Luzerne County Council unanimously voted Tuesday to grant a real estate tax break, advance planning for the Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge project and earmark $1 million in opioid litigation settlement funds.
County Councilman Chris Perry had described the tax break as a “unique plan” because developer Hillwood Properties will make four payments in lieu of taxes to the county totaling $945,000.
Hillwood also expects to spend $10 million to make the 360-acre, coal mine-scarred site suitable for constructing four buildings. Located along Route 309 in Hazle Township, the site contains waste ponds, deep open pits and multiple levels of subsurface mines.
Hillwood will receive 100% county real estate tax forgiveness on new construction the first seven years, a 90% discount in the eighth year, 80% in the ninth and 70% in the tenth and final year. The owner will continue paying taxes on the land throughout the break because the forgiveness applies only to new construction.
Bridge
The county must start from scratch in determining a solution for the deteriorated, county-owned Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge over the Susquehanna River because $10 million in federal funding has been allocated to the project through the state, officials said.
The regimented process involving the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will start with a search for an engineer that must come up with three options.
Three options already were presented for the bridge by Alfred Benesch and Associates, which had been hired by the county before federal funding was involved to determine the “best and most economical option.” Benesch’s work thus far cannot be applied to the final project because the selection process for the engineer must go through the PennDOT procurement system due to the county’s receipt of the $10 million, officials said.
Benesch originally recommended largely replacing the existing bridge but later advocated construction of…
