##VIDEO ID:6## live I'm good evening everyone I ask that we all rise for the pledge to the flag show you a pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you everyone Mr Miller please call the role Mr Callahan present M grmy Smith present M quac Miss lard present Miss Leon present Miss Wilhelm present and Mr colog present thank you Mr Miller just a couple quick things councilwoman lired is on Virtual as you'll see on the screen above us councilwoman quch is on foot hopefully okay in this weather she had to come from uh professional engagement on the other side of the fahe bridge and then mayor Reynolds may be joining us late this evening as Music Fest and a lot of City Administration including Chief cot are trying to coordinate uh the festival tonight with the impending weather it's just some of the attendance that you see up here tonight we do have a few citations I don't believe anyone's here tonight but I'm still going to announce them for recent City retirees lieutenant John buerk Sergeant Jeffrey Ludy detective Sergeant Bradford Jones and firefighter David Flores none are here this evening correct thank you moving on to the approval of the minutes for August 16 2024 city council meeting any comments on the minutes from the August 16 meeting seeing none July 16 or excuse me July 16 I think I misspoke August 16 get ahead of myself a little bit Mr M so the July 16 2024 city councilman stand approved so we'll move on as is custom to our public comment starting with any subjects not being voted on first I ask everyone to state your name for the record and your address if you're comfortable doing such as his custom we'll use our five minute time limit starting with our first public comment tonight we have one person signed up and this for anything not being voted on Valerie Nunan uh hello um hope y having a great evening I know you want to get to Music Fest um I am talking about something kind of substantial tonight unfortunately um so recently I've had the opportunity to hold some extended conversations with people living under fa the fahe bridge right across the street um and I'd like to share some takeaways from these conversations the major concern they have is hygiene specifically access to toilets and clean water for washing and cooking um one woman showed me what she had been given to use as a toilet by the Bethlehem fire department it was a bucket with a lid lined internally with a garbage bag and sure that's better than nothing however I'd like you guys to imagine if that was the only toilet available to you day in and day out it's not very dignified is it and the other issue is that these people do not have access to a reliable way to disposing of waste they're stuck without a way to properly dispose of actual biohazards so not only is it disgusting but it could make people sick there are of course public bathrooms in the area and namely the bathrooms over at Sand Island Park however these are typically only available in the summer and are locked up after Labor Day I would like to ask the city to please keep the park bathrooms unlocked year round so that people without homes can have some safety and dignity one woman I spoke to also pointed out that the park bathrooms contain electrical outlets but the outlets don't appear to be connected to a power source or the breaker is off whatever the reason is they're not working now and what I'm about to say to you is not a hypothetical situation there's a reason she pointed this out um this woman was in a 911 emergency situation and she was unable to call 911 because her phone was dead and she had no way to charge it she said that if she was only able to charge her phone a little bit then she would have been able to call 911 and get help as you probably know 911 Works whether you have a service plan or not um so for that reason she asked specifically that the city not only keep the bathrooms unlocked but to make sure that the outlets are connected and working um and I can anticipate that there may be some objections to this especially after hearing uh the hemming and haul about the water fountains situation which is that people aren't respectful in their use of the facilities and that the park bathrooms get trashed um I have a few counterpoints to this first of all Sand Island Park is about three steps away from the police station so it can be monitored um and even the woman I spoke to about this was fine with that idea as someone who that that lady did not have positive experiences with the police and she was fine with that um and that aside providing bathroom access is really the least we can do it's a basic requirement of living and not a privilege to be revoked at the drop of the Hat um so I think that it's important that these bathrooms remain unlocked throughout the year that we see about making sure the electrical outlets are working um because really this is the only place that they have they don't have other places to charge their phones they don't have places to go to the bathroom that are safe they have to walk 10 15 minutes in another Direction just to get to somewhere they could do any of those things um so I mean ideally these people shouldn't be living on the street at all but since they are um in the meantime this is a very simple way to improve their standard of living so you guys can definitely expect some followup about that um there's a group that's been organizing cleanups at that encampment and trying to get resources over there but this is something really simple you can do so I hope you can take some time uh away from the music first thoughts to think about what's going on um right under our noses thank you thank you that was our only speaker who had signed up in advance so again I'll go I'll go around the room this is for anything that we are not voting on this evening is there anyone on the left who wants to talk about anything we're not voting on Mr Hynes yeah Bruce Haynes 63 West Church Street representing Historic Hotel Bethlehem tonight and I want to thank everyone in the city of Bethlehem and the City Council and every one in the administration that voted for us over the last four weeks on the USA Today best Historic Hotel campaign um this was we this was we've won three years in a row and Memphis pebody in Memphis has been behind us in second place three years in a row so this was in effect the seventh game of the World Series uh but uh we weren't allowed to Market that because that's a patented uh name so this year we kicked off The Campaign the voting campaign at Coca-Cola Park and we're called we called it our going for the Grand Slam and loading the bases and going for the Grand Slam so we had three three bases loaded and uh I I am you know voting ended Monday but as of the Monday before that we were in first place they don't show the leaderboard in the last week so unless the city of Memphis had a major campaign I'm really optimistic and I'm particularly optimistic because at the opening night of voting we were the we were the major sponsor that night and we threw out the first pitch at coca colola Park and lo and behold Scott kingry the short stop who used to be on the Phillies actually hit a grand slam home run which was only the second in 90 games for the whole season so I considered that to be a sign and an omen of the great uh outcome that hopefully will know on August 14th but I just want to thank uh you and everyone else in the city of Bethlehem we're we're represented not only Bethlehem we're the only hotel to represent all of Pennsylvania in this voting and let's hope we bring home a winner and if so we'll be celebrating on Main Street in September thanks good luck Mr H is there anyone in the center who wants to make comment who hadn't signed up for anything not being voted on I turn to the right all right that adjourns our first public comment we're going to continue on to our second public comment this is for anything ordinance to resolution that is on the agenda this evening again with a fem minute time limit we didn't have anyone sign up in advance I'll just go around the room is anyone to the left who what to make comment on anything that we're voting on tonight anyone to the wide Center Mr fer there good evening Jim fer resident of Bethlehem regarding tonight's potential vote on the appointment of Miss Leon to the Housing Authority if this does not cross a threshold and pose a con conflict of interest what will the tentacles and web of blurring the lines of undue influence and coercion resulting in multiple levels of conflict continue to grow and spread uninhibited within our city of Bethlehem some examples for the Bethlehem food co-op and Touchstone theater in our City's own quarterly magazine they are listed in the index along with every other City organization Bureau department and function all the other nonprofits in this magazine don't get such luxury as being listed in they only have their advertisements buried within this quarterly magazine why are those two enti Given that special treatment I hope they're at least paying for their advertisements even though they're referenced to make it appear they look like a city entity second the city's relationship with new Bethany is also pushing the envelope of inappropriate relationships and engagements with new Bethany becoming almost another arm of the city as they get so intertwined in City programs and Affairs while no Bethany provides great Services I donate to them and I have no issues with all that any relationship between the city and them beyond the liaison function is rather inappropriate and also presents a conflict of interest as to which Master to serve the appointment of Miss Leon our chief of police and the school superintendent to the board of directors of a non-government private charity while being an elected official is completely inappropriate and a conflict of interest if these people in these positions want to support these organizations either resign your government positions or somehow remove the conflicts with new Bethany's expanding role Beyond direct homeless related support managed with City funds going into the Aly home program again what a tangled web of Unto government influence and conflicts exist we must have oversight Leon and coordination but there must be separation and not Direct Control next to the housing authority and First Presbyterian Church with Reverend Clifton's appointment to the Housing Authority in January 23 and R right the chair in 24 How can there be legitimate separation when one of the largest affordable and low-income housing plans being pushed through along with damaging zoning changes by the city to increase density in all neighborhoods was her appointment a kickback a payback or just greasing the skids for that churches and the city's plans there were several LS that I don't have enough time to go over but a few other little points the parking authority in Miss Collins abuse of business than the DBA many small businesses owners are simply afraid to voice any true opinion and fair retribution and think back to the parking garage Miss Collins ordering the harb how to vote was totally inappropriate in a previous profession we would say don't ask me to do anything not legal moral or ethical I find it hard to believe that there's no legal argument against the appointment of an elector official to an authority conflict of interest General criteria includes the concept of not even providing an appearance of a conflict while in Bethlehem so much for that concept we already have enough appearances of conflict between several actions between the administration and other organizations boards and authorities and now it's going out to non-governmental organizations the spread of undue influence now on full public display and no longer hidden behind closed doors is leading us down a dangerous road branches of government have their roles as to authorities made up of true volunteer community members elected officials can serve one but they shouldn't serve both if this government chooses to continue down this path then just jump directly and dissolve all boards and move them under the mayor's control and one word and a couple words I heard this week in the news be careful in conclusion I recommend voting no to miss Leon's appointment to the Housing Authority thank you thank you Mr fer is there anyone else in the wide Center Miss Smith good evening my name is Anna Smith I live at 631 Ridge Street in South Bethlehem and I'm the director of Community Action development Bethlehem um a Community Development organization working throughout the city and I'm here once again to address the appointment of a fifth member of the betham Housing Authority Board of Commissioners as I expressed at the last council meeting this appointment is an important step toward reforming an institution that plays a crucial role in housing our most vulnerable residents in the city and which is one of our most powerful Tools in addressing our growing affordable housing crisis I believe that the appointment of an eminently qualified Community leader was significant experience in organizational leadership deep Community connections and the time and energy needed to support the evolution of this organization is a vital step toward ensuring that our Housing Authority excels in its core function of providing housing to our lowest income residents our community deserves a Housing Authority that treats residents with dignity respect and which maximizes the use of federal resources to support those in need reform is never easy but we owe it to the thousands of community members who rely on the BHA to fulfill one of their most basic needs and I would argue a human right uh to ensure that organizational policies and practices are held to the highest standards and I'm afraid that right now we are falling short I have spent dozens of hours um probably hundreds working with uh betham Housing Authority residents in my office Community meetings on their doorsteps in their kitchens and it's beyond clear that our community members deserve better and change needs to start at the top the BHA was recently subject of an inquiry from Senator Bob Casey's office regarding hundreds of thousands of dollars in voucher funding that was returned to the Federal government instead of spent on vouchers for residents in desperate need of housing as well as management practices that have overcharged residents thousands of dollars due to miscalculations in their rent I was contacted by a staffer from Senator Casey's office who expressed grave concerns about challenges a resident I happen to be assisting um had faced as well as other residents and Community organizations who spoke in with Senator Casey's office I was recently contacted by a desperate single mom on a fixed income who after spending years on a wait list was given three days to come up with first month's rent and a deposit to obtain access to housing she couldn't do it she's on a fixed disability income had already paid her rent for the month so she lost her spot no one returned my inquiries or emails about this and um this is standard practice within this agency I stood in the kitchen of an elderly resident of the pem area three weeks ago where she showed me a broken window that a neighborhood kid threw a ball through two years ago she filed a police report contacted maintenance but her window has not yet been fixed it has been broken for two years I could go on I could be here for an hour these stories will break your heart at each opportunity myself and other community leaders organizations have reached out to BHA for answers and were met with silence or rebuffed when the prospect of change arises there will always be folks with a vested interest in preserving the status quo I'm hoping that all of you tonight will cast your votes in favor of Reform and support one of our most dedicated Community leaders in joining a board where I am confident that you will play an integral role in supporting our most vulnerable residents um thank you very much thank you is there anyone else in the center who wants to make comment on anything we're voting on this evening FR hello uh Valerie nun and again um just a brief comment on the Housing Authority vote I really think the issue has been blown out of proportion having heard the heated debate at the last meeting and uh the continued conversation now um I think that like truly I am against government corruption as much as anyone and I don't think this is an example of it um and that's all I have to say thank you thank you is there anyone else in the center who wanted to make Mr katola were on anything being voted on this evening did you did you want to make comment on anything we're voting on this evening being things being voted on right now yes oh okay we miss Mr katola is there anyone to the right who want to make comment on anything that we're voting on this evening all right so that's going to journ public comment we're going to move through our agenda any old business for members of council yes Mr President Tech thank you Mr President thank you um I asked to speak during old business because I wanted to discuss matters related to certain proceedings during our last meeting and over the course of the last seven months since our reorganization in January Mr President in his book microaggressions in everyday life race gender and sexual orientation Gerald Wing Su professor of psychology and education in the department of counseling and Clinical Psychology at Teachers College Columbia University defines microaggressions as quote brief everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership un quote another definition of microaggressions are that they are commonplace verbal Behavioral or environmental slights whether intentional or unintentional that communicate hostility derogatory or negative attitudes towards those of different races culturals cultures beliefs or genders Mr President one example of a microaggression might be if a woman of color who lives in what is perceived to be a lower income zip code for example the southide of Bethlehem were to be nominated to serve in a position of responsibility and in the course of deliberations over that matter someone suggested that it might be a conflict of interest because that person might direct Section 8 housing vouchers to their neighbors or friends Mr President another example of a microaggression might be for someone who doesn't hold a law degree to place a higher value on a male lawyer's expertise on a matter over that of a woman lawyer who is specifically employed by this body to provide her considerable legal expertise on such matters Mr President microaggressions are harmful their impact is felt regardless of intent and to ignore them sends a message that these behaviors and the views they demonstrate are acceptable so I want to say that I reject these denigrating messages it is the work of white people to continue to look within ourselves and strive to do better and be better I hope we can all commit to that today Mr President I also wanted to raise a concern with regard to adherence to our local conflict of interest ordinance as we all know because we receive an annual training from the state ethics folks a conflict of interest involves the potential for an official or a member of their family including spouses parents children and siblings to financially benefit from a matter on which a body is voting in the case of our city ordinance specifically which we passed during the last Council session we also include matters where someone we receiv received political campaigns donation donations totaling $500 or more over the previous five years might benefit and again the family relationships the ordinance requires us to disclose these conflicts and recuse ourselves from voting on them matter now this ordinance does not have an enforcement mechanism which means that if someone were to simply not disclose a conflict or having reluctantly disclosed such a conflict not recuse themselves from voting on the matter where in a family a member of their family had a direct financial interest in the outcome of the matter we do not have recourse unfortunately Mr President there have been at least two such instances in just the last seven months and this is concerning to me as we know there is language in our ordinance suggesting we try to avoid even the perception of a conflict of interest and I'm saddened that not everyone has lived up to this standard I plan to confer with solicitor stward regarding the feasibility of adding an enforcement mechanism of some kind to our city conflict of interest ordinance Mr President I also want to share my concern about maintaining consideration and respect for work colleagues when a co-worker's absence leads to a meeting needing to be rescheduled and all of their colleagues rearrange their schedules so that they can attend the new date of the meeting the colleague who required the schedule a change should be expected to attend on the new date unless that person was fa facing emergency circumstances when that column colleague excuse me with only a few hours notice announces that they are out of town and can't attend that meeting after all even via a Remote Link which was provided to them it shows an extreme lack of respect and consideration for their remaining co-workers so naturally I have to conclude this must have been an emergency and simply couldn't have been avoided otherwise it would demonstrate this person assumed that everyone else would rearrange their schedules to attend the rescheduled meeting and then actually show up to the meeting and discharge one of the most significant duties asked of us by our elected office so whatever the emergency was Mr President I certainly hope it was dis resolved without too much suffering finally Mr President and importantly I want to share my concern over frequent breaks with what I would consider proper order during our meetings at our last meeting for example a member of this body was granted an opportunity to ask a question after a discussion had concluded on a matter with a unanimous vote it was not appropriate to have allowed this line of question questioning which was pursued unfortunately with a lack of respect for members of the mayor's Administration this was just one example of a pattern of behavior that we have seen and I implore you Mr President to be more Vigilant in your role to maintain order and a respectful decorum on the part of council members during our official proceedings thank you thank you Miss quch I both hear and recognize your points and I I appreciate the um willingness to to come forward with those thoughts they had here at the the council meeting tonight and some of those things will give consideration to and and some of it as I referenced before has to do with how I navigate these meetings but as I've stated before want to continue operating for all of us here in this room with a certain ER of decorum and respect for everybody and using the ability I have here in the center as the council presidents try to make sure we're moving along not only efficiently but also with respect to others but I appreciate you bringing forward those those concerns thank you I would say just to quickly respond to that that uh in in the interest of dorum I think there has been too much of a willingness for many of us to put up with behavior that I would say is out of order um Beyond just decorum and that's why I chose to speak about this tonight because um it just seemed that it was time to point things out that we've been politely ignoring to some extent in order to uh maintain decorum and it seems unfair that um many of us take that responsibility um seriously and it winds up um harming us so thank you interested any other old business for members of council Mr Mr Callan I'll turn to you wait and then I'll turn no Mr Callahan she's deferring to you I saw your hand first I defer I gotta write a couple more notes here I'm sorry wait this is an example of what we're just listening to so if we can your points Mr so let me let me address a couple things here first the mayor this is not his meeting this is a city council meeting I don't um do everything the mayor wants me to do that's not our job so he gets to speak one time during our meeting and that's during the mayor's um report that's it the only other time he gets to speak is if he asks for the floor according to Robert's Rules of Order he does not do that I have 20 30 different uh videos that I've taken then I'll show you he does not follow Robert's Rules of Order this is not his meeting it's our meeting he doesn't even have to legally be here some some Mayers don't even go to the City Council meetings M Mr I just want to this is old business I'm address if you want to I'm addressing her comments she made a comment you're you're inciting mayor Reynolds in your comment I'm I'm speaking to her I'm speaking to her and her I'm not speaking I'm not pretending he's not even here right now so so let me explain something to you he he can't speak until he asks you for the floor correct he has to ask for the floor under Robert R ofor I asked for the floor and I spoke to you and our solicitor after the meeting and I said hey if you go back and look at the video you will see I asked you for the floor to speak I was granted the floor I spoke I asked a direct question to miss satul and miss Collins he spoke up without asking for the floor he broke Robert's rul of order you can go and look back at the video you may not like what you see but I'm right I asked for the floor as I should have according to Roberts R order I was given the floor by the president I asked a direct question to administrators not him he never asked for the floor he broke Roberts will so if you want to come down on me come down on the mayor because he's the one who breaks it more than anybody he speaks up all the time without permission so that's that's my that's the first thing as far as me missing the meeting um I lost my wife to cancer 18 years ago I don't miss a child's one of my kids events ever nothing that we do here is more important than me being with one of my kids if you can't understand that I'll tell you where to go sometime because I will be there I had a birthday the following day had no idea that they had a surprise party a surprise gift for me which was out of town otherwise you guys know me I would have loved to been here I don't have a problem debating you guys or most of the people on this Council want to handle everything back room Backstage on the phone calls I motive please do not most most please don't assign in my in my opinion in my opinion Mr President in my opinion I think most of you you want to solve this behind closed doors I don't this is why not why should we not talk about all this here this should be discussed in front of every hold on this is we're getting in the weeds here we're getting out if you want to address I want to be done in a minute this is she she mentioned the why I wasn't here and I'm telling you why okay and if they have a problem with me being one with one of my children uh on a special day I'm the only parent that to those kids I I I don't know what kind of person you are but I'm being there now as far as uh the the you know I have no problem asking and fing Roberts R Awards I just want the mayor to do the same thing so and I I don't know what Miss qu I don't know what the other thing you were talking about about uh conflict of interest I'd be happy to address any conflict of interest that you think I made anytime I've never ever voted on anything having to do with anybody who ever gave me a donation for anything and if there is something I would like to know because I would deeply apologize for that if that's true we're are you done with your comments Mr Callan I'm gonna turn to other members and I'll speak up during new business I'm gonna turn to other members of council before I open it up again we're on Old business for any old business members of council would like to address councilwoman Wilhelm sure um I I actually think that many of those comments didn't refer directly to the comments that Miss quch was making in which she referred to uh the hearing that we rescheduled but one thing I want to address about Mr kellahan your comments is that you refer to this as our meeting is I'm not sure please don't interject when others are speaking everyone thank you please please don't do that anymore I'm not sure why your comments at about the mayor entered that stream of thought but what I want to focus on other words our meeting it is our meeting our meeting the Public's meeting I've clocked the amount of time that has been wasted in repeated comments my opinion wasted in repeated comments interruptions and direct accusations 20 25 40 45 minutes while we the hour that you're referring to waits for resolution for respect yes Robert's rules are important to the operations of this body but decorum and respect is also part of that what I wanted to say earlier is that I am not going to add to those very wellth thought out coms comments I think anything I I would say would not be an addition at this point but what I wanted to say that is that I too have been thinking about this at Great length over many weeks and I thank you Miss quch for uh for speaking this evening any other new business from members of council MCH old or old business pardon thank you any other old business I just wanted to point out that the uh two instances I was referring to were the vote on the Walnut Street Garage which uh of course did have a family member that had a financial interest in it because they were at that time uh bidding on the business uh for the um programed space and also we voted on certificates of appropriateness several weeks ago in which we grouped them all together but one of them uh was a project that would financially benefit a family member thank you it had nothing to do with campaign contributions however I will say that uh it is uh again an honor System and it's something that we are all um Duty bound to look at the names involved I mean I read my packet pretty thoroughly uh and you know when I saw for instance the the um live in the garden where I had a family member who was going to get paid for U performing I recuse myself I recuse myself on every vote related to Lehi University even things that have absolutely nothing to do with just the tiniest things you know closing a street whatever um and I'm not financially benefiting from that act but I am paid by them a salary and so um again the conflict of interest is about the financial benefit piece um and so it is incumbent on all of us to carefully examine what we're voting on and uh use the honor System that's all I have to say about that Pres M oh Mr Gan uh I I don't know if you remember this or not but I voted against the demo of the garage irrelevant irrelevant she brought up the garage in a conflict of interest that I had correct State your remarks I'm not I'm asking you a question I'm I'm I am I am answering her question she she just made a comment that I voted uh for the the garage why don't you state it again m m voted on the matter on the matter I voted against I'm gonna call this I apologize for interrupting I apologize thank you if I may inter I was against it I'm gonna go by memory here just since we want to police this and how we voted in our conflicts of interest training I believe the attorney from Harrisburg when posed with that exact question about potentially how to handle something like that um when the question was posed to them about supporting or not supporting with a vote something that was on the agenda that any member of council because I I I think what's very relevant to take away from this is that I'll say from the center I always try to be as objective as possible and one of the questions posed at that training was should we recuse and I believe she said it's good to and then I believe she was asked why wouldn't support it and I believe the response was regardless of voting in favor or not that it's best practice to recused from any vote involving or there would be a conflict of interest so while while I think we could spin our wheels and that I don't invite that and I don't mean to interject but just to close my point if we want to site sort of the the you know reference training that we sat through the the takeaway from that was the the how was irrelevant and I think not speak for any of the other speakers that was sort of the point and I think that if we go back and look at the tape uh I believe our solicitor said that there was no conflict of interest I believe the same council member brought up this point then and I believe our solicitor said because I was I I couldn't I was trying to figure out who she was talking about sometimes I you know I I don't know who she's talking about or what but our solicitor said there there was no conflict and I think if you look at Tate she'll see that number one number two I was voting against my brother so you I don't know what you know I was totally against that project Case Closed as well I did I did want to address uh just one more thing this really for folks who are listening um about the phrase behind closed doors which has been used multiple times and I think uh it's really important to differentiate the implication of the phrase behind closed doors is um opaqueness lack of transparency and sort of backdoor dealings we all know what that phrase implies and I I want to differentiate between the phrase behind closed doors and doing your research between meetings I've said this before I've said this before January we work hard many most all of us between between meetings to ask the questions to do the research to inquire so that we can come to meetings making an informed vote you don't do that research in a two three or even five hour meeting and I'm saying this for the public I saying this for folks who are listening to clarify that the work we do between meetings is the work we do to make an informed vote and that's all I'd like to say about that so I believe everyone's had the ability to speak twice so I will turn to anyone who hasn't had a chance to speak yet Miss cramsey Smith I just want to say that I think it's very important that we um that the flow of the meeting and the following of Robert's Rules of Order is consistent I think that that's not always the case in the last almost two years I've had some concerns and I did address it with the council president and I still have those concerns at times um I think it's also important that you know we act as council members in a really independent and objective manner um and I will say as far as behind closed doors I mean that's a term that I think a lot of people use especially in politics but um and I'm not speaking for councilman Callahan I'm speaking for myself I think that um it's important that I know being on Council for I don't know how many years now um you know I know in the past and I think in the present that there's times when certain Council people do consult and sidebar between meetings and not everyone's included and sometimes votes are decided upon before meetings and that's probably with any group and that um isn't you know the best way to do things but um I think that's what I that's what that's the way I take it I don't know if councilman Callahan means that but um I just think it's it is good to be transparent and bring things up at the meeting so that the public is aware of what what's happening with City business thank you thank you M gramsey Smith so citing our Council rules uh anyone gets speak third at the discretion of the president so I'll use that discretion now is there anyone who had anything else for new business old business bus or old business apologies you threw me off with this old business tonight sorry Mr business we'll survive I'm gonna I'm G to continue on to new business is there any new business for members of council start with Miss Wilhelm I I wanted to start by addressing uh a comment made during public comment uh regarding the appearance of conflict of interest and and specifically I want to reference a comment that was made uh about Touchstone Theater which I assume was directed toward me and my part-time role with the organization all I want to say about that is that um Touchstone pays for ads A and B the that insinuation denigrates the hard work extremely hard work of a community and the community engagement of an organization and Ensemble of dedicated artists who have built a reputation over 43 years to become a community responsive entity that uses the Arts to open the voices of um folks who don't typically become involved who don't necessarily feel safe in um in particular Community spaces or parts of this community and that uh is work that Touchstone has done for 43 years not the two and a half years uh that I have served on Council and I uh I hope you can hear what I'm saying um and that's that's the end of that so the other thing I wanted to say is um you know I wanted to uh acknowledge and congratulate our parking authority um who recently received lanta's uh Transit partner award um this is an award that recognizes in the words of Lanta efforts to facilitate and promote the use of public transportation in the Lehigh Valley which I think we can all acknowledge uh is not a commonly used service it's something we're still getting comfortable with here um and the award went to the BPA for its coordinations with Lanta in promoting the concept of uh parking once and riding Lanta to multiple destinations in Bethlehem and we all see this actually right now in the musicfest shuttle which if you aren't aware uh provides three lines that are fair free pass free you don't need to show anything you Hop On Hop Off stopping at 14 stops at musicfest thanks to the city for being a part of that as well at artswest with service that runs like from early morning to early morning basically and I think not only does that make getting around the festival more accessible but it also gives sort of a bite-sized experience on public transportation for those who may not have experience so um I I really wanted to lift that up because I think in any City literally anywhere I have lived anywhere you have lived I'm certain a parking authority is an easy target with a public facing enforcement arm very easy to be unhappy with a parking authority but we're very fortunate here in Bethlehem to have an authority that on top top of existing multiple accreditations and sustainability designations which it already has it is committed to helping create a sustainable efficient parking ecosystem that includes advancing public transportation so I wanted to be sure to public publicly recognize that and uh I think it's great that our regional transit system recognizes it as well thanks Mr President thank you Miss wihelm Miss Leon I uh I'll work down the also wanted to talk a bit about some of the public comments that were made mainly about the the buckets that are being used uh along the canal um it's my understanding that this was a partnership with the health department and Pastor uh Pastor Bob um and was uh a very good thing that was positively received by the the people that live along the canal um because it it is a bucket and it is a a container but there is also uh something else that is put in there to neutralize that was allowing them to to live with a more of a sense of dignity but you know I I think that maybe we could ask um a health department representative or representative from the administration to maybe talk a little bit about that since it was done through the health department um I would just like some clarification about the the receptacles that they're receiving um is this a program that is is going well um and I also appreciate all the conversations that we have been having uh particularly there was one during a Southside steering committee about public restrooms the need for them and we can go about standing these things up these they're not quick fixes we cannot fix this overnight but there seems to be a a a willingness especially um with these small organizations to to address this need so I was just curious if we could turn to the administration president colone to ask about the receptacles if it is a if it's something that the city did or if it was something that Bob did okay anybody want to take [Music] itula so we worked in concert with bees because we were hearing some growing concerns about access to restrooms um so the health Bureau used some uh funding it had available to purchase they're like wag bags actually um often used by military personnel so they are multi-use um and we step them up with kind of was like a bucket with a toilet seat with the wag bags um and also put up a provided like uh they're almost like you would use when camping like little shelters um to provide like a level of privacy um and so the health Bureau ordered all of them and then we worked with Bob to help distribute them um in the encampment to folks that were living down there and so they will then come back up to Bob and like get a refill of the wag bag when they um run out I had an additional question um about uh the disposing of of trash it was my understanding that were there were in an increased amount of receptacles that were provided so that people can put their uh their trash there is is that still uh the case is there a place for them to not only dump their their waste but to dump any trash that they might be accumulating yes um we've had folks from Public Works they are regularly going down there emptying the receptacles along the canal but also there is a dumpster set up as well those were all the questions I had thank you we've also had just a great group of volunteers um who've been going out and cleaning up and trying to once they kind of cleaned up the area um with a group of volunteers from bees Victory house a trail tending organization um and they've been like going into the encampments and kind of really kind of encouraging people and letting them know about where that they can dispose of their trash appreciate it I know it's a fine line to to well it's needle to thread to you know treat people with dignity it is also a public park I know that this these are very difficult conversations that that um I would love to continue to have in a uh a more welcoming form thank you than new business start with councilman if Mula can answer but um regarding that also is there a way that we can consider keeping the bathrooms open longer um at least until the shelter opens I think there's probably a gap in time as um Mrs is noon instead that is there maybe like a month Gap or so that the bathrooms closed until the emergency shelter opens working because our biggest problem like I mentioned before is vandalism and they were severely vandalized on numerous occasions where get someone okay do we are there cameras there by chance no okay thank you M grmy Smith do you have anything else for me I did only one other thing um I just wanted to say thank you to um the ibw wi Creek um the hatso and Boer and councilman callah for restoring some of the lights um at steel Stacks it's great to see them lit especially with Music Fest happening so thank you to everyone involved in that any other new business Mr Callahan yeah three items uh Mr Al call you got a second how much money were off the top of your head I don't need an exact number how much money have we put in the paving for uh for this budget year our uh planned budget for Paving for this year is a little bit north of $2 million between in-house and contracted Paving two two million in-house and how much outside two million total for both inhouse Total and contractor Paving this would include all prep work Ada ramp work all part of that same program it's $2 million is what what thank you so so UGI sends us their cost sharing when when they rip up a road right right you there's a cost sharing uh program that UGI has to fix or to that they don't want to fix the road so they send us money yeah depending on the road and what impact they're causing on that road we sit down with them we make a list of roads where it makes sense uh both from um better efficiently using the money to PVE with our in-house Crews and like you said they prefer not to have to do the restoration especially if involv Complete repaving because they would have to contract it around anyway and they don't have to oversee it right um we come up with a plan of what road we're going to cost share on and we come up with a dollar amount that they are responsible for in other words we assume that they're going to do the restoration and they were going to pay a contractor to do it but instead they will pay us that money and they walk away we then use that money use our house cruise to do baving which makes it you know we can do more with that money right and more baving with that money that's not part of the 2 million though the original two M how much money have we gotten from UGI for cost sharing this year started the program two three years ago so how about this year um this year I think it's about a little under 400,000 is the cost share and where does that money go does that go into Paving or does that go into General budget no it goes into Paving it goes so we should have an Esra account which we then move into a Paving item yes so the 4 Mr rean is that correct so the 400,000 can can we get a report it doesn't have to be by the next meeting but whenever can we get a report on All the Monies we've received from UGI for for the cost sharing for the roads yeah yeah yeah and I like that and Mr Adams that goes I tell you right now it's it's a little under 700 today but I think the The Big C sharing plan is it's under what what now under 700,000 total for the past three years oh for the past three years okay so and and in what account does that going Mr [Music] Evans goes in the pay we do our Paving out of our capital account all right but is there a but I know that there's a uh I don't know what account code number it is but I know that there's a Code there in there for Paving and and you know and for um repaving our roads correct there's several items that we use so we should be seeing $700,000 over the last three years or $400,000 this year put into those accounts above and beyond what was budgeted correct speak there there's the non-utility there's several non utility items core c sharing money that comes back to the city like I indicated before we put it into an asra account and then we move it into a line item typically it's a 6999 item there's other items is that the account number 699 it starts with 69999 so this year alone we've had $400,000 and that money should be going directly to Paving roads it does okay so if we put 2 million in our budget we should have about $2 and A5 million in Paving this year correct no uh I think the the cost sharing was included in the 2 million that I that I said earlier the cost sharing from you GI right that's not what you said earlier though I stand corrected then the total Paving we're doing this year is two million which includes any money that we receed from eugi so for now on so we didn't put $2 million in in the from the budget this year into Paving it was 1.6 1.6.7 I just want to start tracking it because our our roads are in horrendous shape and I'm not blaming you I know you fight and and you've done it not not just with Mr Reynolds I'm not blaming him Mr donchez my brother that at some point we got to start realizing just like we did what you know we started taking care of uh our digestors down at the uh at the sewage plant we have to start putting some money in our infrastructure into our city for the people who are already driving around the these roads all the time I I get complaints all the time and it's just not me because I'm a drive red teacher making multi efforts I know you are to catch up and to improve our roads and I would also go so far as to say is we're not the only community that struggles with infrastructure including road maintenance agreed agreed it just it just seems that our roads when I drive in eastn pick up students Allentown our roads just seem I don't know why maybe I'm driving on the worst roads in the city they're horrendous and I I know uh Washington Avenue great job and I appreciate you having the crew go back and fix the yellow line that was all crooked I I appreciate that I really do I noticed it but if I if we could just get a list of of the share shared cost of monies up to date and over the last three years and then what account that went in I'd appreciate that thank you you gota ask himim not me m mayor Reynold just to add to that Mr Cen um one of the things that we are currently working on Miss Stein been on this with me and Mr alol is we're putting together like a GIS map that's going to be able to show what the overlays have been over the last several years as far as the pavings are concerned uh you may have seen the chart before it's included in in the budget presentations that in um n 18 and 19 I think we did like 23 like line miles of roads and then in 20 and 21 we did like 27 like um like Lane miles of roads in 22 and 23 because we had put $3 million over for two years into roads out of the arpa funds we were able to do almost double 47 and then the goal we set for 24 and 25 is 50 so when when Mike talks about what 50 miles 50 Lane miles so so now to be honest like that's not like that's a lane mile so say you're Washington Avenue and the distance between Center and lynon is a quarter mile and you do both sides that's going to count as like a half mile not a quarter mile if that makes sense um so we have invested in that we've in we've we've also been making some progress in our Capital utility that going out so not just 24 25 but 26 27 we're going to be able to keep that increased amount going um some of this too that we' have been working on is to add to all of the things and like we agree the roads obviously as you know the main ones they get worn down quicker so like lynen Street for example which is a pendot road is going to get worn down quicker than side roads are which is why we have to end up repaving those more often next year and Mike correct me if I'm wrong lynen street is getting paved from pendot from Elizabeth Avenue all the way out to Bethlehem Township that's correct right yeah so I mean that's a multi-million dollar project just to kind of give the total picture so when we work with like the like the the tip as they call it like through the Leo Valley Planning Commission and and the money that we get from the state down from the feds it's also about trying to get them to invest in those particular roads so a lot of that work's been going on linen street now which obviously one of the main thorough fares that project is going to be about penda putting about $3 million into it so we have multiple different funding sources to bring in but we completely agree and one of the things that's happening too is because not just in the city of Bethlehem and I've talked about this before where our population has gone up by like a thousand 2,000 the last you know you know 15 years but the population in the Leah Valley has exploded and because the population in the Le Valley has exploded we have more and more people that are not only working in the city of bethlhem but they're driving through through the city of Bethlehem so for example a road that was one of our main thorough fares that might have lasted 7even 8 nine 10 years before it needed to get paved because we have so many cars going through going from lower s and out to Han Township you get the point moving through it's driving the the kind of how long our roads last driving it down which is part of the reason that we are investing as I said almost double the amount that we invested three four years ago into Paving we are trying to and I'm glad you gave Mike credit because he is constantly on the phone with UGI being like how do get this reimbursed you guys need to pay for this you cut into this we need the money back but beyond that too it's also some of the other things that we're doing with trying to build a walkable bikable Community to reduce how many car trips we need to have in the city so all of these things go along with what we're trying to do to be able to improve that status making roads safer making them more walkable and things like that so it's not wrong that we need to invest into our roads we're trying to do as much as we can and there is money the challenge we two have right now and Mike is too good of a guy to tell you this is it's also I mean we only have so many machines so you probably remember when you were in Council that we purchased the in-house pavers so we didn't we didn't used to be able to do any of that stuff inhouse ever and we've been able to drastically improve how much because of that but we only have so many people that are able to do it the rain the six months between the middle of April in the middle of October um but we're trying to we're trying to do that and like I said you know getting after UGI has been almost a full-time job but if you look at some areas like on the West Side you look at First Avenue Second Avenue Third Avenue Fourth Avenue Fifth Avenue like up to 9th Avenue I mean the majority those roads have now been repaved and a lot of those were through cost sharing but I have struggled to be honest with you to try to share this with people in a systemic way where people can kind of see the progress we're making because you're right if you're living on a street and you're driving the same way to work every day or you going to these different places and I know you drive for a living but I'm saying some people might start if they live somewhere on Johnson Drive or whatever and then they drive down linen Street and then they turn right in Washington for fixed they're like man all the roads are terrible when it's like two roads so we've talked about how do we necessarily share this systemic progress and one of the things we're doing is working on those type of Graphics that will show the overlays over the years to be like this is what this is what we did in 2019 this what we did in 2020 21 22 so then that's it so we can obviously get you all the information but that's the type of visual thing that we're trying to show to show people you know where that work is going and how we're building and how we've kind of like doubled those that amount of payment thank you um you have other points Mr call I I have two more um I want to thank uh uh Miss KC Smith for acknowledging wi Creek and hatel ber so I I just want let everybody know I um if I bring something up mayor you know this I'm gonna pitbull on things if I want you know if I want a zero win on something I'm gonna last meeting not last meeting three meetings ago I talked about getting the lights at steel saacks lit up waited a week or two called Miss Hur down it Arts Quest nothing was going on with it I called the ibw Paul Anthony the head of the ibw I said Paul didn't you guys work down there for San it was um uh Westside Hammer which was a union shop they used to work down there they did all the work down there they sold out to hatel berer I called hat they got me a number for hatel buer uh I called over there I spoke to a gentleman named Ryan Quay I I'm only bringing this up to applaud them because they covered the cost of all this there was no City money there was no Wind Creek money I I I thank wi Creek for allowing them to go down there and do it but um I went to the ibw I want to thank them I want to thank win Creek I want to thank most importantly Ryan Quay at the union shop at hatel and bu for going down there with his men and the crew running the problem and the issues down there uh the power issues were the main Breakers it wasn't a multi-million dollar fix it wasn't a $100,000 fix it was a $5,000 fix uh the lights are currently up at 80 85% um they fixed it under $5,000 which hatel and ber picked up all the cost graus and so I want to thank them uh especially for doing that because they they want to be good community members and that was the main thing that he had said to me I was shocked when he told me that they went down there and they were already working on it so I want to thank hatel and berer Union shop for you know for doing that I want to thank um uh the ibw and Paul Anthony and I want to thank wi Creek for um letting them get in there and solve that problem uh third and last thing is um I know all you council members or most of you miss me when I'm not here but uh had I been able to get back here um for the Curative amendment I was on the road so I don't text and drive or even do anything with my phone and drive I'm a drive red teacher uh and that's a probably good practice so um had I got back here I would have voted no as everybody else did which would have drastically changed the vote uh from 0 to 60 so I just want to make sure that everybody's clear that you know I there's other people on this Council who have missed more meetings than I and and I I would you know uh I don't know howan please personal matters no I was someone brought up my attendance and I think there's a one I know there's one member who's missed more meetings than I have and uh if if there's a debate I'd like to have uh you know if our city clerk could get me the attendance since January of all the council members I'd appreciate that before the next meeting thank you very much any other new business from other members of council you skip me m qu you have new business I just wanted to thank Miss Nunan for uh raising some of the issues that she raised and uh to to uh second Miss KY Smith's uh call for looking into um the B situation and and extending the hours there and some way that we can keep an eye on them and keep them safe and I appreciate the hearing from you that that's something that you guys are already investigating thank you very much for that and I just wanted to say uh also uh with regard to What U Miss wellham had mentioned about some of the comments earlier about conflicts of interest and things like that that um there is no Kickback to serving on a nonprofit or a or a governmental Authority board commission other than the privilege of spending unpaid or or meagerly paid if there is a stien for some of them hours uh you know trying to help people solve problems and make the world a better place so I think it's um just um really kind of incomprehensible to me uh the the misunderstanding of what a conflict of interest is uh in in actual terms um someone serving on a board uh such as um the pastor who you referenced um and I and I feel um that you know sort of casting aspersions on her in a public forum like this is is really unfortunate um there isn't a conflict of interest there's actually like a congruence or a Confluence of Interest where it seems that the only people who are willing and able to volunteer and serve on these kinds of boards are people who are also doing the work so it's almost like they're using all of their time on this Earth to try to fix things and make things better for folks so I just wanted to speak up uh for people who um who can't speak for themselves thank you any other new business I'll just say a couple quick things uh one talking a little bit more about the parking authority I had an opportunity to speak with Mr fernum earlier today now that we're a few days into music fest just wanted to hear from him about how parking's going he was his his remarks were very positive just talking about no capacity issues using all the different parking assets that the city has as it relates to the parking garages Lots expanding the concentration of Music fests wider which then obviously you don't have that that saturation in one part of the city and it he had said that the the shuttle which was referenced earlier has had reportedly hundreds uh north of 500 Riders so far H which was very encouraging news because uh as was referenced previously at a council meeting there were attempts at like the uh the loop in Bethlehem before which was a North Side to Southside shuttle uh not just during Music Fest but just to help people commute from one side of the river to the other and that didn't last long unfortunately due to ridership and so far a few days into music fest the the shuttle's really been the success so that that was really great to hear and Mr fernstrom sounded very confident about managing the parking needs for the rest of the the festival because of course we're only you know a few days in in so far and then the the last thing I'll just remind all members of council be mindful our microphones are very sensitive as we speak under our breath as we drink as we crumble paper as we make asides that um when Mr Miller does the minutes and such or even just as other people are speaking or trying to listen that our microphones are very sensitive to the work that we do here at our desk during the meetings so we're going to move on to Communications Mr Miller Communications 6A July 24th 202 for memorandum from Edward basca director of water and sewer resources Mr basca recommends a contract with Remington and Vernick Engineers 2 Incorporated of Allentown Engineering Services shall be provided to assist the city with upgrades to the sanitary sewer modeling software which allows the city to evaluate the impact of proposed developments and Improvement projects on the sewer collection infastructure cost is $6,185 2025 there are no renewals and resolution 10A is on the agenda tonight communication 6B July 31st 2024 memorandum and proposed resolution from Laura Collins director of community and economic development the memorandum seeks permission to apply for an additional $1.1 million in home ARP funds from the Pennsylvania Department of community and economic development for the development of non- congregate Sheltering in resolution 10 B is on the agenda communication 6C July 30th 2024 memorandum from Public Works director Mike Al call with an attached winter maintenance services agreement and proposed resolution the agreement is with pendot and covers the five-year winter period starting in 2024 2025 and running through 2028 2029 it outlines payment to be made to Bethlehem to provide snow and ice removal from certain state roads within City Limits and resolution C is on the agenda communication 6D July 31st 2024 memorandum from city solicitor John furk Jr with an attached lease agreement and resolution the agreement is between the city and Wells Fargo Bank NA setting forth terms and conditions to lease approximately 4,944 rentable square feet of office space in the basement of 52 West Broad Street to be used by the Bethlehem police department as an emergency services training facility and resolution 10d is on the agenda tonight communication 6E July 30th 2024 memorandum from city solicitor John fburg Junior with an attached use permit agreement and resolution permit is seven Sirens Brewing Company LLC and the event is the 2024 Bethlehem Brew Fest event time is noon to 4m on September 1st duration of the permit is from noon to 800 pm. on August 31st and 10:00 a.m. to 7: p.m. at the Danny Bryce field and 10: am to 6: pm at property on Main Street between Lehigh and spring streets and resolution 10e is on the agenda communication 6f July 30th 2024 memorandum from city solicitor John fburg Jr with an attached use permit agreement and resolution permittee is Christmas City Spirits LLC and the sub permit is the Redevelopment authority of the city of Bethlehem the event is 2024 ciderfest the event time is noon 5:00 P pm on September 7th duration of the permit is from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on September 7th specified premises are the N place right of way in West Walnut Street parcel as well as the Redevelopment Authority parcel all are adjacent to the sun in Courtyard and designated on an attached exhibit and resolution 10f is on the agenda communication 6G July 30th 2024 memorandum from city solicitor John FBG Jr with an attached use permit agreement and resolution permit he is Christmas City spirits LLC sub permit is the Redevelopment authority of the city of Bethlehem Event is the Vintage Market for September 2024 the event time is 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 P p.m. on September 14th duration of the permit is from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on September 14th specified premises are the Nevan place right of way and West wut Street parcel as well as the Redevelopment Authority parcel all are adjacent to the sun in Courtyard and designated on an attached exhibit and resolution 10g is on the agenda communication 6h July 30th 2024 memorandum from city solicitor John FB Jr with an attached use permit agreement and resolution permit's Arts quest in the event is the 2024 October Fest specified event times and duration vary on October 4th through the 6th and the 11th through the 13th specified premises of First Street and pulk Street to the Eastern Terminus and Founders way between first and second streets resolution 10h is on the agenda communication 6i July 24th 2024 memorandum from business administrator Eric Evans Mr Evans recommends that Council postpone taking action on the second reading of Bill 25 on tonight's agenda until its August 20th meeting although he remains optimistic that the city can send some Cadets to the fire academy in Harrisburg evaluations finalizing these numbers and costs will not be known until August 9th additionally Mr Evans recommends a motion to amend Bill 26 tonight if Bill 25 is postponed postponing of Bill 25 would impact the amount in which the 2024 general fund budget would be increased and both ordinances for final passage 8G and 8h are on the agenda tonight moving on to reports have nothing to report this evening Mr Mayor yeah we will start with the administrative orders and uh first one I hereby reappoint a Craig Evans 464 Montclair Avenue bethl P 1805 the historic conservation commission this appointment is reappointment is effective through April 2026 administrative order for a Craig Evans to the historic Conservation Commission the resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon any discussion on Mr Evans appointment we'll call the roll miss quch I miss lard I miss Leon I miss willhelm I Mr Callahan hi M grmy Smith I and Mr colum I passes 7 zero thank you uh next administrative order I hereby reappoint Michael Simonson city of bethl building inspector 10 East Church Street Beth PA 1808 of the historic Conservation Commission this reappointment is effective through April 2027 administrative order naming Michael Simonson to the historic Conservation Commission resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion on Mr Simonson's appointment we call the rooll miss quch I miss L I miss i m Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan I M gry Smith I and Mr colom I pass 70 thank you and I hereby appoint Rachel Leon 946 East 5th Street betham PA 18015 the betham Housing Authority this appointment is effective through March 2029 administrative order naming Rachel Leon to the Beth Housing Authority the resolution is sponsored by Miss quch and Mr cologne so before we get into discussion just a reminder this this appointment this resolution was postponed at our previous council meeting on July 16 one of the things at that time that we discussed was our city council solicitor attorney Stewart was tasked with looking into a couple questions that came up on the floor of council and references that were made she sent a memo to all of council last week but I will give attorney Stewart the floor just to follow up on some of those discussions that were had thank you very much president colog following uh meeting of um or well the last meeting where this this question arose and I was asked to conduct research I did a thorough review of betham city or ordinances state law and federal law I engage in conversations with Brad Raider Esquire Regional Council for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of general councel and I reached out to the solicitors offices of other third class Pennsylvania cities and all of these efforts confirmed the following unless otherwise precluded by legislation authorizing their creation council members May sit very generally on authorities boards and commissions Pennsylvania third class City councils May sit on housing authorities voting on a budget that in part supports an authority board or Commission on which the council person sits does not constitute a conflict of interest and need not be avoided as has been discussed here tonight by some of the council members and as I discussed at our last meeting a conflict of interest arises when a voting member of a council Authority board or commission a family member or an entity in which the voting member or their family memb is associated would receive personal financial gain due to a vote and is cause for filing a statement regarding the conflict and extension from the vote every voting member of council Authority board or commission should act accordingly when a conflict of Interest arises simply sitting on an authority border commission and simultaneously sitting on city council does not constitute a conflict a person can serve in both capacities and do the work for the good of the people benefited without causing conflict um I prepared and sent this memo to Council on August 2nd they had opportunity to ask followup questions uh I did address some follow-up questions to individual members of council um that that they had of me and hopefully this clarifies the issue thank you attorney Stewart so that being said as we had discussed this is a continuation of the last meeting so I'll open it up for discussion for members of Council on the appointment Miss Leon um the appointment is about me so I would like to recuse myself from the vote um I do not have a financial conflict of interest uh in this um I think there was Hatch Act brought up in my reading of the Hatch Act it's using your position of influence for personal political gain I do not plan on campaigning on the BHA um and I think that's yeah I think that's all the things that I I wanted to say I I want to recuse myself from the discussion um as long as motive isn't being attributed to to me then I recuse from discussion and from the vote thank you councilwoman any discussion regarding the appointment I'll start with councilwoman ksey Smith thank you and um thank you to solicitor Stewart for looking into and clarifying the conflict of interest and legal concerns as I I brought up the issues and I know it's been controversial ever since but um I was told and it was true that at one point in time it was illegal for council members on third class City to serve on authorities um it's still illegal for council members in first class cities to serve on authorities um as i' mentioned before I've devoted Over 40 years to serving those who are homeless and housing Challenge from the 1980s I was a rep pee for those with mental illness and developmental disabilities in Lehigh County um I had to pay make sure that their rent was paid on time so they had a place to live I also had to secure emergency shelter for those with mental illness and developmental disabilities when they were homeless um I also had the secure emergency shelter for women and children who have been abused um I've been working with those who were homeless and housing challenge for years most recently with my students in the high school many of too many of them who um them and their families have been homeless and I've had to secure housing and services for them um I've loudly been a voice on Council about affordable housing and homelessness because I've lived it through those people that I've served as well as my own personal experience for 40 years um and thus I I can say undoubtedly that I have a real passion for those who are experien housing issues and homelessness um and as I said before even with all my experience and passion for uh those who are homeless and housing challenge I personally and professionally would not um put myself on city council as well as being on the Housing Authority because I really feel it is a conflict of interest um you know while while I have passion for those who are homeless and and um housing challenge I concurrently have a passion for what I believe to good govern to be good government and I think to be a balance of powers and a balance of roles and responsibilities um as I noted previously my concerns are entirely with what I feel the conflict of interest as well as bad public policy is have a member city council appointed to the Housing Authority not at all with the individual being considered um we already have a council member who's a liaison to the housing authority and um historically I can't recall a council member ever being appointed to the Housing Authority perhaps a solution could be to have a um councilwoman Leon become the BHA leaon but apparently that's going to be a mute point because I'm sure that um you know she will be appointed tonight even though I will vote against it it seems counter intuitive in my mind to have council members appointed to an authority when those council members are the same ones who approve such an appointment to an authority as I noted before even if it's legal I think it sets a bad presidents and it's not good policy no other cities in the Commonwealth that I'm aware of do this I spoke with many other third class cities who said not only do they not do this but they asked why would we do it because they feel it's bad policy the betham Housing Authority has a lot of power in granting housing to our residents and receives significant funding um and I feel that we leave ourselves open to scrutiny having a council member as an appointed BHA member the BHA is a multi-million dollar budget and additionally each year the BHA pays the city of betham over 300,000 for the city police people that are assigned to the Housing Development so that's another concern budgetarily as far as the conflict goes historically as I said before residents are appointed to the ABCs so that we have representation of diverse community members as well as we promote Civic involvement concurrently City Council Members run and are elected to serve on city council I think a separation of powers is vital to our democracy and the balance of government as I've always said I feel like I am representing the the good people of this great community and I truly have had numerous consent constituents reach out to me voicing their opposition to a council member being appointed to the betham Housing Authority city council persons have their own unique roles and responsibilities as due our appointed Authority members and I truly believe it's best practice to continue to keep the two separate thank you thank you I'll turn to councilwoman lared who I believe had her hand up virtually thank you um I just wanted to say thank you to attorney Stewart uh for looking into the questions that a few of us had raised and clarifying the legal definitions of some of the aspects uh so that we could vote uh in an informed manner um that information that you sent in the memo and summarized today was very helpful uh I also just wanted to make the general comment that I do understand we all have things that we're really interested in um and passionate about and work hard in our community to help um move forward and so that does lead to conversations like this um you know as our interests and um work that we do in the community kind of overlap sometimes um so I'm glad that we have had this conversation uh I'm glad that we were able to look into the definitions and uh not just for the Housing Authority but as we talked about last week we do have council members who sit on other boards and authorities so um it kind of answers some legal questions across the board for us so uh thank you for all the information and to everyone for the conversation and thought any other discussion from members of council Mr Callahan I just want to say that uh I think this is really setting um a really terrible precedent it's never been done in our city before um or any other city in the state of Pennsylvania except for one Allentown and I don't I think we want to be uh Allentown I think had one council member that was appointed to aboard I really you know Al toown speaks for itself but there wasn't any there there wasn't any other city in the state third class City that had a uh a council member uh appointed to one of these boards or commissions um I just because it's legal doesn't make it right uh we have a former president of the United States who's pushing that envelope all the time things that are legal doesn't make it right um it's not about reform uh I think to the extent if you look at the our code of ethics that this Council voted on I think Miss Leon uh came up with the code of ethics I think she uh co-wrote it I think she she voted on it Mr call I hate to interject but please don't I don't think that's correct it is so um because I wasn't on at the time when when the city council code of ethics one of the things that the city council did which she was on and voted for was according to the state there's no dollar amount uh that you that someone can take in a campaign the coun members in this city decided that they wanted to have them a little bit more stricter of a code when it came to um financing your campaigns and they passed uh numbers that were more suitable for our size of our city and uh I in and and one of the words that was put in there was a perceived conflict of interest and so there's a higher standard I think our city council adopted a higher standard of a code of ethics than what the state has and so to that extent I think the city council code uh I don't think that of Ethics I don't think we just can just pick and choose which uh prede conflicts of interests we want to abide by so um having saying that I will be uh voting no against it I wish that uh there there's another option that was uh going to be presented to her by some other tax spairs that had tried to reach out to her she refused to get back to them and uh I think the smart thing would be to do Mr Callahan again you're you're you're attributing motive to things that are not I'm stating a fact way for us to verify talking about councilwoman Leon's returning people's calls that's irrelevant to this discussion and not verifiable by this Council please don't well I have a person in here that could verify it like that not a deposition I'll I'll move on so anyways uh I I would ask that she recuse herself from or or step down from it and accept the lison position and her and miss quch can switch Layon position I don't know what the I don't know why she's hell so hellbent on becoming a board member there it doesn't make sense to me again again tributing motive Mr I'm done any other discussion from members of council M Miss will yeah so I actually wanted to start by thanking Miss Smith for your comments earlier which actually highlighted not only the fitness of this appointment which is really where the discussion has focused but the Need For Real Change and reform if you're still here um so so thank you for adding that piece um and because it's been duly trebly confirmed that this is not in fact a conflict of interest and a while it is our charge to um value differences of opinion here at this point that that piece of it is opinion so I'm not going to address the conflict of interest issue it's already been confirmed that that there is none but I was calling in at the last meeting recovering from illness uh and did did say this then but I want to to restate again for the record um that Miss Leon is an excellent and in fact uniquely qualified uh candidate for the BHA board in that um just you know for folks who are following along that um she possesses experience and expertise in board governance which is extremely important we're talking about uh steering the BHA through very complex regulatory Landscapes and and strategic decision-making extremely important skill she has a deep understanding of the affordable housing sector and and I'll say many of these things predate her time on Council um which isn't necessarily crucial but um this is these are skills that brought her to this body um she has de already demonstrated leadership and in addressing housing issues evidenced in her again previous and ongoing involvement in community projects and Grant initiatives um and furthermore she has developed genuine and trusted connections with both individuals and organizations um and institutions within the BHA community and um you know I think that goes very far in ensuring that she can Foster collaboration and Advocate effectively um because you know this requires not only dealing with those complex navigating those complex issues and speaking at a high level about uh these reg regulatory sort of Landscapes but dealing with human beings who are going through um perhaps themselves trying to walk through this process and going through difficult times and so those trusted relationships cannot be underst cannot be overstated um and and a sincere commitment to housing Justice which again evidenced by her previous and and ongoing advocacy efforts to ensuring fair and Equitable housing um and furthermore I can say that you know firsthand that I know few people with such a high degree of personal and professional character and integrity um firsthand as a colleague that I've worked with closely you know on a lot of complex issues here myself and I think the insinuation that an interest in serving this role is anything other than an indication of that high level of character and integrity was deeply and is continues deeply disappointing to me I regret that this vote was delayed in the manner that it was uh for many reasons more than one uh but I I think what I regret most of all is that my colleague had to sit through what was a wholly undeserved experience so miss Leon's addition to the board is an asset period And I I am honored to support her in this appointment this evening thank you I wasn't actually going to speak I was just going to vote tonight um but I'm horrified but what I've heard um the the excuse me horrified yes thank you for someone who just said that our colleague was hellbent on serving on the Bethlehem Housing Authority for me to uh to to take exception with me saying that I'm horrified by the kinds of uh insinuations and accusations that have been made about somebody on this very body but also just a member of our community right somebody who lives here we don't speak about residents here and yes she is a resident we are all residents here okay I don't know how many ways uh attorney Steward and the attorney from HUD and all the other people can explain that a conflict of Interest involves a financial incentive a financial benefit there are no campaign contributions there are no salaries or any way in which a person serving on the Bethlehem Housing Authority would shunt money towards themselves or a member of their families and again the insinuation of that at the last meeting as I said was a microaggression if I you know didn't make that clear earlier I know there were some parts of what I said were listened to but others not um so I just want to reiterate I mean I'm just obviously I'm angry tonight because I've really had it with the kind of you know suggestions of corruption or uh somehow this is bad government um it is legal and that is actually our job is to vote on things based on legality yes we also want to do things that we think just and and correct um there is nothing incorrect about this um I'm proud to vote for Miss Leon and uh and again I just I I won't apologize because it's not my role to apologize but I am very sorry that this kind of treatment has taken place thank you thank you councilwoman any other discussion from members of council about the resolution councilwoman KY Smith oh miss L go ahead oh go ahead uh sorry just a a quick clarification um to make sure that I remember correctly from our last meeting do we um presently have council members who sit on authorities boards and commissions I I'll answer that Miss L I sit on the human relations commission and councilwoman Leon sits on the library board and um going by memory those have always been unanimous appointments so we have and presently do do what we are seeking to do except this is just a different Authority border Commission in in that qu yes we we have council members current council members and myself and and Miss Leon who serve on the human relations commission and the library board thank you I I just wanted to clarify because I think it was said earlier that we have never done that Miss L one one moment as Miss quch I just wanted to add to that list that the liaison uh to the blighted property review board is also a sitting member and votes on the blighted property review board thank you for that clarification not voted on but it's an when they be are the liais on they become a voting member of that body understood thank you and and just for clarification the Liaisons are appointed by the president of council not voted on by Council just for clarification any other questions Miss l no thank you I just wanted to clarify that Council K Smith oh thank you and um that was a good question and I do want to clarify that um first of all I've said repeatedly that this has nothing to do with um the person my concern is that it's a council person in general being appointed um this is an authority and in my personal and professional opinion I think it it's different than the boards and commissions that other council members sit on because it's a multi-million dollar Authority I I could be wrong but it might be like $65 million annual budget some of that budget is paid to the city for police officers um and I you know to be honest with you I take offense because I've never questioned the Integrity or character of the person being considered at all um and it is my opinion it is bad government and I am I am um I have the right to my opinion I think that um there was a lot of good dialogue regarding this and it's unfortunate that it get get to this point and that people have to be I think um condescending in some ways because of the opinions of others but I just want to clarify that again I've said repeatedly it has nothing to do with the position I've noted my experience with housing homelessness just to say that um even though I have a wealth of experience I I even myself if I was asked to be on the board I wouldn't because that's my opinion that it's wrong and um like I said other cities have even said that they didn't agree that it was the right thing to do um as well as some of my constituents so I just want to clarify that thank you Mr gramy Smith I agree anything else Mr I just want to agree with her comments understood so Mr Leo no this hasn't to do with my appointment so I don't want to break my recusal but I just anybody who might be listening and interested in being in an authority boarding commission and might feel dissuaded by the robustness of this vote this is a very different circumstance I am a council person so do not let these conversations dissuade you from wanting to participate in local governance thank you Council woman sure Attorney Stuart was there something you want to add I just want to make one point of clarification um I don't want anybody leaving here tonight with the impression that U I did a full survey of all third class cities in the Commonwealth and received from all of them responses regarding every Authority board and commission that they have um I don't want anybody thinking there there's one city that has one councilman on one Authority that that was not a part of my research if it had been um I wouldn't have these answers here tonight for i' still be waiting to hear from numerous municipalities about their numerous authorities boards and commissions but I will also say that in my research and in speaking with uh attorney Raider of Hud he noted that in some states and some municipalities in those States in fact um council is the Housing Authority now that's very unique that happens only in certain places across the states um but it I think goes to the fact that it is not a conflict of interests and I I just wanted to make that point of clarification about the scope of my research thank you thank you attorney seart Mr CL I Mr Callahan I will address you for the third time go ahead I just want to make a point that that is true but that was only in cities of extremely small numbers of people where the people that were on the board are on the councils were permitted to do that it wasn't in like a a big metropolitan area like Philadelphia or uh in even cities over 40,000 people so so I I will allow attorney Stewart to respond and then I'm GNA continue on with discussion thank you I only want to SP respond very Bri briefly um to state that that qualification was not provided by attorney Raider in his response to my question so there was no qualific as to the size of the municipality understood thank you attorney Stewart so I just want to make a couple General comments before we call the the vote first I want to thank our attorney steuart our city council attorney for the research that she did over the last couple uh weeks since the last meeting I know it was a lot there was a lot of Outreach to other attorneys there was Outreach to your own research and looking into some of the the things that you were tasked with and then giving us a very very robust legal opinion that you've already summarized so I'm not going to restate that I do want to address attorney spurk who at the last meeting had even given his legal opinion already which was essentially just um expanded and confirmed by our our city council C our city council solicitor so thank you attorney spurk because you did give your own legal opinion which was um I would say validated by uh attorney Stewarts as it relates I I just want to tell on a couple things that came up in discussion and as it relates to sort of council's Ethics ordinance that had been passed unanimously uh couple years ago that was brought forward by uh previous councilwoman Van Wart there was an amendment that was brought forward by myself all members of council though supported it unanimously at the time the as it relates to HUD I know there were discussions at the last meeting about really putting a lot of weight on the opinion of Hud it related to supporting this appointment and and an interest in Hud's opinion so I do appreciate attorney Stewart confirming that with Hud's general counsel if I'm not mistaken there was no no U red flags with with the appointment that's before us as it relates to Miss Leone so I I hope that that satisfied that position uh as it relates to supporting or not supporting the appointment uh every member council is going to vote individually how how they choose I mean we we see that with other things all the time I think where there's there's grievance taken um rightfully in my opinion is where things get framed or characterized as this this this righteous for vicious or just for unjust and I wouldn't say that's that's typical I wouldn't say that's done by all members of council that that would be a mischaracterization to say anything like that so that's not what I mean and I've said this before we have split votes on Council we voted 43 52 61 things have passed things have failed some controversial some not so controversial it happens uh this is a unique experience because really what we're voting on is a member of council a seated member of council a member of council that we should all have respect for given her her service to council and and in the community and and I think it goes without saying that I will say I find Miss Leona the highest character again there there's a conversation to be made versus the merits of appointing a councilwoman versus not appointing a council woman and Everyone's entitled to that it's the old Robert's Rule saying it's um minority rights we all share the same uh voting rights as members of council and and what privileges we have up here and then majority rules so at the end of the day it's going to come down to to what the votes are of council but as council president I just want to restate that I I hold this Council in high regard I hold the work that we do in high regard whether it's uh appointing someone to an authority board or commission or any of the other things that we do and I hope that we can all continue as we disagree to not drag the the um you know assigning motivation or or questioning someone's intentions or or what motivates them to to want to essentially serve on an authority boarding commission I've said it before we've had year we've over the years of me serving and others have served sometimes we appoint people who we never see uh I I've served on boards where people get appointed and then I serve for years and don't even know who they are because they don't come out and and I don't have not one hesitation or reservation as it relates to the appointment that's in front of us um tonight uh as it relates to the Housing Authority as someone who as I've shared previously grew up uh as a tenant of the bethl Housing Authority until I was of a certain age I I appreciate that we have someone in this community a resident in this community like councilwoman Leone who not only is willing to serve but also availed herself to a degree of scrutiny given that she knew these were going to be public conversations she knew that there was it was going to be a conversation revolving around it where people gave their their honest opinions the and as as it relates to serving on Council our Council terms and how long we served are at the mercy of the voters this appointment and mayor Reynolds you could just with a nod this is through March of 2029 correct so so I don't know what the the future of this body looks like what the future of city council looks like as it relates to composition and and voting results and things like that but I know that I as as a member of Bethlehem as a city council member as a product of the bethle Housing Authority celebrate that we have someone like councilwoman Leon who is willing to serve in that capacity so I will be supporting her appointment tonight and I'm going to ask Mr Miller to call the role miss quch I miss lard I Miss Leon obain Miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan nay Miss crampy Smith nay and Mr colum I passes four to two with one recusal we're on your report mayor thanks president clone uh so a couple updates one is um Chief Reich and chief cot are not here obviously we have a lot of weather going on right now as far as Arts Quest is concerned I believe they' have shut down for the day um for the night because of lightning the next couple of days it looks like we're going to have some more rain um so we are on top of that I want to thank all of our Public Safety officials who are changing schedules around they moved one of the concerts up today um but we're taking a look at that some of the vendors have been moved um you know in anticipation of potential flooding not that it's going to happen but we just want to get out in front of that um so that's something that we're spending a lot of time on um you know Chief Reich and chief K uh can be available as well in the next couple days to talk about that but it's just something that I want everybody to be thinking about um because you know we obviously have gotten a lot of rain um just in the last couple hours and it's going to continue through the day as this hurricane comes up from Florida and turns into uh rain everything else like that so it's just something that we're working on and I also want to just briefly state that since the last time we met we became a world heritage site um you know I know it hasn't been talked about it all today um but it is thank you thank you um we we are and me and the seed is just the latest person to have a small part of this and I mean this was a process um you know essentially started by Charlene dones mauers over 20 years ago um and over the past 20 22 years I was actually having a conversation with Miss Donas mauers and former mayor Cunningham about the first time that Charlene walked in and said hey here's this thing um and the Baton has been passed and she was carrying it for many many years um and it is a thrill uh for our community as part of our uh four four-way uh nomination between Northern Ireland Germany and Denmark as I think you guys know I went to India for 4 days um not the easiest turnaround if you ever try to do that flying 16 hours n and a half hours difference coming back three days later um but it was a uh it was a thrill to hear people throughout the world um and to hear people that have been working on this for years in all these countries acknowledge not just our buildings but the spirit of what it means to be part of our community um and the other countries really do their research when they vote for this and there's 21 people on the world heritage committee um but there it was it was like the United Nations you have almost every country there and they come up and they've read every part of that um dossier some of you may have seen that talks about those cultural values of what the moravians are and it is not something that is unique to the moravians and we have a lot of people in this in this city that are not Moravian but everybody is a human being and everybody believes in those ideas of community and fairness and equality um and the that we have now been recognized on the world stage is obviously going to be a benefit for us as far as people wanting to come to Bethlehem but it is also a challenge to us as far as living up to those ideals that we have now been inscribed with um and that's the idea that everybody matters and the majority of this of the people in this city are not Moravian um and uh that's okay some of us are some of us are not but those qualities that are Central to what our nomination was and it came forward I know some of you were watching at 2 or 3 in the morning um the the nomination and the speeches from some of our friends from Saxony and other places uh that referenced what that means and what this means is it's not just about the past it's not just about the present it's not just about welcoming people to your city it's about also living up to those ideal of humanity which is why we got the votes it's why we were inscribed and that's something that people in the city deserve credit for for almost 300 years um tomorrow there is a uh uh church service down in central maravia at 9:00 and then we're having a press conference here um where we're going to kind of talk it's gonna miss dones MERS is going to talk some some some of the history of how we got to this point um but then we're also going to hear from the partners um that are on the world heritage Council and it is an exciting day um for us but the work is really just beginning we're going to have a big inscription event with the other countries in Bethlehem in October uh those dates I think are October 17th the 19th we are having a community celebration in the spring of 2025 uh we're going to talk about tomorrow but I just wanted to this was a long time coming and few of us got to go over to be a part of there and sit at the table um but I just want to thank everybody who had such a huge role in this um and the people that worked on this for many many more years than I I did um and Miss donz Mau is at the center of that but also mayor donz mayor Callahan mayor Cunningham everybody with Central Moravian with hpms there are a lot of people to think and I think that the most moving part of it and I will end my comments here is the person that one of the people we want to thank the most that is in here as bishop clenon and I think that what he meant for people in this community and he was an outsider he was not born in the city of Bethlehem he came from somewhere else but he came with those Central tenants of humanity that are Central to who we are and Central to who humanity is and his wife was able to be with us in India um but there was in no there wasn't anybody that was part of our nomination that was there and leading up to it in the weeks and the meetings there were a lot of tears that were shed by a lot of people um that Hopton wasn't with us but he was with us and his spirit and his constant reminder that this is a nomination for everybody and for everyone in the future um is something that deserves to be mentioned and it is as I said um you know we lost hopon last year but Hopton didn't just talk the talk he walked the walk and it wasn't part of being a group or being part of an institution to say hey I'm part of the successful people it was I have mine how do I other people how do I help other people get theirs and I don't know of any more fitting way to to celebrate um than by thanking him wherever he's at uh for all of his incredible accomplishments and everywhere we go and every step we take he will be with us thank you presid CL thank you mayor Reynolds we're going to move on to our ordinances for final passage Mr Miller Bill 19 2024 ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the 2024 capital budget for non utilities bill number 19 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmy Smith any discussion on the ordinance Mr Miller call the rooll Miss quack I miss lard hi Miss leam I Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi Miss grmy Smith hi and Mr colom I pass 70 Bill 20 2024 ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh in Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the Community Development block grant budget for 2024 bill number 20 2024 is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kampsy Smith discussion we'll call the rooll miss quch I miss lard I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I grmy Smith I and Mr col I pass 70 Bill 21 2024 an ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the Community Development block grant budget for 2024 bill number 21 2024 sponsored by Miss Leona Miss KY Smith discussion we'll call the RO Miss quac hi Miss lar hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan I M grmy Smith hi and Mr colum I pass 70 Bill 22 2024 an ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 2020 correction 22 2024 sponsored by Miss Leona Miss kmy Smith I need discussion we'll call the rooll miss quch I miss L I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I M grmy Smith I and Mr colum I pass 70 Bill 23 2024 ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 23 2024 is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmsy Smith discussion call roll miss quch I miss lard hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi M grmy Smith hi and Mr colum hi pass 70 Bill 24 2024 ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 24 2024 is sponsored by Miss Leona Miss kmy Smith discussion we'll call the rooll miss quch I miss lard I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan ion Smith hi Mr colog I pass 70 Bill 25 2024 ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 25 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss cramy Smith so before we get into discussion I'll just remind everyone Mr Miller had read at the top of the meeting a memo that came from Mr Evans our business administrator with a request from the administration for Mr Evans to postpone the August 20th or excuse me to Pro to postpone this final vote on Bill 25 of this year to August 20th I will uh turn to Mr Evans Mr Evans if you could just um give us a little backstory to to your memo and then also just your level of confidence that we'll be good to vote on it at the next meeting should Council elect to postpone it yeah we ful fully expect to be ready uh for a vote at the August 20th meeting we're a week actually a couple days away from um receiving the final results on the physicals and psychologicalscience and that's what we um originally requested we also said we come back it and if it's less than that we would reduce the request so we're going to hold or ask or asking to you know just to uh postpone this bill as is and push it to the 20th and and then we'll certainly be ready to vote on it by then so we should be able to provide you with a memo uh with what those numbers are what that proposed amendment would be sometime next week understood thank you Mr Evans so any discussion for members of council before we decide how to handle the agenda item then I will invite a a motion and then a second to postpone Bill 25 2024 the final reading second vote to postpone this agenda item to the August 20th city council meeting so second I move that would be you third miss m l the uh so we we had a motion by councilwoman Leone a second by councilwoman Wilhelm any discussion on the motion to postpone to August 20th Mr Miller please call the RO miss quac I miss L I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I miss grmy Smith hi and Mr colum I pass to 70 so Bill 25 2024 second readings postponed to the August 20th city council meeting Mr Miller Bill 26 2024 ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 26 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmy Smith so again before we get into discussion I will turn to Mr Evans again just for a little background on his memo which also addresses the requested budget amendment to ordinance 26 thank you president clone Bill Bill 26 should stay the same with regard to all allocations it the only request or the amendment that should be made we would suggest is in section one to uh Delete delete what is there because in essence by pushing Bill 25 each time we add these amendments we're increasing or decreasing and in this case increasing the total fund budget because we didn't increase anything and we didn't increase at $360,000 for the nine firefighters we push that uh we should then reduce the total numbers in budget 26 with regard to the general fund budget and and that's what the proposal on my communication is to revise section one uh as provider as posted in in my communicate in my memo thank you Mr Evans so any discussion on Bill 26 before we talk about actions council could take as it relates to amendments so I will accept a motion and then a second to amend section one of Bill 26 2024 to read section one that total Appropriations in the 2024 general fund budget be increased from $3,589 955 to 113 m684 955 so moved second so there is a motion from councilwoman quch second by councilwoman wihelm any discussion on the motion to amend Mr Miller please call the rooll miss quch I miss L I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I M kmy Smith I Mr colum I pass a 70 so Bill 26 is amended any discussion on the bill as is amended Mr Miller please call the rooll on the amended ordinance miss quch I miss lard i m Leon i m Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I rmy Smith I and Mr cologne I bill 26 2024 pass 70 as is amended we have we do not have any new ordinances tonight moving on to resolutions resolution 10A be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and the controller Andor such other City officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute all documents and agreements with reming and Vernick Engineers 2 Incorporated to perform sewer model updates resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon any discussion on the resolution Mr Miller call the rooll M quch I miss lard hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I M grmy Smith hi and Mr Kone I pass 70 resolution 10B be it resolved by the Council of the city of Beth the mayor and controller are authorized and directed to execute all application forms necessary to apply for additional home ARP funding from the State Department of community and economic development for the development of non-congregate Sheltering and that the mayor and controller are authorized to execute necessary agreements and documents resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss leam any discussion on the resolution call the rooll pardon I just wanted to ask the Administration a couple of questions about it Miss um thank you um I think this is um I hadn't known about this potential project so I'm just interested in um finding out more about maybe the grant process and um first of all I think it's very exciting so it's 11 it would be 11 units family units for non-congregate shelter Sheltering correct and it's right now it's a building that um for those of you who didn't get a chance to read it um it's it's a building that isn't able right now because of code violations yes it needs more than $350,000 of repairs to just meet basic code right and it's the Lehi Conference of churches is that correct that um are the the own are they the owners of the property yes they are the owners through a subsidiary of those Lazarus housing um the property was turned over to them when another nonprofit went under um it's deed restricted for affordable housing um via Fair funding that they have previously received um and they had reached out to the city last year um faced with the code violations because they were not given any money for the care of the building um so it is currently vacant um and uh but there are 12 units right now but once we would renovate and get office space in there we would be able to have 11 and and that was something also interested me was that um it'll be 11 units and then room for a case worker so there would be sort of wraparound um services to help the folks who were who were there because it is it's it's a shelter it's not meant to be um longterm yes correct so the idea someone on site you know providing whatever sort of services the um families that were staying there would need and hopefully get under the home art program like we cannot collect rent this would not be a very extended and so this is to ask for more home ARP funds and and and I read that that was something that you could do you could you could even though we directly get home marp funds we can ask for um funds that come from the state that are directed from from the home ARP program also so this is what this is yes the state received its own home ARP allocation from the federal government and they have set up an application process that will allow both direct entitlement and non-entitlement communities um to apply uh there is like a you know scoring system that would take into account whether or not a applicant had already like received home are F and you have to speak with like a grants manager from the state to even get like permission to apply so it's promising hopefully that you were invited to be able to apply we felt it was a very promising conversation with them and um just timeline wise do you know when you might find out about it they were saying they would Envision at least probably four to six months and like kind of go through all of the evaluations and then if it were successful obviously there' be some time it would take some time to renovate them into habitable units but they are really looking for full spend down within two and a half years because they have to have everything spent by 2030 um and so they're looking for shovel ready projects thank you sure any other discussion yeah you yeah I just have a question um it's great news especially that um you're partnering with the conference of churches because I worked with them for many years and they really were a great group um I was just wondering is there any update on the um congregate shelter as far as that goes yes we're continuing to meet with BS um we just took a suspension for like the last uh 3 weeks because they had some vacations but we meet with their board member their Grant member um Bob rap we meet every other week um and we are working with them on like we also did a simultaneous architectural analysis um of facility that they are interested in at the same time so they are now taking back kind of the results of that information back to their board and digesting you know what those costs are and what it will mean for long-term capital campaign that they're looking to launch and um also looking at it's a pretty complex undertaking what they do already with all of these Volunteers in the Sheltering every day and transitioning those operations now into being of year round what will that take what kind of Staffing what sort of funding and so they're working through all of that and uh we meet with them by-weekly and they also meet weekly with the health Bureau for kind of um coordinated case management with new Bethany and Conference of churches um and the great thing we do have Abby gar here from the conference um she's their executive director they are providing lunches every day out of B's shelter site already um and providing Street Outreach in our encampments right now so they're very familiar with the populations that we are serving in the community okay great thank you and thank you Abby thank you any other discussion thank you Mr T Mr Miller please call the RO miss quch I miss lard I miss Leon i m Wilhelm I Mr Callahan hi mson Smith hi and Mr colum I pass 70 resolution 10c be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and the controller and or such other City officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor or hereby authorized to execute the Pennsylvania Department of transportations winter traffic Services agreement covering the 5-year period for the winter seasons 2024 2025 through 2028 29 the resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon any discussion on the resolution we'll call the rooll miss quch I miss lard I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan i m KY Smith I and Mr colog I pass 70 resolution 10d be resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem with the mayor and the controller Andor such other City officials deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute an office lease between the city of Bethlehem and Wells Fargo bank and for the use a basement space at 52 West Broad Street by the Bethlehem police department as an emergency services training facility resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss leam any discussion on the resolution I I just had one quick question um for the administration who wants to take it th this building is for Wells Fargo announced they're closing this branch of the bank correct I just want to confir that so and I know the lease runs through the end of April of next year of 25 so I know we don't have a say in what Wells Fargo chooses to do with the property they own but I know as long as I could remember the police badge and shield has been on that that door right there that we're we're talking about where you go out down to the basement so I just hope whatever comes of the the transaction and the sale that the city's still able to to keep using that space never had been lease never when Chief discovered that get yeah probably good idea thank you Mr spur any other discussion from members of council closure we'll call the RO miss quak I miss lard I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I M grmy Smith I and Mr colum I pass 70 we're going to continue on to use permit agreements we accept the motion to group um items 10 e through 10 H I will so there is a motion from willhelm to group gen 10e through 10 H the use permit agreements as one group there's a second by Mr Callahan any discussion on the motion to group them together Mr Miller please call the rooll on the motion to group The use permit agreements miss quac I miss lard I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Callahan I kmy Smith I and Mr colog I passes 70 please read the use permanent agreements all are sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon for 10 e be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller and or such other City officials deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute a use permit agreement with seven Sirens Brewing Company LLC for 2024 Bethlehem Brewfest agenda item 10f be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller Andor such other City officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute a use permit agreement with Christmas City Spirits LLC for 2024 C ciderfest agenda item 10g be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem mayor and controller Endor such other City officials deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute a use permit agreement with Christmas City Spirits LLC for the Vintage Market for September 2024 and item 10h be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller and or such other City officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor hereby authorized to execute a use permit agreement with Arts quest for the 2024 October Fest thank you any discussion on the group Mr Miller please call the roll Miss qu Tech I miss L I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Callahan I grmy Smith I and Mr colog I pass 70 resolution 10 I be resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem in accordance with the municipal records manual hereby authorizes the disposal of public records in the Department of Water and Sewer resources as set forth in exhibit a resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Liam discussion we'll call the roll miss quch I miss lard I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I M kmy Smith I and Mr cologne I I pass 70 resolution 10j be resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem in accordance with the municipal records manual hereby authorizes the disposal of public records in the department of police has set forth in exhibit a resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion call roll miss quch I miss lard I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I Ramsey Smith I and Mr cologne I pass 70 I'll accept a motion at second to consider resolutions 10K through 10 U the harb coas as a group so moved second motion by councilwoman Leon second by councilwoman Wilhelm any discussion on the motion for the group call the roll please miss quch I miss lard I miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi M Callahan hi Miss grmy Smith hi and Mr cologne I pass 70 please read the harb coas Mr Miller certificates of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of the Pennsylvania legislature Bethlehem resolution are hereby granted for 17 East Church Street to build a custom Cedar privacy gate on the west and North facing brick walls 23 East Church Street to remove a door frame header and roof along Long Street and install brick in the resulting opening 35 East Market Street to replace aluminum Gutter and downspout on gable roof with white aluminum K style Gutter and downspout 48 East Walnut Street to repair inine slate shingles on Lower gable roof and replace aluminum gutter in down spout with white aluminum K style Gutter and down spout 123 East Market Street to remove all existing vinyl shutters and paint exterior including previously painted brick facade Allwood trim and sofits front door and rear fire escape 247 East Market Street to install copper roofing install copper gutters and downspouts install slate shingles and install standing seam metal roofing 316 West Street to paint masonry facade of the structure in its entirety 446 Main Street to install all aluminum wall sign with vinyl applied graphic 452 Main Street to install a double-sided non illumin illuminated projecting sign and a vinyl graphic window sign 459 Old York Road to reconstruct an original Dormer install exterior house lighting and paint triming shutters and 523 Main Street to install a double-side non-illuminated projecting blade sign a single-sided hanging sign parallel to the street and vinyl graphics on the door resolutions are sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon any discussion on the group of coas call R miss quch I miss L I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan hi M grmy Smith hi and Mr colum I the group of harps P 70 I'll accept another motion and then a second to consider resolutions 10v through 10x as a group so mov second motion by Miss Leon second by Miss cramsey Smith any discussion on the motion Mr Miller please call the roll on the motion miss quac I miss L I miss Leon I miss willhelm hi Mr Callahan hi M grmy Smith hi and Mr colum I so the motion passes please read the HCC coas certificates of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of the Pennsylvania legislature Bethlehem resolution are hereby granted for 1318 Prospect Avenue to replace the current wood porch decking with aridus comp which is composite decking of the same Dimension and color as the existing and also to replace the existing Bill Cod doors with the same material 117 East 4th Street finalize details and finishes for a proposed new construction project that previously received certificates of appropriateness in November of 2021 in November of 2023 and 418 Martell Street to remove Insel brick siding on the one uh story RAR Edition and to remove brick coat siding on the two-story RAR Edition and replace with vinyl siding the resolutions are sponsored by miss clech and miss Leon any discussion on the coas we'll call the m quch i m lard i m Leon hi Miss Wilhelm i m Callahan hi M gry Smith hi and Mr colom hi P 70 that concludes our agenda before we adjourn I do want to take a quick moment of silence to remember Otto uram Mr sham was a longtime city councilman who served for close to 20 years who recently passed away so I will ask we all observe a brief moment of silence thank you everyone get home safely I did oh it's still there I do clean my car is always a mess