##VIDEO ID:9u-jb7mZPoI## so got those two and we're live all right we're live gentlemen we'll get started good evening everyone we're going to start tonight's city council Mee I ask that we all rise for the pledge to the [Music] flag pledge aliance to the flages States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation indivisible with the and Justice foresome Miss Boer I ask you to call the role Please Mr Callahan pres pres president miss L present Miss Leo San present Mr clone present thank you so as you see we have four of us in person this evening and then three council members will be joining us remotely for various reasons uh when we get to discussion I will try to make sure I'm looking at the monitors but to council who's participating remotely if you are trying to participate and I'm not seeing um don't don't be afraid to PL interject so I I don't want to overlook look anyone trying to participate in a discussion moving on to the approval of the minutes for the August 6 2024 meeting any discussion on the minutes from August 6 um president cologne I had a concern with the minutes yes councilwoman cramsey okay can you hear me yes I can um okay I have a concern with the discrepancies on page nine and 10 of the minutes and I note that I don't believe these are indicative at all of erroneous meeting documentation by our clerks rather on page 10 I need to note that um councilwoman willham inappropriately makes the assumption that I question councilwoman Leon's Fitness for the spot on the housing authority and the need for the Housing Authority reform page nine notes in my remarks that this is never mantion thus my confusion and concern on page 10 Council woman quch inappropriate indicates that I made in insinuations and accusations against councilwoman Leon as a resident and council member and falsely States I insinuate the councilwoman Leon would sh money to her and her family on the Housing Authority again that is nowhere to be found on my statements on page nine and thus thus is totally fabricated false and leads to my further confusion even more horrific is councilwoman quch statement on page nine that my insu insinuations or microaggressions may have may have I advise the def microaggression is a comment that expresses a Prejudice attitude toward a member of a marginalized group apparently councilwoman quf doesn't know what I've done for the past 40 plus years professionally and personally again nowhere on page nine in my statements is this noted while I usually do not move to address issues such as these upon reading the minutes I was so appalled and confused by the discrepancies as well as highly insulted that I felt the need to address this issue there is no need for revision of the minutes however there was a need for me to clarify the harsh and serious discrepancies thank you very much UND councilwoman can you hear me can everyone hear me remotely okay understood and then uh councilwoman cramsey Smith I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything so you're just that those were remarks for clarification at this time is that is that correct absolutely I said as I said I don't think it was there was any erroneous um documentation admin by the clerks I think it was just um you know pretty harsh and severe um Mis misappropriations in the uh in the minutes by other Council people so I just felt the need to clarify that understood thank you any other comments regarding the minutes from the August 6 2024 meeting Mr cologne can who was that quch oh councilwoman quch yes I just want to reassure Miss ksey Smith that those remarks were not uh intended or directed toward her that the only comment that I made that was regarding her comments was to just say that it was my opinion that it wasn't a bad government to make the decision that I was making in terms of my vote um so I I hope that she will accept this explanation in uh the spirit in which it is given thank you thank you councilwoman quch any other comments on the minutes y councilwoman Wilhelm I I actually don't I don't see the comments that Miss kmy Smith is referring to um but I I want to invite a conversation uh offline Miss Smith if you want to chat about what you heard and uh how I can clarify for you my intention um president colone thank you and I am I would certainly welcome a conversation and I will just reference you to page 10 of the minutes because I think it's very clear in page 10 of the minutes what was stated but I would certainly welcome a conversation at any time thank you thank you any other discussion or comments regarding the minutes from the August 6 meeting I'll purs it seeing no more com comments the minutes for August 6 stand approved think you need a motion this time moving on to public comment on so our first public comment as is typical will be on anything not being voted on this evening and we have seven people signed up in advance so as this typical I'll go around the room I ask everyone to respect our five minute time limit and then once we go through our list of who signed up I will go around the room and open it up to comment so I'll start with Mr Robert virgilio and if you don't mind stating your name for the record for our city [Music] clerk Robert virgilio resident of Bethlehem for 37 years um first of all uh president I'd like to thank the council and I'd like to thank the police department and I'd like to thank the mayor for uh posting a crime report a daily crime report on Facebook it's well done I have a couple questions so maybe maybe you can just shoot me an email let me know who I should ask the questions from okay secondly um the city on the crime report from the state police it's fairly good this past month the only thing that was up were the um uh simple assaults everything else seemed to be in line so that's a good sign I give the city credit on that now a little off the topic um I went to a website government salaries and I was curious and we have a um we have a mayor's position I found out that is somewhere in the range and correct me if I'm wrong somewhere in the range of $60,000 a year and we have a number of City employees that are way way higher than that and I just want to point out that I've never seen a private company operate where the CEO is paid way less than the people who are working for the company so I encourage city council to maybe look at that for the next budget and bring Bethlehem into the 21st century and pay our mayor for the job that's uh required in running a city that has hundreds of employees and maybe consider raising that level of Sal second to that I'd like to recommend for the time that you people put on city council which is uh amazing that you're willing to give that time because that's pretty much what you're doing at $77,000 a year for all of the meetings you have maybe you want to look at a formula where you look at how many hours you put in and come up with some sort of increase for city council I think all this would do the city serve it well in the future and presently uh lastly I I'll give you the crime report and I have attached to it a memo for something that I uh you not want to discuss at the uh Podium here but it's going to bring you up to date on a situation that is in our Center City and uh I'll leave it at that I'll give this to you Mr President and you can pass it out to your people that are here and those that aren't here thank you I welcome it Mr virgilia and we'll make sure the clerk's able to get it to those who are not in attendance um while you're passing that out just a couple things I'm not yeah well I'll take care of it thank you sir I'm not familiar with the website you reference but all City salaries are in our budget they're itemized line items I believe the mayor's salary is $90,500 I'm going by going I'm going by memory uh it's still and then well we still got a few people that are way higher than that yeah is true I'm sure mayor Reynolds appreciates those remarks and then also um just a reminder to everyone who is here this evening if you're not accustom of city council meeting during the five minutes we're here to listen if there's something I can clarify I'll try to our city department heads are here from the law Bureau Community Economic Development Public Works police water and fire so if it's not something that Council can answer I may refer you to the appropriate department head that handles the day-to-day City business our next speaker signed up this evening Joe Daniels hello everyone good evening I am going to probably be speaking quickly again because I'm going to be reading directly from something so uh we the residents and supporters of Bethlehem urgently call on our city leaders to take action in addressing critical issues that are threatening the future of our community we demand immediate steps to be taken to ensure that development in our city is Equitable sustainable and respectful of both current and future residents implementing we'd like to do this by implementing a minimum six-month moratorium on new housing developments without a 50% affordability um within their units the rapid pace of new developments is creating significant challenges particularly for long-term residents we're requesting a month moratorium on all new housing developments do that do not already have approval and that do not designate at least 50% of their inventory as affordable housings the reasons are for gentrification unchecked development is driving up property values and rents displacing longtime residents and altering the character of our neighborhoods affordable housing is crucial to ensure that betham remains a city for everyone and not just the wealthy poor infrastructure our current infrastructure particularly roadways is struggling to keep up with the rapid an increase in population traffic congestion in inadequate Public Transportation deterior road deteriorating roads are just a few of the issues that need to be addressed before any further development can responsibly be pursued safety concerns the safety of our residents is Paramount with the population increase we must assess whether we have enough emergency responders to ensure the safety and well-being of our community the environmental impact we must consider environmental impact of new developments are these buildings meeting lead certifications standards if not they are contributing to unsustainable practices that could harm beam's environment for generations to come zoning Law changes recent changes to zoning laws have facilitated developments that do not align with the community's vision for Bethlehem these changes need to be Revisited to ensure they serve the best interests of all residents unsustainable growth the current pace of development is unsustainable we need to pause and plan for growth that is balanced considering long-term impacts on our community infrastructure and environment so again we would like to ask that the city impose a six-month moratorium on all new housing developments that do not allocate at least 50% of their units as affordable housing this pause will allow the city to conduct a thorough review and plan for growth that benefits all residents second item establishment of a permanent moratorium on Lehi University off-campus Housing outside of the current student overlay Lehi is a very important part of betham but the expansion of all campus off-campus housing into residential neighborhoods is causing serious issues for local homeowners we call for permanent moratorium on any new Lehi University off-campus Housing outside of the designated student overlay for the following reasons harassment of owners developers are aggressively targeting homeowners and an attempt to buy their properties for student housing this harassment is unethical and it disrupts the stability of our neighborhoods protecting local home ownership homes that are being sold to developers could instead be purchased by individuals who were raised in bethleem work here which to continue living in their Hometown this displacement is eroding the community ties that have made betham strong Lehi University owns over 2,000 acres of land and has the financial resources to build its own off-campus housing Compound on university-owned property there is no need to expand into residential neighborhoods direct disrupting the lives of local homeowners impact on housing cost and Community while Lehi students contribute to the economy their presence in residential neighborhoods drives up housing costs and often results in disturbances that negatively impact the quality of life for surrounding homeowners so again we're asking for a permanent moratorium on Lehi University off-campus Housing and the last item to address is landlord tenant issues the relationship between landlords and ten tenants is a Cornerstone of a healthy housing market but there are serious issues in betham that need to be addressed to protect both parties by proposing the following actions mandatory education for landlords and tenants we call for mandatory state and local education programs for both as requirements for obtaining a rental license and Co educating both parties on their rights and responsibilities will help prevent dis disputes and ensure fair treatment we'd also like to request a reform of outdated ordinances many of betham housing ordinances are outdated and no longer provide adequate protection for landlords or tenants these laws need to be reviewed and reformed to ref reflect current realities and to provide effective safeguards establish of a dedicated landlord tenant court the current District magistrates system is overwhelmed with citation cases logged for months literally six plus months we propose the creation of a dedicated landlord tenant court to expedite the Revol the the resolution of disputes and ensure timely uh justice for all parties in conclusion bethlem is a vibrant diverse community that deserves thoughtful responsible leadership to guide its growth we call on our city leaders to listen to the concerns of their constituents and take immediate action to protect the Integrity of our neighborhoods ensure sustainable development and Safeguard the rights of all residents thank you thank you our next speaker this evening Christina ritar is it not bad hi Christina ratar um I am one of the tenant landlord um disasters um I have been in my place for four years um a month after I had lived there I have documentation um well over a 100 pages I have called lawyers uh for four years I have followed every Avenue I can including being here this evening I I don't know how to exhaust any other Avenue I live with it rains in my house I have six pots um in my house last night catching the water from the rain I have squirrels in my ceiling that um they've been there so long there you could see it's warped from PE um I have black mold in my bathroom my son and I are getting sick um he's produced uh an odd rash he was getting scabs on his head he was waking up in the middle of the night um regurgitating different colors um my building knows about this I have documented everything I have reached out to them about everything I've tried to reach out to the city is actually aware of it there are citations for them um I I just don't know what else to do they keep coming and and just patching stuff and ignoring it and and just saying we can't get approval to do a new roof o of such a a job to be done without them recognizing it so apparently quote unquote they are getting the news but they're not doing anything about it and my Foundation is sinking like I can't even put my dressers certain ways or they'll break I have to you know Watch How I do everything the place is disgusting the this the carbon monoxide detector was 2012 outdated and I moved in in 2020 I had to call the fire department to come because I didn't know what to do when it was going off I I they weren't responding the emergency number um I just I don't know what else to do where to go I can't afford to be nowhere else I have looked all around my vicinity because at the time my son was still in school um I was never approved or chosen because I'm a single income I I I don't know what else to say I I have pictures say a thousand words and if I could just show you anything of what I have and the video of hearing the squirrels like we can't even use it for a bedroom because they're just directly above your head the outside of my building is falling apart it is so molded pieces of wood are falling apart the electric in the winter time when I touch things we get serious shocks I mean and all of this is documented I just don't know where else to turn now I've had two escrow accounts I think this is a third and I've had this escrow account since March and I still have not released that escrow account um but there and again it's not going to help me move because I still have to get approved to be able to afford an $1,800 a month thing which is double what I pay now now and I can't even prove that I can make $1,800 a month let alone be able to pay that rent and then when I move somewhere else I'm going to have to pay the electric the you know the garbage the sewer the water the you know all of that is going to be added in too on top of the double price and rent so you know and then I watch the boid being built and I'm like here these people are getting luxuries and I'm a half a block away and I don't know where to go or how to do this that I don't know how to give my son a good home M Russ I will say if you want to stay for after the meeting our director of community Economic Development Miss Collins is there in the front row either if you want to talk to her now out in the hallway or after the meeting if you want to talk to any council members we're here and then all of our contact information is on the city website also if it's not um to your favor to stay that late because I don't know how long the meeting's going to go Miss Collins could briefly speak to now in the hallway or and then you can follow up with a council members either after the meeting or through email if you'd like would app have understood Miss Collins is gonna go speak with you now our next speaker signed up this evening Mr Ry Cara good evening everybody I'm Mary CA 813 law for Street in betham Pennsylvania AKA J Creed cat Credo on a positive note I'd like to invite you all on Sunday at the uh for I was asked to host a benefit for the pink pumpkins that raise money and support women who are victims of breast cancer I'll be hosting that event from 10: until 3: in the 10 in the morning to 3: in the afternoon this Sunday at the uh trioral Sportsman's Club in Northampton you're all invited to come there's no cover charge great entertainment I got I got not only my band my band kicks it off with a concert set from 10: in the morning till quarter after 11 that's the earliest I ever did a concert in my life but I'm going to be there and um I did host one a few years ago for I was hosted from 11: in the morning till 11: at night so I'll be able to hold up that time even though I've been a resident of Bethlehem for 76 years um but anyway you're all invited to come on out there and um on the other thing that's not quite a positive note I am uh bit upset with the situation I pushed endlessly for many many years not only in betham in Philadelphia New York City other cities as well Allentown and Easton to have surveillance cameras to elim minate the crime in the cities and they finally did in IR in Bethlehem in 2017 and we became among the safest cities in the country the top 20 but the thing is I find out throughout the course of the years the surveillance cameras that we have and I don't blame the police department at all on this are scarecrows Tony Soprano once said an unloaded gun is not worth anything so load those cameras how I know they're not working I was a victim of $7,000 being lifted in the library I reported it to the police the report back police officer said sorry the the camera wasn't working in the public library of Bethlehem a city operated venue you the cameras weren't working I was sitting right by a computer where there was a surveillance camera right above and it wasn't working or it wasn't aimed or it wasn't going around that it would catch the person that when I went to the restroom they took one of these things out of my briefcase had $7,000 of cash in it because I won't have on my credit cards more than $1,000 of one credit credit card all the other ones I got to get the money out of the bank or I got to personally do it and well I put it on my credit card that's it but I mean I mean my my debit cards so I'm looking around for another vehicle I figured I have the cash to pay for it but now I don't got the cash to pay for it because somebody thought they were getting a SSD drive and they hit the jackpot got $7,000 uh now I'm not a rich guy I don't pimp for my money and one other thing I I I don't get paid more than what I should like some City officials no reflection on any of you guys you got paid less than you should but the thing is there's a lot of City officials you need to look into it that they keep on getting more and more money they pay too much bring the money down they should not be paid more than what the mayor gets and of course you guys can't can't vote for getting more it's a conflict of interest to try to get more money for for city council members but somebody should be able to adjust that properly certain city officials are't getting paid way too much but the thing is I don't get paid that much being a musician and I got $7,000 taken because the surveillance cameras couldn't find a perpetrator when I went to the restroom I'm out $7,000 I'm not happy with that you know that's all I need to say I'm an unhappy camper God bless you all hope to see you Sunday thank you Mr katola our next speaker is Frank I want to say marmore but I may be misreading that so I apologize thank you Mr Marucci sorry about that was yeah see tonight hi uh president uh I want to talk about stop signs by my home they run it like it's NASCAR I almost got clipped three times it's Ravenwood Drive and Bonnie Drive well I would like speed bumps there and it wouldn't happen because their heads would go through the roof I almost got clip with my family the other day had to be doing 50 through the stop sign I stopped and I don't have a stop sign so that's all I really have to say about that area Bonnie Drive and Ravenwood Drive it's crazy I have a couple of neighbors with me to attest to it everybody around that whole place they know it they say we stand angle we can't believe that they don't even slow down and there's children there on skateboards and bikes and a lot of times I walk my dog and I stand there then they slow down because they don't know who I am that's when they slow down if I wasn't there right through it like it's nothing okay that's all I have to say Thank you Mr Marucci we we do have a captain from our police Police Department here this evening and um I will just say based on my understanding you talk about speed humps that's something that it has to be certain um circumstances Mr alol correct me if I'm wrong to to put into a residential neighborhood but our Police Department is here listening as it relates to Ravenwood and Bonnie over there in your neighborhood put a car there couple of days seven out of 10 people run ited I sit on my thank you Mr Marucci okay thank you all next speaker signed up Teresa odou all right good good evening City Council Members my name is tereso dual Vera Circle um and today I just wanted to briefly address an ongoing issue um that we've been experiencing dur our during our like our annual Music Fest event specifically regarding like the management of horse waste so you know first I want to thank the city of Bethlehem the Arts Quest volunteers um vendors and others who contribute to make this event a success year after year um and as an attendee of these events and while I know it might seem a bit inconsequential uh I often notice that horse waste specifically from the police horses is not being promptly cleaned up um especially in high traff traffic areas like our food vendor walkways and so as we know this not only creates an unpleasant environment but also can pose as a health risk and so just to illustrate this a bit further I see typically three scenarios um one where police horses walk on the festival grounds and then produce waste as they're walking with no individual present and it is just left there um the second scenario I see is horse waste being visible on the festival Festival grounds there's no police present but it's just left there sitting for hours and then three you know walking through a very crowded area um especially where food vendors are present um near the corn as many know um and then just noticing an unexpected unpleasant order o order odor and suddenly appear where attendees then are sort of like pinching their noses have confused looks on their face at know the source of the odor and you know upon looking down I'm walking and I notice that people are stomping the waste into the ground and so then now my question is you know who is responsible for cleaning up after these police horses waste I know this is a an event where multiple vendors are involved stakeholders members of the city um and then my second question is you know how can we coordinate a system um where there's always someone on site possibly in collaboration with the police to handle waste collection immediately and I want to reiterate I know I do appreciate the efforts of our volunteers who clean up before the events start every day um however this is just something that I've just noticed persists year after year among these festivals and as we know addressing this issue will greatly enhance the cleanliness and enjoyment of our events and um I thank you for attention to this matter and for your continued events and your continued efforts in making these events very successful so thank you thank you if if you want to stick around again till after the meeting or just email our city clerk at your convenience to forward your information to us we could work on kind of following up on some of those things and our last person signed up this evening Harry fa hello city council it's good to be back I'm sorry to everyone who attended last meeting and didn't get to hear the phrase be a little revolutionary uh that's on me but uh I did notice a trend now at Moravian istitute or statistics so maybe I'm just keen on picking up Trends but mayor Reynolds has a trend of missing public comment I don't know if anybody else noticed but he hasn't been here for now I wasn't here at the last one but I'm pretty sure I was told he wasn't there he wasn't at the one before and I don't know if he was at the one prior to that but this is the third one in a row I believe where mayor Reynolds has missed public comment that's a concern but uh so much has happened since the last meeting I attended and spoke at too much um you know me I love the sound of my own voice so I obviously have something or have to say something but deciding what to spend my precious time on was an was extra challenging I knew I wanted to speak about the issue that started my participation at city council that being the genocide in Palestine um and I've been reading a lot of texts and books lately about both the history of this conflict which is rooted in European colonialism as well as critical texts on decolonization and from my reading I found a very accurate quote from the Legend Audrey Lord uh and that being for the Master's tools will never dismantle the Master's house they may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change now let's break down that quote what is Audrey mean by Master's tools uh they are all the existing legal and political systems institutions and structures which serve as mechanisms of colonial oppression perpetuating the hegemony of colonial power for instance court systems laws and policies are designed to maintain Colonial control and suppress the rights of marginalized communities corporate structures prioritize profit over the rights and well-being of workers exploiting them as a means to further imperialist agenda media Outlets are controlled by Colonial interests which propagate stereotypes and biases which reinforce Colonial hierarchies and justify the subjugation of indigenous and oppressed peoples colonialism capitalism and imperialism serve as the formidable pillars of Oppression which were meticulously constructed and fortified by Colonial authorities and their contemporary inheritors this entrenched system represents a pervasive web of power and privilege woven into the fabric of society through Insidious means it encompasses not only legal and political structures but also cultural norms education educational institutions and economic Frameworks which were deliberately engineered to subjugate and exploit the masses uh another thing that happened now I'm not saying you guys can end colonialism or imperialism or even capitalism or anything like that I know you guys can't do that but it starts with us it starts at the local level how can i' I think I said that in my first or one of my first meetings how can we pressure the federal government and these systemic issues unless we're coming together working together talking about these issues and acknowledging that they're real it's almost as if the elite class and I'm not saying I mean we've already discussed your wages like you're not the elites you're not billionaires but you guys kind of represent them in a sense and I mean us provided uh another three and5 billion dollars since the last meeting I attended which I wanted to talk about $3.5 billion worth of funding for Israel for spending on us weapons and military equipment which was immediately followed by a huge massacre in Northern Gaza where more than a hundred people were killed and dozens more wounded by an Israeli bombing of a school Sheltering displaced people in the area all right three and a half billion dollars I don't know how much of that was our money but this money which has been a constant funding of Israel's military uh genocide is money that could be spent on us on our people like the Empire is crumbling and it's like we're just going dayto day hoping it crumbles before or after we pass we can't just be living uh accepting the without accepting the fact that the systems we have are problematic and since there are problems we need to address those problems and try to create Solutions which help EMB better the like the people of our community like if the society crumbles what have we been doing to make sure Bethlehem is sustainable I just I'm not I'm not sa satisfied and I'm not going to say I have all the answers because I don't but I don't know I'm just I I think we need to do more and I think that starts by again people coming together and allowing the public on all these committees like more if somebody wants to give their precious time to helping participating uh in the deliberation of how we spend our resources our City's resources they should be allowed to be on the Committees that's all thank you Mr fa that that exhausts our sheet of who had signed up in advance so as always I'll go around the room starting with to the left was there anyone to the left who want to make comment who has not had a chance to make comment yet I turn to the wide Center I'll work left to right Mr hacket and while Mr hack it comes up to elector and um Mr fa reminded me mayor Reynolds did give Council heads up Last Week Tonight There's a uh meeting as it relates to the world heritage designation so he he will not be joining Council this evening Mr hacket my name is Bud Hackett and I live in the city of Bethlehem and I have a few comments in my opinion betham city council hit a new low at its August 6th meeting instead of talking about the issues important to people and taxpayers of the city council members are fighting among I don't know if it's two or three factions wasting valuable meeting time you heard a little bit of before in her continuing effort to oppose and silence council person Callahan council person quatech gave a long speech about micro aggressions in an attempt to silence opposition to the mayor and the left-wing Alliance of city council similar to the cancel culture tactics of a few years ago Miss cretic wants to embarrass or suppress the opinions of Mr Callahan by accusing him of decorum violations of microaggression really there's no microaggression rules in politics council is all Democrat there is little balance in or on the group only sometimes do two council members disagree with the mayor's initiatives the voting block almost always supports the mayor's proposals with very little analysis or scr or scrutin that we see see opinions but not analysis it is good for our city and its people when there is open transparent and civil discussion of City business citizens of Bethlehem don't want or need a rubber stamp Council yes council members need to improve communication skills and yes we understand that some of them are friends and others are not city council needs to focus on what is best for the people and not on their special interests and certainly not on Petty personal disputes among the members thank you Mr hackin again continue to go from left to right cool couldn't let a meeting go by without without speaking I just want to thank council members for their support against the Curative Amendment at the July 31st it really means a lot to the neighborhood to my neighbors and myself and we're very grateful we just hope that he doesn't take it the next step but we'll cross that bridge when it comes thank you Miss cler Terry clber 345 Grand View Boulevard July 11th I sent a note to my Bethlehem app and it said for safety and security purposes I'm requesting that a street light be put on this pole and I have a picture of the pole at the corner of my property the other morning I came out to walk and there were two used condoms and wrappers laying on my curb and gutter this is not the first time it's very dark and the light from the other pole does not shine over here also because it is so dark people are walking their dogs by at night and letting them crap on the grass and not cleaning it up so I got a note on 7-Eleven that says thank you for your request your request has been acknowledged and forwarded to the apartment the appropriate Department that's all I've heard since since July 11th I'd like to and I will resend this back into them asking for a response and I'm going to add on their health reasons also because I am not going out there and picking up used condoms off of my Gutter and Street just to clean that out of there and to leave it lay there it's a shame because then it gets washed away and who knows where it goes but that's a health problem and I'm a little disappointed that no one has responded back to that thank you thank you Miss cler and again I'll acknowledge Mr alar Public Works director is here he may be able to speak to you after the meeting it's about that or you could follow up with any member of council Mr sh I believe your hand was up I'm Bill Shar 1898 Avenue um I said I told someone I was going to quote Yogi Barett tonight about Gaza deja vu all over again and I mean that in a supportive way and because I still feel like I said the first time this came up that we should be suspending military aid to Israel and offering an armed escort to any food Convoy that requested it because as you may have heard some of the convoys are being attacked by gangs and the food is looted and sold at Black Market prices at least one Convoy coming through the West Bank was ambushed by settlers and the food was just distributed around the ground and destroyed that in itself would cause an immediate ceasefire because there would be American troops all over Gaza but I have one suggestion about what can be done I sent another email today to the president and it's by the way it's very easily done you um just uh Google White House and you get a form to fill out name address so on and then you get up to two 200 characters for a message uh this one was about another matter I suggested to the president that he find a plausible reason for transferring a significant number of troops to Alaska Russia very likely would counter thereby perhaps deluding its strength in the Ukraine so there's that uh now I want to talk about in an much more prosaic local matter I received a recent letter from the city clerk saying that no longer will copies of the agenda be mailed prior to the meeting and I can understand and sympathize with the motivation because the postage alone would be $18.72 per person per year and I can live with this because I'm at the library almost every day but there are people who can't afford to have uh the internet at home which is a significant expense and perhaps they're working two jobs and it's not easy to get to a computer on the Friday evening Saturday Sunday or Monday before the meeting and these people are thereby deprived of having advanced notice of something they may wish on Tuesday evening to come and speak about uh this is a reduction in parti participatory democracy uh we have enough of that at the state legislators who are trying to restrict the right to vote including certain elements of our state legislature in Pennsylvania and we should be going in the other direction to encourage par ipation in addition there are seniors um who have not yet adapted to the computer age and this is their way of finding out beforehand what's coming up at city council um they have to get a written notification so I would like to suggest a compromise on this less than world shaking matter and that would be to um continue mailing in the notices to people who are willing to certify that they don't have internet at home and I think that would be a a way of helping make Bethlehem the model that we would all like it to be thank you thank you Mr sh moving to my right yes hello uh Valerie Nunan um I don't have anything lengthy for you today um but while I was outside earlier waiting for the meeting to start I noticed someone trying to come in using the handicap button on the door to the Rotunda and it wasn't functioning and um uh T talking to people out there um I am under the impression that it may not have been working for some time so um this is a city building of all places it should be handicap accessible so uh hopefully that can be attended to thank you thank you is there anyone else to the audiences left yes in the in the middle row Hiba Akbar Bethlehem um like I stated before my name is Hiba I haven't been to City Council in quite some time but if you do not know me I am a 24-year-old graduate of Penn State University and a premedical student I work as a medical assistant at the Lehigh Valley Health Network and it's been exam season lately so I haven't been attendance lately I did not plan on speaking today but I was made aware today of one of um the public comments made by one of our citizens today about affordable housing and mentioning one of the Investments made by Lehi University universities play a pivotal role within their local communities multiple Studies have found a correlation between the presence of a university in a large town or city and the socioeconomic development in the local area they are key drivers of social technological and economic Innovation as someone that had the privilege of serving 30,000 students across the Commonwealth of Penn State University I'm uphor to learn that there is disgust around the idea of increasing off campus housing I can understand the frustration around the decrease in housing for local residents however I do not believe that college students are the problem 8% of American undergraduate students are homeless according to a survey of more than 2,000 colleges by the US Department of Education it also found that 5% of graduate students are are homeless according to the bipartisan policy center of the United States in the Lehi Valley about 700 more people are homeless in according to January a 6% increase since covid-19 and if 8% of undergraduate students are homeless and you do the math that's about 60 college students that don't have a home while they are pursuing undergraduate education and that does not account for graduate students there have been multiple studies that have increased the association between neighborhoods and educational achievement systemic reviews and meta analysis that also reveal that adolescents and emerging adults spend significant time amounts of time away from their homes and parents are less able to monitor them or support them this also results in a greater exposure to the influence of a neighborhood than younger children experience as parents are better able to monitor the behavior of the latter we expect stronger neighborhood effects for adolescents and emerging adults than younger children they need the support all of this to say is I completely agree with the idea of preserving the affordable housing for the city of Bethlehem I simply have a very simple request and plea for the council not to forget about college students and the challenges that we Face espe especially amidst a global pandemic where many students were forced out of their homes due to quarantine were not able to go back home while they were still sick in 2021 on my 21st birthday I awoke to a positive test and a stuffy nose and a heavy chest I was positive for covid-19 on my 21st birthday I wasn't able to go back home because my parents were imuno compromised and I did not want to put them at risk or my grandmother with dementia who is also imuno compromised I did not wish to give all of my roommates um covid-19 many students had this kind of experience during covid-19 and experienced this outside of the realm of the co postco 19 world that we are facing I only plead the council that they do not blame Lehi University for the decrease in affordable housing in Bethlehem and to keep college students in the back of their minds as they discuss a more responsible way of allocating housing in the city of Bethlehem thank you thank you was there anyone else in the wide Center who wanted to make comment who has not had a chance yet I turned to the right was there anyone to the right anyone that I missed thank you everyone for your comments this evening we're going to move on to our second public comment that is for any ordinance or resolution that council is voting on this evening no one had signed up in advance so again I'll go around the room is there anyone to the left who want to make comments comment Mr favor I did have the time um to look at the agenda this week um now I the one thing I just want to point out is like the director of Health memo the budget adjustment for cribs um I believe it was like what 150,000 or something like that designated to the purchasing of cribs or was it 100,000 um now again I'm not saying that kids don't need or babies don't need cribs that's not the point the problem is uh the insurance industry which is driving up the cost of Health Care um are are a huge issue and that uh the money that is spent being like on these cribs again every everything in our healthcare industry is so overpriced and it's uh what you would call Price gouged and I'm not saying don't give the money for the cribs Babies need cribs but I just wanted to talk about price gra price gouging in um the medical industry and it's messed up and we should do something to address it thank you thank you Mr favor is there anyone else to left who want to make comment on anything we're voting on this evening I'll turn to the wide Center anyone in the center who wants to make comment on anything on the agenda turn to the right that concludes our second public comment moving on to Old business any old business for members of council Mr Callan yeah I testing one two I just want to uh make a some brief comments on uh uh Miss crampy Smith's uh comments earlier and Mr hacket so um I'm not sure if a couple council members here are going to think this is a uh a micro aggression or macroaggression or whatever but there was a question about um attendance uh of of my particular attendance I assumed and I I would have also assumed that the person that brought it up um probably should have did some research before um they spoke um I did some after we left I had the city clerk run the absenteeism and uh you know number one the only one that we really have to account to is the voters um the three meetings that I missed I reached out to the president of our Council and told him I had family uh matters I would I would be attending and I wouldn't I wouldn't be here and that was three times we had another Council woman that's missed the same exact amount of meetings we have another councilwoman that missed one less I I don't question him would never question him if they're sick they have family obligations it is we have hundreds of meetings every year to Council meetings and uh committee meetings and going through events in the city and uh you know I I did what I was supposed to do I uh I reached out to Mr colone all three times that I missed and told him I had issues uh that I was um or not issues but I had family obligations and I was going to them as a single parent you know if someone on his Council didn't agree with that that's your problem not mine um there's a quote that I just want to bring up here there's um there's it's a from a famous Democrat which I will not name right now but uh there's nothing more unamerican than thinking everyone has an obligation to share your particular thoughts or your particular beliefs it's kind of the whole point of our country to not do that I'm not here to agree with anybody on here or the administration in fact I I would strongly suggest and I think all of you would agree with me or most of you that know me uh if you looked at my my literature that I sent out um I went after some of the things that this Administration was doing that I didn't agree with and I got voted in on that there's nobody that voted for me who didn't know what they were getting I guarantee you that I did eight years of it if the mayor and administration does something positive I've I've complimented them but I'm not here and we none of us are here to uh constantly agree with everything that the administration does and appease them we're not we're not we're here as a check and balance to the administration and you know there's a things that the mayor's done in administration I've complimented them on same thing with uh mayor donz I've complimented him on it but when things go wrong I bring it up I I you know I I put on one of my mail pieces I couldn't have been any more straightforward I didn't think that the mayor's uh approach to uh buying those three churches and put pressure on um the developers and and telling them hey you better back off on it that's want to make a point of order that that's well I'll bring it up irrelevant to this I know non-contextual and there's no way for any of us to fact check that I just it was published on on on it those comments aren't my comments there uh a realator comments who who said that and it was also posted on by a local blogger so it was it it's not my comments I mean I could read it for you if you'd like that's unnecessary Mr thank you we don't interject right matters irrelevant to your point but my point is is this everybody knew what I was getting if there's a couple Council women on here that don't particularly like uh something I'm saying well then come up with a better debate that's what we're supposed to do we're supposed to be here to debate not agree on everything it's not supposed to be 707070 so we we all have the right to speak all of us even if you don't agree with me you you don't have the right to even question something I'm saying it's my opin not yours you don't like it I don't what to tell you but I have the right and so does councilwoman crampy Smith and so does everybody else to speak two times according to Robert rules of Wars that's how our meetings are run and I'm allowed to speak and you're allowed to speak a third time if you get the approval of the president I follow Roberts Rules of Order if I'm going to speak I ask for permission to speak and I F the rules some people in here don't that's my my opinion you know I was uh I was born and raised in Upstate New York I lived there until I was 11 years old I still have a little bit of an accent so I apologize for having that accent but I was also uh raised with three Irish Brothers who it was to get a word in but I was also a health and faet teacher involved with sports and coached for a significant part of my life 30 years part of being a health and phed teacher in the class and even more so in the gymnasium is to project my my voice I speak like this all the time if you if you know me and you hang on my I'm I'm energetic so I'm not changing my tone and Pitch if you don't like it I would say to you get tougher skin this isn't elementary student council it's not Middle School student council it's it's it's city council no no she she doesn't like them looking over at her I'm happy to look at you I'm looking at you well don't interrupt me because I don't appreciate the implication that is elementary school I just no it isn't it isn't well you point of order recognized by Miss willhelm Mr Callen please continue with your comments try to avoid any personal interjection I I won't but those two her and another Council uh woman question my I guess my tone or my pitch or whatever I don't I don't care if you don't like my tone or pitch go look at the words that I'm saying and if you don't like it come up with a better argument or a better debate but I'm allowed to have my opinion as you are or anybody else is and you too Mr glone everybody has their own opinion that's why we were voted in and make no mistake people knew what they were voting in when he voted for me so my last point on this is um you know we're we're here to hold the administration accountable where the check and balance and I I plan on doing that continuously for the next three three years until I get until another election comes up if the voters don't like it then they can vote me out I don't care they can vote me out if they don't like what I'm doing but I got voted back in I think because it was missing that thought the council went a little bit too far left Mr Callan again that's opinion it's my opinion right it's my opinion I'm allowed to have an opinion and I I appreciate you know and then the pressure that they were trying to put on you to try to stifle me somehow and Miss crampy Smith is ridiculous this is a free country everybody's allowed to have a free opin again you're signing motive I'm saying my my opinion these are all my opinions I recogniz we're still I still would rather you not assign motive to I'm not ass why someone is I'm not assigning motive to anybody what I'm doing is is I'm stating my opinion on it so you know Miss last thing uh if these are microaggressions you're going to have to deal with them if they're micro aggressions you're going to have to deal with them thank you very much thank you Mr Callan I'll I'll share any thoughts I have when we get to the the mayor's report overall but anything else for new business councilman Wilhelm old or old business pardon thank you I made the same mistake last Mee uh W with regard to the the last meeting I mean I I suppose I'll say that I agree with everything uh council person Callan just said in that we are to respect one another's opinion and if you watched the last meeting I literally uttered the words this is my opinion because I want to be clear that I'm stating my opinion so respecting each other's opinions goes both ways so I hope that you take your own I hope that we can all take our own words to heart and respect the opinions of others even when we don't agree with them so respecting iions goes both ways I wanted to also address um the public comment from Mr Hackett just to say that I understand completely anyone who is dismayed by a vote by any voting body that they don't agree with absolutely we all have our wishes and wants and perspectives and it's hard not to be agreed with it's hard to see votes happening that we wish were different I understand and respect that completely um generally speaking I don't go into meetings knowing how all of my colleagues are going to vote on any issue I uh do my own work to make those decisions whether it be my own personal research or conversations but I'm certainly not going to change my vote just because I suspect my colleagues will agree with me I think being checks and balances is appropriate but if you do your checks and balances and happen to agree with a policy that's the way that goes that doesn't mean that you're not doing your due diligence if you happen to do that work and agree with a policy you've done that work and you agree with the policy I find it equally unethical or distasteful to vote to disagree just to disagree as to agree just to agree and I don't suspect this is my opinion that anyone up here is agreeing just to agree I don't know that anyone up here is or is not disagreeing just to disagree but I I wanted to clar I wanted to make that statement to you I understand how that feels I've been on that your side of it as well um but but don't expect me certainly to change my vote just because it's in support of a policy or a resolution being U you know proposed by this Administration or because my colleagues agree with it and I hope that you can understand that perspective as well and as you know we've spoken offline before I'm very happy to do that again and please reach out if you want to talk to me more about that um second I really just wanted to thank all the artists vendors volunteers police Fire EMS Arts Quest attendees for a very successful Music Fest under not ideal conditions last week I live close enough that I'm able to walk down uh even in the bad weather and I did so and it felt uh it was heartbreaking to watch artists performing to five or 10 people but um maybe that's new business is this old business or new business we're still on Old business councilwoman but I was going to let you finish your thought I appreciate it uh I can I can stop and say that again during new business if you like would that be appropriate at this point finish your thought about music F thanks to everybody attendees supporters volunteers everybody for a great music fest thank you any other any other old business for members of council Mr Callahan I I just want to follow up on the comments uh that uh councilwoman Will Made I agree with you 100% I when you made those comments last week I didn't even say anything about it because it's your opinion and again tonight when you made your comments I they're your comments you're allowed that I'm allowed to have my opinions and I respect you to have your opinions but you got to respect my opinions so because I I was voted in just like you were and I think the people that voted me in I'm doing exactly what they voted me in for and whether we can agree or disagree on that is is whatever but you have people that voted you in and I think that you do a good job for them and I have people to voted me in and I think from what I hear they say keep going and that's what I'm going to do and I respect you and I just want that respect back rolling eyes I'm not saying you but there's another person uh you know that i' I've been told from people in the audience there's certain people that roll their eyes and they're always looking at each other that's okay I don't care it's just childish behavior to me so I would just hope that we each respect each other's opinions and if we disagree so be it but I I welcome the debate out here I think this is where we should have it not in the back rooms on back phone calls I think we should have the debate here in front of the press in front of the uh cameras and in front of the people that are here so that's that's why I do this here thank you any other old business for members of council we're gonna move on to new business any new business for members of council councilwoman Le own I just had some questions about some of the comments that were uh made um sorry that took longer than I thought um I had a question for our our our officer she's still here I apologize officer hacket but when it comes to uh the mounted Patrol um I assume well I know because I've worked with them that they they kind of police their own waste I I know that we were down a lot this music fest because Lancaster disbanded did that have an effect on why it was harder to pick up waste are there other Rogue horses at Music Fest that we don't know about or are there situations where it's unsafe to to collect the byproduct of our wonderful Mount of Patrol so I was I was wondering do you have any insight on what's going on with the stuff at Music Fest address from Captain if you on mine either that microphone or that microphone this one's closer so that's an easy decision uh so it's not that there were any Rogue horses at Music Fest Distributing their waist uh so Lancaster's inability to provide a mounted unit had Zero Effect State Police um as well as the betham mountain unit performed their duties at Music Fest they frequently and for good reason split up into teams uh Arts Quest provides the funding for one individual to clean up after those horses uh Mr rice is um equipped with a bucket a shovel and a fancy golf cart um he goes where he's called the officers during music fests uh would not be uh prudent to Dismount and clean up after the horse so that's why there is an individual whose job that is should there possibly be two or more um that would be a cost that would be attributed to Arts Quest um but that's certainly can be looked into for next year thank you very much um the other question that I had and also thank you to the person who brought this up because it is definitely a point of discussion that we can have um I had a question about the my Bethlehem app and who actually answers um the the requests that are put in through the through the my Bethlehem app does it go directly to whatever Department um the concern is addressed to is there like a little catchall the applications are collected in in at the Bethlehem service center okay so everything runs which is part of the police department from there it is evaluated if it's any kind of emergency it's moved to 911 immediately if it's a non-emergency call it's then um dispatched through our SI our internal system called service request but that does not integrate it's not a two-way back and forth it was never designed to do that so if you put in your your request it's it's received it's sent to the applicable department whether be Public Works whether it be the Fire Department EMS whoever or Community Development to address and is there a is there a procedure where if the same issue is placed multiple times and it hasn't been addressed to like the community satisfaction um I.E like a stoplight or something is there a process in place to reach back out to them and explain why we can't do that thing or why we wouldn't choose to do that thing no I don't think the service service center equipped to engage in that kind of debate or dialogue yeah that all right thank you um I'm sorry president col give me a second to go through my notes no need to apologize um I think Mr vilo left but I I enjoyed his comments and you were right it's $90,500 not $9,500 that um that the mayor makes I also agree that I think given he's our top position he probably should make the most but that could be the military brain in me I also appreciated his comments about Council pay because I just it's it's really a privilege to be able to serve up here and and I mean literally a privilege if you are uh financially strapped this isn't something that that you can do um and sometimes the council pay that we make is enough to cover child care so it really does open up a lot of other people that live in the city to be able to you know put their name in the Hat for this because they would be able to pay for child care and that would give us like the people in the city that are dealing with these really difficult housing situations or affordability situations so I think it is a conversation worth having although it is a very it's a conversation that gives me the ick because like why would we vote on our pay um the only other things that I wanted to talk about were housing um Miss Daniels brought up a a bunch of great ideas some that are outside of our control I believe as a third class City we are not allowed to do any type of moratorium I actually don't think that anybody in the state of Pennsylvania can do a moratorium I'll turn generally to the legal area in the room um you agree okay so we're not allowed to do moratoriums but we do need creative thinking in order to get through these situations and as also another community Hiba brought up there are a lot of sides to this um so continuing to have housing conversations are are very important and considering we were talking about Lehi I would just encourage people to get engaged with Southside uh Southside tomorrow we have there is a housing committee that meets and regularly speaks about housing issues regarding the southide so with these issues specifically that would be a great place to start having the conversation so we can learn about what is within our right to do what is legally outside of our right to do um because we have to be very well informed to come up with a good solution and not all the solutions reside on this side of the table um because we don't all live in the situations that that you all live in but it is a really good jump off point for us to start having authentic real conversations about what we need to see as a city um and I just gonna turn to director Collins and question if there's anything that we could know about the situation that was brought up um because that is a very distressing thing to hear so I'm just curious as to the Insight that you have on that situation or and if there's a role that Council can play in rectifying this yeah without looking up the current status I can say that we are familiar with the property our housing inspectors have been in multiple times uh there was a round of citations it did go through the magistrate process so as you know we enforced based on um city ordinance um and did go to the magistrate fines were issued issue and problems in the property itself continue um there's a new round of citations that have been issued for the property so it is um still you know fit for habitation such that it doesn't need to be you know posted and and you know doesn't you know the the individual who lives there doesn't need to to leave but um there are a variety of issues at that house and it's been a problem property for a long time okay and and I have I might be getting into the weeds with this a little bit but is there a role that our health department plays when it comes to like mold and Lead remediation and if that is the case can the health department go into a rental property without jeopardizing the renter having like retaliation against them are there protections that we have legally been able to do well so the mold and and leads are are sort of two different tracks but um the short answer on mold is is no and that's not just in the city of Bethlehem you'll see in most municipalities and Philadelphia for example they've got this whole explainer on their website that basically says you know mold issues are are L tenant issues and can't be um kind of like monitored or enforced through the health Bureau and that's in part because of the testing and you know the certifications that you need for that and it's just it's very uncommon for municipalities to get involved in mold issues for a variety of reasons um when it comes to lead we do have the lead and healthy homes program where we've got um uh HUD grants and but those are uh elected by in most cases property owners who income qualify if they've identified um well income qualification also some as um some other eligibility requirements include like if there's a child in the house or somebody over 65 there's different ways that you can be eligible for funding to make remediation of lead um or in some cases other like health hazards um but so in addition to qualification you would then need a willing uh owner of an owner occupied property or we do have a component of the program for rental properties where a renter could income qualify um but what would be required of the owner of that property they still need to be willing to have those repairs be made and then by accepting the dollars that are available to do the remediation um they do have to agree to some um restrictions on raising rent in the future right because we don't want to create an incentive for a landlord to get some money to like make some improvements and then raise the rent and kick out the income qualified tenants and you know charge somebody outse more so um we had to put that protection in place but as a result you know if you have bad actor landlords they just won't take advantage of the program okay so there are Protections in place if somebody takes advantage of a government program that they cannot then you know not necessarily retaliate but up the rent because they rehabilitated their property with our money right um but that's you said that's for lead and you said something about the the state and mold so is are we prohibited at the state level to do anything regarding creating something creating an ordinance similar to the lead ordinance with mold and if that's a solicor question that I have to email stuff about that's totally fine I was just curious as to if there's a state I'm not I'm not sure what I what I know in practice is that I I don't know of any municipalities that that do regulate mold but I I don't know if that's just for practical reasons or for like legal reasons to be honest I don't I'm not sure I appreciate it thank you so much um I'm good thanks any other new business from members of council Mr Callan uh Mr Evans and Mr Al I don't know if you guys want to tag team this one or not but so last meeting I I I asked you guys about the um the cost sharing money from from UGI and then uh I I don't know if you know this or not I'm sure they probably reached out to you but apparently uh I talked to the controller yaso um and so the money uh that came in are are a little bit more than what was what we talked about and I just want so can you explain to me there's Mr Evans there's like a going to be a new process that you're now going to come to council for to as far as the escrow account you guys are going to establish an escrow account I think what you're referring to Mr Gan is that uh uh the money was budgeted based on the cost chairing agreements that were in place and then when the money came in it was double counted creating uh the account balance to be double what we really have in funds um for the agreements that already been executed in place and right now we're the between the administration Public Works controls office we're devising a method to make sure that that doesn't happen again in the future so either if it's budgeted and there's a revenue expectation based on those those agreements then when the money comes in it's supposed to be deposited in a general fund for example if not if there isn't a line item specifically we didn't know at the time of the budget to establish a line item with a revenue source of that amount then we're gonna we're gonna create a esro account where when the money comes in it goes into the escro account and then moves into the line item just to make sure that money isn't double counted and showing a balance that's so the money was not going into an escrow account that's something new we're going to do now to make it's being appropriated correctly we're budgeting correctly and we're reflecting what's available to expend right yes so my my main concern is that the money that UGI is giving us to the city to repair roads that they damaged that that money is going into repairing roads that they D absolutely is yes yeah and so I would you know I know Mr Yas I don't know if Mr yaso had a chance to talk to you about it I know we talked to Lenny right he spoke to me as well okay yeah we've all talked all right so are you all in agreement that that so there's now any any of the UGI funds that come in for call sharing from UGI for roads that they ripped up that money is now going to go into an escrow account and that money will be used only for reping roads always has yeah it wasn't being accounted properly there was a disconnect according to M those are the words from Mr yaso it was just double counted it wasn't it was still going Gentlemen please don't speak over each other it makes it hard for people watching video it was in an account intended to be used to address road maintenance Road repaving you know as as intended so these are his numbers not mine so um according to Mr yaso uh in 2023 and 24 total there was $630,000 that sounds about right right three 630 350 8.82 cents right that covered two agreements right and that's going all that money went into repairing our roads correct not all of it has been utilized yet there's still couple hundred that we're in the process of using right and the projections coming in for 20125 is 2.3 million correct okay so when we do budget season and you're saying see that in the budget yeah but I my point is this we we we have not gotten years prior to 2023 we weren't getting a lot of money from the cost sharing from UGI because they weren't ripping up as many roads it was a small much smaller uh uh amount of money that and we hadn't devised the cost sharing approach yet at one point both UGI and the city devised this plan because it benefited both parties UGI wasn't in the business of restoring roads unfortunately uh and but we are and there was a this was a good way to serve both parties and that once they do their work and they there's a impact that requires that the road be completely milled and repaved once once the work is completed uh they want it once they're done with their work they can walk away from the job and just basically pay us the equivalent what it would have cost them right to hire a contractor to do that work instead we get that money and then we do the work and we do it in house more effectively and we make the dollars go further and be able to do more road work as opposed to less so my last question is so in our budget season coming up yes um we I don't know what we from what I remember in the last eight years when I was on Council I think you know I was like maybe 1.5 or 2.2 million one year 1.8 million on roads I would hope that when the budget before it comes to us that we have the money broken out that this is the money that we usually spend on roads and we're going to have an extra 2.3 million from UGI absolutely it'll be broken out in fact we were going through The Five-Year Plan right now and right now the projected available funding for road work for next year somewhere north of $5 million beautiful that's that my main concern is that we catch up and and Mike I know every mayor including Mike uh donchez and Cunningham and my brother I know the you have advocated for more money every year and I know budgets were budgets you know budgets were you know some years they're very tight I get it but now's the time to I think to catch up with this UGI money coming in and I think $5 million would be uh a substantial amount of money maybe even triple what we normally spend almost right or at least double yeah so I I appreciate the uh um the information and uh so you guys will be coming to council to ask us to make these budget amendment present it in next year's budget you'll see in detail what funding are available including cost sharing funding with UI beautiful thank you yeah well while I'm up here if I may one thing that might be helpful um the issue of the betham service center and the app as Mr Evans indicated unfortunately it wasn't designed for back and forth and this has come up before so it may be helpful to explain this um it was really mainly meant for reporting issues that clearly need addressing by the city like of there's a pothole it'll report it it goes to the betham service center it gets assigned to the appropriate Bureau in this case would be streets our guys would get it they would go and fix the Poole because obviously something need action and they'll take that action and there's no mechanism to go back and tell the resident fortunately or unfortunately what we did the expectation is that it's going to be addressed unfortunately in in this particular example for example mber reported that she believes that a light needs to be installed at a certain location that may be the case but when she reports that it goes to most likely it came to the service center since it's been since July 11th I'm going to make some guesses on what might have happen and I'll find out and get back to miss GL if that went to the then it would be dispatched to our area service order would be made to our electrical Bureau they would go out and take a look at the area look at the poll she's she's requesting a light on evaluate the street lighting there's certain criteria that we are obligated to meet like three C across the cartway in that in that area we're talking about they might have looked at it and decided at least for Street lighting purposes there's adequate lighting then they would stop and and that's the end of it she would not be aware that they did that and they decide they unfortunately didn't agree with that uh that might not been what happened but if they did that would be the that would be the case best thing if it's not a routine request this is I would say unfortunately it's not a routine request is either write us or call us so that there could be a dialogue and we can explain if we're not in agreement and we don't take action that you agree with so that you have the opportunity to at least be aware of that or do something about it that changes our mind in order to provide the request can I just say something Miss cler if you want to speak to Mr alol after the meeting I I don't want to open this up to uh a back in fourth but it's just that they get an email that says I understand and that was communicated previously but thank you for clarifying the thank you Mr alol Mr Callahan had ended his comments Miss Leon did you have something else I was gonna ask if you didn't mind if I had a quick followup question for you on that so when you're when you're deciding through the the app uh the person who goes out doesn't have I'm assuming they don't have like the the authority to make a decision that says we want a light here that would have to be something they would have to close that out regardless and it would have to come back to you to open a discussion about whether it's SN since it doesn't meet these wickets we're not goingon to do yeah unfortunately if if that if decision was made that a light is not needed at that location they will still close it out as in they looked at it and they made that decision Yeah by a very specific set of Standards like by it's this far away from this so would closed just because it was closed it doesn't mean that we can't then have with the request it just means the request was evaluated and action that we deemed was appropriate was done thank you very much president col uh Miss cramy Smith I'm gonna turn to miss L because I saw her virtual hand up first and then I'll turn to councilwoman ksey Smith thank you uh just a few things here uh one just a small point of clarification for one of the public comments the uh The Cribs which I think it is awesome that uh we have funding to assist people who are in need with cribs uh well it would be great if everyone could get one uh you know for free or whatever but it was a $115,000 adjustment not $1 15,000 um second um for the agenda mailing um I didn't know that we were actually doing that uh and I'm wondering as a middle ground um I understand that it would be a challenge to uh you print stuff envelopes pay the postage mail to every person uh who I assume is on some sort of list to receive the paper copies I'm wondering if um copies of the agenda could be posted like on the door of City Hall uh or even emailed to some of our public locations throughout town like um fire department they could print it and post it on their door and then for it would divide the labor and minimize costs because there wouldn't be postage but people would have some more localized places to go um find the agenda for City Council meetings if they don't have internet access um just a random idea that I had uh while while thinking about that tonight um and the third uh thing is back to um the app I'm sorry uh to to come back to this and ask you to come back up uh to talk about it um but I'm wondering what sort of um ticket status mechanisms are actually in the app so uh in the work order systems that I'm familiar with implementing um when you go and enclose a ticket there's usually a place to put a comment and a lot lot of places will put a comment uh so that for their own records they can go back and check you know why was this ticket closed what was the resolved uh solution was it resolved or just closed Etc um so I'm wondering if there's that capability even just on the back end and if so if it could be looked into with the app uh producer whatever that company is uh to make those statuses visible on the front end or to have comments that are on the front end yeah I I don't I honestly don't remember for sure but I think we looked into that and from what I can remember I'll have to go back and talk to some folks just to make sure I'm remembering correctly there wasn't any feasible way that that information can get back to the person that uh put in the complaint you could do that internally is my understanding back and forth with internally to explain what happened when like why you closed the request uh and what you did in response to the request but there wasn't a efficient way to get that information or create that dialogue between the app and the person that puts in the that that's my recollection when the the app was developed and I'm actually I'm looking at the the app right now and I'm seeing that when you select like um you know a point on the map where someone has uh put in a a comment or a complaint um that there are some comments back but I'm guessing that it doesn't notify those people is that what you mean by going back and forth um for example I'm looking at one about people gathering in stairwells of Riverport parking garage vaping and making people feel unsafe and there's a comment from the service center uh saying you would need to call the non-emergency police number uh please note the status of your service request has been closed um so there's some ability which seems like it would probably be a bit time time consuming to go in and and write back to each one but uh are you saying that that doesn't notify the person who placed the that was my understand or at the very least there's not an opportunity to provide an elaborate you know explanation of what was done got it uh okay uh thank you and the other thing about the app that I just wanted to clarify Mr Evans you had mentioned that sometimes uh emergencies come in and are sent uh to uh the police department when they come in um I just wanted to put on record we do not recommend that people place emergency requests through the app correct oh definitely not right right okay this wanted to to make that really clear make a phone call 911 direct thank okay thank you very much thank you councilwoman lar councilwoman kmy Smith okay um thank you I just had a couple questions for uh couple questions and comments um one I don't want to be redundant but I do want to thank um Cassie and Music Fest and the volunteers and especially um all the staff at the city the emergency responders for um doing uh all the hard work for a great music fest in spite of the adversity um I did want to bring up the issue of um tenant and landlord that was brought up earlier and I'm wondering because I just I dealt with an issue today regarding a tenant landlord issues and I'm not sure if this would be Miss Collins but I just want to get a feel for one of the issues today was that the tenant is going to be um have to leave the house within 24 hours from tomorrow and didn't get a lot of um leeway into this and I I'm wondering like when I know we have a lot of issues with inspections and we have new inspe inspectors hired and I'm wondering how are things going like are we still pretty backed up with inspections is it a real bad issue and most importantly if there's an issue with the um a rental and there's continual violations at what point do we let the um tenant know that they will have to leave or they'll likely have to leave because I just want to make sure that we're giving them enough time that they can find alternate um housing so I'll take those think in order your questions but so uh your first question was about a specific case that we were dealing with today and that came to my attention at the end of the day but um it is reflective I think of the challenge overall in the housing situation when it comes to conditions at properties because you know inspectors are inspecting based on the code um often you know citing for violations uh but there is a point at which they become uh such life safety issues that a a home becomes uninhabitable and has to be posted um but then that means that a tenant often um you know somebody who might be in a a a tough situation for a variety of reasons is then left without an immediate place to live and we understand that you know housing affordability is a huge challenge right now and there's not a lot of available housing so it's a really delicate balance in a lot of situations um and we try and use discretion uh and you know we try and make sure that you know we're we're evaluating all of these different factors the specific case mentioned I actually believe it was uh at the end of last week that um the inspector identified that there were life safety issues that would likely require the house to be posted early this week and so we did um contact or we've tried to work with the health Bureau to get community connections hooked up with the tenant and I think in this case the tenant has um a representative from Pinebrook perhaps I you might know better than I do and thank you for all your help on that case um today um think we had some challenges in communication that I think we need to evaluate internally because they did not get resources to that um individual until this afternoon um so we we try to avoid certainly like a 24-hour turnaround we think it's you know that's that's untenable um given the housing conditions that we're facing across the city so we usually try and give enough time and also immediately connect Community connections with a tenant if there is a situation where a home is uninhabitable and has to be vacated and I understand thank yeah um yeah just want I guess my my point with that is I understand you're doing all you can and it's a challenge but um I just if if it if the T landlord is like not um getting things done in an expeditious manner like can we maybe give the tenants more of a warning like look this may happen you may want to start looking you know what I mean and the other thing just so you know um from working in in the county in the system for so long one thing I did tell Kristen the health Bureau is um everything shouldn't fall on the city we want to do everything we can but for example this person is hooked up in the county and the county I think probably has more resources than us for all these Human Services kind of um services that are needed so I did tell chrisan that that um you know they they can find if there's if they're hooked up with County Services or if they're not and they have children it should be like an immediate children unuse referral just you know so that we know that we don't have to have the whole load all on our shoulders absolutely I think that's a great Point thank you um I think usually when there's a child that we do try and connect with um Children and Youth sometimes making calls like on behalf of the tenants um depending on the situation so I appreciate very very very much your help in this case thank you okay would you say though in in general or do you foresee that the issue will get a little better with the new inspectors I mean is it or is it going to just continue to be an ongoing problem not having enough inspectors to deal with um these deplorable conditions So currently we are uh scheduling inspections over a month out in some cases close to close to two months out between rental inspections um sales inspections um but we are very grateful of the city council for approving the two additional um housing inspector positions which I think are much needed as we talked about at this point now that the rental program really is is um up and running and we're getting into all these houses and and trying to follow up on these complaints because we don't want to just go out once we want to identify violations and then have the capacity to continue to follow up and make sure um that properties um are getting the remediation that they need so we are very grateful for the two additional positions those are posted right now I believe we are getting resumés um but we have not hired yet for those positions so um we are still you know going to have that period of time where we you know to bring people on board and get them up to speed and get them into the rotation which has not happened yet so you know to be quite Frank we are fairly strained um at this point but we're working really hard through it okay that makes sense I was just wondering I I didn't realize they weren't hired yet so hopefully things will get better um but anything you know I or we can do to help with this situation that it just seems unfortunate is is getting worse I think and more uh more frequent so thank you um the other thing related to we talked a lot about the um the app today and I thank Mr alol for explaining that um I'm not sure when when someone calls a city I assume they have to call a specific department for a specific issue is that correct can I don't know Mr Evans would you get would you know that there's not like one number directly that they can call and get referred to the correct department uh 865 7,000 is a number we're trying for most efficiency to drive or phone calls to to take the request to get an understanding of what the request is then they can wrap that request up and enter into our service requests okay all right because the reason I I ask is I've just been um contacted by several people entities individuals that are are having um difficulty getting to the proper person or Department within the city when they make phone calls and I'm just wondering how we can streamline that because people have reached out and said they've spent maybe two months calling different departments getting the runaround um and I'm not sure you know I know sometimes it's it's not um there's some extenda circumstances but again I'm just trying to think of how we can streamline that process and if we do have one person um or one number that is more like a you know um a central kind of intake or referral for lack of a better word that's good but I think that we if we maybe look at that administratively maybe you can talk to the mayor about it because I only bring it up because I just am getting you know more and more people reaching out regarding that issue and and it's concerning yeah yeah there there numbers posted um one that causes confusion is when that we had for quite a while maybe a singular person calling three or four different departments making same requests and we had three or four departments working from different areas on the same idea so you know it's always a Conant strive to what's the most efficient way to collect understand the problem get it to the right source and have the problem [Music] serviced liation between the Departments or something pulling it together so that you know the correct department is dealing with the issue at hand thank you um and the only other thing I wanted to say is regarding the Ros thank you Mr alol for addressing that and uh Mr Callahan because I know it's been an issue for years and I know Mr alol you've advocated as much as you can for money for the rol and it's been a challenge and again it is it's probably the top one or two issues that constituents come to me about though either they live in the city or they live in the city and they don't anymore but they come to visit relatives or they commute through the city and you know it's always about our R so anything we can do to really try to make an impact there I appreciate it thank you thank you councilwoman any other new business for members of council councilwoman quch thank you just briefly um on the matter um Miss Collins of the of the tenant landlord uh situation that we heard about today um I did kind of Wonder I know it sounds like there's been extensive citations and repeated visits and things like that um is there anything between just continuing to site a landlord and then when you're finally able to condemn the building or or decide that it's not habitable it feels like people end up in a um in a No Man's Land of just miserable living conditions that aren't quite dangerous enough yet for them to um you know be be uh be told that they have to leave which then leads to of course what Miss kmy Smith was explaining about that that struggle it's s um I'm just wondering it just it just feels like there's um there's this this uh limbo state of of uh between when things are you know really bad but not bad enough that it's actually you know a life safety issue and what we can do about that it is quite a challenge so you know what is spelled out by ordinance really is that um you know when we go out and inspect and issue violation notices number of days to remedy um and you know if if violations are not corrected we can ultimately go to the magistrate um and they can issue fines or I believe like jail is an option for the magistrate um I believe uh in in the ordinance but um that's really up to the magistrate and and there's not much we can do between I mean we can't personally go in and make repairs um you know there's there's really not a lot of other ways to force Property Owners to to do the work um we just you know have to take them to the magistrate for for their failures that's frustrating satisfactory answer unfortunately thank you that's all I had Mr thank you any other new business members of council can I make a comment on it Mr Callahan just I don't need I just want to make a comment and the sad part about it is if um the judge rules out all right it's it's it's condemned um and the person got to move out now the the family's got to find a new place to live and then the uh the owner of the property is forced to put more money into it which he should be doing and then what's going to happen to the rent it's going to go Sky High it's it's it's it's a terrible cycle it really is but um I feel so bad I don't know if that she's still here or did she leave I I my heart goes out there because it's it's uh it's almost like uh a lot of tenants don't want to complain because they don't want to be forced out to live in a uh or or to you know because their their rents low and they don't want it because there's our rental units in the city right now there's not a lot available and unless you have cash first month last month and security deposit it's very tough for these people to get into these rental units because there's someone else that has it so my my heart goes out to her I don't think she's here right now but it's a you know it's a very terrible uh position but I don't know if the Red Cross or if there's any nonprofits that have uh places for these people to go while they're looking for um new housing so thank you any other new business so just a couple points I'll make for a discussion that came up first Mr alol when you get a chance if you could give us a status update about we heard about the handicap button potentially malfunctioning here it's coming to the retunda if it is indeed a malfunction if you just give us an update on kind of and we did activ it's yeah it'sing so then if it is a true mechanical or electrical issue you could just give us a timeline of you know what to expect I know it's come up before and there is this uh feature where you have to activate it and that and that was part of the issue [Music] before understood and I appreciate whoever brought it up because it it has come up at other meetings and of course we do not want someone who needs to utilize that that function to to go without and not be able to use that couple things that came up to a new business so and and other comments that I heard as it relates to pay I I will just note that so the the salary of the mayor salary of city council salary of the treasurer salary of the controller uh all the elected officials is set by ordinance Council has the right like any ordinance to amend anything new I will just note just for those following along that if Council were to choose to enact any changes to those salaries they wouldn't take effect for seated elected officials it it wouldn't be implemented until someone won reelection or someone knew was elected so if Council for example imposed a change in Council salaries there would be some disparity at least while there was some turnover on Council but then eventually would all catch up so in terms of uh conflict was heard before and was quote I heard from someone uh truly council is the one who controls that we just wouldn't see it unless anyone was reelected so that's how that works for reference and then as it relates to the agenda uh our Council solicitor attorney Stewart who is participating remotely was kind enough to remind me that due to the sunshine act the uh agenda has to be posted at the site of the meeting which is here and we do have copies out in the hall but I will speak to the clerks about um know potential remedies if anyone who truly needs it and doesn't have access to to maintain or attaining their own paper copy of course we want people to have access to the agenda where we're not trying to limit people's um access to city council that that would be contrary to a lot of the things that we've implemented the last couple years so if there is a a remedy to making the agenda more accessible to those who truly need it that's something that the clerks and I could discuss and and come up with a solution for so that's going to conclude new business we're going to move on to Communications communication 6A and August 2nd 2024 memorandum from police chief Michelle cot with an attached resolution and agreement for the purchase of a Duty Weapon by a retired officer of the betham police department pursuant to the third class city code retired officers May purchase their Duty firearm at fair market value and resolution 10A is on the agenda this evening communication 6B and August 12th 2024 memorandum with an attached resolution from Edward BCA director of water and sewer resources Mr boscola recommends a contract with Herbert Roland and grubic Inc of Allentown to provide engineering and construction Administration services to replace the 100-year-old 2 million gallon drinking water reservoir located on South Mountain in lower s in Township the cost of the contract is $229,000 with partial Project funding provided by an H2O paa Grant the contract shall run from the notice to proceed until September 30th 2026 there are no renewals six bids were received from reputable engineering firms hrg was selected based on fee experience interview and project approach and resolution 10B is on the agenda this evening communication 6C an August 12 2024 memorandum Within attached resolution from Edward bucola director of water and sewer resources Mr bucola recommends a contract with aom of kah hakan to evaluate the wastewater treatment plants irration tank performance and design criteria for the next phase of improvements at the plant the cost is $45,900 the contract shall run from the notice to proceed through March 31st 2025 there are no renewals aeom has satisfactorily provided work involving the wastewater treatment plant in the past and resolution 10c is on the agenda communication 6D July 29 2024 memorandum with an attached resolution from dced business manager Tiffany Wismer Miss Wismer recommends a contract with omnis landscape architectural planning and art of East to provide a comprehensive Parks and Recreation master plan the cost is $4,940 work is to be completed by December 31st 2025 there are no renewals and resolution 10d is on the agenda communication 6E and August 13 2024 memorandum from city solicitor John F spurk Jr with an attached use permit agreement and a resolution the permittee is Celtic Fest Inc doing business as Celtic cultural Alliance the event is for the 2024 through 2026 Celtic classic Highland Games and Festival the agreement specifies event times and the duration of facilities usage for September 27th through the 29th of 2024 and similar dates for 2025 and 2026 the premises also are specified including various public properties streets and San Island West facilities and resolution 10 e is on tonight's agenda Communications 6f an August 14 2024 memorandum from deputy director of Community Development Sarah culo with an attached resolution Miss culo seeks authorization to apply for a grant of up to $1.5 million of emergency Solutions Grant funds from the Pennsylvania Department of community and economic development this action would be done on behalf of Lehi Valley's homeless service providers who are represented by the Lehigh Valley Regional home homeless Advisory Board and resolution 10f is on the agenda communication 6G and August 15 2024 memorandum from Laura Collins director of community and economic development with attached resolutions Miss Collins advises that two resolutions passed by city council at its July 16 2024 meeting must be revised to reflect the amounts of grant funding sought the multimedial transportation fund grants are offered through the Pennsyvania Department of Community Economic Development one is for $695,000 towards a construction of sidewalks in the Norths side alive neighborhood and the Southside business district and the other is for $1.8 million towards a West Broad Street renovation project and both resolutions 10g and H are on the agenda Communications six each and August 12 2024 memorandum from business administrator Eric Evans with an attack amended ordinance Mr Evans in a July 8 2024 memo requested funding for up to nine Cadets to attend a fire academy bill number 25224 was approved July 16th on first reading however second reading of the bill was postponed at council's August 6th meeting because Mr Evans advised that not all nine Cadets would be attending Academy training it has since been learn that eight Cadets will participate Mr Evans wishes to amend Bill 25-22 to authorize spending for eight Cadets rather than the original nine this amended bill is offered for second reading this evening and ordinance 8A is on the agenda tonight for second reading communication 6i a June 3rd 2024 memorandum from Health director Kristen wenrich Miss wenr advises that the city has received a $155,000 Grant to purchase baby cribs for the cribs for kids program the budget adjustment will be necessary because the 2024 General budget will increase by $15,000 and ordinance 9A is on the agenda for first reading communication 6j and August 12 2024 memorandum from dced business manager Tiffany Wismer Miss Wismer advises that the city has received CE a 8,650 grand from the Pennsylvania dced for a consultant to provide a comprehensive Parks and Recreation master plan for the city the grant requires a 15% match which will be funded by Recreation fees of $16 16,298 a budget adjustment will be necessary because the 2024 non utility capital budget fund budget will increase by $948 and ordinance 9B is on the agenda for first reading that concludes our Communications moving on to reports for presence report I I just want to briefly address some of the things that had come up during uh old business today as Council was having discussions things that i' had spoke about at previous meetings that that I'll reiterate and I think I am repeating myself a little bit from the last meeting but um as it relates to council business I I'll never Advocate that we should all get along or that or not even get along but we should all be working in good faith with each other and that when we as colleagues uh express ourselves to each other I think it's also incumbent for all of us to listen to each other and and when one colleague shares a perspective whether it's how you know disagreement on a vote which of course everyone has every right as a member of council to vote how they choose and I shared that at the last council meeting that you know the the heart of Robert's Rules is majority rule and that the majority wins the day when it comes to each agenda item and the vote but minority rights and that everyone is given the same Universal rights as members of council as it relates to members expressing themselves uh I think it's incumbent for all of us to have a little bit of um introspection also or and listen to what it is that are colleagues are sharing as it relates to how we and I this I'm including myself as a speaker as I've got feedback and at times criticism from members of council and I I try not to respond in um defense but rather try to be aware of how I am moderating these meetings and and that's that's fluid that's always that's the last meeting that's the last year that's tonight that's in the future as long as I am chosen to be president of city council the and again when we talk about kind of how the votes play out uh I won't get into citing different votes that have been uh 52 or 43 or some things that failed with whether it be support of the administration or that but then Council voted it down there there have been instances of that and I think that characterizing Council meetings as a routine it's the perception that we already know how these are going to go I I just think that's an unfair criticism of course there are times that there are contentious votes and there's it's not unanimous approval but that goes back to again the spirit of Robert's Rules where the majority wins the day and and as we're talking about Robert's Rules just the basic Robert's Rules of speakers should avoid interjecting personal matters into debate making comment should avoid making com comments about another person or avoid questioning motives the the simple reason for that is then it's left to and I also encourage any debate here at at Town Hall but when we're injecting personal matters when we're injecting personal opinions when we're injecting things that are not occurring here in town hall well then people are left to discern for themselves what is what isn't and I don't agree with that and that's why you know Robert's rules are the way they are um I think again I'll just speak for myself as I've shared before there are meetings where I'll reflect upon and go maybe I could have done this different I could have done that different um but what I don't want to to have whether last meeting tonight or future meetings is this idea that it it's this Con contentious relationship amongst members of council we had I would say a very um appropriate new business tonight I always encourage all members of council use your time as every member has the right to ask questions that being said I I don't have to continue on with my thoughts here on that there's a objective right way and objective wrong way to approach that and as it relates to Robert's Rules I ask everyone to continue trying to adhere by them as it relates to not addressing each other making sure comments are addressed to either the chair or Council as a whole and really trying to while while expressing ourselves whether in the minority or the majority turning things into now the these these personal matters that I don't think are to the benefit of council business or to the benefit of anyone who comes here to to listen to council business and that starts with me enforcing them right as council president and I I've said this before it's uh I'll never claim to to throw a perfect game up here any night but always trying to do my best and then with that I expect everyone to also do their best so thank you for members of council and that concludes what I had to report this evening I will turn to Mr Evans for the mayor's report this evening good all right easy enough for our Public Safety Committee councilwoman Leon the Public Safety Committee will meet on Tuesday September 3rd 2024 in town hall there is one agenda item to be reviewed involving the police department One Police Department's plan to curtail the illegal use of dirt bikes and ATVs on City roadways Rachel Le on chairwoman Public Safety Committee thank you councilwoman so we're going to move on to our ordinance for final passage excuse me didn't I I I don't know if we skipped over I thought the the mayor's report had three uh administrative orders no no we we could discuss after meeting Mr C and see where the discrepancy might be but moving on to ordinance 8A Miss buba please rebuild 25-22 24 ordinance for second reading an ordinance of the city of betham counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 25 2024 is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion I'll just briefly turn to either Mr Evans or Mr Reich who wants to give us I know You' emailed Council an update which we appreciated but if we could just get an update kind of on the status of this before we take the final vote certainly we had uh eight candidates left on the list and we had one carryover from the last fire academy that had injured himself and has now uh rehabbed and is ready for employment again we conducted background checks and interviews of the eight remaining candidates on the list and there were seven that were selected for employment so that with the one carryover from the Allentown Academy that had injured himself is how we ended up with eight candidates to send out to the Harrisburg Community College they started their recruit Academy out there Monday morning at 7:30 and they're currently doing their EMT uh medical studies and and chief what's the timeline for them being assigned to platoon or actually being in uniform with the Department their graduation is January 10th okay and then they would be sworn in after that and assigned it platoon as soon as we could understood thank you Chief can can I ask quick question Mr Callahan can you let us know um there was a big fire on Broad Street on on a historic house at uh what what's the story with it just did it burn down completely was it no there was a second alarm fire it went to a second alarm due to the the temperatures at the time we had uh some people that need to be employees that had to be evaluated by EMS so they upgraded it to bring some extra Personnel um but the fire was quickly contained and is under investigation by the fire Marshall's office thank you any other comment just a financial comment to this memo the original request was for $360,000 it's it's $40,000 per Cadet and this amendment proposal we waited for the time that we said if it was less we would ask request to reduce the request and it's being reduced to $320,000 so this is a $40,000 reduction in the request uh we took 20 off of salaries 12 from training and eight from uniforms and safety shoes and minus 40 so the 320,000 would be the 40 times the eight Cadets thank you for that that background Mr Evans anything else from members of council Miss Bo will call the RO Miss L I miss Leon I miss miss willham I miss Callahan Mr Callahan sorry Miss crancy Smith I miss quatch I Mr cologne I pass 70 moving on to new ordinances please read bill 27 2024 new ordinance an ordinance of the city of betham counties of Lehigh and namp in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 20 24 bill number 27-22 24 is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion we'll call the RO Miss lar I miss Leon I miss willham I Mr Callahan hi Miss crancy Smith hi Miss quch I Mr clone I pass 70 Bill 28 2024 an ordinance of the city of betham counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the 2024 capital budget for non- utilities bill number 28 d224 is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon any discussion on 28 Miss qu Mr thank you um I did have a question about um within the description of project uh or scope of services to be provided um in the third bullet point I I'm I don't know perhaps Miss Collins is the right person or I'm not sure um so it specifically says recommendations should include current and future funding sources that would achieve a profitable neighborhood part system concept and so I'm wondering what the if the word profitable to me that raised some red flags um I I think I've been pretty clear several times in the past that um with regard to the pools for instance uh that we we don't expect other parts of our budget to pay for itself or or to turn a profit so I I'm just looking for a little bit more context a little bit more explanation about why that particular word is included in in the um project scope I could take a look at that I I will point out I think you're referencing the memo that is associated with the resolution on approving the um parks and R Master Plan as opposed to I got ahead of myself the budget item but they are I mean they are related so I'm I uh I'm happy to answer that and or potentially turn it over to Mr alcohol um well I'll tell you what um I will uh just consider this having been asked when we get to the agenda item that's specifically about the contract and then that gives you maybe some both of you some time to to uh think about that a bit I apologize I did I did kind of jump out ahead because this was a question that was going over um going over rolling around in my brain about the uh about the project itself so uh okay any other discussion regarding Bill 28 we'll call the role I miss Leon I miss willham hi Mr Callahan hi Miss crancy Smith I miss quch I Mr clone I pass 70 moving on to resolutions resolution 10A be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem and the mayor and the controller Andor such other City officials as deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute an agreement to effectuate the transfer of the city issued hand gun assigned to Sergeant Chad waserman a retired City police officer the resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion on the resolution we'll call the roll Miss lar hi Miss Leon hi Miss wilham hi Mr Callahan I miss crancy Smith I miss quch yay Mr colog I resolution passes 61 resolution 10B be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem and the mayor and the controller Andor such other City officials as deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute all documents and agreements with Herbert Roland and grubic Inc to provide engineer ing administrative services to replace a water reservoir in Low Township the resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion on resolution 10B um I just have one question councilwoman thank you uh Mr bosal I just one my only question is how much is the H2O Pennsylvania Grant do you know what fan $750,000 okay thank you any other discussion related to resolution 10B we'll call the rooll Miss lar I miss Leon I miss willham I Mr Callahan I miss kampy Smith I miss quack I miss Mr cologne I resolution 10 be pass to 70 resolution 10 C be it resolved by the Council of the city of betham and the mayor and the controller Andor such other City officials as deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute all documents and agreements with AE Comm to evaluate the Iration tank performance at the wastewater treatment plant and recommendations and design criteria for the next phase of improvements at the plant the resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon any discussion on resolution 10c we'll call the rooll Miss lar I miss Leon I miss willham I Mr Callahan I miss kampsy Smith I miss quch I Mr colone I pass 70 resolution 10d be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and the controller Andor such other City officials as deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute all documents and agreements with omnis landscape architecture planning and art to provide a comprehensive Parks and Recreation master plan the resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion on resolution 10d Miss quch um I have a is this the right is this the right place for my original question I I believe so councilwoman okay if if Miss pmy Smith wants to ask you can go ahead since you already started go ahead it's just a question about the using the term profitable um in the scope of work yeah I just heardly sat down next to Mr alol and we both agreed that profitable in the sense of making money is not what this uh uh bullet point probably meant just Ben beneficial um so there's not an intent to make money off of the park system thank you I just didn't want to go into it with the expectation this master plan was going to have some kind of a you know a a cost structure associated with it that was expected to um return more money than the than the park cost I don't think we should have that expectation so I appreciate you clarifying the what you see as the definition of that word within this thank you profitable in the sense of beneficial efficient those those sorts of things thank you Talent woman cramy Smith okay thank you uh Miss Collins my only um issue which I brought up before is I just want to make sure and I'm wondering I know on page two we talk about it being Equitable and accessible options but I'm wondering if this firm has any experience with um inclusive and sensory friendly playgrounds because um again I just think that's so vitally important and I really request that we make that a really important um part of this whole plan because um inclus Ive for those who have you know physical and cognitive challenges but especially sensory friendly for the increasing number of of kids that have you know they're on the Spectrum and have sensory kind of processing issues H absolutely thank you for raising that um in past conversations as well so it was discussed I believe you know internally during the evaluation process and with um each of the candidates so my understanding is that this firm does have experience and and and is aware that that's a you know of interest to US during this planning process okay great thank you yeah and I would just request it really be a very important part of the process and even if you know whatever plan they develop um there are other entities out there that sell I know um jod Evans have looked into some you know some equipment that was accessible and inclusive and sensory friendly so that we can definitely get that into the parks as as um necessary thank you any other discussion on tendi uh yes please this this councilwoman um once this uh master plan is drafted um or during the process would this be coming before the parks and rec committee for review and input I I would think it would yes and would you anticipate that being at the end of the 10 to 12 month period uh I would have to check so there's there's a variety of meetings built in um to the schedule there's I think 12 study committee meetings three formal public meetings two popups you know 10 to 20 key person interviews so I'm not sure exactly where the parks and rec um group would fall in there and if you have suggestions I think there's some flexibility as well that we could give you know to the consultants if you think it should be earlier or later in the process um we' be happy to chat about that okay cool and I'm I'm glad to hear that there's so much public input being sought as part of process any other discussion on resolution 10d thank you Miss Collins we'll call the role Miss lar hi Miss Leon I miss wilham I Mr Callahan I miss kampy Smith I miss quch I Mr clone I pass 70 resolution 10e be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller Andor such other City officials as deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute a use permit agreement well with Celtic Fest Inc doing business as Celtic cultural Alliance for the 2024 through 2026 Celtic classic Island games and festivals the resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion we'll call the rooll Miss L I miss Leon I miss willham I Mr Callahan hi Miss kampy Smith hi Miss quch I Mr cologne I Tenny pass 70 resolution 10 F be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller are authorized and directed to execute all application forms necessary to apply for an emergency Solutions Grant through the State Department of community and economic development on behalf of the Lehi Valley's homelessness service providers and that the mayor and controller are authorized to execute necessary agreements and documents the resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss leaning discussion on 10f we'll call the role Miss L I miss Leon I miss willham I Mr Callahan I miss krampy Smith I miss quch I Mr cologne All Passes 70 resolution 10g be it resolved by the council the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller are authorized and directed to execute all application forms necessary to apply for a $1.8 million State Department of community and economic development grant for West Broad Street Renovations and that the mayor and controller are authorized to execute necessary agreements and documents the resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion on the resolution we'll call the rooll Miss lar hi Miss Leon hi Miss willham hi Mr Callahan hi Miss kampy Smith hi Miss quch hi Mr cologne I pass 70 resolution 10 each be it resolved by the Council of the city of betham and the mayor and controller are authorized and directed to execute all application forms necessary to apply for a $695,000 State Department of community and economic development grant for construction of sidewalks located in the Norths side alive neighborhood and the Southside business district and that the mayor and controller are authorized to execute necessary agreements and documents the resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion we'll call the rooll Miss lar I miss Leon I miss willham I Mr Callahan hi Miss krampy Smith hi Miss quch hi Mr cologne I pass 70 and resolution 10 I certificate of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of the Pennsylvania legislature Pennsylvania resolution is hereby granted for 117 east4 Street to finalize details and finish for a proposed new construction project that previously received certificates of appropriateness in November of 2021 and November of 2023 the resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion on the certificate of appropriateness we'll call the rooll Miss l hi Miss Leon hi Miss willham hi Mr Callahan I miss krampy Smith I miss quch I Mr cologne I resolution 10 I passes 70 ask everyone bear with me for one moment as I have to clean something up procedurally I am going to make a motion that Council reconsider Bill 25 2024 which was agenda item 8A uh a motion to reconsider is simply bringing it back up as if it had not previously been voted on I'll elaborate in a moment I make the motion that we reconsider agenda item 8A soone moved or is that second second from councilwoman Leon any discussion on the motion to reconsider I'll simply say why so as was read earlier by Miss buba and Mr Evans had alluded to and chief re had mentioned because we had um eight Cadets go to the academy instead of nine we do have to amend adaa and we never did that on the floor we voted on it so I will make a motion that Council amend agenda item 8A Bill 25 oh I'm getting ahead of myself so the motion right now is to reconsider that is why I'm making the motion to reconsider any further discussion on the motion to reconsider bill of vot to reconsider that's what we're doing that's what we're doing Mr sh okay you then you make your Mr sh running a meeting here the uh so I will so as we're on discussion on the motion in the second right now we're on discussion to reconsider so any other discussion on my motion to reconsider Bill 25 we'll call the rooll on the motion to reconsider Miss Lar hi Miss Leon hi Miss willham hi Mr Callahan I miss kampy Smith I miss quatch I Mr cologne I so pass to 70 we're now reconsidering agenda item 8A thank you the purposes as I was saying the guy ahead of myself a minute ago Mr Evans had sent the memo Miss buou had read it re had referenced that instead of sending nine members Cadets to the academy we sent eight so we have to amend Bill 25224 to reflect the appropriate adjustment any other discussion on it before I make my motion here to amend so I make a motion to amend reconsidered Bill 25 of 2024 or agenda item 8A if you want to reference your agenda for section one to be amended to read that total Appropriations in the 2024 general fund budget be increased from3 m684 955 to14 mil 4,955 and for section two that the following allocations be changed for account title salaries to be changed to 8,743 $316 for account title uniforms SL Safety Shoes to be changed to $287,000 and for the account title training to be changed to 210,000 followed by section three that the source source of Revenue be changed from account title investment interest where currently reads to 1, 160,000 to read 1,1 120,000 so that is my motion to amend to reflect the values and the language that I just read is there a second second second by councilwoman Leon any discussion on the motion to amend Miss buba please call the rooll on the motion to amend the ordinance to miss lar I miss Leon I miss willham hi Mr Callahan hi Miss kampy Smith I miss quch I Mr cologne I passes 7 Zer so now the ordinance is amended so now we're on discussion a discussion on the ordinance as is amended for the last time tonight Alice Miss bua call the role for Bill 25 of 2024 as amended Miss lar I miss Leon I miss willham I Mr Callahan I miss KY Smith I miss quch I Mr cologne I so after reconsideration Bill 25 2024 pass 70 as amended thank you everyone tonight's meeting is adjourned I thank CL clone president clone yes councilwoman can I just one I forgot one important one important announcement during the new business I just want to say that on social media there was discrepancy regarding the Christmas tree lighting and it was stating that the Christmas tree lighting is on Sunday this year and people were very confused so I just want to state that publicly so people know I'm assuming it's still on Friday as usually is unless someone from the administration can say differently but I just wanted it to be publicly known that that was an error I believe somebody must have falsely advertised it Mr Al not some within the city I think some for for reference Mr alcol is given the uh affirmative that's still Black Friday this year okay great I just wanted to confirm that thank you understood thank you to our Deputy clerk Miss bua for filling in tonight for Mr Miller get home safely everyone tonight's meeting is a jerk am [Music] see you [Music] Grace bye Grace he told me just that's what he told me to do well that's that's a go-to another way I voted for that I'm not gonna do it it was the series of by [Music]