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HAZLETON — The city council met on Tuesday night with many attendees and council members commenting on the arrest of two men on Monday night that yielded over 19,000 packets of heroin valued at about $100,000.

Mayor Jeff Cusat said he hoped the drug bust was one of many, a first stop in cleaning up the streets of the city.

Cusat, who recently appointed Jerry Speziale as interim police chief, said he was committed to vigorously addressing crime.

According to police Lt. Ken Zipovsky, Ryan Huntsinger, 26, and Ramon Lorenzo, 37, were arrested on Monday when their vehicle was pulled over at 8:19 p.m. in the 1700 block of East Broad Street.

Both remain in Luzerne County Correctional facility, unable to post $250,000 bail.

Commenting on the arrest prior to the meeting, Councilman David Sosar said that as a resident of Alter Street, he was acutely aware of the drug problem in the area.

“I myself had my car broken into and (prescription) drugs were stolen from it,” he said.

Ironically, Sosar was transporting the drugs to his pharmacy to be destroyed.

The solution, he said, lies in both an increased police presence and the availability of rehabilitative service to addicts.

Department heads

Sosar also questioned Cusat’s delay in appointing department heads to the code, streets and administration.

“I know you have a lot to do,” said Sosar. “But, this is important.”

Cusat said that he was waiting until a final budget was in place before making those appointments.

“So you basically want to know my cabinet,” Cusat said to Sosar.

“Yes I do,” said Sosar. “I think that we can work together, but we need to know were we are going.”

At a previous meeting, the council had overturned previous mayor Joseph Yannuzzi’s veto of the council’s version of the 2016 city budget.

As the new mayor, Cusat has the opportunity to introduce a new budget or to suggest amendments to the budget as it stands until Feb. 15.

Appointments

In another matter, the council appointed Mark Osadchy, Thomas Kislan and Julian Greco to the Airport Advisory Board. Also appointed were Gary Davis to the Civil Service Commission and Jose Esteves to the Overlay District Review Committee.

The council also approved the reappointment of Stephanie Pcolinsky to the Planning Commission.

A resolution to appoint Charles McElwee III to the Planning Commission was tabled for further clarification.

Councilwoman Grace Cuozzo noted that McElwee lives outside they city, which she believed made him ineligible for the position.

“The way I read the law, he needs to live here,” said Cuozzo.

Resident Judy Yurcho, commenting on the new mayor and council, said she believed that the city has an opportunity to move in the right direction. She said she hoped the city would seek out new sources of revenue to build the tax base and abate blighted properties.

Resident Mark Rabo said the presence of the new mayor at council meetings provided hope, referring to the fact that the city’s previous mayor had been absent from meetings for much of the last two years.

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By Geri Gibbons

[email protected]

Reach Geri Gibbons at 570-991-6117 or on Twitter @TLGGibbons.