Luzerne County Council unanimously voted Tuesday to terminate its federal American Rescue Plan Act allocation to the Keystone Mission.
County Council had awarded $500,000 to the Keystone Mission for homeless services, including $312,400 to lease and remodel space to create apartments for four homeless families in Wilkes-Barre, according to prior reporting. However, county officials said that housing program did not materialize.
The council-approved termination notice said county monitoring of the project identified “serious compliance deficiencies.”
The county has pending litigation in the county Court of Common Pleas against the Keystone Mission over the nonprofit’s use of the earmark. This litigation is still in the pleading stage, and formal discovery has not taken place, officials said.
As with any litigation, the adjudication process will determine if the county succeeds in recouping any funds already provided to the Keystone Mission.
Tuesday’s council vote officially recalled $86,033.69 of the earmarked funds that were never forwarded to the nonprofit so that money can be used for other purposes before the end of this year, the agenda said.
Due to American Rescue deadlines, the administration plans to propose another eligible use for the recalled funds at the council’s Oct. 27 meeting, county Operational Services Division Head Michele Sparich told the council Tuesday.
Butch Barron, who is currently serving as volunteer director of the Keystone Mission, said Wednesday he cannot comment on the American Rescue allocation because he was not working for the nonprofit at that time and was not involved in any decisions or spending related to those funds.
A past Keystone Mission representative had maintained “there has been no misuse, fraud or criminal behavior” associated with the county earmark, a previous report said.
Some of the county earmark also went to Keystone Mission’s Innovation Center for Homeless and Poverty at 90 E. Union St. in Wilkes-Barre, which closed last year. That center provided homeless men and women with an overnight shelter and daytime place to shower and wash clothes, receive breakfast and access community resources.
The apartments not completed were slated for a leased building at 64 E. Union Street in the Thomas C. Thomas complex in Wilkes-Barre adjacent to the structure Keystone Mission had leased for the homeless center.
Barron emphasized Wednesday the Keystone Mission’s Transformation Center off Coal Street in Wilkes-Barre remains open and is providing shelter and services for nine men.
“We are still very active. We are maintaining service for the homeless as best as we can on a voluntary basis,” Barron said, noting there are currently no paid workers.
Barron said he is retired and volunteering because he “does not want to see these people hurt.”
The nine men completed rehabilitation before residing at the center, where they receive Christian-based spiritual support and assistance obtaining jobs, handling their finances and, eventually, securing permanent housing, Barron said.
“We help them get on their feet and become active members of the community,” he said. “We’re still doing good things.”
In other business Tuesday, the council unanimously voted to sell the county’s three-story brick structure at 54 W. Union St. in Wilkes-Barre to MAHS Real Estate Ventures LLC for $281,000.
The 6,500-square-foot property was listed at $373,000 based on a July 2025 appraisal. County officials want to sell the structure, which housed community development before that office relocated, to generate revenue and return the property to the tax rolls.
Councilwoman LeeAnn McDermott proposed an amendment, approved by the others, to condition the sale on verification that MAHS Real Estate does not have any outstanding county or municipal liens.
The council also unanimously voted to:
• Seek state funding to complete a staffing and salary study as suggested in the county’s recent five-year strategic plan. The county is eligible for annual state Strategic Management Planning Program funding over the next five years to help enact plan recommendations it chooses to pursue.
• Award county Act 13 natural-gas recreation and conservation funding to seven entities: SPCA of Luzerne County, New Hope Trails, $40,000; Valley East Little League in Butler Township, fence safety project, $38,000; Lehman Sanctuary, NEPA STEM nature science educational support, $40,000; Plymouth Historical Society, tree removal and replacement beautification project, $5,030; Forty Fort Borough, disc golf course expansion at Forty Fort Sports Complex, $39,000; Luzerne County Historical Society, Swetland Homestead and Edward Darling House public access and site improvements, $40,000; and Hanover Recreation Club, handball park renovation, $28,000.
• Earmark $146,952 in county opioid settlement funds to XT Enterprises, doing business as RecoverU, to provide licensed recovery housing for county residents with opioid use disorder. RecoverU operates 10 licensed beds at 226-228 Barney St. in Wilkes-Barre and plans to expand to a second property to increase its capacity to 18 beds because it has a waiting list, a representative has said.