Luzerne County officials are seeking approval to pursue a $203,786 Local Share Account grant to launch an emergency management drone program and buy three public safety vehicles for the county prison, coroner’s office and sheriff’s office.
The county administration is asking County Council to approve a partnership agreement with Hanover Township, which would submit the grant application because the county is statutorily barred from applying on its own.
Township Manager Samuel T. Guesto Jr. said state Rep. Alec Ryncavage, R-Hanover Township, asked township commissioners to consider applying for the county package. The matter is expected to appear on the township’s September voting agenda.
The county Emergency Management Agency is requesting $49,700 to establish the drone program, which officials say would improve response to floods, severe weather, hazardous materials incidents, large-scale accidents, missing person searches and damage assessments.
According to the agency’s presentation, traditional ground-based assessments can be slow, resource-intensive and risky for responders during emergencies.
A centralized drone program would provide countywide coverage, standardized procedures, professionally trained pilots and rapid deployment for municipal partners, the presentation said.
The funding would cover equipment, software, training and resources for a two-tier, all-weather drone fleet capable of supporting:
At least six county emergency management employees would be licensed to operate the drones. The proposal estimates the program could take up to a year to fully activate, allowing time for training, multi-agency field exercises and protocol implementation.
After the initial grant funding, county EMA would sustain the program through county funds, potential municipal partnerships and additional grants.
The package also includes vehicle requests from three county departments.
The prison is seeking $55,579 for a long-distance inmate transport vehicle. Stanley Fiedorczyk, head of the county Correctional Services Division, told council’s Correctional Services Committee in May that the prison’s aging fleet is not sufficient for transport demands, including trips to state facilities, work release, pre-work release community service, local court proceedings and medical visits.
The sheriff’s office is requesting $51,895 for a vehicle after reporting that eight vehicles in its fleet are out of service, according to the administration.
Several frontline sheriff patrol and transport vehicles are between 11 and 19 years old, including multiple Ford Crown Victorias from 2006 and 2011 with more than 125,000 miles and recurring mechanical failures, according to an office submission.
Coroner Dion Fernandes said his office’s $46,612 request would fund a vehicle to help address an aging fleet. The vehicle would be used by staff responding to calls across the county and, in some cases, transporting decedents to the office’s morgue in Hanover Township.
County officials are also asking council to approve a separate LSA grant application through Dallas Township for $2.3 million to complete the next phase of paving on county-owned Lower Demunds Road.
The county previously completed paving and stormwater improvements along 1.97 miles of Lower Demunds Road using a $2 million County Council allocation of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.
County Operational Services Division Head Michele Sparich said the completed portion received positive feedback, but the county does not have funding to finish the remaining work.
If awarded, the grant would fund design, resurfacing and minor drainage improvements on the 2.03-mile stretch from Wyoming Road to Upper Demunds Road, according to the agenda.
Because of how the LSA program is structured, the county is only permitted to apply directly in the statewide funding round.
Council recently voted to seek a $300,000 statewide LSA grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority to design and complete road improvements on a 4,800-foot stretch of the Huntsville Road Extension in Jackson and Lehman townships.
The county previously sought the full $524,300 project cost but was awarded $222,000.
Sparich said the county does not want to proceed with final engineering design unless the project is fully funded.
