Lucerne County Council is currently evaluating five missed applications for American Rescue funding

Members of the Lucerne County Council received access to five American Rescue Plan applications that were not evaluated and evaluated along with others.

Council members have been asked to complete their five-point tally by Feb. 24 so they can receive an updated list of those recommended for awards before their next community service on Feb. 28, council chair Kendra Radle said.

Earlier this week, the board concluded that there was a problem with the consultant’s online assessment portal because three board members said they had detailed all the properties they assessed and none of the five were on their list. Five has a zero score.

Robin Booth of Columbia, Maryland, Booth Management Consulting, said her company’s work went through several levels of quality control, but she agreed to immediately give the board access to the five applications for board members to evaluate.

According to the members of the council, depending on the top five, the number and list of organizations recommended for awarding may change.

The council agreed to give outsiders $60 million, and last week a list of the top 75 nominees was released. Before the list was made, council members individually assessed candidates through the portal, agreeing not to cooperate with each other and not to rank anyone if they had a conflict.

The only entities publicly identified by the county to date were the 75 that made the list, but the five now being evaluated are known through remote screen sharing by a consultant during a council work meeting on Tuesday.

According to information from screen sharing and past information from American Rescue pre-applications requested last year before the consultant was on board, here is some information about five:

• Dress for Success, a non-profit organization, is asking for $147,150 to help women re-enter the labor market through professional development workshops, support services, and career-appropriate clothing.

• The Lower South Valley Council of Governments (LSVCOG) is seeking $500,000 to complete an extensive sewer infrastructure assessment to determine if it meets the area’s capacity needs and can support further development.

In a provisional application, LSVCOG said it wants new Act 537 sewer plans to be completed for the townships of Nanticoke, Newport, and Hanover. The preliminary statement said new plans are needed due to the growth of industry and storage facilities, which could tax the sewer system in these communities.

• Pittston City and the Greater Pittston Regional Ambulance Service are seeking $2.5 million to acquire and demolish property and build a facility to house the Regional Ambulance Service and Emergency Center.

The preliminary statement said the property to be demolished was a badly damaged and “problematic” former Triangle Motel on South Main Street. The new structure will house a regional ambulance service as well as a regional emergency center for use during emergencies and/or natural disasters, the statement said. This operations center can also serve as a place for triage, virus testing and vaccinations.

The preliminary statement said the Ambulance Association is the primary ambulance agency in Pittston, Jenkins Township, and the Yatesville, Exeter, Wyoming, and Western Wyoming areas. It also provides extended life support to the communities of Pittston and Exeter, as well as the Houstown, Avoca, Duria and Dupont areas.

• Wilkes-Barre is seeking $771,000 to purchase a state-of-the-art life support ambulance and add an additional compartment to the Hollenback Fire Station.

• Butler Township is seeking $500,000 to build a new municipal garage.

The municipality’s provisional filing said the money was needed to fund the Highway Department’s garage, which was valued at $1.75 million. The county’s taxpayers will benefit directly from the investment because the larger garage will allow the city district to increase its road maintenance fleet and take on more county-owned roads as part of the county’s goal of reducing roads and bridges to help the county’s budget. , the village said.

Butler Township is already on the Top 75 list at a $121,003 request from the Township Police Department. Because the council has determined that each entity is only eligible for one award, the $500,000 city garage request will be listed instead if it scores more than the police department’s request.

The county has not released details about the projects on the list because the applications are still only available through the consultant’s portal, although board members have stated that they only need view-only access after evaluation is completed. The average scores and the list of applicants not included in the list have not yet been made public.

Council members also said they want the revised list to remove a $735,000 appropriation to Dallas Municipality due to a recent criminal lawsuit filed against the organization over allegations of dumping raw sewage into Toby Creek.

The top 75 list is posted on the main page of the county’s website at luzernecounty.org.

Contact Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or tweet @TLJenLearnAndes.