Hollenback Golf Course gets new course
Wilkes-Barre City’s Department of Public Works (DPW) has installed a new koi pond at the Hollenback Golf Course, just weeks after the Times Leader published an article titled “Wilkes-Barre resident faults city for condition of tennis courts at park,” in which city resident Thomas Lynn stated that the tennis courts at the Bog recreation area near his home in Miners Mills hadn’t been maintained in years, even while similar tennis courts at the Barney Farms recreation area near the home of Mayor Thomas Leighton were fully maintained.
Lynn said in response to the addition, “It’s my personal belief that Wilkes-Barre needs many things, but this wasn’t one of them.”
City resident Bobby Etzle wondered if the money spent on the new pond could have been better spent on repairs to the splash pad.
“I can’t get them to clean up what some scumbag tossed in the creek behind my house and all the time this is being done,” Said Etzle
On July 23 the Independent Gazette contacted the city requesting the overall cost of the pond project, including a breakdown of the equipment rental from Franchelli Enterprises, whose equipment is pictured in the photos provided to the Gazette by an anonymous tipster. We also asked whether any part of the project was put out for bid and requested the start and end dates of the project.
As of the date of this publication, the city, through its spokeswoman, Liza Prokop, has not responded to any of the Gazette’s queries regarding the new Hollenback pond. The paper has submitted an open records request seeking any and all documents relating to the overall construction of the new pond.
In the March 2013 issue of the Gazette it was discovered that Franchelli Enterprises was among the top campaign contributors to Mayor Tom Leighton’s campaigns, donating $16,800 as of the time of that publication.
