s audience.
By JERRY LYNOTT jlynott@timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE – What was old is new again with the construction of the 40 West Apartments in the downtown YMCA. The fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the building on the corner of South Franklin and West Northampton streets are being converted into living space with the emphasis on attracting students from nearby Wilkes University and King’s College. At one time, the Y had rooms
PRISON Continued from Page 1A
An estimated 16 prison union workers are slated for layoff. In addition, the union wants no layoffs, furloughs or job eliminations of non-probationary union workers for budgetary reasons through the rest of the contract, or until Dec. 31, 2013, the tentative agreement says. If the county decides to recall any prison workers who were laid off, the five probationary
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and is now out of money. Prior commissioners agreed to provide another $1million in community development funding for demolition, with the idea some of the county’s investment will be recouped when the vacant parcel is sold. Wilkes-Barre condemned the structure and would likely have to pay for demolition and put a lien on the property if the county doesn’t assist. • Linda McClosky Houck is also unsure about the county’s further involvement, particularly if the county will assume ownership and costs that would start impact-
MEYERS Continued from Page 1A
detection equipment, and – according to 2007 study – sits on soft soil that has caused the building to settle four times faster than it should have during the last seven decades. Tuesday’s meeting was heavy on public comment from school supporters and light on actual information from the report. Supervisor of Curriculum Andrew Kuhl gave an overview of numerous potential space problems if the Meyers’ students were split equally among remaining schools – primarily Coughlin and GAR high schools – but didn’t delve into costs and other details. Details from report The report itself lists the costs of
GUS Continued from Page 1A
shadow-checker Punxstawney Phil. Then again, the nasty crossdressing rumors should fade. Gabby looks like Gus with a bad woodchuck wig. No word if Gus will try to latch on with a casino, the Phillies ground crew, or a certain Philly
for rent, said Tim Gigliotti, of the Radnor Property Group LLC, manager of the apartments. This time around the beds in 21 furnished units are for lease, he said between leading tours of the property Wednesday afternoon during the first day of a two-day open house. “We’ve been receiving applications for a while,” he said, and some have already been approved. Most of the 59 beds are located on the fourth and fifth floors and most of them are in four-bed units. One unit is on the sixth floor. The multi-unit apartments have individual bedrooms, common kitchen and living areas and bathrooms. A 12-month lease
costs between $665 and $695 a month and includes utilities, a security-card access system, laundry room usage and membership to the Wilkes-Barre YMCA. The Wilkes-Barre YMCA consolidated facilities into the first through third floors, clearing the way for the apartments as part of a $15 million renovation. Some of the kitchen appliances were still in boxes as Jacki Lukas, community coordinator with 40 West, escorted a group of prospective tenants on a tour of fourth-floor apartments. One of the units had an island with a sink in the kitchen/living area. Another had a sloped ceiling and
union workers must return to work before three management prison workers who also are slated for layoff, the agreement says. Violations could require the county to retroactively repay the 3 percent raise, the agreement said. County and prison representatives aren’t discussing specifics pending the executive session. The commitment to ban further layoffs could be a stumbling block because council members already publicly stressed more cutbacks are expected in 2013, in part because this year’s option of
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AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER
Clever signage leads the way to prospective renters at the 40 West Apartments at the Wilkes-Barre YMCA.
windows looking out onto West Northampton and beyond. “They’re all different,” said Lukas. The apartments will be ready by June. Kate Skelton of Scranton and her daughter, Carla, a Wilkes
freshman, followed Lukas through the apartments. “This is cheaper. Because she lives in the dorm, you have to buy a food plan,” said Skelton of her daughter who lives nearby on campus.
tapping $1.4 million in past borrowed funds to help repay debt won’t be available again. The 2012 county budget contains a 2 percent tax hike and requires a projected 56 layoffs throughout county government. Generally speaking, prison union head Tony Seiwell said the pay raise forgiveness by the union’s roughly 300 members would save about $400,000. Seiwell said prison employees approached him about concessions, and the majority voted to give up something because they are concerned about their work-
ing environment and saving jobs. “Safety is the big issue. There are ramifications – huge ramifications – if these layoffs were to go through,” Seiwell said. He said the workers’ decision to sacrifice a guaranteed benefit speaks volumes. “It is something of real significance they’re doing,” Seiwell said. “They work in a place where their lives are on the line every day, and these changes would greatly up the danger factor for them.” He could not recall another instance in recent years of union
employees giving up a contractual benefit. Former county chief clerk/administrator Gene Klein said all county unions agreed to sacrifice contractual pay raises one year in the early 1990s, when the county struggled with budgetary issues. “It got us through the year. …” Klein said, noting the county had fewer unions at that time. Several county council members welcomed the prison union’s concession efforts and said they hope it inspires other unions to propose options before contracts expire.
ing the general fund operating budget, which hasn’t happened to date. She’s worried the county will encounter unforeseen demolition expenses after the tear-down begins. She doesn’t believe the building in its current state is worth the investment of mothballing, especially since CityVest had no success attracting a private-sector developer. • Stephen A. Urban said several historic buildings are already mothballed, including three close to the Sterling: the chamber-purchased Sterling annex and Irem Temple mosque and the countyowned former Springbrook Water Co. building. The county is already investing in restoration of the historic Market Street train station for county-
related offices, he said. “We can’t save everything,” he said. County involvement is necessary because Wilkes-Barre won’t be able to come up with the $1million to tear down the Sterling, he said. • Tim McGinley said a decision should be made soon because CityVest’s insurance coverage on the property expires in November. He doesn’t support spending on mothballing without likely private investors and said someone would have to pay for continued maintenance and liability if it is not demolished. “There hasn’t been a viable development situation for that property in over a decade,” he said. • Rick Morelli believes mothballing will cost more than demo-
lition and doesn’t want to delay the project. Morelli said he has supported historic restoration as a school board member when it made sense but believes the Sterling site will be more marketable without the structure. “It’s a prime piece of real estate the county will own, and mothballing the building could prevent investors from coming in and putting what they want on the site,” he said. • Harry Haas at minimum wants to obtain a cost estimate to stabilize and mothball it. “If we could just preserve it for private industry to come in when the economy improves, I think that’s what the public wants,” he said. • Stephen J. Urban said the
building is a safety hazard and eyesore and said officials can’t “turn the clock back” to when the structure was worthy of mothballing. “We can’t spend all that money on mothballing. You’ve got to be realistic here,” he said. • Eugene Kelleher said he would consider obtaining a price on mothballing, though he thinks it would be pricier than demolition. “My feeling right now is that she’s seen her day, and it probably ought to come down,” he said of the Sterling. • Rick Williams wants to know what it would cost to come up with an estimate to stabilize and mothball the structure. Council could then weigh whether an assessment of that option is worth the investment, he said.
physically keeping the building open last year: $403,771for electricity, water and sewage, routine maintenance, insurance, supplies and gas for heating; $247,185 for custodian pay and benefits. But it makes only a general reference to “potential reduction in staff.” The report offers one example, the English Department at Meyers, where the equivalent of 9.5 teachers handle 26 classes for grades nine through 12 and 14 classes in grades seven and eight. Three teachers work on graduation projects, one on projects with gifted students, one as activities adviser, one as building chair and two handling duty assignments. Estimating reduction is staff is difficult because there is no way of knowing how many classes in various subjects would have to be added in remaining schools without ac-
tually drawing up schedules. That scheduling is done primarily by a computer program each year designed to determine what students will attend which classes in which periods.
“Say you have a second-period English class and it creates a lot of conflicts,” Namey said. “Moving it to fourth period may easily reduce those conflicts by half. But by the same token, you may make the move and find it creates more conflicts in another area. It’s all like putting pieces of a puzzle together.” And in this case, it’s a lot of pieces. The report includes 13 pages of data showing how many students takeeachcourseineachofthethree high schools, how many sections there are for that course, and the average number of students per section. To give a rough idea of the impact of closing Meyers, the chart lists the average number of students for each course for the entire district, and how that average would change if Meyer’s students were moved into existing classes without any changes in the number
of sections in each subject – not something the district would actually do, but it does give a feel for the magnitude of the problem. Some courses would barely be impacted and likely not need to add new sections. Advanced English in ninth grade, for example, would increase fromanaverageof15to18students. But other courses would see unacceptable growth. French 2 averages would climb from 19 to 57, Intro to Psychology would jump from 24.6 to 41, and morning physical education would rise from 36 to 52.5. And that’s just for regular classes. The report notes there is scant room in receiving schools for the15 special education classrooms at Meyers. And making special education classes larger is rarely an option thanks to state law regarding size.
basketball team that’s without a featured creature. More likely Gus will wind up at group therapy sessions for rejected mascots, like Sixers castoffs Hip Hop and Big Shot, or the Burger King. Gus might be missed. But not by the likes of A.J. Thomson of Fishtown, who once wrote in the Daily News: “I’ve never been hunting and don’t recall ever holding a gun. … But despite a healthy anti-gun at-
C A S H 5 W I N N E R S O L D AT B E R W I C K S T O R E
Scheduling issues The report notes merging Meyers into other schools could cause major problems in that scheduling, particularly at GAR. The report estimates that scheduling conflicts would develop for roughly one-quarter of the students in grades nine through 12. At Coughlin High School, scheduling conflicts could develop for 5 to 20 percent of the students, depending on the grade. The conflicts arise most often in attempting to schedule electives, Namey said, and can often be alleviated by shifting required classes to a different period of the day.
from their money. For the fiscal year that ending One jackpot-winning Cash 5 ticket percent federal withholding. in June, instant games accountworth more than $500,000 from The retailer will receive a $5,000 ed for nearly $2 billion of the the Feb. 21 drawing was sold at bonus for selling the winning Pennsylvania Lottery’s total revFood Express, 1545 W. Front St., ticket. enue of $3.2 billion. Berwick, Columbia County. Lottery officials cannot confirm The ticket correctly matched all the identity of the winner until the “We think the new commerfive balls, 12-25-28-38-41, to win a prize is claimed and the ticket is cials will cost less, but it really jackpot of $500,131.50, less 25 validated. depends on the evolution of the new campaign,” Roberts said. Gus’ spots typically cost $300,000 to $400,000 just to protitude, I find myself with an urge hog must die.” to shoot something for the first Thomson explained that Gus duce, and non-Gus spots are time in my life. Gus the Ground- was too good at parting people more like $250,000, she said.
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• Scranton attorney Sal Cognetti, of the Foley, Cognetti, Comerford, Cimini & Cummins law firm, was paid $700,000 on April 28 as a legal retainer; • A total of $13,114 – with payments made on Feb. 8, March 26 and again on May 13 – was sent to the Philadelphia firm of Montgomery, McCracken, Walker and Rhoads for legal services rendered; • $25,000 was sent to Philadelphia attorney Christopher D. To see the Warren as a legal complaint, retainer on May go to tlgets.me/ 23. stilpmellow Ronald G. Ruman, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of State, said his office is not permitted to give legal or advisory opinions on campaign finance reports and what spending is allowed. He said the state code should guide committees. Legal expenses are a permitted expense under campaign finance law in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Code states: “Expenses, legal counsel, incurred in good faith in connection with any primary or elections.” Stilp is challenging whether Mellow’s expenditures meet those requirements. Whether Mellow, who retired at the end of 2010 after representing his Northeastern Pennsylvania district for 40 years, could spend money on legal fees in a year he is not running would be a determination for department lawyers. But they wouldn’t get involved unless a citizen filed a complaint. That’s why Stilp said he’s acting. Ruman, pointing out he was speaking specifically on the Mellow campaign, said that if someone were to file a complaint questioning a report’s legality, his office would review it. If a violation were found, it would be forwarded to the Attorney General’s Office for review. He said his office is not permitted to acknowledge whether a complaint was received or if a violation was forwarded to the attorney general. Stilp, who is also a Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress, hoping to unseat Rep. Lou Barletta in the 11th District, said he wasn’t about to let his duties as a government watchdog fall by the wayside as he campaigns. “You can’t stop being a citizen just because you’re in a campaign,” Stilp said. While in office, Mellow represented all of Lackawanna County, a part of Monroe County and the boroughs of Avoca, Dupont and Duryea in Luzerne County. Last February, in an opinion issued by a three-member panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, it was disclosed Mellow was the focus of a federal probe into alleged extortion, money laundering and fraud. The opinion was issued as part of a dismissal of Mellow’s appeal for the return of evidence taken from his home and office. Federal agents armed with warrants retrieved paper and computer records from his Archbald house and Peckville office on June 18, 2010. The court also noted that Mellow, a Democrat and one-time Senate majority leader, was the target of a grand jury sitting in Scranton. “The warrant affidavit is sealed, but the government has indicated that (Mellow) is being investigated for federal-program theft, extortion, fraud and money laundering,” the appellate court wrote.
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