Wilkes-barre Accident Lawyer

Judge says county's intent at issue in Old River Road Bakery dispute

WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne County Senior Judge Chester B. Muroski clasped his hand to his forehead Tuesday, trying to make sense of the web of taxes wrapped around the Old River Road Bakery.

"I need to dot all the I's and cross all the T's," he said, methodically working through the questions that arose in a hearing held to determine whether the dilapidated building would remain precluded from a September tax sale.

First, the judge asked for documentation the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board last week forgave more than $440,000 in back taxes owed on the 250 Old River Road property. He also wanted records that indicated Wilkes-Barre City Council had approved a similar deal.

Eventually, Muroski worked his way to the question of county taxes, an issue that proved most vexing to him. He wondered whether county commissioners in 2006 forgave their share of unpaid taxes on the bakery with the condition Wilkes-Barre replace it with a townhouse development - a project that never materialized after the city pitched it to the county.

"We have to determine the intent of the county," Muroski said, citing Commissioner Stephen A. Urban's recent comments he felt deceived by the city's 2006 townhouse plans.

Tuesday's hearing, which Muroski eventually continued until Aug. 23 to allow current commissioners time to clarify past commissioners' intent, proved another speed bump in the city's quest to return the controversial property to the tax rolls.

The city in July 2009 agreed to sell the 1.14-acre bakery property to a city contractor and political supporter of Mayor Tom Leighton for $38,000, but that deal crumbled last week, dogged for almost two years by the lingering taxes and a lawsuit filed by a couple who said the city sold the bakery in a "back-door deal."

The school board granted partial relief Friday when it forgave its share of taxes owed on the property. The deal included stipulations the city advertise the sale of the bakery, publicly open bids, provide status updates to the board and give 20 percent of the sale proceeds to the district.

As a final condition, the school board required county approval of the stipulations.

Muroski also sent the bakery question back to the county, which forgave almost $43,000 in taxes owed on the property after assistant city attorney William Vinsko said townhouses were planned for the site.

The judge summoned assistant county solicitor Stephen Menn to Tuesday's hearing in an attempt to decipher whether the county's 2006 resolution hinged upon the townhouse project. Menn told Muroski he believed the resolution contained no such contingencies, but said he would consult current commissioners, too.

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A history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time, including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material

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