not we started good evening everyone we're get started thank you for your patience I ask that we all rise the tonight for the pledge to the flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Mr Miller please call the RO Mr Callahan Miss grmy Smith pres Miss quitch pres Miss lard pres Miss Leon Miss Wilhelm and Mr colog pres thank you Mr Callan will not be joining us this evening moving on to the approval of the minutes we're going to start with the corrective minutes for the February 20 2024 meeting there was a minor correction [Music] to agenda [Music] item bear with me for one moment here ordinance 8B where someone had call back from the February 20 minutes we had simply misnumbered something in the reference to the vote that evening so I'll invite a motion and then a second to adopt the amended minutes where it records the voting for that evening striking out the reference to Bill one of 2024 replacing it with Bill 2 of 2024 and then striking out reference to Bill two of 2024 and repl reping it with Bill 3 of 2024 so a minor change but we nonetheless need a motion and then a second motion to accept minutes second so motion by councilwoman L second by councilwoman Wilhelm any discussion on the motion to amend a minutes Mr Miller please call the RO Miss crampy Smith I miss quch I miss lard hi Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm and Mr colum I passes 60 to correct the February 20 minutes any comments on the April 2nd 2024 city council minutes all right those minutes are approved we're going to move on to public comment this evening as is custom we will allow a f minute time limit for anyone watching at a home and once watch live feel free to scroll ahead to the most current portion of the meeting our first public comment is for any subject not being voted on tonight we have five people signed up starting with Mr h Alex hir 738 Center Street it's 641 days I would like to thank all members of council who have heard my please over these many meetings and encourag me along the way um either openly or by not discouraging me that's really all it takes for me pretty persistent um I am especially thankful to council women lar and Leon for meeting with me on their time last Sunday um I think for longer than we even scheduled um to better understand my circumstances and and the overall situation and brainstorm some solutions I stand before you not yet with a parking permit but with very real optimism that there is a pathway toward accomplishing that um and that we really do have a solution at hand so again thank you very much for this forum I apologize for all of your time that I've taken over this year and a half or so um and I very much look forward to showing up at a future meeting very soon and sharing a positive out thank you thank you Mr H and no need to ever apologize our next speaker Mark will Weber uh Mark Weber 66 West Elizabeth Avenue uh back representing the drip and uh just want to catch uh Council up on some of the latest things that happened to us um about uh the end of last month I my phone lit up with a call from Harrisburg and my first thought was I don't know anybody in Harrisburg I'm not answering this then I answered it was this uh uh head of staff for one of the state reps and he said hey are are you Mark Weber the guy from the drip I said I did not how to answer that yes or no I thought about it I said yeah that's me and he said uh we we'd like it if you'd come speak to a a panel from the house on April 2nd uh it's going to be in the Lehi Valley so I did do that and uh it was in regards to Jean M Neil's uh pending legislation uh that she's trying to uh to get looked at and um it was really interesting because they first of all they let me speak for 15 or 20 minutes and uh so it was a little different than playing Beat the Clock with Mr clone here so I I got to expound on on some of my stuff without getting the Broadway hook uh which was refreshing but um basically you know Gan McNeil's bill that he's trying to get through uh would uh tie the the powers of be the water and sewars as I like to call them to uh in implementing a red flag alert system and I know there are some people on Council that are uh behind the same idea because they've talked about it uh and essentially it would be instead of getting a a huge quarterly bill at a month this uh this red flag in theory if it worked correctly would alert the consumer that something was wrong and um it would for instance my bill that ended up being over 500 bucks might have been closer to 200 bucks if I had gotten an alert uh although I don't know I was hiking in remote areas in New Zealand where I wouldn't have even had cell service but at least in theory it gives the citizen consumer a little bit of a chance and basically that's what I did with the state reps as I laid out how uh how against the citizen consumer the whole the whole thing is now it's a I liking it to fighting a tank with a water pistol but if Jean's legislation got through we we sort of have like one one bronze tooked Arrow against the tank so it would be a little bit better and in theory you would think the water people would want it because it's going to waste less water right um now if they don't want it why would that be would that be because they're going to possibly lose two-thirds of their penalty Revenue stream so there is that aspect of it and uh after I spoke it's really interesting because three different water authorities got up there and spoke and guess what they're circling the wagons against the genes legislation already some more subtle than others but there was a lot of this oh we don't know if we can Implement that uh it's going to be very difficult and all that made me think of uh this quote from Jonathan Swift where he said you'll know true genius in the world when all the dunes are in their Confederacy against it and that's what it struck me as they're already circling the wagons against this um now I'm not saying Jee McNeil is a genius but you know what she is she's a leader uh she's she actually displays leadership where her constituents were getting hurt by this uh these water bills and she said I'm going to do something about it got nowhere with the sewering water in Bethlehem big surprise so that's what motivated her to uh propose this bill now the bill uh in all likelihood the Republican Senate was probably going to give it a thumbs down but the the idea that she's trying is very important and it's going to give us lot of visibility on the subject and uh we're going to keep it visible on the drip we now have over 300 members we had 70 or 80 join in the last six weeks so there's other people than this old Cragin up here that so they're not happy about the way things are conducted by the water and sewers ours uh thank you for that thank you Mr will Weber next speaker tonight Sally will Weber Sally willber 66 West ofth Avenue thank you Council again for hearing us once again thank you to all the media Outlets uh their coverage has truly brought the issue to the Forefront and has many people interested okay sorry um many people aware interested and concerned about water issues I'd like to address several issues with with statements made by Mr pascol and Mr spurk during the public um work Works committee meeting in March and some have appeared in the meeting last fall at a council meeting M fol stated that upon the city's smart meter installation completion the water department hoped to have the electronic alarm system in place between 2028 and 2030 but these alarms would be only used for commercial commercial customers not residential at the Public Works Comm committee meeting he made it sound like this system would be in place much earlier and would include all customers I would appreciate if a council member would ask Miss rusol for clar clarification on these two points he completely reversed his original statement from just a few months ago has the plan changed if so when realistically will residential customers be able to monitor their water usage electronically and when will the water department have the alarm warnings in place and act on them immediately by alerting the customer Mr spurk referred to a mega Bill we received in 2018 he made it sound like this was a recurring problem for us we did have an unusually high bill in uh June of 18 not close to 54,000 gallons but higher than normal we had been on vacation for 2 and 1/2 weeks and when we returned home we walked in and discovered a running toilet jiggled the handle stopped and we forgot about it until we got our bill I called the water department spoke with them checked the meter and remembered the Runing toilet that time we paid our bill no questions it was on us um we know that we had a problem we took care of it this time there was no explanation whenever I leave our house at this point even to go to the store I make sure there's no running toilet after that experience uh Mr vascal has also repeatedly referred to the fact that we received a new leadfree water line like it was a bonus in reality the water turnoff valve at our Cur was so old it had disintegrated so the water could not be turned off to install the new meter so it had to be replaced because of its age plus in reality it didn't cost the water department a dime they received a $ 2.875 million pen vest Grant in 2021 specifically to replace the city's aging lead water lines this does definitely was not a c for us finally the water department repeatedly say they will work amicably to resolve any customer issues this was definitely not exp our experience and as it appears we are not the only customers who had treat have been treated poorly here are some adjectives used by others to describe their experience with Mr Bol in the water department arrogant dismissive uncommunicated NE ative unreachable disappointing immovable greedy shameful deceptive disingenuous indifferent unhelpful aloof nonchalant unfair ripoff and my favorite implacable these are others people's words not mine are these really the words you want your constituents using when disc when referring to a water department a city Department I would hope not thank you thank you Mr W next tonight Harry fa take it easy I come here today thankful and apologetic okay perhaps my words at last time were a bit over the top but I would like to explain myself I am deeply affected by this genocide as are many of the people in front of you here today I can't unsee their lifeless bodies their pulverized faces their screams echo in my head constantly I have no ulterior motive I'm here because I care about human life I wish our governing body would too and maybe you do care about the innocent victims in Palestine and you don't know what to do or how you can help if you can help but I'm telling you that you can and if you actually listened and discussed with us we can figure out the most effective plan together this can be more democratic there's tooo few checks and balances for those in power the people the working people need more power plain and simple it doesn't have to be us versus you it doesn't have to be but I can't stress this enough it will be if nothing changes or if nothing is done it's been six months and 40,000 people were murdered all while the federal government is still spending billions upon billions of our taxpaying dollars on weapons on fighter jets and more I've said it before in action is action we will not for forg get and I thank you for not silencing us at the last meeting but that's also not something worthy of being praised I don't get praised every time I brush my teeth or every time I take a shower you aren't supposed to be oppressors you aren't supposed to silence the working people and most of your actions at the last me at the last meeting gave me a glimpse of Hope in all of you except of course crampy Smith Callahan I was going to address him to but he's not here gmy Smith the audacity for you to play the victim for being told the truth that you are a self-interested you are self-interested I'll remind you to please address your comments to all of counsel or to the chair please okay thank you okay I'm only addressing her because she brought up this sir I I'll remind you thank you your actions are truly out of touch with reality you said if I could go quote if I could go and settle all the horrific atrocities that are happening over in Palestine I would be there on a heartbeat but I can't so that I asked you what have you done what have you done to combat this Siege this genocide address your comments to all Council or to the chair in regards to the sunshine act on Pennsylvania's office of open records website FAQ it answers the question can the public ask questions for the comment during the comment period And it answers yes although members of the agency are not required to provide an answer it is good practice to do so whenever possible I read the sunshine act I'm allowed to ask questions so I I could address it to the whole floor off of cramy Smith's quote so again I asked what have you guys done what have you guys done what have you done to combat this this genocide in Gaza what have you done have you organized food or fundraisers and food drives for the displaced and the starve have you advocated on their behalf have you denounced the perpetrators of this violence and Devastation have you condemned the dehumanization of these poor people who are just trying to survive at this point their home has been turned into a hellscape a horor so unimaginable so unexplainable many of us can't even comprehend we can't even put into words so again I ask you guys what have you done other than try to silence the mortified last time I checked no one asked anyone to go over and settle everything in Gaza we asked to pass the ceasefire resolution which we wrote for you guys we wrote for you we asked you to condemn the genocide we asked you for human compassion yet here you guys are once again I see I don't want to it's not all of you it was this resolution 6p was passed and pushed on the agenda by one person I won't name the person but we all know who it is and I'm not trying to Target you guys I'm trying to thank you especially willhelm especially um quiet Tech like you guys were great last and we came here today in light numbers out of respect for your decision in the last meeting make the right decision again if you don't we will be forced to mobilize and we will come here in Mass we don't want to it's it's a simple thing you guys this the precedent that this is saying is that if we the working people are concerned you now are no longer able to be criticized which is insane we can't criticize you now during public comment and if we come in Mass now you're just going to be able to oh look at the time now now it doesn't matter you know what we'll schedule it for another meeting I work two jobs I can only come a certain day a certain time I make time every two weeks for this because I work two jobs you are effectively silencing and affecting our First Amendment right to protest to mobilize make the right decision that's all I got thank you just to clarify and why I was interrupting I ask everyone to follow our whether it's Council or the public our rules of addressing all comments and questions to either Council as a whole or to the chair of council thank you our our next speaker signed up is Valerie Nunan okay on the revised resolution to public comment being read to the record this evening the resolution before us is blatantly prejudicial it is quite literally based on prejudging whose time and whose opinions are deemed valuable public comment was earlier this year moved closer to the beginning of the meeting to better respect the time of members of the public so what are we supposed to take away from this there's now an attempt to suppress comments from community members who happen to reside outside of City Limits by making it as inconvenient as possible for them to comment I see the implicit judgment here it's rather snide if it's so important to you then you can stay for the whole meeting I'd like to remind you that the only people in this room who are obligated to attend City Council meetings start to finish are people who work for the city the rest of us didn't sign up for that commitment and we're only here because we do care I for one have plenty of other things I could be doing on a beautiful spring evening like this for people that come from outside City Limits they already have a heightened time cost in coming here because they generally need to travel farther City Council meetings are at a regular time if not everyone can stay the whole meeting they at least know a reliable time to show up between meetings that go very late versus special meetings scheduled at an off time neither is ideal but this resolution A specific group of people is being made to take the brunt of long comment periods and it's built to discourage people from commenting at all the most vulnerable people the busiest people like Harry the people with the least control over their schedules would be most impacted by this resolution senior citizens disabled people people with demanding jobs and parents of young children all come to comment at these meetings I know you've seen Folks at the lectoring commenting with multiple young children in toe that is why you saw fit to move for forward public comment in the first place forcing people to wait until the meeting is toward its end before commenting already stresses people's schedules and then scheduling a second meeting at a different time means that regular people won't be able to plan around as easily as a slide aside I'd like to point out this is the first city council meeting after the month of Ramadan and this time of year Sunset has been shortly after 7 p.m. which is when the meeting starts so for the Muslim community members who have shown up to meetings in this past month most of them have settled for breaking their fasts with a light snack in the audience after not eating since Dawn since Dawn until they were able to leave and get a proper meal that's their level of commitment when they come out here and should there be a similar conflict in the future delaying comment would also interfere even more with the ability of Muslims to break their tests it's unclear what scheduling this second meeting in advance of the next regular meeting means you could schedule the second meeting at pretty much any time such as when most people are at work or in school it's leaving room for abusing the intent of the Sunshine Law which is in part to ensure that the public can comment Additionally the wording indicates that city council can end comment at any point in the meeting that means that if desired city council could hold prospective commenters to the belief that they would be able to comment wasting their time and then end comment suddenly pushing it off to another time and I also really don't understand the suggestion of potential to push public comment to the next regular meeting are you going to double the amount of time people get to speak in the next meeting even I don't want to sit through all that but anything less would be unfair and to my understanding a violation of the law it also there's no clear way of how this would be scheduled into the next meeting um where in the agenda would that go I would I imagine it would have to be before other City business otherwise it would defeat the purpose of being a comment period for the previous meeting I strongly object to separating resident taxpayer comments and other comments and I especially object to placing certain comments at different parts of the meeting it's not welcoming and it doesn't Foster the productive environment that you claim to wish for not to mention it's unnecessarily complicated and it doesn't seem as though you've thought it through thank you thank you that exhausts our list of everyone who had signed up so for anyone who had joined us more recently we are in the public comment for anything not being voted on this evening and there was reference to proposed Council uh rules changes those are not being voted on tonight so this would be the appropriate time to speak on that should you wish so I'll go around the room as we usually do is there anyone on the left who wanted to make comment who has not had a chance you yet Mr Kera hi I'm Marty catola 813 law for Street in Belin Pennsylvania I give my address fre because uh I firmly believe that if perpetrators want to go ahead and break in my house they're more welcome to but I will disable them and turn them over to the authorities no problem I will not kill somebody I don't believe in kill him as I don't believe in the situation that's going on and that we're let going on in the Middle East too I think we should not only put a Seas fire but make it that the war is stopped it's very simple it's not a complicated situation as people say about a 100 years ago and do City in Tombstone they made it that you cannot carry loaded guns in the city you were you will lose your firearms and be locked up youve got to stop the war not just St not just cease the fire we need to stop the war Palestine needs to be neutral ground for everyone no matter how much they may like each other but you carry any kind of a weapon in the city you will be arrested not that you could put it on the lawn aiming at your enemy and until you fired the gun you're not in violation no guns should not be permitted in Palestine no weapons of mass destruction nothing of that nature it's neutral ground for everybody and the story be settled as far as the city I almost almost witnessed oh not the killing the death of a child in a baby carriage yesterday and probably their mother because the city is cutting back on expenses and not having places lit properly you go up on New Street and on the south side and go to the end where Lehi has the the the stores and stuff there the the little thing going on there I think it's Morton Street it's very dimly lit actually there was no lights on and on all just a little bit before 8:00 it was dark the car in front of me wound up making a left turn and if it wasn't for the woman screaming that car would have hit that child in the baby carriage and the woman we got to keep the lights proper in the city of Bethlehem for the safety of a people cut back expenses on lighting no not that's not a good thing um another thing is uh which I had stated many times before the parking authority is uh you utilizing our tax dolls for that we pay for the streets to go ahead and harass us people and give us tickets for no reason there's no reason on fist Street to have street cleaning there's no parties going on there it's not New York City or Philadelphia South Street on Third and South no we don't need this that it's all only makes it harder for the people the park on the south side to where they get tickets and if somebody's in violation I get a VI I get a ticket I pay it or I go ahead and I appeal it as I'm going to a magistrates meeting on Thursday for something you have more than one ticket and you're in violation no poo to the vehic at their expense also people abuse animals they throw cats out in the rain like my neighbor did the the cat got wound up getting an upper respiratory infection bad kidney problems I took it to the vet the thing is people abuse an animal they pay for the cost and double the amount of the cost should be defined now I H three different topics within five minutes maybe we should have three minutes for each topic not just three minutes as a total thing God bless you all stay safe thank you Mr car was there anyone else still left Mr hack hello my name is Bud hackin I live in Bethlehem and I previously suggested that Council limit public comments to three minutes and see how well I do uh some of you know that our friend John cacar passed away last Friday he was a good person an exceptional government manager and administrator but some would say not such a good politician he served his country as a dedicated Soldier de ated Soldier and his hometown Community as well as many other communities around the country when called to manage cities and counties if you listen you may hear John offer good advice to those in government from his new administrative chair in heaven um by the way uh I'm sorry mayor Reynolds is not here um the family was very appreciative of the kind words that that mayor Reynolds provided to on the on hearing about John's passing a few other comments I'm concerned that our government in betham is appointing too many political friends to the city's boards authorities and commissions why are so many government and public sector people appointed uh to these various bodies we have 880,000 people in the city shouldn't there be more uh private citizens appointed to these boards wouldn't that help gain knowledge and skilled advice for the city I won't go through the list of Who's Who on which board or authority in addition I'm noticing a remarkable number of people who work for agencies coming out and speaking publicly in favor of the mayor's policies those policies may be right or they may not be right but there are some transparency issues and potential ethical issues when those who receive money from the City come out and advocate for the city's policies and programs cacv Arts Quest the Chamber of Commerce New Bethany are some recent ones that I've heard and they are among those receiving money from the city and speaking publicly in favor of certain city policies I don't think it's a good idea I think just if you want to speak you might just reveal the money that you're getting from the city and then that can be weighed good government says that this is a potential problem and I hope it's one that you might consider and address thank you thank you Mr hacket was there anyone else to left what to make comment I'll turn to the wide Center Mr Mr sh Bill sh 1898 Avenue the advantage of not signing up is that you can pick up on some things that have said before you so I'll go in reverse order um I think I'd like to just issue a blanket second to Mr hackett's remarks I'm particularly concerned about the historic con Conservation Commission they met last night there were only three members there so far as I know the membership of that commission is down to three uh will it decrease further I hope not then they can't meet at all which what's happened to the zoning hearing board in February when due to a resignation and another person did not want to be reappointed they were down to two m and so they had no Quorum in February and couldn't meet they do have as you know two more members now so working backwards [Music] um the um I I want to mention an idea I've been sort of quietly promoting perhaps too quietly about the uh affordable housing that may be built at the first First Presbyterian Church and on the I don't know what the latest plan looks like but if they still have any of those four unit apartment buildings I'm suggested suggesting that one of them be reserved for new police officers this might help with the recruiting of uh eight officers which is the current shortfall and uh it might make some of the Neighbors in the neighborhood feel a little better about the whole thing um as you may have heard there's some opposition has developed I'm told there is a petition circulating that has over a thousand signatures some time ago actually um going back to Mr hch um maybe there's a simple solution to that uh oh perhaps all that has to be done is to change the ordinance that anybody who owns property in the city of Bethlehem is entitled to have a residential parking permit if their property is in the appropriate area so that the owner of the property can is feel feel free to visit his or her property at any time that might be a good thing um I have some comments on the um proposed amendments to the public comment resolution um the uh Grace and I talked about it recently and I said it was an interesting idea and I'm generally in agreement but I would like to make two adjustments as proposed the last courtesy of the floor would be at the end of the meeting for um nonresidents to speak on anything as as I recall and no things not that were not voted on at the meeting sorry uh I would suggest that they be allowed to speak on anything and that resonance also be given a chance to speak at the end of the meeting because the way it's proposed right now only right non-residents could react to anything the council said or didn't during the meeting and I think residents should have the same opportunity and as for the ongoing discussion about GM in one minute I'm running out of words on this issue I have had passing thoughts about not coming the City Council meetings anymore for a while because I'm high tired of hearing these allegations that have no foundation and I want to make an opportunity or offer an opportunity I'm willing to discuss after the meeting if somebody is willing to have a rational reasonable discussion on some of these issues I canand them for their passion but not for their restraint and I think they're asking as I've said in the past they should be asking for a lot more than just to ceas fire thank you thank you Mr sh is there anyone else in the front row who wanted to make comment on anything not being voted on Mr analex and then I'll I'll work left to right with the front row second row third row stepen and tex CET s Ridge the issue of residency has been part of bethlehem's History commencing with its Origins any person who is not a member of the Maran congregation could not become a resident owner in Bethlehem this ended when the colonies gained their independence thereby discontinuing the control of the Maran colony in Bethlehem by the church in her new Germany in 1962 residen again became a major issue when the city council passed an ordinance require all employees of the city of betham to reside in the city This was later repealed sometime in the 198s the lengthy and very controversial public comments over the the ceasefire issue during the march F council meeting again raised the issue of residency after remember of council introduced a possible solution which will limit comments under the public comment item on the agenda to only residents of the city of Bethlehem the cont the controversy created by this possible resolution force it being [Music] tabled approximately one and a half years ago the issue of residency was raised when private citizen unhappy with cil's performance and noting that some of Cil were very recent City residents suggested that perhaps res residency longevity was re reflected in their performance the mayor took strong exception stting when he was on Console a fellow council member per performed extremely well in spite of the fact they were only a very recent City resident Research into this comment reflects some interesting data of the 45 returned citizen evaluation forms of the seven recent council members result in the following grades two B's Two C's 1 D and two FS although not evaluated in a similar manner the past Consul the majority of schweer Lon Don Zabo and blinsky would have received no less than a Grade B with some being an a if we investigate the common denominator of all the BG grades we will soon discover that they were all born in Beth if we comparatively investigate the F grades it's interesting that they have the lowest residency in the city of Bethlehem since the evaluations are based on performance rather than personality it is clear whom we should elect for conso prior to election all candidates are Unown quantities therefore residency should be a key factor for election to counil the same condition should exist for those seeking reelection especially the fs mters please take note of the council at the next Council election thank you Mr Anal is there anyone else in the front row who want to make comment Who's not had a chance to yet okay I'll move to the second row anyone in the second row in the very center hi my name is yira uh born and raised American citizen resident of Le High Valley my entire life graduated from Willam High School lived on Fountain Hill for several years birth both of my children at uh St Luke's Bethlehem um I've talked here not that I think any of you would recognize my face or even remember me I feel like we just kind of blend into the masses of brown people in your eyes um this is about the third time that I've talked here and usually I have something prepared because public speaking is not my forte um uh I get extremely nervous I always end up crying um because I can't believe that we are still after 6 months witnessing the atrocities that we are witnessing and that our city council members are claiming ignorance are claiming that their hands are clean or that they have no power or that this issue is above them when we are the people that live with you we are the people that serve you we are the people that educate your children we are the people that when you go out with your girlfriends on a dinner to unwind and get drunk and talk about how frustrating it is that you have to come to these City Council meetings and it's running on for forever yet we just blend into the background you don't even realize the conversations that we've heard from literal city council members but I'm not going to address any of you specifically because we have to address you guys at a whole we are your Uber drivers and when you're sitting in the car talking about elated about how your daughter has had their first kiss or how you again you're frustrated that you have to sit here through hours when Valerie stated that we also have families we also have children we also have jobs we also have much better things than we would rather do but as a human being we we feel obligated to not allow history to repeat itself because the same people that claimed blind ignorance when this was happening to the Jewish people they had no idea they didn't know and maybe maybe I I doubt it but maybe they didn't know but we can't claim that ignorance and the day in ignorance in the days of social media everything that we are exposed to on the ground information we cannot be swayed anymore by Propaganda and fake news and what you know they decide to cover Israel is out of control bombing not only just penstein what happened now that they are claiming to be victims once again because I ran attack when under international law Iran was doing exactly what they had every right to do and that was to defend themselves from a direct attack a declaration of war that if it if it happened in any American base anywhere around the world we would retaliate tenfold but Iran was graceful they didn't kill any citizens they didn't attack or bomb any hospitals you'll have your time to speak be respectful and shut up Ma I'm GNA ask everyone I didn't hear what was said from the audience so I'm not going to start pretending that's fine address but I I ask everyone to keep your comments to count 100% so we are going to continue to come back because it is it is our American right to come back and although you think that the majority of us that are coming do not live in Bethlehem because for fear of doxing for fear of harassment we refuse to State our address that is not the case we will show you our IDs in private if that's what you so wish and we will come back this resolution is absurd and that's why you guys tabled it because you know that it's unconstitutional so yes we're going to come back not because we think that we're going to change your minds because if we don't come back we are just as guilty as the Nazis we are just as guilty as the people who had the aparte in South Africa we're just as guilty as Jim Crow and one day I hope that it'll rest on your conscience because although it won't change you we know that it we say it because we don't want you to change us and in the future you will hang your head in shame you will you will feel the brunt and the guilt of everything that you did not do thank you thank you is there anyone else in the second row who want to make comment Who's not had chance here on the far right or my far right good evening Ruby clof I'm a resident of the city of Bethlehem I'm here to address uh the revised Amendment and yeah I'm here to address the revised Amendment of the rules of council which were previously set forth in resolution 2011- 214 the revised Amendment to the rules of council provides an even more problematic more divisive and potentially more discriminatory and more unconstitutional rule of council first the amendment seeks to take an existing two categories of public comment one for matters being voted on one for matters not being voted on and add a third category of public comment for non-residents non- taxpayers at the beginning of council meeting and then a fourth category of public comment to non-residents and non- taxpayers on matters not being voted on at the end of the council meeting in short this is going from two segments of public comment to four moreover it adds nothing substantively the current rules of conduct uh already allow for all of these categories residents non-residents taxpayers and non-t taxpayers to all provide public comment the only thing that this proposed amendment do does accomplish is to separate and Shuffle the order of public comment second again none of the controlling terms are defined in any way just because the sunshine act doesn't seek to define those terms it does not mean that they would not be legally challenged the term resident non-resident taxpayer non- taxpayer they remain completely vague and undefined leaving them entirely open for interpretation and confusing the public even more college students reside in the city of Bethlehem just as much as homeowners patrons of a city of Bethlehem business can contribute to that business's revenues who then turns around and pays taxes to the city of Bethlehem just like a property owner where do we draw the line these terms create the real potential that they will be interpreted and applied in a discriminatory manner in violation of the First Amendment subjective and discriminatory interpretations are not going to solve the council's perceived problem they will only exacerbate them moreover long Council meetings are not exclusive to a ceasefire resolution plate there are townships and cities all over the Commonwealth and throughout States throughout the country that have issues of General concern and wide impact for instance construction of warehouses uh residential and Commercial developments utilities transportations these these issues Drive hundreds of people to come out to their Council to speak on these issues because they affect them that doesn't mean that the council turns around and and comes up with a resolution um or proposes a resolution to some somehow curtail those um comments so the council should carefully and painstakingly review this proposed amendment with the lens of the two cornerstones of our democracy one the freedom of speech again the first amendment I can't believe that we have to actually defend this but the First Amendment to the US Constitution unequivocally protects the freedom of speech Let's remind ourselves quote Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibit the free exercise thereof or AB Bridging the freedom of speech or of the press or of the right to people peacefully to assemble and to petition the government to a redress of grievances this is our constitution the protection of freedom of speech is again reflected and enshrined in section seven of the Constitution of Pennsylvania which states quote the free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable Rights of Man and every citizen May freely speak write and print on any subject being responsible for the abuse of that Liberty second public trust in public in placed in elected officials the general assembly finds that the right of the public to be present at all meetings of agencies and to witness the deliberation policy formulation decision making of agencies is vital to the enhancement and proper functioning of the democratic process and that secrecy in public affairs undermines the faith of the public in government and Public's Effectiveness in fulfilling its role in a Democratic Society so while the intention may be to Simply avoid long Council meetings um we've gone from uh having two segments of public comment to four and we have no definitions whatsoever to the terms so people don't know what category they fall into this proposed amendment is a breeding ground for constitutional violations of the right of freedom of speech adopting such a resolution is going to invite legal challenges but more concerning it will diminish the public trust in our elected officials at a pivotal time when our country needs more compassion and unity instead of indifference and division thank you was there anyone else in the second row who wants to make comment I'll turn to the third row was there anyone in the third row who would to make comment on anything not being voted on tonight to the right anyone I missed before we move on thank you everyone that concludes our first public comment moving on to our second public comment for ordinances or resolutions that are to be voted on this evening we don't have anyone signed up so I'll go around the room again anyone to the left who want to comment on anything we're voting on this evening I turn to the live Center anyone who wants to make comment Mr analex stepen an Alex 77 Ridge the sale of the service Revolver by the city and its citizens to a retired police officer is their way of showing their appreciation for the officer service and they're ensuring the welfare of the community this has become a tradition which is finalized by City council's unanimous approval vote but this unanimous approval tradition has now been broken with the council member voting against the sale because it vitol their personal principles question of it comes has this council member violated their oath as a public servant which is a caretaker of Citizen welfare and in conflict with the gun sale which by definition indirectly enhances citizen welfare this question was raised at the recent meeting of council's training session in Pennsylvania state ethics laws no answer was provided a call was then made to Pennsylvania state ethics commission no answer was given since it did not fall under any of its guidelines I now ask I now ask the president of counil to ask Council solicitor whether or not this C council member violated their ethics as a public servant as opposed to the role as a private citizen an answer would be appreciate it since a number of citizens have privately expressed her interest also uh I like to use the remainder of my time follow Mr Weber's comments during these meetings I've heard the term impossible use in terms of water meters to a physical and material scientist this is an impossible term because anything mechanical is not perfect so take your speedometer you have a rotating digital which is Miles so every time it hits a mile the next digit which is a 10th foot turns one time Mr Anal please relate this to Something That We're voting on this evening well I'm using a remainder of my time we're in the part of public comment for anything that's voting on Contin I'm going to ask you to remind me how this is relevant to anything that's on you it is not relevant but I would like to use my time that is not where we are in the agenda mral sir it's relevant in a sense of Illuminating something very very important have gentleman's comment Mr analex and I'm done it before I am not gonna interrupt you again so please let me finish you know where we are in the agenda this is not time to use this time to speak on previous comments for things that were not being voted on so I'm going to politely ask you to either bring it to Something That We're voting on this evening or we'll continue on with our meeting this even I have observed you allowing someone to exactly that on a number of occasions whether you're making this personal I don't know but I feel it is that way but I apologize if if you uh want to feel that way and and but vence or concern for something important to understand I'll sit down thank you Mr Anal anyone else may comment on anything we're voting on this evening guest and the Senate be quick I actually read the same you can start the time I'm loud uh I read the same thing and I just want to say it is very interesting that um in that you guys are selling it for the actual cost I believe of the firearm which is $300 so it's interesting to me that you guys know how to not put the profit motive in every function of human life being like housing Healthcare whatnot I just find it interesting we don't have to profit off of selling former police officers their own weapons but we have to profit off of everything else uh yeah I just wanted to say that thank you Mr sh no sh 18 98 never I I wanted two things first I want to support the uh nomination of Mr MOSI to the Planning Commission um he and I have had a good chat and U I like the way he feels about the city and what should happen um as you know I am concerned about the future of Bethlehem and whether or not we're going to throw away our special quality of life in the name of growth um and as as for this firearm discussion now um is that going to be voted on tonight yes sir okay I've done some thinking about that and I may be completely off base here trying to put myself in the inside the brain of a retiring police officer because I've never been one I've never even owned a gun although I did fire 22 in Roc and got a marksman's badge um the it occurs to me well first let me mention that the Washington Post once said that half of the officers in DC never fired their weapon in their entire career which was kind of an eye openening for me and this this was back during a period when things were pretty bad in DC for a while was the homicide capital of the country one things have gotten kind of bad again too but anyhow when an officer retires and let's say he's had this weapon for his entire career or her and for all he knows and this is one of the things that Donald Ruma would call the things you know you don't know for all he knows that weapon may have saved his life even though it stayed in his holster his entire career because there might have been a time when he was confronting a perpetrator who was thinking about doing something to the officer but then noticed the weapon in the holster and decided yeah maybe I better not that's like I said that's something we know we don't know but I think if I were an officer retiring I would feel a certain affection for this weapon that I never had to fire and would like to keep it around as a law-abiding citizen thank you thank you Mr sh is there anyone else in the center who wanted to make comment on anything that count is voting on this evening anyone to the right that concludes our public comment this evening any old business from members of council any new business for members of council Council Leon um first I wanted to thank Mr hacket for bringing up John kacar and also the mayor for sending condolences um John was uh an upstanding individual I met him on the campaign Trail spoke with him at length uh he was just a good man and he will be lost or be uh missed um I'm sure that this is probably going to come up later but the Southside had an amazing announcement and I just once again want to thank lvip for their very generous donation of a $4 million property that will go a very long way in uh helping with the affordable housing crisis that we're facing um making um just a a good quality of life reachable for everyone in all income brackets and wanted to remind people that the Southside cleanups are are coming up so if you want to know about them just holl at me after the meeting because we're going to have one every month between now and November thank you Council thought I do something wrong no sorry I was Consulting with our solicitor on on something I apologize the any other new business for members of council one of the things that again sorry as we were Consulting on something what one thing I will announce your new business we are looking for volunteers for the public library board I know there was a a question before about boards and appointments things like that there is someone who is I will say anyone there's a couple people have shown interest there's one uh only one position to be filled volunteer one anyone who's interested or may know someone interested who's uh ideally supportive of the Beth May public library they could reach out to our clerk's office and Mr Miller will be sure to um forward that information to to me as we make decisions any other new business for members of council we'll move on to Communications communication 6A March 25th 2024 memorandum with proposed resolution from director of Public Works Mike alcohol requesting the destructure records from his Department Mr alcohol had has reviewed the municipal records retention Act and the records listed on the exhibit accompanying the memo fall within the categories where destruction is permitted and a resolution will be place on the May 7 agenda communication 6B March 20th 24 memorandum proposed resolution from Tiffany Wismer business manager of the Department of community and economic development memorandum recommends a contract with the greater Lea Valley Chamber of Commerce to provide marketing and public relations services to the city the amount is $80,000 contract will run from January 1st through December 31st of 2024 and resolution 10 is on the agenda communication Su seed on March 27th 2024 memorandum with an attached resolution from dced business manager Tiffany Wismer Miss Wismer recommends an agreement with bedco to carry out the programs Andor targeted activities ofed Co including administering programs and activities cost is not to exceed $155,000 contract will run through December 31st of 2024 and resolution 10c is on the agenda communication 6D and April 2nd 2024 memorandum from police chief Michelle cot with an attached resolution agreement for the purchase of a Duty Weapon by a retired officer of the Bethlehem police department pursuant to the third class city code retired officers May purchase their Duty Firearms at fair market value and resolution 10d is on the agenda communication 6E and April 3rd 2024 memorandum with proposed resolution from police chief Michelle cot requesting the destruction of records from her Department chief cot has review the municipal records retention Act and the records listed on the exhibit accompanying the memo fall within the categories where destruction is permitted and a resolution will be placed on the May 7 Council agenda communication 6f and April 2 2024 memorandum with an attached resolution from dced business manager Tiffany Wismer M Wismer recommends a contract with Benchmark Civil Engineering Services to review the Penbrook Road and stepco Boulevard Street corridors within the Penbrook Choice neighborhood project considered low cost tactics to slow traffic and increase pedestrian safety and estimate costs for implementation cost of the contract is $9,700 there are no renewals un res olution 10 e is on the agenda communication 6G an April 4th 2024 memorandum with an attached resolution from Laura Collins director of community and economic development M Collins recommends an agreement with cougle's recycling of Harrisburg to transport and process curbside recycling materials picked up from the Bethlehem yard waste facility cost for the first 48 months of the contract is 2,289 55 contract will run from May 1st 20 24 through April 30th 2028 five one-year renewals are offered at a total additional cost of 3 mil1 155,50 C uh cougal was the lowest of four bids received resolution 10f is on the agenda communication 6h an April 2nd 2024 memorandum with an attached resolution from Laura Collins director of community and economic de development M Collins recommends an agree with key codes inspection agencies of Allentown to provide State Certified backup Personnel to perform Inspection Services in the event of illness emergency or vacations the cost is $25,000 per year through December 31st 2027 five one-year renewals are offered at a total of additional cost of $125,000 key codes was the lowest of two bids and resolution 10g is on the agenda Communications I and April 9th 2024 memorandum with an attached resolution from Edward basca director of water and sewer resources Mr boscola recommends an agreement with AECOM of kah hakan to design upgrades to three emergency water system connections between the cities of Bethlehem and Allentown under the leh county Authority cost is not to exceed $11,400 contract will run through December 31st of 2024 there are no renewals and resolution 10 H is on the agenda communication 6j and April 9th 2024 memorandum with an attached resolution from Edward boscola director of water and sewer resources Mr boscola recommends an agreement with a Ecom of kah hakan to design upgrades to two emergency water system connections between the city of Bethlehem and Easton Suburban Water Authority cost is not to exceed $199,200 contract will run through December 31st of 202 four there are no renewals and resolution 10 I is on the agenda communication 6K and April 10th 2024 memorandum from solicitor John fburg Jr with an attached use permit agreement and resolution permit is St Luke's University Health Network for use of the Earl e schaer ice rink for the 2024 Boutique at the rink event dates are May 28th through June 1st 2024 the duration of the permit is May 1st through June 7th 24 and resolution 10j is on the agenda communication 6L April 10th 2024 memorandum from solicitor John M spook spurk Jr with an attached use permit agreement and a resolution perit is the kindness project with sub perm of Arts Quest perit wishes to use First Street from Founders way to the ruins West lot for the Payton Hindman Memorial car show from 11:00 a.m. until 400 p.m. on May 5th 2024 d of the permit will be from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on May 5th and resolution 10K is on the agenda this evening communication 6m an April 10th 2024 memorandum from solicitor johnb Jr with an attached use permit agreement resolution permit is the greater Lehi Valley Chamber of Commerce sub permites are lost Tavern Brewing LLC Franklin Hill vineyards Incorporated and social still LLC perti wishes to use the Bethlehem rose garden and Bandshell for the 2024 live in the Garden concert series event dates are May 4th 11 18th and 24th June 1st 8 15th and 22nd of 2024 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm duration of the permit is from 5: to 8:30 p.m. each of the listed dates and resolution 10l on the agenda communication 6n and April 10th 2024 memorandum from solicitor John Jr with an attached use permit agreement and resolution permit is Arts Quest and the event is the 2024 levit Pavilion concert series perit wishes to use First Street from Founders way to the Eastern Terminus event dates are Thursdays Fridays Saturdays and Sundays May 17th through September 14 2024 with times of 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. the ration of the permit is from 5: to 11:00 p.m. on each of the listed dates in resolution 10m is on the agenda communication 60 an April 10th 2024 memorandum and proposed resolution from Laura Collins director of community and economic development memorandum seeks permission to apply for a three $300,000 Grant from Northampton County requesting funds for the greenway Trail Gap acquisition and resolution 10n is on the agenda communication 6p an April 11th 2024 memorandum from councilwoman Grace CRM Smith with an attached resolution proposing to amend Council rules resolution reads substantially as follows and is provided in full on the city's website one amendment of rule 3A rule 3A setting forth the order of business at public meetings is amended to provide the following order of business roll call approval of minutes public comment by Resident and taxpayers on ordinances and resolutions to be voted on this evening 5 minute time limit public comment by residents and taxpayers on any subject not being voted on this evening 5 minute time limit public comment by nonresident taxpayer on ordinances and resolutions to be voted on this evening five minute time limit old business new business tabled items unfinished business Communications reports ordinances for final passage new ordinances resolution public comment by Don residents and and taxpayers on any subject not being voted on this evening five minute time limit adjournment number two amendment of rule 3D rule 3D providing public comment will not be extended for personal insults or personal attacks on any individual name calling or other behavior that is inconsistent with purpose intent public comment is hereby amended to provide that public comment will not be extended for personal criticism unrelated to City business nor for disruptive behavior that interferes with the administration and progress of public meeting and number three addition of rule 3E section 3E shall State as follows when any council member believes that Council will not be able to address the business before it unless public comment is suspended is provided for in section 71.1 of the sunshine act Council May by motion and majority vote defer the public comment period to the next regular meeting or to a special meeting occurring in advance of the next regular meeting and that resolution will be placed on the May 7 city council agenda communication 6q and April 10th 2024 memorandum from solicitor johnf spurk Jr with an agreement and proposed resolution solicitor spurk recommends approval of a wastewater treatment plan allocation agreement between the city of Bethlehem and lower saen Township and the htown buau authority and resolution 100 is on the agenda tonight thank you Mr nor moving on to reports the only report I have is is reminding everyone of the announcement that city council is going to hold our Curative Amendment hearing that is going to be on Tuesday April 30th 2024 at 6m here in town hall this hearing was requested by the petition submitted by B ax LLC the Curative Amendment request removing any building link limitation from the CL District in our zooming ordinance the subject property is the proposed Handover Apartments project and again that will be on April 30th at 6 pm here in town hall I have nothing else to report tonight Mr Mayor thank you sorry for my delay in attending we had a world heritage meeting I think I had uh sent you an email that said that you know we have our International consultant Mr gamble in this week um so we were meeting upstairs but we were able to to uh conclude in time for me to come down um my first administrative order is I hereby reappoint Matthew MOSI 1820 Paul Avenue Beth PA 18018 of the blighted property RW committee and this appointment is effective as of April 16 2024 administrative order uh Matthew MOSI blighted property Review Committee the resolution sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss crampy Smith any discussion I'll just say I see Mr MOSI here and I thank him for continuing to to volunteer his time on a few of our city boards Mr Mayor did you want to add something just add something is obviously you see Mr MOSI under 7 B5 as well um when his appointment at City Planning Commission there is one Planning Commission design need to the blight of property Review Committee so those two things are connected so he's not being appointed to two different things independently it's essentially the same appointment and then the designate to the pl property re committee thank you Mr Mayor I think that was uh relay to us previously I appreciate the clarification counil lar do you have a question uh not a question just I you know I am a neighbor of Mr MOSI and uh would like to just second the thanks for volunteering in a number of capacities both on the city and in various Community organizations and I was really active with that any other discussion from members of council we'll call the role Miss kmy Smith hi Miss quch hi Miss l I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I and Mr colog I passes 60 thank you I here by uh appoint as Morel Den nario 1729 West North Street betham P 1808 of the Civil Service Board as an alternate this appointment is expected as of April 16 2024 administrative order Esmeralda Nazario Civil Service Board resolution sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion on the appointment we call roll Miss grmy Smith I miss quch hi Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi and Mr colum I pass 60 thank you I H hereby appoint Daniel cinsky 722 Delwood Street Beth P 1808 and the parking authority this appointment is effective as of April 16 2024 administrative order appointing Daniel cinsky to the park un Authority the resolution sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmy Smith discussion we'll call the roll Miss kmy Smith hi miss quch I miss L hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi and Mr clone I pass 6 Z thank you I hereby uh reappoint Joe narvic 603 North ker Street betham PA to the sister city commission this appointment is effective as of April 16 2024 administrative order reappointing Joe narc to the sister city commission the resolution sponsored by Miss Leon and Mr correction Miss crcy Smith just disc we'll call the rooll Miss kmcy Smith hi Miss quch hi Miss lard hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm I and Mr colum I passes 60 thank you uh 7 B5 I hereby reappoint Matthew MOSI 1820 Paul Avenue bethl PA 180 in the City Planning Commission this appointment is effective as of April 16 2024 administrative order reappointing Matthew MOSI to the City Planning Commission the resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmy Smith discussion we'll call the rooll Miss kmy Smith hi Miss quch hi Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi and Mr colone hi passor 6 thank you and I do know Mr MOSI and Mr sainy are here in tenant and I just want to thank them personally part of our success as a city is the fact that we have a lot of um very highly qualified professionals that want to be a part of our authorities boards and commissions Mr sainy and Mr Loi MOSI are near the top that list um so I just want to thank them personally um you know as we often talk about you know the progress here is not just about getting it right but it's about carrying out that process and that often takes a lot of time uh in unpaid positions so I just want to thank them personally for their service um before we move on um and then administrative order 7 B6 I hearby reappoint Rosy Sabo 798 Baron Mo Lane betham p807 to the Civil Service Board and this reappointment is effective as of April 16 2024 administrative order reappointing Ros Lee Sabo to the Civil Service Board resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss crampsey Smith discussion on the appointment we'll call the rooll Miss grmy Smith hi Miss quch hi Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm I and Mr colum I pass the 6 thank you I'm going to turn to miss Collins uh in a second for two updates but I do want to uh just relay that this week we started our um Street Paving work I think I've talked a lot about that uh that last year over the two-year period 2022 2023 we paid 47 uh miles uh or like Lane miles this the next two years our goal is 50 um thanks to support of city council that is a improvement over the 2021 uh kind of two-year period which is about 27 um so we've made an enormous jump there um including some of the work that we've helped to get UGI due with all of the cutting up uh that they've been doing so so but that work started last week um I believe it started over there on um west or north Boulevard I believe Mr alal um so that was kind of the first street that we started Milling so you'll see a lot of that work going on uh that takes a lot of uh City work as you know we do some of that inhouse we contract some of that out um but that is something Mr alol his Department's hard work so I do want to uh thank them for that and you'll start to see that going on if you've not already uh and then I just wanted to turn to miss Colin to uh be able to make a couple of updates and then that will conclude our report presid CL I just have two updates tonight the first is Council woman Leon um already mentioned U during new business we had a major announcement last week which I hope everyone um had the opportunity um to see if they weren't in attendance um but we announced a a very large um you know priority Initiative for the city it's a mixed income housing project in South Bethlehem uh it's made possible by a more than $4 million land donation from lvip uh and it helps us really realize a decades long dream of reimagining the South Bethlehem Eastern Gateway we had started planning well before I was around um and that was probably I want say 10 or even 12 years ago and we started doing some planning for that Corridor there and lvip is now under agreement to buy the salagi fuel and the Dano sites on Fourth Street and they're going to be donating that land to a project that'll bring 20 new apartment units uh mix of market rate and affordable units uh over a two-phase multi-year project um we made the announcement alongside lb Penrose who's the selected affordable housing developer developer Community Action and of course the neighborhood's longtime Advocate um Council Lon who spoke um really passionately about the project um we think it's a really good example of how opening doors is playing out um and to really make impact in the community it's brought a lot of Partners together in the planning process for opening doors which is now translating into projects that um really will help um House people um so it's a it's a really big um step for us in our Collective housing work and the second announcement is that we held a community Festival in the marvine Pembrook neighborhood this past Saturday April 13th um and that was part of our Pembrook Choice neighborhoods housing uh project it was very well attended it was a great event the city and Housing Authority jointly put that on as a way to connect with the Pembrook Housing Authority residents and tell them a little bit more about the program and do it in a u more informal and welcoming environment in the middle of the neighborhood and we got a really great turnout and um we're also very grateful to all the partners who set up as part of that Festival um whether it was cat or the Beth Area School District the health Bureau is there the um Recreation Bureau was there luag Arts Quest there were a lot of great Community Partners who were able to um engage with member the members of the of that Community um and then they also were able to provide some feedback about the planning that we are doing for the neighborhood so that we could hear more from the residents about what kind of future planning um is really going to be most important for that neighborhood and one of the things that we heard quite a lot about was um Traffic Safety I think you'll see later on in the agenda we do have um a contract to start looking at um uh looking at Penbrook and stepco and that's a direct result of this you know really on the ground Community engagement that we're doing with people in the neighborhood um so those are those are two updates on our housing work um but a way to stay engaged of course for the public as well is at our quarterly um steering committee meetings the next of which is on May 15th at uh Northampton fer Center and that's at 6:30 pm go ahead thank you Miss Collins and I would just add you know my thanks to all six all the the six members of city council are here tonight and your commitment to this issue of housing you know it's not you know organizations and institutions like lvip don't just spend $4 million that just doesn't happen and part of the reason it happened is because of the commitment of uh not just the administration but people in city council and that comes up in these conversations a lot it helped us get the choice neighborhoods Grant of 500,000 it and it really really helped us get this $4 million public private partnership with lvp and if we all weren't on the same page like it would not have happened um and so I cannot thank the council members all of you who in whatever way that you choose to have been really really supportive of this issue of housing um it's an issue that councilman kmy Smith has talked about before that councilman Leon has been on the ground for that all of us um I know uh councilwoman quch and councilwoman Leon were at one of the meetings last week it's an issue that uh Miss lar and I have talked about for years same thing with M Mr clone and miss wihelm and it's an issue that's on the top of all of our lists and it is that uh uniformity as a priority that has allowed for these these type of Partnerships to happen um and it is one of those things that is consistent going back to the reason why we're able to get some of the support that we're gonna that we're able to get one of the other things that happened last week was we had like the the fit out groundbreaking for the betham food co-op another project that was able to get the support of Congressman wild and others because they looked at this particular community and and the fact that everybody was on the same page and everybody was talking about what this was and I know that sometimes in the moment it doesn't necessarily feel that way but I am telling you that in these conversations when it comes up with our our state and federal officials and they're talking my word NE necessarily allocate those dollars what separates the city of Bethlehem from other places and our grant applications is the fact that everybody's on the same page and that's not something we could do alone so people are about to be helped in the kway and fourth because we supported opening doors because we supported our housing study um and I I cannot thank the people in city council enough for being advocates for that um because that's really the reason why this is going to happen if we didn't do that study if we didn't support this this wouldn't be happening and the reason why we're able to get those those type of deals when other people don't have them is because we did the work so I would conclude Mr clone by just saying uh thank you to everybody on city council uh and all of our partners on steering committee and our nonprofit world and every everywhere else because um you know some of these big things are happening only because of that support so thank you thank you mayor Reynolds and thank you Miss Collins for the update to our finance committee councilwoman KY Smith thank you the finance committee met tonight Tuesday April 16 2024 6m in town hall the committee discussed and voted on the following seven agenda items one the sewer Capital fund budget budget adjustments 2019 H2O or h2o Grant two the sewer Capital fund budget budget adjustments arpa Pennsylvania small water and sewer grants three the water Capital utilities fund budget budget adjustments pen bestest Grant four water Capital utilities fund budget budget adjustments orpa H2O Grant five general fund budget budget adjustments pccd grant for recruitment of policemen and police women six general fund budget budget adjustments Health budget amendments seven liquid fuels fund budget budget adjustments pend do issued allocation check committee votes were taken on each of the seven agenda items the committee voted to recommend placement of the appropriate bills on tonight's council meeting agenda for each agenda item respectfully submitted Grace kampsy Smith chairwoman of the finance committee thank you Council we don't have any ordinances tonight for final passage we'll go to new ordinances Mr Miller please read Bill 9 2024 an ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the 2024 capital budget for sewer utilities bill number 09 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion M um just for those who weren't able to attend the meeting um a number of these are um adjustments um similar to some that we voted on in the past where um because the 2024 budget is built off of 2023 through October um there are additional uh expenditures or savings that are realized and so then adjustments have to be made and that's what we're looking at tonight thank you councilman any other discussion we'll call the rooll Miss grmy Smith I miss quch hi Miss lard hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi and Mr colog I passes 60 Bill 102 24 an ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the 2024 capital budget for sewer utilities bill number 20 10 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss crampsey Smith discussion call the roll Miss kmy Smith I miss quch hi Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm I and Mr colom I passes 60 Bill 11 2024 ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the 2024 capital budget for water utilities bill number 11 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmy Smith discussion call roll Miss kmy Smith I miss quch I miss lard I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I and Mr cologne I pass the 6 Z Bill 12 2024 an ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of pen pania amending the 2024 capital budget for water utilities bill number 12 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and M gr Smith discussion um this unless somebody else wants to but um also again for those who weren't able to um to join us earlier at the committee meeting um this one actually is to replace a 100y old reservoir on the south side and it's arpa funds that came from the federal government are coming through the state so just to and then there's a there's a a match from the city as well thank you Council any other discussion we'll call the rooll Miss kmy Smith I miss quch I miss L I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I and Mr colog I passes 60 Bill 13 2024 ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 13 2024 is sponsored by Miss Le own Miss gmy Smith discussion I'll just comment this is a grant um from the state for police hiring so it it is equivalent of $75,000 $5,000 hiring bonus for 15 police officers thank you Council any other discussion for members of council we'll call the role Miss gmy Smith I miss quch hi Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi and Mr cologne hi pass 60 bill 14 2024 an ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehi and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 14 2024 is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmy Smith any discussion we'll call roll Miss kmy Smith I miss quch hi Miss Le hi Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I and Mr col I pass the 6 Z and last ordinance Bill 15 2024 an ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the 2024 liquid fuels fund budget bill number 15 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss crampy Smith any discussion we'll call the rooll Miss crampy Smith hi Miss quch hi Miss lard hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi and Mr colone hi passing 6 Z resolutions resolution 10A be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem in accordance with Municipal records manual hereby authorizes the disposal of public records in the Department of Water and Sewer resources as set forth in exhibit a resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion call R Miss grmy Smith I miss quch I miss lard hi Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I and Mr col I passes 60 resolution 10B be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem the mayor and the controller and or such other City officials as deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute all documents and agreements with the greater Lehi Valley Chamber of Commerce for marketing and public relations Services resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion yes um I just wanted to disclose that um due to a conflict of interest with a family member potentially benefiting from this contract I'll be recusing myself tonight thank you councilman any other discussion for members of council we'll call the rooll Miss grmy Smith I miss quch abstain Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi and Mr colum I passes 5 Z with one exension resolution 10 SE it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller Endor such other City officials as deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute all documents and agreements with bedco to carry out the programs or targeted activities of bedco resolution sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion we'll call roll Miss grmy Smith I miss quch I miss L hi Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I and Mr colum I pass 60 Resolution 10d be 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 agreement to effectuate the transfer of city issued handgun assigned to Douglas knin a retired City police officer the resolution sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmy Smith discussion before we call the role I'll just say I'll be supporting this this evening and as we often do as it relates to these resolution which I've lost count over the years of how many we've had I'll remind everyone they've no resolution to execute the agreement to retired officer has ever failed and and we hear as we do with a lot of things we go on people's different opinions and I've said some of this before but I'll briefly repeat myself uh there this is a good representation of times where we have different perspectives we vote differently we voted differently over the years even as current Council um recent in the last couple of meetings this will happen I don't think it's a a question of someone acting ethically to have a difference of opinion that is shared by some um population of our community that said I'll support it as I always have but I also recognize that my support is not unanimous with those who have put me in office and just like anything else we vote on and by difference of opinion and don't think it's it's a question of someone violating ethics as it relates to having a difference of opinion where there is um shared sentiment from a population of our community and that's all I'll say any other discussion before we call the rooll Mr Miller please call rooll Miss gramy Smith I miss quch nay Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Miss willm hi and Mr cologne I passes 51 resolution 10e 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 all documents and agreements with Benchmark Civil Engineering Services Incorporated for the choice neighborhood traffic study of Penbrook Road and stepco Boulevard Street corridors resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmy Smith discussion Council M uh yeah just a a question about the scope of the study if that's been defined so far um will it so it's named uh for the one main intersection there and I'm wondering um how far off of that intersection it'll be looking and what types of uh traffic study for pedestrian involvement will be uh looked at so the scope includes Penbrook and stefco but it'll then hone in on a few intersections that are most highly trafficked so I would imagine like around Lincoln Elementary School around like where kids would walk to Northeast and then we often hear as well about you know coming out of that area between like marvine um and Fritz um there's some you know a lot of pedestrian activity over there as well so those would be the areas I think that we would be targeting for specific interventions and possibly um a project that would align with Choice neighborhoods to be our early Action Project okay thanks any other discussion quch thanks um so I am on the um steering committee of the choice neighborhoods uh project um in my capacity as the liaison to the Bethlehem housing authority and this has come out time after time in meetings um Miss Collins did mention that in her statement but I just wanted to thank the um the administration for uh acting on this rather swiftly and it's only been a matter of a couple of meetings and and this is already um turned into a contract and and action so that's great um it is a problem that you know we is very very evident um when you spend any time on that stretch um of stepco and pen so thank you again any other discussion for members of council Council Leo I don't want to Bel to the point but I was at that uh the Penbrook um little activity and having talk to so many of them this really does it's an issue that repeats itself over and over again so I'm happy to see some any other discussion members of council mayor Reynolds is there anything you want to add just it just to add to that as you know it's a conversation that's come up obviously not just other than the physical safety but just the symbolic nature of what both pimbrook and in um stepal Boulevard mean uh for the people live in the neighborhood it is essentially it's like the physical version of a river I would think or a mountain uh and what it means as far as the separation from those neighborhoods and I think for Generations we've seen uh you know kids having to cross stepco as a also a symbol if they're going to Northeast or Liber or anywhere else and I think it's one thing as councilman quch uh and councilman Leon brought up is you know this is not something we necessarily deserve credit for as much as we're listening to what people are saying in those neighborhoods as far as the way they feel um and it is our job just like we have made it a a focus to change the way Broad Street feels and operates and change the way that lyen street and Center Street feel and operate B best based on what North Side alive has talked about like in Choice neighborhoods this has come through loud and clear that is important as housing is it's also about these thorough fairs and how we necessarily change these streets and the effect that they have on uh or the systemic effect they have on these particular neighborhoods so um I'm here to say that it's not just a priority for us as far as the study is concerned but you know no matter what happens with Choice neighborhoods going forward it's a priority for us as well um as far as changing the energy and safety of these streets um and truly connecting the city and you know that's been the kind of explicit um you know idea behind Choice neighborhoods um is that we are investing in our neighborhoods and a big part of that is how do we improve this Corridor so it's going to be something that's on our short medium and long-term priority list um no matter when we get the funding for Joyce neighborhoods uh to be able to uh improve the housing in that section thank you and and I'll just conclude with someone who spent three years going to Northeast from marvine I look forward to seeing what the outcomes are of the study and appreciate everyone's efforts as there's again members of council members of the community members of the administration uh members of that neighborhood that are really giv a lot of uh valuable input and it's going to be like a lot of the projects how we say this is one data point and a long timeline of a lot of data points when something goes from um idea to implementation to ribbon cutting but I look forward to seeing where all this goes and um just a thank you to everybody involved in it any other discussion we'll call the rooll Miss KC Smith I miss quac I miss lard I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I and Mr cologne I pass 6 resolution 10f be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and the controller and or such other City officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute all documents and agreements with cougle's recycling Incorporated for transportation and processing of recyclables resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss cramy Smith discussion Miss L yeah so um over the the past several years I know that there's been news and discussion about Recycling and what actually happens to it once it gets picked up and and goes away and what some of the uh companies do with it that aren't exactly what people picture um so I'm just curious about what is known about uh kgle process once the recycling materials leave Bethlehem and go to their facility uh are their checks in place to make sure that it actually is being recycled um and how you know how those processes work feel popular tonight um well so the first thing I'll say is that the contract itself or you know the bid that we put out specifically lays out and bold underlined capitalized um font that um um you know all the recyclable materials like may not go to landfill must go to like a legitimate recycling facility um you know cougle takes all of our different products and each of those has a a different end location whether it's metal or cardboard or paper um so cougle's you know they will bail they'll process and then they sell those materials to each of those different end users um those are identified you know Mike Al Forester who's the director of recycling is very aware of each of those um end facilities and how they operate so um you know he is in constant communication with cougal about that sometimes they will like send out checks just to make sure that like the trucks are going where they're supposed to be going um but they're all um facilities that he's comfortable with that they are actually doing the appropriate recycling glad that we're on top of that any other discussion on the resolution thank you Miss we call Ro Miss grmy Smith hi Miss quch hi Miss lard hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm I and Mr colum I passes 60 Resolution 10g 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 all documents and agreements with key codes inspection agencies to provide Inspection Services resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon Miss crampy Smith any discussion we'll call the RO Miss crampy Smith I miss quch I miss lard I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I and Mr colum I pass the 60 Resolution 10 each be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller Endor such other City officials as deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute all documents and agreements with aeom to provide design upgrades for three free water connections between the cities of Bethlehem and Allentown resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss crampy Smith any discussion on the resolution we'll call the rooll Miss grmy Smith I miss quch hi Miss lard hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm I Mr colum I pass 60 Resolution 10 I be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller Andor such other City officials deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized execute all documents and agreements with aeom to provide design upgrades for two water connections between the city of Bethlehem and the eastn Suburban Water Authority resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon Miss crampy Smith discussion we'll call the rooll Miss cramy Smith I miss quch I miss L I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I and Mr cologne I pass 60 Resolution 10j the it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem mayor and controller Endor such other City officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute a use permit agreement with St Luke's University Health Network for the 2024 Boutique at the rink resolution sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmy Smith discussion we call R Miss grmy Smith hi Miss quch hi Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi and Mr cologne I passes 6 resolution 10K be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem 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 with the kindness project and sub per sub permit Arts quest for the Lop pton Hindman Memorial Carell resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion we call roll Miss grmy Smith I miss quch I miss L I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I and Mr colog I pass the 60 Resolution 10 L be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem 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 with the greater Lehi Valley Chamber of Commerce and sub permites lost Tavern Brewing LLC Franklin Hill vineyards Incorporated and social still LLC for the 2024 live in the Garden concert series res tion sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion and this is an extension of the same disclosure of conflict of interest um this is also related to live in the garden I will be abstaining on this tonight thank you any other discussion from members of council I also have the conflict and we be not voting on this matter tonight understood anyone else haveen any other discussion I'll just say before we vote that I know I believe this is the 30 year mayor Reynolds if I'm not mistaken that this is going on and I remember many years ago we had a community meeting over at the Rose Garden about what the future of the Rose Garden looked like some of the say pre improvements the Rose Garden things like that I there was a gentleman from the neighborhood some people were saying people need to use rosearden more people need use rosearden more and one of the neighbors said we are the people we are the ones who no one stopping you from coming out more and he kind of inspired a group of the I live on the West Side a few other council members live on the West Side reminded us that these Parks or public spaces are there for us and we make the conscious choices to either utilize them or not we invested some money in the Rose Garden this project that's been a success for a few years now other ways the Rose Garden utilized continue to bring us out there so uh I hope to get out more last summer and the previous we were a little tied up at home but I hopefully we'll get out there more this summer and look forward to seeing everybody out there Mr Miller please call the rooll Mr gmy Smith I miss quch abstain Miss L I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm abstain and Mr cologne I passes 4 Z with two abstentions resolution 10m be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller Endor such other City officials deemed appropriate by the city solicitor for hereby authorized to execute a use permit agreement with Arts quest for the 2024 levit Pavilion concert series resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion we'll call roll Miss grmy Smith hi miss quch I miss L I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I and Mr cologne I pass 60 Resolution 10n be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller are authorized to and directed to execute all application forms necessary to apply for a Northampton County grant for the greenway Trail Gap acquisition and that the mayor and controller are authorized to execute such agreements and documents as deemed to be necessary and or related theto resolution sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion we'll call the RO Miss grmy Smith I miss quch I miss L I miss Leon I miss wilham I and Mr Colum I pass 60 Resolution 10 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 the intergovernmental cut cooperation agreement titled wastewater treatment plant allocation agreement with lower salken Township and the heler toown buau authority resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmy Smith any discussion on the resolution call the roll Miss grmy Smith I miss quch I miss lard I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I and Mr colog I pass 60 I'll accept a motion then a second to consider resolutions 10p through 10 r as a group some mov second motion by councilwoman Wilhelm second by councilwoman Leon any discussion on the motion consider them as a group Mr Miller please call the roll on the motion m Cy Smith I miss quch hi Miss lard hi Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I and Mr colum I motion passes 6 Z please read the coas or COA yeah certificates of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of Pennsylvania legislature Bethlehem resolution are hereby granted for 129 East Market Street to to add a garage door and trim to match existing garage doors that were previously approved by harb 5055 7 Main Street to replace an existing blade sign and 258 East Market Street to remove old asphalt shingles and replace them with GAF slate line shingles in the antique slate color resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith any discussion on the certificates of appropriat we'll call the rooll Miss grmy Smith hi miss quac I miss lard hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm I and Mr colum I through passes 60 that concludes tonight's agenda get home safe everyone thank you Mr Miller for all your reading tonight --------- I will call to order the meeting of Bethlehem city council finance committee I am Grace kampy Smith chair of the finance committee the other committee members are Hillary quch and Rachel leom the clerk will please call the role Miss pmy Smith present Miss quch present Miss leam present there are seven agenda items for tonight's meeting the first agenda item is to review proposed sewer Capital fund budget adjustments the second agenda item is to review additional proposed sewer Capital fund budget adjustments the third agenda item is to review proposed water Capital utilities fund budget adjustments the fourth agenda item is to review additional proposed water Capital fund budget adjustments the fifth agenda item is to review proposed am adjustments to the general fund budget the sixth agenda item is to review additional proposed adjustments to the general fund budget and the seventh agenda item is to review proposed adjustments to the liquid fuels F fund budget a YouTube reminder if you started streaming the meeting after 6 PM please make sure to scroll ahead so that the YouTube stream is current rather than a recording of an earlier portion of the meeting we'll go to public comment is there anyone who from the public who would like to speak on any of the agenda items tonight with a five minute time limit all right no one has signed up no one from the public going once going twice okay we'll move to the first agenda item the first agenda item is to review the proposed budget adjustments to the Sewer Capital fund I'll call on a representative from the administration to discuss this request thank you chair thank you finance KY for having us tonight we do have representatives from watur from police from health and Public Works will be joining us shortly that's the last agenda item uh if Mr alol is not able to make it uh we'll be able to present present we do have all the information but if there are any specific questions for Mr R call he will be be attending the full council meeting those questions can be asked or held until the the council vote uh before we move through the proposals I'd like to share some budget updates for the first quarter which has now ended the year does move by quickly and it's too ear early to reach any kind of conclusions or on any patterns or Trends but each year does develop its own Financial characteristics while while line items May exceed or fall short of projections so we do we want to do some Touchin during the year to let you be aware of those or and what we are watching uh in 2022 for example EIT really started to grow for us in a positive way interest rates were low so D transfer was a line item that exceeded budget permits and economic activity increased at the same time if you remember medical expenses post pandemic people that went to backfill um post pandemic procedures that may have been put off hit pretty hard and our medical ran high that same year Ukraine was in uh invaded and our gasoline prices ran up over $5 a gallon we had to do some shuffling mid year uh in order to make the transfers to take care of what we would need to come come into the uh 1231 on balance uh because of low interest rates investment income was that low we did end the year in a surplus in 2023 we saw continued e growth investment income in the second third and fourth really took off as interest rates increased medical expenses slowed down with increased interest rates like that's a Dial's turn deed transfers and uh real estate uh sales and real estate activity slowed down deed transfer leveled off gasoline prices leveled off uh in a positive but it's also negative we had a large what we refer to as vacancy Factor when we budget the year we budget that all seats are filled the way it should be but that's not always the case it's not usually the case we have sometimes few openings and in 22 and 23 we had a lot of openings more than than we would want to we fill them as quickly as we can but whether it be a waiting for an Academy or whether it be just a general labor shortage or until we find the right candidates there are time lapses even when we find that right candidate until we bring them in we have the interviews we deliver the offer they we to give it two they get their background checks uh they give their two weeks notice and maybe a couple months delay until until they're in that seat and in that time uh those salaries are are saved in some ways those salaries are not paid and they're then able to either be used for a reserve account or to pay off some other accounts that might be running high so leading up to that uh in in this year as we start the real estate taxes it's our largest revenue item is $3 34.3 million of our 100 plus million dollar budget U the real estate taxes represent onethird of our overall total revenue so it's a very important line item it is usually very accurate we know the assess value of the properties we know what the what the millage is and we can do some calculations there's typically some growth through the year as more properties Come Along online there can also be some setbacks as people may have properties reassess so it's not always linear in its growth uh at this time at the end of the first quarter the discount payments have been received and that was on MAR by March 28th and we are at an 88% collection rate for this time of year it's right on Pace where we always are and once the taxes are paid at the base rate which some people wait for that are unable to make the discount payment as well as those who choose choose to make installments we fully expect we'll reach or exceed the 100% of our real estate revenues for 2024 as far as the casin host fee another very large budget item at $9.8 million that's over 10% of our entire budget also very reliable and that doesn't move it doesn't grow a lot the host fee is set at two million per quarter which is eight and a percentage of of the games but there's a a cap on that so at the end of the first quarter we received 2.48 million which is 25.2% which is right on the mark of our 99.8% budget so there are no problems there EIT uh earned income tax I mentioned in 202 and 23 we saw a strong growth in that line item it is steady it's not running it's not increasing at the same Pace we we knew that pace could not last coming out the budget we saw the labor shortage in response to that we saw an increase in wages not only more jobs in the city but people are making more money both hourly and full-time wages there and just a general growth in the cost of liming increases so in 2023 at this time we are at 3.07 million we're right on that Mark we're at 2.97 so we're at last year we were at 29.9% of the budget this year we're at 27.6% of the budget last year the budget was at 10.25 million we knew the growth was being seen we saw the pattern so we increased at half million doll and we're still so if when when you look Apples to Apples if we budgeted 10.75 for this year to date we receive 2.97 and that's 27.6 of the overall budget so we are all equal to last year and we're over budget because we again we're trying to be conservative and being uh accurate as possible but not overshooting the mark so we are in good shape for EIT mertile tax a large item $2.7 million is not due until May so although it's a large one of our larger line items those numbers are not yet received that will be a six-month report um D transfer I mentioned um as properties as rates came up last year Property Transfers slowed we saw that one coming with the increase in interest rates so we held the budget last year at $1.6 million this year we also kept it at $1.6 Million last year at this point at 331 I should say we're at 41,000 or 25% this year we're at 467 so a little bit over we're at 29% so it's a little it's running a little quicker and we did last year and we're in good shape with d transfer interest income was something that was a nice surprise in last year because we were we had savings we were not in a borrowing mode so those in a borrowing mode face the opposite surprise but not for our case it was good we budgeted at 350 at this point last year we're at 175 175,000 which is 50% after the first quarter that 175 after the first quarter grew much quicker in quarters two three and four when rates really began to increase and we ended up with over a million dollars so although we were at 50% in the first quarter uh that went Much Higher by the end of the year when we we broke the $1 million barrier in interest income so when we budget 350 we went over a million it's quite a nice surprise some things go up and some things go down and uh this year although we surpassed a million dollars last year we we drew it back because all forecast will tell you interest rates are going to be dropped the FED has not done that yet but they stick to their idea that they're going to do it three times this year that remains to be seen so we did move off the even though we surpass a million we budgeted at 800,000 again to be conservative to catch the fact that had peaked and it's on its way down uh it's the fact that has not moved down yet it means the first quarter finished very high so at the end of the first quarter we're at 526,000 in interest income of 800 so we've already reached 66% of the annual budget we don't think it will continue to grow that much if the rates do move down but that remains to be seen so we'll watch that one closely EMS fees is a line item that we moved up in 2023 those are were they're um collected on transports both through Medicaid reimbursements and through insurance payments we budgeted at 3 million in 2022 because of the Federal in increase in reimbursements for Medicare transports we increased it from three to 3.6 that was a significant increase moving into 2023 moved our total budget to 3.6 million last year what we um didn't account for closely enough was that the first quarter receipts were based on fourth quarter 22 Billings that happens when we did for example a storm waterer count brought that online as a new account or when we change the recycling fees when we did that those it's it's not live right away the fourth quarter came in so the first quarter came in at 2022 rates so we moved along slowly picked up pace through time we ended the year a little under budget so this year we did not move it up hoping that we will with through 100 or 12 months or 100% of receipts under the new Medicare reimbursement rate we would reach at 3.6 uh at this point it's a little slugish we're at 783 th000 or 22% so just a little bit lower where we would like to be we like to be about 100,000 more there are other factors in play there are some changes with uh items in the billing uh that St Luke's does our building for EMS so it's not just um the the delays in in the Medicare itself there are some other things that when we work with our third carrier collector that uh we're trying to straighten out to make sure we can make those as efficient and up toate as possible so we can reach that $100,000 mark But regardless we will end uh close to it but it's a big number so we so one we're watching expenses salaries I mentioned before vacancy Factor was a big number last year there were a lot of open seats uh it's been more productive this year we've had a number of positions filled even out this week we have some more offers that have been accepted and spots that were being filled uh Public Works has continues to have the most openings Citywide um they've had fewer than the past couple years the vacancy rate to notes about it the salaries for the first quarter were over 25% but but there's a reason for that because there's more than 25% of the payrolls they March was one of those payrolls or one of the months when we have three payrolls not to two so we have experienced seven of our 26 payrolls or that's 27% and our payroll is at 26% so is there vacancy Factor yes there are savings there that we may be able to use if needed towards the end of the year it's not as large uh and that's again in some ways a good way cuz our employment has improved steadily and significantly over the past 12 months so there's still challenges remaining in almost every Department especially in some of the key positions but uh there's also been uh successes uh last one is medical or medical account ran high in 22 as I mentioned the beginning of my report and exceeded budget it did calm down in 2023 and we finished below budget this year we are running on Pace with 2023 and that's a good thing because we are below budget at this point uh I will always point out that we're self-insured so it's difficult to identify any pattern just when you think it might be selling we get build based on our claims every single week of the year so we have 52 Billings and every Thursday we get the report and we sit down and we discuss among the other items that we're watching and it couldn't run from anything if it's a a really what we're shooting for is $200,000 a week is really the number we look for so we see 100 or 100 12 five for week that's a good thing we might run a couple and then you might get hit with a no Rhyme or Reason Just the way things happen in the world that there's claims that we'll have a $400,000 bill for a given week so year to date last year we were at 1.7 million this year to date we're at 1.3 million so last year we're at 21.8% of budget this year we're at 16.7 so it's significantly below budget at the end of the first quarter and the fact we're self-insured we really keep um keep hedged against that particular line but it's a very large item at $7.8 million and if we run like we did last year things seem to be going uh really well people are taking care of themselves seeing their doctor following their Wellness programs that we've we worked very hard to Institute the wellness program so hopefully we're seeing some impact of how our employees are taking care of themselves and seeing them being safer so that takes care of expenses um we're generally pleased in my closing that we know uh the indicators year to date there's no surprises or big concerns we know the other large items I did not mention is because we know exactly what they are and that's Debt Service we know what they are and when they are we we'll be at 100% there it's not like we're not going to make a debt payment there's nothing going to jump up and surprise us with that but that's just under 11 million and our MMOs are other one combined between police fire and pmrs also in the um tens of millions of dollars is also known ahead of time that's set and we'll hit those those will hit in the fall so they don't don't need to be a a concern and uh other than that we F understand this report is three months old there's a lot of the year left we'll continue to touch base each quarter as we go so if you have any other questions about particular line item i' be happy to answer if not then we'll turn to our proposals do committee members have any questions okay thank you thank you okay first uh item on the agenda is budget adjustment for the sewer Capital fund so this is the end of year uh budget adjustment so this the whole purpose of doing these is to True up I'm sorry excuse me a minute sure this is the first C it so we have to do the motion right or we wait this was an add so this will be the first item for okay I'm sorry continue that's okay um so the first item is the sewer budget adjustment this will true up the budget numbers to reflect their actual revenue and expenditure cash position as of December 31st 2023 as you know when we put the budget together every year we do it in the fall and we base it on the budget status as of October 31st the end of the third quarter every year so when the budget gets presented to Council in December it doesn't reflect any revenue or expense transactions that occur in the fourth quarter so that's what we're doing here with these changes so the first one is on the sewer Capital fund um we're changing various SL items to reflect what we did in the fourth quarter so the cash position increased by roughly $1.6 million the H2 uh the 2019 Grant which was which funds the Broadway sewer line replacement that project started in 23 hence there were some expenses in the fall of 23 that that's why that that line line item went down and there were various expenditure changes um to make it all Balan so if there's any questions about item one any committee members any questions I just have so for the 2019 Grant the project started in 2019 and then um the whole Grant did not cover the cost of the project then the gr the project the grant was awarded in 19 there was a delay in getting the project rolling the project started in 23 so the the total Grant was $525,000 so project started in 23 in the fall there was an initial expense of 112,000 that was not reflected in the budget that was passed in December so now that's now I understand thank you that's being identified now got it okay go ahead that's it for that agenda that's it for that one okay nobody's any questions then okay I will accept a motion and a second to recommend approval of the administrator's request and to place appropriate legislation on tonight's Council agenda so moved second the clerk will call the rooll miss quch I miss leam I and Miss gson Smith I okay item two is also on the sewer Capital fund so now that we have it Tred up to the end of the year this adjustment solely reflects the addition of a grant that was awarded this year so it's an arpa arpa PA small water sewer Grant the city was awarded totaling $393,000 it's going towards Renovations of one of our sewer lift stations so it shows both on the the revenue and the expense side so that's strictly what this adjustment reflects okay do any Comm committee members have questions or comments I guess I would ask what the apple butter Road lift station project is specifically that's to upgrade the lift station to put in um um uh back a power generator a meter um upsize the pumps um a grinder pump if a sewage grinder this is the pump station that receives waste from the landfill and also a good portion of the Majestic development because they they're right up that same that same area thank you excuse me thank you I accept the motion and a second to approval of the administration's request and to place appropriate legislation on tonight's Council agenda so second the coun the clerk will call the role miss quch I miss Leon I and Miss gmy Smith I the appropriate legislation will be placed on tonight's Council agenda we'll move to agenda item three which is to review proposed adjustments to the water Capital utilities fund budget okay so this is the similar uh procedure here on the water fund side as as we just did on sewer so we have the end of year budget adjustments for the water Capital fund that again excuse me reflects the um revenue and expense position as of December 31st 2023 so it captures all the the financial transactions that occurred in the fourth quarter of 2023 so a lot of these projects were Ono going so there was some draw down on funds and then those projects are continuing to go into 24 okay do any committee members have any questions or comments no okay I'll accept the motion in a second to recommend approval of the administration's request to place appropriate legislation on tonight's Council agenda so moved second the clerk will call the r in the motion M qu hi Miss Leon hi and Miss gramson Smith I the appropriate legislation will be placed on tonight's Council agenda the fourth agenda item is to review proposed additional adjustments involving the water Capital utilities fund thank you and this one is strictly to again add a grant that the city was awarded this is an arpa H2O paa Grant total value of $750,000 awarded to replace a 2 million gallon reservoir on the city south side it's a 100y old facility um that is to be replaced there's matching funds from the city of a million dollar hence the $17 million price tag so a million from City funds 750 from State Grant and that's added to the water Capital do any committee members have questions or comments I do have a quick question about this one and I guess not this specifically but I guess anytime you have to replace something large like a reservoir replacement do we always get some kind of grant funding to do that or is it like does the city always have to foot the entirety of the bill uh it's it's hit and miss because the grants don't come out they're not available all the time in my experience these Water and Sewer grants come out maybe every two or three years from the state so you kind of take it you got to kind of hit it right and take advantage of what you can get at that time okay so are you proactive with those or is it like we don't replace something until it's it absolutely needs to be replaced well like in this case this this uh water and sewer infrastructure you know can usually last many many decades depending on what Pump Station tank piping underground so whether you replace it at the 50-year Mark or the 55 year mark or 60-year Mark may not matter very much so like like in this case this tank is 100 years old so could it last another five years probably but can it last another 50 years probably not so you have to make a judgment call of kind of like when to kind of like pull the trigger okay and in this case because the the funding presented itself and it's like okay we're GNA grab it and just do it I always appreciate you going after the grant funding thank you you have any questions just a quick question um so is 1.75 million the uh total cost of this project or is there more that's that's the total cost that's going to be the total cost okay great and this is an arpa Grant so this this is coming from funds that the state got from the federal government the American Rescue plan correct and so there's a pot of money for this kind of infrastructure correct they put the state put aside a pot of money for water and sewer infrastructure under the arpa umbrella yes great thank you I'll accept a motion in a second to recommend approval of the administration's request and the place appropriate registration on tonight's Council agenda so moved second the clerk will please call the role miss quch I miss Leon I and Miss grmy Smith I the appropriate legislation will be placed on tonight's agenda the fifth agenda item is to review proposed adjustments involving the general fund [Music] budget hi good evening good evening so this is for a grant that the Bethlehem police department received from the Pennsylvania Commission on crime delinquency for $75,000 and the Grant's purpose is for hiring bonuses for up to 15 new police officers in the Years 2024 2025 do any committee members have any questions or comments I about have you found that the hiring bonuses have been enough of an incentive to get people it doesn't seem like this can it's not you're giving one one person $75,000 I'm assuming it's like smaller like 2,000 3,000 so it's 5,000 okay per officer and it puts us in a competitive class with the other departments um there are some departments uh Pocono Mountain Regional for example that are offering $10,000 sign on bonuses but the $5,000 is is a start and it makes us at least competitive with other departments and this is this is straying from this but I'm I'm wondering in the area thinking of the three cities where do our police officers rank as far as pay one two or three if that's not if this isn't the right Forum I can ask later off the top of my head yeah I don't want to misspeak on something so important all right thank you I just com to is a lot it's very complicated because the entire compensation package is salary but uh pension the medical if you take it all together there's it's tough to look at and explain very shortly without really getting into the weeds getting into the weeds of it which is totally fine and not the form for comp yes well I'm grateful that this is putting us in a little bit more of a competitive bracket thank you do you have questions I'm good no okay thank you um how are things looking as far as numbers right now with the police department as far as how many openings there are how many um we currently have eight vacancies uh we're expecting more come summer however we do have four individuals that are in the background phase of the hiring process we also have open application period currently uh so we're currently accepting applications if you know of anybody that may be interested in serving their Community please by all means send them our away great thank you and I know we've spoke about this before but I have several friends at um that work in the the suburbs in the regional and I always try to get them to come over but they make so much more money which is really um really a a discrepancy in INE Equity but we'll just keep trying so thank you thank you um I'll take uh I will accept a motion in a second to recommend approval of the administration's request to place appropriate registration legislation on tonight's Council agenda so moved second the clerk will call the role Miss qu I miss Leon I and Miss grmy Smith I the appropriate legislation will be placed on tonight's Council agenda thank you the sixth agenda item is to review additional proposed adjustments involving the general fund budget hi Sher P from Health I'd like to increase our tuberculosis expenditure account by $ 6,778 189 to support uh tuberculosis patient services our second request is to increase our temporary help account by $ 29,285 because we received additional funding for our partners for a healthy baby program from mayor health carus and our third request is to increase expenditure account or expenditure account for Community connections program by 49,4 $42.25 um to increase our program and support for the clients in that program thank you do any um committee members have any questions or comments I just so um the formatting of this is a little different than what we usually see so I I'm just trying to understand um in the second one you're reflecting receiving additional funding um in the others are they more requests for additional expenditure from the general fund that doesn't have an offset they're all grant funding so it's because our grant Cycles are on different Cycles in the city budget it's a little bit wonky to try and make sure that we have all the grant funding reflected in that particular six-month period so um one and three are just adjusting our expenditure account for the city budget to reflect the grant funding that we currently have okay thank you very much C Leo I just had some general questions are you seeing that increase in the cases of TB or is it steady I don't you know that's okay I'm just curious I think we're pretty steady okay all right I was just curious how about with the um partners for healthy baby program is that pretty steady also or do you see that's increasing that is in we certainly have some really good staff in that program who are um getting a lot of clients and so we that's why we've AER Health carus has provided us some additional funding to try to increase that program support more good great that's a great program it is a great program I use it in my school all the time um and I was just wondering with the community connections the 49,000 would that be for um Services resources or Personnel like it's mainly Personnel Personnel that will you be hiring I think it's just again to reflect the the budget change from the grant that we already have supporting that program to make sure that the appropriate money is in our in our expenditure account for program um so it could be for a a variety of supplies like housing or bus passes or things like that the program but if it was um Personnel it would be in our temporary help account so it's programmatic supplies okay thank you I'll accept a motion in a second to recommend approval of of the administration's request in the place appropriate legislation on tonight's Council agenda so moved second clerk would you please call the role miss quch I miss Leon hi and Miss kmy Smith I the appropriate legislation will be placed on tonight's Council agenda thank you the seventh agenda item is to review proposed adjustments involving the liquid fuels fund budget Mr alol good evening Council this is the uh this is a request to uh finalize an annual request to finalize our liquid Fuel Fund budget um we have received our allocation and at this time we also go through item by item in the budget buget um there are some uh changes based on what actually took place in the previous year with the carryover that we um back in September would have estimated what it actually ends up being the bottom line is in this year's budget the carryover was a couple hundred thousand dollar more than what was estimated as a result of a mild winter um as as well as uh some savings and other uh items the allocation was just slightly higher than what we were given as an estimate back then um for a total of about maybe $240,000 more to work with in the 2024 budget versus what we uh laid out for for for the budget so item by item the only thing we changed as result of that additional funding is some items uh were running a little bit low with the 2024 budget like uh our street signs we've replaced a lot more street sign than we typically have done so far this year and almost exhausted that line item so we uh added more money uh to it um another item that we bumped up just slightly $220,000 is um repairing our Machinery um we helped the um mechanical Bureau has an item for paying for those types of things but um all the equipment that's in streets is eligible to be the repairs to be funded from liquid fuel so we uh we help that line item um with liquid fuel funding so we up that a little bit and the remainder little more than uh $230,000 we uh reprogram for our overlay program do any committee members have any questions or comments no no I just have a question which I'm sure you're sick of hearing but I hear it all the time so you got to me something that I could tell the people as far as the streets um what is it going to look like for this season of repairing streets as far as you know like number of miles we're going to repair or can you just give me something I can tell people when they go on and on about how messy the streets are we honestly we've we've been making really good progress we we we have been we have been substantially behind and we've talked about that at nauseum primarily because of uh um and it everybody phases difficulties in terms of uh funding but that has been up significantly The Last 5 Years um so we're you know we're we're we're we're making a lot of progress we're catching up on a lot of Paving uh we're also improving our in-house operations so we can have more increase our productivity um this year I mean you could tell over the last five years we've been incrementally increasing our output and we expect to do the same thing this year and we're really trying to set ourselves up for a substantial increase in 2025 the reason 25 is opposed to this year is because we're still facing some labor challenges we're still safe um facing some um High Cost of U materials um we're hoping or thinking maybe next year that will subside a little bit whether it does or doesn't it's still uh we're lining things up so that we can um substant increase our output next year so uh and we try every year we we select streets throughout the city we have a rating program we identify the streets of most need and we try to distribute the work throughout the city Northeast West Southside um so I I I think people will will will continue to see improvements to our street conditions thank you that's great and it's no my question is no reflection on the work because I do see a lot of progress and I appreciate it I know you're working your department is working hard I just um it is just a question that I get asked often and and that is a great answer that I can tell people to give them hope true so thank you just bouncing off of that um I think that um one of the things that people would like is just a little more information like uh some kind of transparency on the website or something you know these are and and you don't want to raise false hopes and things like that but is there some way that even on a quarterly basis say this is what we're looking at in this next quarter um full disclosure we got the arborous notice on our door today we're all very excited on Spring Street which is in really really bad shape um that we will be getting the overlay in the next year like coming up in this year and so they're they're going to come you know prune the trees um but I think that even if even if we can't go beyond even just a quarterly look at what's coming up I think just having that spot for people to be like oh I see like eight streets on here that are being worked on even if they don't see it on their own block they can tell that there's activity yeah yeah we've been a little bit I get uh shy of of trying to put out the list some type of a list especially getting really specific as far as timing of baving people get very attached to those things and uh we do have to adjust sometimes like we plan say to pave these 10 streets UGI unexpectedly says oh wait a minute that we need to get in here and either do an emergency repair or um we got some more funding out of the blue and we're going to you know upgrade our facilities in Nast street so can you hold off for another year and that really upsets people who have been told is gonna be paid sure sure uh but you know we could probably do something like this is the anticipated list subject to some minor modifications depending on how the season goes we could do something like that yeah lots of disclaimers and everything I think just some kind of show of that the activity is taking place because again iide just we leave our our parking garage or our our street and we get on the main road and we don't see what's going on anywhere else you know people sometimes have amnia about the disclaimer part but I think that's a great idea and we'll we'll seriously um do that thanks thank you does do any other committee members have any questions comments no okay I will accept a motion in a second to recommend approval of the administration's request to place the appropriate legislation on tonight's Council agenda so moved second the clerk will please call the rooll Miss qu I miss Leon I and Miss grmy Smith I the appropriate legislation will be placed on tonight's Council agenda this meeting is adjourned thank you