By Jerry Lynott [email protected]

Nick Snyder, right, of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson architects discusses the permanent stage proposed for Public Square in Wilkes-Barre while Mayor George Brown listens at the work session Tuesday night for City Council.

WILKES-BARRE — City Council Tuesday night heard more about the use of federal pandemic relief funds for the construction of a permanent stage on Public Square and a new request for $1.8 million of the funding for improvements to the Wilkes-Barre Municipal Golf Course.

The stage project was scheduled for a vote at the June 9 meeting, but was pulled from the agenda to give Council more time to review it. Representatives from Panzitta Enterprises, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson architects and the Diamond City Partnership returned to the work session Tuesday for a presentation and to answer questions.

Larry Newman, executive director of the DCP, traced the project’s start to 2008 when a Leadership Wilkes-Barre project group raised $50,000 for a stage to replace the mobile band shell used on the Square. In 2015, a federal grant was obtained to look at improvements to the Square that included a new stage. DCP, which had been given the Leadership funds, approached Mayor George Brown and offered to use the money to pay for Bohlin Cywinski Jackson to design the stage, Newman said. The architectural firm designed the Square after the 1972 flood.

Newman said site comes with complexities, most notably a vault for utilities underneath the stage. In addition, the project’s design coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and material costs have subsequently escalated.

“However, Public Square is the heart of our city and we owe it to Wilkes-Barre Citizens that when we make improvements, they will be well designed, attractive, well functioning and built to last,” Newman said.

The project would be paid with a $113,000 Local Share Account gambling grant from the state and $435,000 in American Rescue Plan funds from the $37.1 million allocated to the city from the U.S. Treasury Department to help municipalities recover financially from the pandemic.

Nick Snyder of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson responded to a question from Councilman John Marconi about possibly waiting for prices to come down.

“We waited a year, we did not see a lot of value in that, other than we sharpened our pencils on some things to try to reduce some costs. There, certainly you could wait longer. It’s hard to tell. It’s hard to say whether it will change,” Snyder said.

Brown added a new stage would get plenty of use and save the city the $1,500 it pays to rent a mobile band shell for events.

The golf course in Bear Creek Township also is in need of repairs and upgrades, said Charles Majikes, chairman of the owner and operator, the General Municipal Authority. The Authority also leases the Hollenback Golf Course from the city.

“The demands to keep this golf course open are very, very tough,” Majikes said of the Municipal course. “We are losing some customers because of the condition of the course and we’re looking to bring it back.”

The Authority has plans for the 543 acres around the course, possibly creating a “year-round golf club and resort” with camping, cross country skiing, hiking, hunting and hosting events such as weddings and birthday parties, Majikes said.

Risk Strategies of the Joyce Insurance Group presented a package for renewal of coverage with premiums totaling $562,003. When the law enforcement liability coverage of $241,100, purchased earlier this year after the provider notified the city it was leaving that market, was added in the total cost was $803,103, exceeding the $640,746 in expiring premiums.

• The purchase of a 3-ton Falcon RME Asphalt Hot Patcher from SealMaster Municipal for $35,994 for the Department of Public Works from the city’s general fund budget.

• Application for a $3 million Multimodal Transportation Fund grant funded by the state Commonwealth Financing Authority for South Main Street streetscape improvements.

• Amendment of the ordinance regarding the Employees Pension Fund to create a pension board made up of the mayor, city controller, finance officer, two employees chosen by employees contributing to the fund and a member of Council, chosen by Council, if members of Council participate in the fund. The amendment removes the city administrator and human resources officer from the board in order to comply with the 3rd Class City Code.

• Approval of a 10-year Winter Maintenance Service Agreement in which the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation pays the city $689,797 for maintaining 37.21 miles of state roadways.

• Approval of the first of two reading of an ordinance authorizing the city to participate in the Lower South Valley Land Bank with Ashley, Kingston, Nanticoke, Hanover Area School District and Newport, Plymouth and Hanover townships.

• The appointment of Andrew Reno to fill the unexpired term of the late Robert Jabers on the Wilkes-Barre Parking Authority that ends on Dec. 31, 2023.

• The second and final reading of an ordinance to make one-way South Sheridan Street between South and Lehigh streets one way and Lehigh Street between South Sheridan and South Meade streets.

• The award of the engineering fees to PennEastern of Wilkes-Barre for 2022-2024 street paving project paid from the Office of Economic and Community Development Budget at a cost not to exceed 15% of each street project phase.

• The creation of a local account with PNC Bank for the $1.2 million allocation through the Home Investment Partnership Program-American Rescue Plan from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.

• The award of $185,220 from the Pennsylvania Department of Health for substance abuse prevention services.

• Adoption of the 2022 Action Plan encompassing the federal Community Development Block Grant Program and HOME Program budgets.

• Application for a $750,000 Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant for Wilkes-Barre Family YMCA Facility Transformation Project.

• Application by the Wilkes-Barre City Police Department for an Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant in the amount of $33,294 to be used for saturation patrols and overtime in high crime areas.

Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.