Lackawanna County plans to acquire three properties near the county prison on North Washington Avenue to create off-street parking for jail employees and visitors.
The commissioners introduced an ordinance Wednesday to take the properties by eminent domain even though the county will try first to negotiate their purchase, said Ron Koldjeski, deputy director of the Tax Claim Bureau.
County officials said the parking project will address a longstanding grievance of area residents, ease congestion, remove blighted properties and create a security barrier between the jail and its neighbors.
"For a long time, we have received complaints and people in the Green Ridge section have given up their streets to those individuals who work (at) and who visit the prison," Commissioner Corey O'Brien said. "We are returning the streets back to Green Ridge."
The ordinance would allow the county to use eminent domain to take ownership of properties at 1319, 1325 and Rear 1321 N. Washington Ave.
The three properties, along with a fourth at 1321 N. Washington that the county bought at the judicial sale in March, would be used to create a 210-foot by 120-foot parking lot. The lot would be large enough to provide parking for the jail's employees, Warden Robert McMillan said.
Mr. Koldjeski said county officials have contacted the owners of the properties or their representatives. The county would prefer to negotiate their purchase but will use eminent domain if necessary, he said.
"If we have to utilize it as a last resort, we will have the ordinance passed," he said.
The commissioners also:
- Awarded contracts worth nearly $680,000 to low bidder Scranton Craftsmen Inc., Throop, for three Community Development Block Grant projects: $338,598 for the Nebraska storm sewer project in Archbald, $216,100 for the Pond Street Phase 2B storm sewer project in Taylor and $124,675 for the Kossuth Street sanitary sewer project in Throop.
- On two other CDBG projects, awarded a $111,680 contract to Jerry Ganz Inc., Scranton, for construction of an American with Disabilities Act-compliance ramp at the Dunmore Police Department and a $31,275.30 contract to Wayco Inc., Waymart, to pave the 700 block of Lincoln Avenue in Jermyn. In each case, the company submitted the low bid.
- Approved a memorandum of understanding with Wyoming County 911 for a 911 addressing project in Benton Twp. County emergency services director David Hahn said about 90 percent of the 911 calls from Benton Twp. are directed to Wyoming County for dispatch.
- Appointed Dr. Jay Clymer, Clarks Summit, and Tom Milewski, Lake Ariel, to four-year terms and Commissioner Jim Wansacz to a one-year term on the county Conservation District board, and amended the appointment of P. Frank Kozik, Dunmore, to expire on Dec. 31.
- Presented the nursing staff at Gino J. Merli Veterans Center with a "Good Works in Lackawanna County" certificate of recognition for National Nurses Week.
Meanwhile, the county prison board, which met immediately after the commissioners, announced it will issue a revised meeting schedule for the rest of 2013. On Monday, the board had decided to add a second meeting each month to approve the payroll at the prison, with the session to take place after the commissioners' meeting on the second Wednesday.
However, because the payroll must be approved every two weeks - as opposed to twice a month - the second prison board meetings will not always align with the commissioners' meeting, Commissioner O'Brien said.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@ timesshamrock.com