Hotel demolition delays continue
WILKES-BARRE - Liability issues are holding up an agreement between Luzerne County and CityVest, owner of the condemned Hotel Sterling, to demolish the historic building.
Luzerne County Council and County Manager Robert Lawton agreed in September to spend up to $232,729 on demolition. But before the county releases any funds, the county wants CityVest and the city of Wilkes-Barre to agree to terms on title conveyance and limiting liability exposure.
Wilkes-Barre City Council was set to vote on a Sterling agreement Thursday but removed it from the agenda because the county and CityVest have not agreed to terms. The city has $260,000 from a state grant to spend on a demolition and would be in charge of the demolition, while the county would become owner of the 4-acre Sterling site afterward.
W-B trying to lower furlough numbers
WILKES-BARRE - The city is offering to pay eligible employees a monthly stipend in exchange for their retirement in a last-minute effort to reduce the number of employees it will furlough during the final six weeks of the year.
The new retirement incentive will pay a $400 stipend for two years to any employee who agrees to retire by Thursday. The new offer delayed the announcement of mandatory furloughs, which officials said would happen Friday, until after they receive responses on Tuesday.
The city decided to furlough employees during the final six weeks of the year due to an estimated $2 million budget deficit, caused by an outstanding payment in taxes by former collector Centax and an overall shortfall in projected revenue.
Computer trouble shuts down reactor
SALEM TWP. - One of the two nuclear reactors at PPL's Susquehanna plant near Berwick was shut down early Friday because a computer system that controls the reactor's water level was not functioning properly.
Operators and federal regulators are investigating the cause of the computer problems at Unit 2, according to a news release from the company, which said the reactor remained in "a safe condition."
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said operators manually shut down the reactor at 1:18 a.m. by inserting control rods after monitors showed lowered water levels in two systems: one that circulates water inside the reactor to maintain safe temperatures and another that channels water through the reactor to produce steam to drive turbines.