No fun for you. Love, Hazzard County, err we mean Luzerne County

[fisheye]

DE_NePA,

Maybe we could just forget to install the batteries! “Digital lawyers would be good, they could be turned off! ;-)”

In 1961 I think I was earning $1.05/hour testing the pool. Do you think we can find somebody for $1.05 today? There is an article in our local PR today about a township employee that is receiving over a $1,000/week in overtime: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110710/NEWS/107100346/-1/NEWS16

[Lehigh Valley Native]

I hate to agree with Steve Urban, but it makes no sense that they can't have it running during working hours. It just sounds like more Luzerne County B.S. As far as overtime, why can't some of the salaried county employees check it on the weekends and leave early a couple days during the week to make up for the couple hours on the weekends. It just doesn't make sense, and goes back to people not giving a sh*t.

back on topic...........

but we can afford to bulldoze the BMX bike track the local kids built in the woods.

[W-B proud]

It is just ridiculous. They just had a story in the T.L. about how The River Common is underutilized. It is unbelievable that they have this great fountain (which is the highlight of the entire park) in my opinion, but they cannot spend a few dollars to monitor the water? Luzerne County has a population of 325,000 + people and cannot afford to cough up a few dollars to test the water? Kingston, a small town, manages to maintain a community swimming pool, but somehow Luzerne County cannot afford this?! How much can it possibly cost? I'd imagine it probably would take well under one hour to take a test of the PH levels...and what? Twice a day? I cannot imagine that costing the county more then $30 a day. And that is not a large investment. I truely believe that we just have ridiculously incompetent leadership, that doesn't care, and will not try to improve things as long as they keep getting thier fat taxpayer funded check at the end of the week. It is truely sad, and yet another on a LONG list of disappointments.

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Kingston not only maintains a pool, but has two(maybe 3) parks that have splash fountains staffed with 2 people all day to monitor the fountains and play games and do crafts with kids.

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by Lehigh Valley Native

Kingston not only maintains a pool, but has two(maybe 3) parks that have splash fountains staffed with 2 people all day to monitor the fountains and play games and do crafts with kids.

Thousands of towns across America have fountains. Small towns like Bloomsburg has a fountain and maintains it, and it looks great! How can one of the largest counties in the state of Pa not have a few bucks to turn on a fountain, which would by all meas be the main attraction at the underutilized River Common? Larry Brozena and the other people that are in charge of the River common are pleading for people to go down there, but who wants to sit on a $30 million dollar slab of concrete baking in the hot summer sun? Not I! If the fountain WAS turned on however, not only would I be down there on a regular basis, but I would also bring my kids with me and so would scores of over families. I just cannot comprehend how they spent $30 million to build the park, but cannot spend a few lousy dollars to turn on the parks greatest attraction. It is mind boggling, and I am more then sure that if Larry Brozena wanted to put in the puny extra effort to figure out a simple solution to the problem that hundreds of people would vistit The River Common every day, likewise for the lack of planning, funding, and advertising some events down there. Besides Riverfest, there's not much planned. This would never happen in Scranton or any other town for that manner. This is just another steaming pile of ---- that Luzerne County is world renowned for. Likewise for Mayor Leighton refusing to spend 30,000 to fix Wilkes-Barre's Public Square fountain (our city's centerpiece). What does it say about your city, and morale in the city when they cannot scrape together 30 grand to fix the towns centerpiece? It's an embarrasment, and typical of Luzerne County.

[frank754]

It's a shame too, that a big investor won't grab up the Sterling, someone with money to burn could turn it back into mini Waldorf Astoria. In any case, is there much publicity for W-B as a tourist destination? We've got (besides the newer downtown stuff), a standing museum, a city that looks very archaic and the neighborhoods haven't changed much, plus a lot of ethnic diversity which tourists would love, if there were a market with a variety of restaurants under one roof. (Italian, Irish, Polish, Lithuanian, Welsh, German, Greek, Lebanese, etc). I wonder if there is any budget to promote tourism. If there were one, it could be put on Youtube and hit the blogosphere where people from NYC and elsewhere could read about it often (like on Gothamist.com, Village Voice and others), as an interesting place to spend a weekend, even have Gray Line tours, etc. Then dedicate the hotel and tourist taxes to fixing up the fountains and making the city more visitor friendly.

[Lehigh Valley Native]

But Luzerne county can afford to pay three grand a month for a county tourism billboard in Pittston.
Discovery deadline issued in Weidlich suit vs. county over pact | The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton PA

[frank754]

I found the Luzerne County tourism site, but a lot of it is a bit dated.

Luzerne County

[Lehigh Valley Native]

I think the county should be advertising tourism. It is the only way to draw people in for events. However, paying for a tourism billboard and bench advertising in Pittston is idiotic, and was only done to line someone's pockets. They should be advertising in city markets, like Philly, The Lehigh Valley, and NYC.