The nonprofit that oversees the Luzerne County Fair is seeking $500,000 of the county’s remaining federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to repair flood damage at the Dallas fairground caused by severe September 2023 rain, according to a submission up for discussion at Tuesday’s county council work session.
If all prior-approved council earmarks are carried out as proposed, the county has approximately $1.4 million in American Rescue funding available, according to the county budget/finance division.
In addition to the damage, the nonprofit — Dallas Area Fall Fair Inc. — lost an estimated $250,000 in income due to a state of emergency that caused the fair to close, the agenda said.
The nonprofit requested but did not receive financial assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, it said.
The submission notes the fairground also serves as an evacuation site for several schools and a staging area for supplies in emergencies.
Council’s work session follows a 6 p.m. voting meeting at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with instructions for the remote attendance option posted under council’s online meetings link at luzernecounty.org.
Voting meeting
Council is set to approve the administration’s request to change the name of county Children and Youth Services to county Children, Youth and Families.
Agency representatives said the move is part of an effort showing they are committed to helping families and not only investigating cases of alleged abuse and neglect.
Council also will vote on a county road and bridge department request to earmark up to $350,000 in American Rescue interest earnings to purchase five work vehicles to replace ones taken out of service because they no longer meet state inspection requirements.
The agenda also includes an appointment to the five-citizen county Flood Protection Authority that oversees the Wyoming Valley Levee system. Forty Fort resident Coray Mitchell completed a public interview required for eligibility last month, and there were no other applicants for the volunteer post.
Election director
The county has publicly advertised the vacant election director position, with applications due June 4, according to a posting on the human resources department “career opportunities” section at luzernecounty.org.
Deputy election director Emily Cook has been serving as acting election director since Eryn Harvey resigned from the position in February to pursue other opportunities.
County Manager Romilda Crocamo had said she would wait until after the April 23 primary election to seek a new permanent election director. Under council’s administrative code, the county manager has final say on selecting the election director but must seek input from the five-citizen, volunteer election board.
The position is advertised at $64,500 annually, which is the compensation that had been paid to Harvey.
The posting seeks two- to three years of working experience in elections, management/supervisory experience and experience in logistics and project management.
County audit
The county’s 2023 audit is still slated for completion by the county home rule charter’s June 30 deadline, officials said during last week’s council Budget, Finance and Audit Committee meeting.
Baker Tilly is completing the audit and scheduled to publicly present its findings at council’s July 23 work session.
The committee discussed plans to start seeking a new auditor as required every four years by the charter.
The county had ended 2022 with a $2.76 million general fund operating budget surplus attributed largely to reduced spending on salaries and wages due to unfilled vacancies throughout county government and a budgeted $1.2 million emergency contingency that the county did not touch.
Courthouse tour
Crocamo’s office issued another release reminding the public of a guided tour of the historic courthouse at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday conducted by Tony Brooks, a Wilkes-Barre councilman and chairman of the Wilkes-Barre Preservation Society.
Attendees should meet in the rotunda.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
Dallas Post
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