Two special public meetings have been scheduled next week for possible decisions involving the sale of Luzerne County’s rail line.
The selection of a buyer stalled Tuesday, when County Council unanimously vetoed the county Redevelopment Authority’s decision to sell the line to R.J. Corman Railroad Group.
Although the authority owns the line, the council has power over which entity acquires it because of a litigation settlement agreement under which the authority owes the county $3.28 million.
The council cannot outright award the sale to any entity because the authority still owns the property. However, the county is set to immediately take possession of all rail property if a sale doesn’t close by Oct. 9, the settlement agreement said.
County Chief Solicitor Harry W. Skene told the council the redevelopment authority and its affiliated Rail Corp. have an opportunity to vote again and choose to sell the rail line to another entity before the Oct. 9 deadline. If that occurs, the council would then vote to accept or reject the new one, Skene said.
If no new entity is presented to the council, then “legally the matter goes into a different direction,” Skene had said.
The redevelopment authority has scheduled a special meeting at noon Tuesday, which will include a closed-door executive session to discuss litigation and real estate matters.
Authority Board Chairman Scott Linde said Thursday he does not know what, if any, actions will be brought to a board vote at that time.
Authority Solicitor Peter O’Donnell and Rail Corp. Solicitor Joseph M. Blazosek said Thursday the special meeting was called to determine the next steps in response to County Council’s rejection of a sale to R.J. Corman.
As a proactive step, County Council Chairman Jimmy Sabatino scheduled a special council meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday in case a council vote is required based on any authority/Rail Corp. decision made Tuesday. Sabatino said the special council meeting will focus solely on this issue and will be canceled if nothing requires council action.
Tuesday’s authority meeting is in the authority offices on the second floor of 16 Luzerne Ave. in West Pittston. Instructions for the remote attendance option are posted on the authority site at luzernecountyredevelopment.org.
Wednesday’s special council meeting is in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Remote attendance directions will be posted in council’s online public meeting section at luzernecounty.org.
Before the council’s veto, several citizens spoke in support of tourism-related passenger-train excursions promised by Reading and Northern Railroad, which also submitted a purchase offer.