Wilkes-Barre City Council to meet virtually due to City Hall elevator repairs

WILKES-BARRE — City Council will again meet virtually in a combined session Tuesday.

The elevator at City Hall has been out of service and undergoing repairs, said Council Vice Chairman Mike Belusko.

“We’re going to do this virtual,” Belusko said Friday.

Council also decided to forgo a separate public meeting because of Holy Thursday, Belusko said.

Once the elevator is working Council plans to go back to meeting in-person and allow the public to attend the proceedings.

A phone number for public comment and the link to view Tuesday’s combined session will be available on the city web site, wilkes-barre.city.

Tuesday’s session begins at 5:30 p.m. with a presentation by Mike Wood and Elizabeth Leo of Wilkes University on the school’s request to purchase a property near Livingston Lane downtown. Afterward Council and Mayor George Brown will discuss the items they’re presenting for the agenda. There is no public comment during the work session.

The public has two opportunities to address Council at the public meeting that follows. Anyone can comment on the agenda items before they are voted on by Council. After Council members’ presentations following the vote there is a comment period during which the public can speak on any matter. Council set a 5-minute limit for comments.

Council listed one item on its agenda, the temporary suspension of the city ordinance on the open consumption of alcoholic beverages so visitors to the upcoming Fine Arts Fiesta on Public Square can sample wine from Blue Mountain Vineyards. The wine tasting will be in a designated area from 3 p.m. to closing of the Fiesta running from May 19-22.

Mayor George Brown presented a busier agenda.

The city is in need of a new insurance carrier for the law enforcement liability coverage. The current carrier Berkley Assurance Company is getting out of that particular market and won’t renew its coverage for the city.

Instead, the city is asking Council to approve Richmond National Insurance Company as the new carrier at a cost of $241,114 for a policy effective May 4 of this year through Aug. 14, 2023.

Brown noted the city issued a Request for Proposals for the coverage and Richmond National Insurance was the only one to respond. There is a difference in the cost for the new policy, however. “It’s higher,” Brown said.

The existing policy cost $182,927, Brown said.

The city’s insurance coverage increased by more than $100,000 last year to $691,000, mainly because of past claim payments for law enforcement, Bill Joyce of the Joyce Insurance Group told Council in August 2021 when the policies were renewed.

The other items on the mayor’s agenda are:

• The purchase of an under-cover police vehicle through the Pennsylvania cooperative purchasing program COSTARS for $42,621. Asset Forfeiture Funds will cover the cost.

• The opening of a new checking account with PNC Bank for administering federally-declared disaster relief funds for reparations from Hurricane Fund.

• Approval of Zelenkofske Axelrod LLC to conduct independent audits for 2021 and 2022. The company responded to an RFP for auditing in 2018 and was appointed for the service for 2018 through 2020 at an annual fee of $59,500. The City Charter permits a firm of certified public accountants to perform up to five consecutive annual audits.

• The appointment of Dr. Raymond Joseph of Carey Avenue and the reappointments of Donna Reilly of North Grant Street and Margaret Lovecchio of Hanover Street to the Board of Health. Lovecchio’s term would end in January 2025, Carey’s in January 2026 and Reilly’s in January 2027.