Luzerne County’s Election Bureau received and unpacked new voting system equipment from Hart InterCivic that will be used in the Nov. 3 general election, according to the county manager’s monthly division report.
The county had agreed last year to lease new scanners/tabulators and ballot marking devices from Hart. However, the county temporarily used an older version of the vendor’s equipment in the May 19 primary because the company was still awaiting required state certification for its new Vanguard model.
That certification from the Pennsylvania Department of State has been granted. The county packed and shipped the loaned equipment back to Hart, the report said.
Hart agreed to provide fresh training for the new equipment at no additional cost, the county said.
Campaign finance
The county election bureau’s new online campaign finance database is operational, allowing the public to automatically review reports without having to submit a request for the information.
County Manager Romilda Crocamo provided the update at last week’s council work session in response to a council inquiry.
The county entered into a $23,000 contract with EasyVote Solutions to implement the database.
Crocamo said the new system is working well and up to date.
Reports may be accessed on the election page at luzernecounty.org.
Election Board
The county’s volunteer, five-citizen Election Board is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.
Instructions for the remote attendance option will be posted in council’s online authorities/boards/commissions section at luzernecounty.org.
Plotter
County GIS, Planning, and Zoning Director Dan Reese received chuckles from County Council members at last week’s meeting when he pointed out the office nickname for its plotter — Harry Plotter.
Crocamo asked Reese to explain the equipment in the GIS/Mapping Department because it was mentioned in her division report.
Reese said it is a large-format printer, like a big ink jet printer “on steroids.”
It is about 12 years old and was considered obsolete in 2018, he said. When it needed a repair, Reese found a vendor in the Lehigh Valley because no local companies wanted to fix it.
The department is obtaining a new, smaller plotter that meets its needs, and Harry Plotter will be relocated to the county Emergency Management Agency to assist with mapping needs there, Reese said.
As an example of the plotter’s need, Charles Krommes, the county’s emergency management operations and training officer, told council members the equipment generated large maps needed for evacuation purposes during a wildfire.
“Harry Plotter saves the day again,” said council Chairman Jimmy Sabatino.
Data center ordinance
The county’s proposed data center zoning ordinance amendment is under review by the county law office, the division report said.
If approved by County Council, the amendment would take effect in 19 municipalities that rely on county zoning instead of handling it on their own: the boroughs of Avoca, Courtdale, Dupont, Duryea, Hughestown, Jeddo, Laflin, New Columbus, Pringle, Warrior Run, West Wyoming, and Yatesville, and the townships of Conyngham, Fairmount, Hunlock, Huntington, Lake, Ross, and Union.
The county Planning Commission voted in May to recommend the amendment to the council after four revisions and several public comment sessions.
The proposed amendment covers an exhaustive set of conditions that must be met and mandates more extensive special exception approval from the county Zoning Hearing Board for all data center requests.
When the zoning amendment recommendation is presented to the council, it would require an introduction vote and then a public hearing and majority council approval at a subsequent meeting.