Luzerne County Council fills board seats

Luzerne County Council appointed 23 citizens to vacant board seats Tuesday, including three on the Community College Board of Trustees.

The community college board stood out because 11 citizens sought seats, although applicant Tim McGinley was eliminated from consideration when council appointed him to the county Industrial Development Authority instead.

The three community college seats were last held by Joseph Long, Holly Evanoski and Susan Unvarsky. Long and Unvarsky reapplied along with Arthur Breese, Joseph Timothy Cotter, Bernard Graham, Robert Linskey, Brian McBride, Joseph Oprendick, Robert Watson and Patrick Wills.

Before nominations were accepted, council Vice Chairman Brian Thornton thanked all applicants and said council will be “saying yes to three people,” not rejecting the others.

“There are a lot of great people, a lot of great resumes, and probably every one of them would do a good job,” Thornton said.

Various council members nominated six: Breese, Long, Unvarsky, Graham, Oprendick and McBride.

After rounds of voting, Long, Unvarsky and Oprendick ended up securing appointment to the unpaid seats.

Other appointments

Council also appointed or reappointed the following citizens to seats on county boards: Ralph Sharp, county Housing Authority; McGinley, Ronald Knapp and Karen Martinelli, Industrial Development Authority; Dennis Driscoll and Lynette Villano, county Transportation Authority; Maria Oberto-Jacoby, Northeastern Pennsylvania Health and Higher Education Authority; Joanne Corey, Noah Davis, Angel Mathis and Dominick Trombetta, Area Agency on Aging Advisory Board; Alec Frank, Janelle Nardone, Felicia Rey, Robin Watson and Joshua Wilder, Children, Youth and Families Advisory Board; Michael Boyle, Drug and Alcohol Executive Commission; Jillian Matyjevich and Gabriel Smaglik, Mental Health and Developmental Services Program Advisory Board; and Rodney Kaiser, county Zoning Hearing Board.

Property sales

Council voted Tuesday to sell 37 tax-delinquent repository properties at prices ranging from $500 to $2,300.

Properties land in the repository if they do not sell in the initial upset auction or subsequent free-and-clear auction.

Sales are encouraged because the county has amassed approximately 1,000 repository properties that are in limbo, with no active owners to maintain and pay taxes on them. While some are sold each year, new ones are added after each sale.

Information on repository properties is posted under luzernecountytaxclaim.com.

Council also agreed Tuesday to sell two unused, county-owned parcels in Hanover Township to the county Flood Protection Authority, which oversees the Wyoming Valley Levee system along the Susquehanna River.

Both vacant parcels are at the end of Delaney Street near the levee toe. The authority will pay $14,000 for a 7,500-square-foot parcel and $8,500 for a 4,696-square-foot lot.