The Wilkes-Barre mayor plans to ask city council on Tuesday for permission to submit six state grant applications totaling more than $1.3 million to fund items ranging from a new city ambulance to a college safety and security project.
Mayor George C. Brown’s largest asks for funding from the Commonwealth Financing Agency’s Local Share Account statewide grant program at Tuesday’s work session would include $367,472 for a new City ambulance and $476,045 for the third phase of the King’s College Safety and Security Project.
LSA grants, also known as gaming grants, are funded by tax revenue from casinos in the state.
College officials appeared before city council members last September to ask them to authorize Brown to submit an application for $600,000 for the first phase of the safety and security project, and again in November, asking authorization for Brown to submit an application for $587,435 for the second phase.
The first phase initially focused on improvements to 44 street lights around the outer edges of campus, installing blue emergency lights to identify locations of phones connected to the campus Safety and Security Office to get immediate assistance, improvements to the campus security camera system and the purchase of new emergency radios for two-way communication between campus security officers and other college employees.
Phase 2 of the project was to include upgrades to 66 street lights throughout the campus core to illuminate walkways.
Project plans adjusted
Will Skaggs, college spokesman, said on Monday that the $476,045 requested for the third phase of the project is intended to cover the replacement of some security cameras and the cost of lighting the campus edges, which were originally intended for Phase 1 but could not be included because the $200,000 the state awarded for that phase was only a third of the $600,000 requested.
Phase 1 now includes just the replacement/installation of five blue lights/emergency call boxes, the replacement of 45 security cameras, and the replacement of 75 emergency radios.
Phase 2 now includes the replacement/installation of 66 street lights throughout the campus core and the replacement/installation of another five Blue Lights/Emergency Call Boxes. That grant application is still pending.
King’s College officials want to make the Wilkes-Barre campus and surrounding Downtown safer by installing new lighting as part of a safety and security project they hope will be funded in part by state grants. (COURTESY OF KING’S COLLEGE)
The streets on which street-light replacement would occur in Phase 3 include:
North Main Street, from West North Street to West Union Street.
West North Street, from Madison Street to North Franklin Street.
North River Street, from West Jackson Street to West Union Street.
West Union Street, from North Main Street to North River Street.
West Jackson Street, from North Main Street North River Street.
North Franklin Street, from the circle to West North Street.
New ambulance needed
Fire Chief Jay Delaney said he has not yet ordered a new ambulance, as LSA grants are the City’s primary funding source for such purchases.
Delaney said the new ambulance would replace Reserve Medic 5, a 2018 Ford F-550 Wheel Coach with 97,435 miles on it that would be traded in. He said mileage doesn’t give the full picture of the life of ambulances, given the numerous hours they spend with engines idling.
Ambulance 623, also known as Reserve Medic 5, sits in front of the Wilkes-Barre City Fire Department Hollenback Station on Jan. 5, 2022. Mayor George Brown wants to apply for a Local Shahe Account state grant to replace the ambulance, which has 97,435 miles on it, with a new one. LSA grants are currently the Cit’s primary funding source for new ambulances. (CITIZENS’ VOICE FILE)
The City keeps four ambulances ready for service, with two in service 24 hours a day and two others as backups for periods of expected heavy call volume and special events as well as when the primary vehicles are being serviced.
Delaney said that post-COVID, it can take one to three years to take delivery of an ambulance from the time an order is placed. He said the City usually replaces an ambulance every other year.
More on the agenda
Other LSA grant requests on the mayor’s agenda include:
$185,000 to purchase and install lighting at a Little League baseball field at the City’s Bog recreational complex off Dewey Lane for the Wyoming Valley Challenger Baseball Field Lighting Project.
$346,500 to purchase and install a backup generator at the City-owned Toyota SportsPlex complex at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park off Coal Street to provide power to the facility in the event of a power outage.
$10,000 for the Wyoming Valley Alcohol and Drug Services Computer Purchase Project to buy 12 computers that are Windows 11 compliant.
$307,250 for CV LTD’s Penn Plaza Revitalization Project, which involves installing updated sliding door entryways, energy-efficient HVAC systems, and new flooring at the facility located on South Main and Hazle streets.
The Penn Plaza project also includes exterior improvements, including the replacement of deteriorating sidewalks to improve safety and accessibility and the removal of aging trees to help beautify a busy section of the city and enhance pedestrian access.
Also on the agenda is a resolution acknowledging the requirements of Section 322 of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 to have an approved Hazard Mitigation Plan as a prerequisite for receiving post-disaster Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds.
Council meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday on the fourth floor of City Hall, 40 E. Market St., Wilkes-Barre. A regular voting meeting will follow there at 6 p.m. Thursday.