##VIDEO ID:AGbB4pnh4V8## everyone thank you for your patience tonight as we get started late I will ask that we all rise for the pledge to the [Music] flag Ali to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep one nation under God indivisible jice for yeah she was a sign thank you Mr Miller if you'll call the roll please Mr Callahan pres Miss grmy Smith quch present Miss lard present Miss Leon present Miss Wilhelm present and Mr cologne presid thank you just a couple things before we get started councilwoman cramsey Smith should be joining us momentarily we previously had a committee of the whole meeting which ran late so we're just getting started a little bit and um getting back in the room after brief recess mayor Reynolds had a commitment tonight at Freedom High School so mayor Reynolds will not be joining us this evening continuing on we do have a few citations for recent city employees who retired that includes Sergeant Chad waserman Joseph D Ambrosio Robert zos and Matt Warner I don't believe any of those individuals are here this evening so Council will make sure that our citations are mailed to each of them at their home address moving on to the approval of minutes from our October 1 2024 city council meeting any comments or discussion on the minutes from our previous city council meeting I don't see any so the minutes are going to stand approved moving on to public comment our first public comment as is custom as for any subject not being voted on this evening with a five- minute time limit we have four individuals who signed up and then we'll go around the room so will start with Miss Mary Joe mcol and I ask everyone to state your name for the record please Mary Joe mcol 449 Grand View Boulevard not sure if this is being voted on or not but I saw it on the agenda I'm just asking you to think carefully about rezoning the requ the rezoning request for 119 Technology Drive when last year when it was brought before this Council last year not only did the council consider looking at the appropriate tenants to utilize the building but you also weigh the option due to the property having an environmental Covenant that prohibits residential use I do not believe that has I believe I do not believe that that has changed disturbing the ground could pose detrimental environmental issues to the Lehigh river which is already in an unhealthy condition other health issues could also arise second thing I want to bring up is during budget hearings for this year's budget I new numerous times Express concern about raising taxes for City residents especially for seniors and those on fixed incomes I want to reiterate my concern again when considering the budget for next year I've already crunched the numbers and my finances will once again take a hit I ask that you be extremely prudent when finalizing the city's budget thank you thank you m mcco and and just for everyone's um information the 119 Technology Drive is just being right as a communication tonight so the first public comment would be the appropriate time to comment if anyone chose to and our next speaker is Francine thank you uh Francine speack 11 West Second Street that's Riverport Condominiums and I am a condo owner I'm here to urge city council to once again deny the resoning requests which will allow for the construction of an apartment building at9 Technology Drive we really don't need any more apartment buildings in South betham since the requests by surf us a year ago there are 82 units currently being built 70 units at the Marshall and 20 units at the Goodman building there are also newly built units 74 units at 610 Flats which currently has 11 units available and 10 units at 410 William Street Williams Street which all 10 are available I believe that just opened and 438 proposed units to be built including the latest which are 37 units at the former cassablanca nightclub on Evans Street 24 units at the former holy infancy school on Fourth Street and 120 units at the Gateway on fourth this brings the total to approximately 604 newly built or already proposed units in South bethleem alone and I'm sure I probably missed some according to a Zillow rental market summary last updated on October 10 2024 the median rent dropped $2 between September and October there are currently 193 units available within the city and the market temperature is war form indicating less of a demand several agencies are now offering rent specials to entice residents I believe 119 Technology Drive is an important piece of commercial real estate and feels City officials should make every every effort to find suitable business to relocate or expand in South Bethlehem especially if there's Grant or any other Government funding available I feel jobs are more important than another big box apartment building thank you thank you our next speaker signed up is Ry Hera hi I'm Mary CA from a13 law Street Beth and Pennsylvania hope I can get everything to get in in five minutes I got three topics I want to hit one the wasteful tax dollars that are coming out of our taxpayers money uh um I don't know how it is in other facilities that are run by the city but we know definitely in the library the heat is on too much and the air conditioning is on way too much on that don't need to be do having that happen now if you're doing that in other cities you're wasting the taxpayers dollars come on they say now they say that the libraries has to do with the city but yet they tell me over there several times that the heating and the air conditioning is controlled by City Hall what's going on here you know we're you know you know is it run by the city or not when the vi video camera wasn't on the computer when I had money taken out of my the thing is oh the the library doesn't it's nothing with the city you know but the thing is City Hall controls the heat over there and the wasted water if you go into the bathroom the toilets are flushing by themselves what's going on we got ghosts in there I mean like what the heck you know that's waste of city tax dollars another thing is a waste which I know a lot of you don't agree with especially if you're elected politicians is we spend too much money on elected officials in every city if we control that a little bit and City officials would expect to be running for their positions to uh serve their country and get no more than an inlisted man or woman gets we would have a better country and we would not be into red that's my one of my premises upon running for mayor which I'm not going to get elected because the whole electorial uh machine political machine once Willie you're going to get him for $90,000 or more a year you would have had me for $35,000 and probably other elected officials would have done the same thing save a lot of money I would have been just as good of a mayor as anyone I'm still going as a write in if you want to write me in write me in I will make sure that a lot of that our city will be the shining star that it wants it to be that we want it to be notice I did not say that we should be an example like Jesus Christ wants us to be I said The Shining Star so this way I'm not being considered anti-semitic actually elected officials can make their money if they write books afterwards I got two books already done coming they're coming out by before the years on and by next year I off have two more one is a lit and the other one is probably going to be called racism and anti-Semitism but anyway the feral cat situation let's take care of that situation let's give some money to the SPCA the Humane Society and the no kill foundation so this way people they see feral cats they give them to them they find places for them to help them they have some money to spend for that that takes care of that thing as far as the homeless situation one I one of my many ideas is it's a no-brainer here there's a lot of jobs need to be done with the city give them to the homeless people for a place to stay and if they want to work a little extra they get some extra money why not you get rid of the homeless situation that way give them some jobs a lot of them will be happy to have jobs and they would do a good job for whatever you know whatever the case may be [Music] um wow I got 52 minutes 50 minutes I'm all out of things to say I said everything well I don't know anybody got a joke no okay but anyway I'm Jay Creed that's my oh yeah definitely that's my professional name Google J Creed you'll find out some of the things that I've done and I've been doing performing corporate bookings and you'll even find my phone number in there and my email just J cre JC re e that's my professional name but if you're voting of course you got to use Arty catola because that's not a derivative of my regular name if if my name was Donald Trump and you vote for Donald Duck you will get me if my anyway uh God bless you all keep on rocking keep it together thank you our next speaker this evening is Christina Deus hi my name is Christina the Jesus um I live at 421 Buchanon Street um I wanted to talk about the parking authority and the parking situation in our community um the parking is very limited where I live at in particularly and um in the residential area there's only two hour parking and there's also um a parking lot that I specifically park at which you have to pay $50 a month for um I've just been having a lot of issues with the parking authority um getting tickets for parking in certain zones in certain areas and it's just making it really hard for people in our community because I feel like this is a lowincome community and these Parking Authorities are making it really hard for us and causing a burden um recently I had a boot put on my car and I had to um I was late to work I had to Uber to two different places to um they just made me jump through loopholes to try to get um the boot off of my car and um it just is a burden for me as a mom with three kids and there's barely any parking in front of my home um sometimes I have to park three blocks away which makes it really hard when you're unloading kids unloading groceries and things like that um the 2hour parking is um all throughout the streets in the community where I live at and it just makes it really hard for the residents um you know coming from section A communities or lwi income families um it just makes it really hard for us so I'm just looking for something that's like proactive action that we can just um find a solution for this problem because it just is really like invasive for um the area in which I live in thank thank you Mr Jesus and then I'll invite you or anybody else who who speaks if you want to speak with members of council after the meeting you're welcome to we do have while the parking authority is its own authority of the city uh we do have a parking authority liaison a member of city council and then the parking authority has uh their own board and meetings that we could share with you when those are too if you wanted to make a a direct address to them also we could talk about that and and to anybody if you didn't want to stay till the end of the meeting depending how long it is you could always follow up with our city clerk and all of our email are on the city website if you wanted to reach out following the meeting that exhausts our list of everyone who had signed up uh previously so as is common I'll go around the room left to right starting to this is for anything not being voted on tonight Mr Haynes uh Bruce Haynes Bethlehem um following up on that comment I made a real pitch when they when they made the meters to down to two took them down from 3 hours to two hours in downtown Beth in the south side and the north side to expand where the where there are no meters and it's strictly a 2hour parking which is way outside the downtown so when you go down Market Street for example away from the meters it goes to it's still 2hour parking and it seems to me that the further you are from downtown The Meters should be 3 hours I mean not the meters the part this is non-metered area should have been changed at the same time to switch them basically the two hours they made it two hours downtown to to encourage turnover but those turn that turnover then should should be pushing people out further away from downtown both downtowns and those meters uh and those areas not meters but those areas that have 2hour limits should truly be considered for three hour I brought that up up in DBA meetings uh to the parking authority so I'm echoing uh this lady's comments but what I'm up here about is the point about the Technology Center seems like we vetted this a year ago I don't know what's changed I mean it was a deep vetting at least a year or two years ago about why this was a good thing to keep the technology opportunity there and as opposed to turning it into housing so I guess at some point we're going to hear testimony about why all of a sudden the whole thing changed and did is doing a reversal again and the thing that really bothered me about last time was to that should not be change to Commercial Business District because they weren't going to have any first floor retail or restaurants it was all going to be for people that lived in the apartment building it wasn't going to be open to the public for retail and restaurants so if the change is going to be from whatever the zoning is now it should not be commercial business district because first floor retail is required in commercial business district you know perhaps it's supposed to be it should be something else if they're going to convert it to make it residential but it shouldn't be in the CB District so that's my my only point Thank you thank you Mr Haynes anyone else on the left us make comment yes sir hello uh Harry Faber um Bethlehem I actually agree with pretty much everything Mr Hayne said I'll be the first person to say that fines are an assault on the working class on low-income individuals they disproportionately affect poor people um that's like one of the first things you learn in economics but what I came up here today to talk about is a particularly horrifying incident that took place yesterday um with our tax dollars yesterday Israel launched a brutal air strike on Alaska mosque in der Al balah two of the people murdered were 19-year-old Shaban Ahmad and his mother Shaban was Sheltering in a tent in a compound on the hosp or on a hospital bed hooked up and attached to an IV recovering from a bombing previously that occurred on October 6th there's video footage of him on the bed IV attached Burning Alive the Flames blazed with such a ferocity that Rescuers could not intervene uh to save them they could only watch powerlessly as he succumbed to the Flames Shaban was a real person just like every other victim in this genocide um whether they're recorded or not and I ask uh is this the world you want to live in is this the world you want your children to accept as normal is there a specific Injustice that needs to happen for the world to wake up when does this become inhumane to the world are we waiting for the next nuclear bomb when is it too late for 374 days they have screamed and no one answered if you accept this to be normal you must also accept that this can one day happen to you and your family and you will scream I will scream and no one will answer ours we need to boycott we need to divest we need a sanction that's all thank you is there anyone else to the left who wants to make comment on anything we're not voting on this evening I turn to the wide Center Mr sh Bill sh 1898 Avenue I am moved by Eric's comment to uh recite a quote from memory it's a it's a rather famous quote um from pastor neemo ER if I remember the name correctly who was a German Protestant Minister during the Third Reich and it goes something like this um first they came for the Communists I was not a communist so I did nothing then they came from the for the Socialists and I was not a socialist so I did nothing then they came for the trade unionist and I was not a member of a trade Union so I did nothing then they came for me he ended up in a concentration camp he did survive the war but it's a famous famous quote which is worth remembering I think uh on items not to be voted on anymore tonight are included the minutes and I'm happy to report that my comments at the last meeting were summarized accurately once again uh expose facto um and I would like to speak a little bit about the state income tax um I've some of you have heard me say say this country is become so sloppy I'm I'm amazed we won the Cold War the other side must have been really screwed up I probably won't go through all the errors in the state income tax form and instructions um so I'll just start with the most humorous one through the years and I've been filling these out for the 20 years I've been back there's the county code and a school district code they want you to put in and in the instructions you find a list of the codes well this year that the same was true for the school district code but there was no form of space on the return for the county code instead they had country code somebody added an r and it was printed on millions and millions of tax returns so I thought well okay I'll just get the county code and put it there nope County codes are gone this year you couldn't find them in the instructions so what to do if I leave it blank uh the computer might say uh oh he left it blank and we call him in so I thought I got to put something there I don't know the county code I don't know of a country code so I wrote in USA hopefully hopefully that'll go through the other thing is and this is more serious you have to fill out a Pennsylvania income tax return if your taxable income is more than $33 in that year and uh Social Security and pensions are not considered to be taxable income um in my particular case I got a actually a total of $51 from dividends and interest so I had to fill out a return and then you go oh and my tax then was $156 but then you have a form there that says tax forgiveness and if your taxable income is less than $65,000 you the the tax is forgiven you don't have to pay any tax so in other words the first $65,000 of taxable income is taxfree but to do to comply with this you have to fill out two forms and two pages each what a waste of time how many millions of people in this state fill out those forms every year and do they ever do anything with them I doubt it very much it's a just a colossal waste of time and it's amazing that it persists year after year after year I don't know words fail me at times thank you thank you Mr sh was there anyone else in the wide Center who would to make comment on anything we're not voting on this evening yes I'm live at 11 West Second Street my name is Alex we're having a bit of a problem with parking at the Riverport condos right across this River actually um I myself I've dealt with this issue a lot where the parking authori seems to be ticketing vehicles for almost no reason I've been a resident there for a while and the number of people I've known there have been getting ticketing Vehicles even though we live there um gotten even threatened to tow our vehicles because we're parked legally in places where we have actual tags for vehicles and we pay to park there every month I myself received five tickets on my vehicle just going away on a trip for 14 days all stacked on top of each other went to go inform them they said well you're there illegally and had to show them that I pay for it and that I live there and numerous people know I've had to deal with this I don't know if you guys know who we should be talking to about this um for the parking the I'd love more information you can give it to me uh it's become a bit of an issue about our parking authority going into the residential spaces at the condos because they're ticket EXs for no reason and a lot of times we must go back to the parking authority Administration go in show them the tickets they have to cancel them or they not cancel them and it's become a bit of a game now um so I'm just wondering if I can get any more information about it so we can kind of deal with this situation because getting your car threatened to be towed and you live there and pay money to live there and pay money to park there kind of gets a little Annoying after a bit thank you very much thank you and as I stated earlier when Mr Jesu spoke so uh during new business I'll try to pull up the when the parking authority board meetings are just to share for for the room and then if you wanted to have further conversation after the meeting or follow up with our clerks through an email um anything you want to communicate anybody's always welcome too but I'll when we get to new business I'll try to pull up that information about at least when that board meets I don't have it off the top of my head councilwoman will Holmes Li is on the was there anyone else in the wide Center who wanted to make comment who did not have a chance to yet I turn to the right anyone to the right who want to make comment for Council anything not being voted on tonight that concludes our first public comment so we are going to move to the second public comment this is reserved for any ordinance or resolution that's going to be put up for vote tonight there was no one signed up in advance is there anyone to the left who wants to make comment on anything we're voting on this evening seeing none I turn to the wide Center anyone in the center Mr sh Bill Shan 1898 in Avenue um on documentation it's um on the for the agenda I've talked before about how uh copies of the agenda are no longer coming by mail so you have to have access to the internet at home which I do not but I can access it at the library which involves a trip downtown in which case I could go equally likely to the city council and get a copy of the agenda the day before uh and tonight there's no the only copy of the background documents now are the ones on the I don't know what you call it that it's it's all sort of loosely it's a binder with some Hooks and it's U they're available there so I was curious about the some of the ordinances for final passes tonight I passed over over them at the last meeting because they were budget adjustments and those are usually rather um boring but there are three tonight which are now for final passage which are not as boring as usual the first one is 8B uh $5,000 and the the only thing it says on the backup document which is over out in the hallway Professional Services $5,000 well $5,000 is not a lot of money in the larger scheme of things would be nice to know what the Professional Services are HC of the three items I flagged that's the bigger one um budget adjustment $500,000 half a million and there's no indication here in the agenda says Fair p h a r e Ali house consultant so presumably the money $500,000 is going to a consultant what is this consultant going to do we have no idea I don't maybe you do maybe you get something else that that's that's not available to the public but as a member of the public I'd like to know what half a million dollars is going to a consultant for the third one that I flagged is 8e uh it's $4,000 going to something called Lehi accessory dwelling unit now accessory dwellings are something of a Hot Topic these days in any event that's something else I I'd like to know what it's for apparently I'm not entitled to know it thank you thank you Mr sh is there anyone else in the wide Center who wants to make comment on anything we're voting on this evening anyone to the right who Els May comment on anything we're voting on this evening that adjourns our second that concludes our second public comment moving on to Old business any old business for members of council seeing none moving on to new business it's got a couple things what to bring up starting with the rescheduling of our Tuesday November 5th city council meeting to move it to Wednesday November 6 there is the general election coming up that day so we typically move our council meeting to the Wednesday following the election so I will accept a motion followed by second to reschedule the first council meeting in November to Wednesday November 6 at 7 pm here in town hall due to City Hall being closed on November 5th which is general election day sove I will say motion by Miss Leon second by miss leair any discussion on the motion to move council meeting date Mr Miller please call the role Miss lard I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm is this about the November 5th I'm sorry I Mr calan I miss grmy Smith I miss quch I and Mr colom I pass to 70 so the first city council meeting in November has been rescheduled to Wednesday November 6 at 700 pm. here in town hall I did want to just follow up briefly on about the parking authority so Mr Miller helped me look it look it up while um some conversation was going on the parking authority board meets the fourth Wednesday of each month at 4M so again that's 4M on the fourth Wednesday of each month over at their office at 85 West Market Street that information is available on the city website and the Parking Authority website but again anyone's welcome a follow up with us and was alluded to earlier we no members of council serve on the parking author board but councilwoman Wilhelm is our leison to the parking authority that's all I had for new business I will open it up to any other new business for members of council councilwoman quch hi uh just quickly I wanted to say that um just to address Mr shire's concerns about not knowing about these agenda items this is the third time we'll be um looking at these we had a finance committee meeting uh was it prior to our last meeting yes uh prior to our last last meeting where we um discussed these items in some detail and then at the next at the at the um council meeting following that immediately following that committee meeting uh I also went into a bit of detail about what each of these were um before we H we play we had our first votes so there this is again the third time that we're we're looking at these and um there was documentation and discussion of them um prior that's all I have thank you m quch any other new business for members of council Mr Callahan M call you got a second I I don't think I was on Council when it uh the um the surfos uh development project uh at 119 Technology Drive was addressed can you explain why that's coming back again was colins man sure before I turn it over to you just because I think it is relevant um this is a a private petition from uh um member of the public so the and I'll turn it over to miss Collins but I like to answer questions where I can so the the petitioner Mr surface had I believe it about a year and a half ago uh come forward to to council uh definitely within the last two years between a year and two years ago and had requested for Council to rezone it it was uh as is their right they had filed all the paperwork with Mr Miller and then my understanding is they came back into the council office again and resubmitted the paperwork again so it it was originally with on on the past Council and it was shot down right it was rejected it was voted down 70 last time and now it's back and they're and they're trying to change uh the zoning again to the same thing that they were asking for before or something different essentially the same they they filed a similar petition as they had previously yeah so they're asking for the same consideration that was requested the last time how I'm not sure how I mean maybe there's a legal an issue with technicality why they're allowed but if it got shot down already by the past Council why would it be allowed to come back again that's something Miss Stewart and I are going to be discussing actually we touched base on it briefly already we're going to be talking more after the meeting just for her to look into to be able to share with Council some of that insight as to what the what the rights are as we know as we talk about different development projects and things like that people have property rights this is a very atypical circumstance where in all of our time and my time on Council I I don't remember a petition coming forward that was not granted and then within any interval let alone 18 months coming back so that's something that um I was going to talk to M Dart about just to give an opinion to council and talk about what the uh you know how often does someone get to essentially ask us to do the same thing and it not be granted and if I may yeah solic spurk and I have have spoken about this very issue and you know preliminarily I will say that um the law is uh very broad with respect back to the rights of uh a property owner to seek relief relative to their property um and there's really nothing in the municipality's planning uh code nor in case law that I've researched thus far um that really goes to you know how many bites of the apple does an applicant get but certainly it would seem that if you're if the same applicant is coming back for the same relief that um I don't either that there there might be parameters around that so I'm going to continue to research that but thus far um I've really found nothing in the MPC or in the case law that um limits the right of a property owner to seek relief I'll continue to research that Mr cahan do you have a followup she I I I I don't have a followup but um um I have another question on another topic so I I think she has a question about I'll I'll let you finish what you have Mr Callan and then I'll turn the floor over to Miss gramsey Smith yeah did did you want to add anything Miss Collins I I don't have much to add um um president clone is correct that it's a it's a citizen initiated petition and I was actually surprised to see it come back um you know I think from my Vantage Point there's a number of different um potential opportunities for that site probably even more so than the last time um we were here before council with this question so I think um yeah I I was surprised to see it come back but it's it's not a it's not a city um directed petition initiated yeah thank you thank you um my my last question I hope this is not true but um we all know how rumors spread I had a couple business owners uh not only uh get a hold of me but also Miss kampsy Smith and said that the homeless people um are being paid $100 WWA cards if they bring their garbage up to a certain area within the city anybody know anything about this yeah we actually have talked about this at past meetings so as uh the health Bureau does have uh an initiative it's modeled off of a lot of other communities you know we've put a lot in City res sources in to clean up the area down on San Island um you know some cleaning out the canals and and doing other work and then we've had assistance from Bob rap at bethlhem emergency shelter to organize cleanups but putting all that you know all those resources in you don't want then to see continued trash accumulation and what's worked in other communities and what we're just piloting here as a pilot is an incentive program so that people who are um unhoused and living in the area are in incentivized to clean up after themselves so we have folks from Community connections um Bob rap from emergency shelter working with the people who live down there I don't believe they're $100 I think it's more like maybe $20 I I would have to double check $5 it's $ five dollar um but uh it's it's a it's meant to be an incentive to help people clean up after themselves um and it's supported by grant funding can you just um no rush on it you know but just let send us an email just outlining it because I mean it's the first I've heard of it exactly how much it is I mean there's a big difference between five and I believe you that it is five but there's we have business people saying it's $100 which it kind of shocked me but if it is five I trust you but if you can just get back to us and the parameters of it how how often do they get it how much garbage do they have I mean who who Who's shelling out these gift cards because it's taxpayer money right so it's it's Grant funded through the health Bureau all right and that comes from the state I believe it's a state Grant yeah it's still tax dollars all right just you know whenever you can let us know about it thank you M cramy Smith I just had a followup for uh attorney Stewart um you were talking about the rights of property owners but I'm wondering um is the petition on behalf of seiros are they indeed the property owner because I'm think I'm I thought they were not the property owner at this point that they want they want the resoning and then they'll buy the property if they get got it so doesn't that make things a bit different in this scenario here the municipality's planning code defines a land owner um includes in that definition an equitable owner who would be someone who would be under contract and and not even necessarily bound to that contract but but under contract for a property so I did look at that and they do qualify as a land owner and is they're able to petition under the MPC as long so are we certain that they are under contract with the property I guess that's my question that is um that was stated in the application that's their basis for asserting um okay the right to pursue this relief okay I would just say even though they stated I understand but I wouldn't just request that we make certain that they definitely are under contract so that therefore they have the rights as a property owner it's it it's my recollection and I do not want to speak out of turn because I I could be U not remembering this correctly and I will um go back and look but I believe that the contract may have been included in the documents that were submitted so all right thank you and again my you know my my um concern is I think everybody else has somec concerns about this my concern is that um you know do we want and I know we are bound by the laws for property owners but you know I think we certainly want to not get into the position where we have people continually repetition for something that we've already made a decision on because we have so much you know business that we have to attend to and it's just not um the most proficient use of time no I certainly understand that and I think that that's something that um that's something that I want to continue to research and hopefully find something that will be beneficial um to the city in terms of managing applications um thus far I haven't found it okay thanks so much I appreciate it any other new business for members of council Miss wam yeah I just wanted to officially introduce myself as the leaz onto the parking authority if you don't want to stay after the meeting and wait to speak to me U I can't speak on behalf of the BPA but I can give you my email address if you don't plan to stay for the entire meeting I can meet you out the hallway thank you councilwoman Wilhelm any other new business from any members of council all right we're going to continue on Communications communication 6A September 12th 2024 communication from Attorney James Preston on behalf of surfos development and Acquisitions with petition requesting Amendment to the city zoning map involving 119 Technology Drive the current Zoning for this property is industrial Redevelopment the request is to change the zoning classification to become part of the adjacent Central business district an attached August 28 2024 memorandum from developer uh to council indicates the proposed development would be an apartment building project with more than 240 units it also notes that a similar plan was reviewed by Council in 2023 I will accept a motion and a second scheduled public hearing for November 19 2024 here at Town Hall to consider this resoning requests sorry the just for so I ask for a motion I might if I misspoke a motion and a second schedule the public hearing for the reasoning request for November 19th so Move Motion by Miss Leon there a second point of order are we required to pass a I know this is an unusual situation we I'm gonna second the motion and then we could have discussion on the motion so miss Leon was the uh motion and I'm the second on it so now we'll have discussion on the public comment or excuse me on scheduling the public hearing I will turn to attorney Stewart just to kind of say what we're bound to relative to the application quite frankly I would say that under the municipality's planning code it would just get scheduled um you you could simply just schedule it without a vote to schedule it it is on the agenda for a vote to schedule it um such as it is I think you move forward with that so so the uh attorney Stewart please um if you can by the MPC by the municipal planning code we do have once some once an applicant files a a petition we are bound by a certain amount of time to to have a public hearing cor to hold the hearing correct so that being said given that the public hearing date is for November 19th which is more than a month from now um and attorney Stewart's stated investigation in concert with attorney spurk who's been involved and and the department of well the other I don't know about the concert part okay well and as as we are kind of figuring out what in plain English what our rights are here as a council and if we do have to listen to if we do have to hear it or not we we are bound by a time commitment that I would feel more comfortable in the absence of a firm legal opinion tonight to say no we do not have to to at least for the purposes of transparency say our plan is to hear this on November 19th and then if anything changes between now and the next meeting or now in November 19th from our solicitor in terms of insight to um that this is not something that we do have to listen to or have to entertain and vote on but as of right now we don't have that and and the clock is ticking that we have to um Grant the applicant this public Hearing in in a certain amount of time so I I would say I feel more confident scheduling the public hearing and then if we need to change anything in the interm between now and November 19th we can announce that and attorney Stewart can give her legal opinion any other discussion on the motion on the table to schedule the public hearing for the November 19 uh prior to the November 19 2024 city council meeting I'll start with Miss gamsey Smith so just to be clear that even if we vote nay on scheduling the um the public hearing we have to have the public hearing anyway so the vote is really you know doesn't really matter I would say better term I didn't mean interrupt you I apologize I I would say I look at it as us confirming and announcing what day we plan on honoring Our obligation to give them a public hearing under the municipality's planning code when an application is submitted you have a certain amount of time to hold a hearing um and and quite frankly if there's anything that's different about this petition and I don't have the um advantage of of having that first petition I have to go back and and obtain that so I can compare them because that's a big part of the analysis um in terms of whether anything at all is different if it is it's I think that the right to proceed the right of landowner to proceed is is pretty clear um but just as a matter of procedure an application has been filed there are timelines for providing an opportunity to be heard and that's what's before you tonight so even if so again I'm clear that if there is not a majority or the number to um to approve of the hearing we're still having a hearing so the vote is really a mute point is that just so I I have my I understand it correctly I wouldn't say that I I I think your vote carries but then you run into an issue under the municipality's planning code which is um you know the next question would be how do we deal with that and no matter what the vote is we still between now and the time of the hearing if we find it legally um it's determined that we don't need to have the hearing then we just can ccel the hearing correct if that is what the research reveals that will be the Avenue that we can pursue okay Mr Callan so uh if it's found that the application's the same uh we don't have to have a hearing on it that's I'm not saying that I'm saying as a starting point um if the applications are identical in every respect that that might lean toward a finding that we don't have to but we may still have to and and certainly what more my point was more if they're different in any way then I my recommendation and the law would require that you know it's a completely separate application it has to be heard I'm going to be voting no tonight on it uh until we find out I mean if it if it's determined uh in the future that the proposals are different uh then they can come back to us but I'm going to be voting no uh based on the fact that I'm assuming it's the same proposal that was shot down by the past Council any other discussion on the motion to schedule the public hearing Miss Leo so I I guess maybe again attorney Stewart this might be for you um the proposals don't seem to be the same because one has a 10% affordability that they're promising as opposed to the other one I'm not saying one way or another whether I support this project I'm just saying they don't appear to be the same because there is that 10% affordability difference in this one as to the previous one is that enough to say that we should have this hearing then regardless of how we feel about the project or the hearing all that stuff is that enough of a difference to say that a hearing would be required in my view yes and again my view would be you have an application follow the procedure nature um absent clear Authority clear legal Authority that says okay well you know you you were here a year ago you're not allowed to come back but but I will tell you I have searched for that Authority and it does not appear at at first pass to exist it may it may some it's a needle and a hay stack sometimes but it's it's your opinion right now that we don't have a clear a legal Authority that would say don't do this that's correct any other discussion from members of council m i uh you know when I raised the question it wasn't that I necessarily didn't want to have the hearing I just wanted to know if we procedurally had to you know have a vote or could it fail because it didn't have a second um but in hearing uh attorney Steward's uh you know comments and and you know looking at you know the fact that there are uh probably differences um and considering the fact that you know we're you know if you're a property owner and you you want to petition us uh you know that is you know part of the the way we run things in this you know private property capitalist society that we live in this is you know you property owners have rights and as much as I for over the past several years we've had plenty of these applications for all different kinds of uh relief or or things from Equitable owners and and I question uh whether that's appropriate because I do kind of think that somebody should have to buy the property in order to be a property owner um and not just have a an agreement of sale um they do kind of put this you know into a legal document that they transmit to us so um you know the fact is that this person is an equitable owner they're handing a legal document over legally to us and uh we do need to follow the procedure so I I will be voting yes I I again I just think that um not you know not thinking about how we you know um are ultimately going to vote uh yes or no on this petition but thinking about the fact that um you know we all have a right to you know redress you know our grievances uh to our to our municipality and and ask for Relief um and we have a right to that hearing uh it's not just about this person it's about um than anybody who comes to us um so and and you know time moves on and circumstances change and uh this even if it were the same petition um it could be that that the that this moment was the right moment or um and that certainly could be part of their argument um again not not saying how any of us will vote yes or no on the petition itself it does seem that we need to have the hearing so I'll be voting yes thank you any other discussion for members of council Miss leard question so um vote we've confirmed is about the procedure that we have to follow and we're voting on a certain date and time is that correct can you reiterate what the date and time is so that we can correct so the it would be to schedule the public hearing which is part of the process for the rezoning or requested rezoning uh for November 19 which would be um at the top of our regular council meeting at 7M as we typically do for public hearings thank you any other discussion from members of council Council CR um I'll just say I guess this is just um another instance in government having worked in government not just being a council member where um things don't always make sense and I really do not want to vote um yes to this but I I will just so we can move on and then hopefully we can address the legal issues because I think the biggest issue is are they real property owners of this property that they are seeking to re to rezone and that's that's key so um again it's just something that we another thing that we need to deal with even though I don't think it makes sense thank you if I may unfortunately we don't have latitude to determine their um their status as a land owner because that is defined in the municipalities planning code and I know that's it seems odd but I guess my understanding is they they need to be the Land O owner or under contract to even submit this petition so that they have the rights of a land owner is that am I wrong there are a couple of different ways but being an equitable owner in a property is one of the ways that you can proceed so even if they're not an equitable owner under contract they can still petition for this resoning is that correct no Equitable owner means that they have an equitable interest in the property by virtue of an agreement of sale okay all right or a lease or so I'm clear that they need to either have an agreement of sale or own the property to do this petition and that's there there are a couple of different ways under the NPC but they're not implicated by this petition any another discussion for members of council I'll just briefly make two points as it relates to scheduling the public hearing prior to attorney Stewart saying we could just schedule it I've never experienced that in my time on Council historically we always after something's right into the record as a communication as a council schedule and vote on it so I don't want to um imply that there's no U you know unilaterally something would have happen or will happen depending on how that vote goes that have to be addressed after the vote historically this is how we've always uh handled scheduling public comments as a council making the announcement putting it in the record and as Mr Miller politely reminded me there are aside from us listening to the applicant's uh requests at a public hearing there's certain advertising requirements that we're bound to and that Mr Miller handles and our clerk's office handles that scheduling the public hearing then allows him to start do and his work to to make sure that we're meeting those advertising requirements so while as councilwoman cramsey Smith said might not make sense there are as councilwoman quch mentioned there are just certain this is part of a process that I will uh continue conversation with attorney Stewart and at our next council meeting which is um not when we're hearing the public hearing that's two meetings from now uh hope to have something more uh informative in terms of what council's role and obligations are as we move forward with this any other comment before we call the role attorney Stewart I see you grabbing your mic i' just like to say that my comment about the vote was was purely I think it's it's administratively completely appropriate if that is how you proceed it's just not required under the MPC that was my only my only comment there thank you understood Mr Miller please call the role on the motion to schedule the public hearing on November 19th for the uh request from suros development Miss L I miss leam I miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan he Miss grmy Smith hi Miss quch hi and Mr colum hi Hass is 61 communication 6B September 27th 2024 memorandum with an attached resolution from Health director Kristen wrick Miss wnri recommends contract with tactical data group of St Stafford Virginia to develop comprehensive Communications plan for the City cost is $100,000 work is to be completed by June 30th 2025 there are no renewals three rfps were submitted and the Tactical data group was scored the highest by the review panel and resolution 10B is on the agenda 6C and October 3rd 2024 memorandum from business administrator Eric Evans advising that a direct deposit for pension state aid in the amount of 4,800 $ 44,49246 has been allocated to pension Bond payments for police fire and Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System minimum Municipal obligations back the breakdown is as follows 1,633 n936 78 for police $1,633 9367 for fire 1,576 624 for the pmrs and resolution 10c is on the agenda 6D and October 2nd 2024 memorandum with an attached resolution from Edward boscola director of water and sewer resources Mr boscola recommends a contract with ntech engineering Incorporated of reading to provide Engineering Services to prepare air quality state only operating renewal application for the wastewater treatment plant permit renewal is required every five years the cost is 5,555 5 I'm sorry $5,550 work is to be completed by January 1st 2026 there are no renewals entech has performed the service with prior permit applications for the city and resolution 10d is on the agenda 6E and October 9th 2024 memorandum from city solicitor John fburg Jr with an attached use permit agreement and resolution per is the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce buy and through its downtown Bethlehem Association and the activity is the 2024 Christmas City Village the agreement specifies event times dates and the duration for use from October 28 2024 through January 7th 2025 the agreement also specifies three locations for use resolution 10 is on the agenda 6f an October 9th 2024 memorandum with an attached resolution from Collins director of community and economic development Miss Collins recommends a contract with chrisy M Davies of Bethlehem to assess the completeness of an October 2024 appraisal of land proposed for purchase to complete the South Bethlehem Greenway the cost is $4,500 work is to be completed by November 15 2024 there are no renewals resolution 10f is on the agenda tonight 6G and October 9th 2024 memorandum and attach proposed resolution and contract for purchase and sale from solicitor city solicitor johnb Jr solicor spurk recommends the purchase of 11.8 acres of land along 0.9 miles of abandoned Rail lines in South Bethlehem from Norfolk Southern Railway company and resolution 10g is on the agenda tonight 6h and October 8th 2024 memorandum from Laura Collins director of community and economic development Miss Collins recommends an adjustment that would increase the non-utility capital fund budget by $900,000 this changes the result of receipt of an $800,000 us fish and wildlife service Grant and 100,000 being transferred from the city's Recreation facilities fund the money and $3.5 million already received from three other grants will be used to purchase land to complete the greenway project and costs associate with investigating preparing and closing the transaction and that's going to be 9A under new ordinances this evening thank you Mr Miller moving on to reports I just have our committee the whole report that the committee of the whole met earlier tonight before Council to discuss the administration's proposed five-year capital capital Improvement program for years 2025 through 2029 the meeting was for information only no actions were taken during the committee of the whole meeting the proposed 2025 non-utility Capital plan that is incorporated in the 5-year Capital Improvement program will be reviewed by Council again during our upcoming budget meetings as part of the proposed 2025 non-utility capital budget that's all I have this evening Mr Evans now reports this evening thank you thank you Mr Evans we're gonna move on to our ordinances for final passage AA in ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehi and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 33 2024 is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion we'll call the rooll M lard Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi Miss kmy Smith hi Miss quack I and Mr cologne I pass 60 8B an ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 34 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion we'll call the roll Miss lard Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi Miss kmy Smith hi Miss quch hi and Mr clone hi pass 60 8C ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 35 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss crany Smith discussion I I'll start left to right Mr Callahan no um so um Miss cins so so this is for the um the the alley houses that were the the uh we're turning these garages into Apartments so this is um the Lehi University Applied for or asked the city to apply on their behalf and serve as a pass through for a grant from Pennsylvania housing affordability and Rehabilitation enhancement fund so that's fair um so it's not to pay for a consultant it is a grant proposal that Lehi put together as part of their alley house work uh we were the applicant and we are passing those Grant funds through to Lehi University so so the the amount of money is is 500,000 correct and that's just for a studying uh no my understanding of lehi's proposal is uh that this is a component that deals with um construction so it's uh actually funding the construction of the pilot alley house um that that the students are working on right now so they'll be looking to this grant to reimburse it um I think it also is going to include the possibility uh that if uh zoning is opened up at some point in the future it could construct um about three or four more of these of these houses actually it's it's actually not a consultant or study so so the for the $500,000 how many alley houses are getting built for that amount I believe lehi's proposal is that it would be three to four three to four and then the deal with that is uh the the homeowner uh gets this built for free correct so um so homeowners who are interested in the in the proposal um would have this built these particular ones would have it built through the grant um and uh it's combination with new Bethany and Community Action on um property managing um and and how long then does the homeowner have to uh keep the rent at an affordable housing rate I I believe the period of affordability is 20 years I believe 20 years and then at the end of the 20 years um it goes to market rate for the homeowner it would be it would be up to the homeowner okay thank you any other discussion for members of council Miss qu I just wanted to say that as an employee of Lehigh University I'll be recusing myself from this agenda item and we'll be voting on it tonight thank you any other discussion M willham I also wanted to say that as an employee of Lehi University I will be recusing myself from this vote understood any other discussion I just I just wanted to have it clarify because I know Mr sh asked so thank you I think that clarifies that this is really just a pass through of grant money and it will be used right for the construction of the unit so thank you thank you m KY Smith any other discussion Mr Miller we will call the role this L I miss Leon i m wilham reuse Mr Callahan nay Miss grmy Smith I miss quch recuse and Mr colum I so it passes four point to one with two members of council we accusing 8D an ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general front budget for 2024 bill number 36 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion we'll call the rooll Miss lar I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I miss pmy Smith hi M hi and Mr colom hi pass 70 8e ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 37 2024 is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmy Smith discussion on 8 M kmy Smith okay I just wanted to clarify because I think Mr sh asked about this and I believe from the last meeting it's a um like an alarm system for those that have um developmental disabilities and Alzheimer's whereas they can be tracked if they um would get away from their home I think is that correct can you can you CL confirm that I can handle that yes absolutely it's a a band that has basically GPS in it where an individual is Alzheimer's or is autistic if they wander um it helps police and our partners locate that individual great thank you you're welcome thanks thank you councilwoman and chief cot any other discussion from members of council quick question on M quch Miss mul I will now speak for Lehi County um we last when we discussed this at uh the Committee hearing um um I believe it was Miss wrick uh or somebody one of her staff members said that they would also be training the Northampton County uh law enforcement uh in the use of this and and then they would be getting the the equipment as well what about Lehigh County so it the program is active in Lehigh County as well it's just for trying to get Northampton County up and running that was my suspicion when we spoke about it after yeah but okay thank you very much you're welcome any other discussion we'll call the rooll Miss L I miss Leon hi Miss wilham hi Mr Callahan hi M grmy Smith hi Miss qu I and Mr col I pass 70 8f ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Leigh and North ampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 38 2024 is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion start with M qu um so this is one that's kind of borderline because I think the money is coming to the city from leh high but I'm still going to recuse myself just to out of the issue of transparency understood same enough said any other discussion M crii can you just clarify I'm sorry M Collins um what this is exactly for and is it grant money or where it's where the money is coming from what's it used for yes so this is grant money and the opposite way that was awarded to Lehigh University um for uh this is a HUD research Grant um so they were selected as one of a few communities across the country um for this type of Grant to research accessory dwelling units and a component of that also uh is available for the city to look specifically at City Zoning so when when they asked for support for their application we said if you're if you're going to have a zoning component that's not something we would really want to Outsource to Lehi that's something that we would want to work on inhouse right like we have a director of planning and zoning who's who's well aware of our zoning ordinance and our specific neighborhoods and unique needs and we would also want to engage in the community in a way that we're comfortable with before you know exploring any possible zoning changes so we asked um that Lehi write in as a part of their Grant um money from their grant that we could use then to do to do that kind of work here for the city so um so just so I'm clear so I know it's like a pilot program with the couple three the four that we're using and we don't need to that we're they're constructing we don't need resoning for those right they're already within a Zone an area that's compatible for to use there is one pilot uh that's currently under construction and that was approved at the zoning hearing board for a variance the goal would be not to take any others back for a variance but to instead be looking at what's happening with the pilot project using that as a component of the research and the study to see you know how far like what setbacks are appropriate and what kind of parking restrictions or or allowances um are best for these type of developments using all of that as we're also looking at uh best practices and other communities and and all sorts of things related to our zoning and then possibly potentially if there support updating our zoning and then the subsequent construction would be something that's by right under new zoning okay so we' be using these funds basically to look at um the the One Pilot unit and the effectiveness of it and you know what the community input is and things like that gather all the data regarding that right and and then um based on that gather further data and make a decision as far as request and resoning is that correct it's definitely that's a definitely a component of it there's also a lot of um um like best practices research from other communities like you know right now there's um Dr Ken back pulley has this great map that shows like the the case studies for accessory dwelling units and there there are a bunch but most of them are in California um but her and her students as part of the research Grant um are are going to be looking at expanding that by about 15 times and looking at communities that are more comparable to bethleem um you know H what how does their zoning allow for accessory dwelling units but not just allow for them but also ensure that they are um respectful of the neighborhoods and uh incentivized for um affordable uses how do we make sure that they're not becoming investor properties like all of these different questions about how this plays out in other communities is going to be part of the research that goes into this and as part of the um just so I know this is a pilot like the the number of years where it has to be mandated to be an affordable housing rate is that open for um for change then like that for the rest as we move forward with additional units like is that I would say that so there are two components there's there's the the pilot and the construction with the Lehi University architectural students and New Bethany and Community Action that a a partnership that's really a guaranteed way to make sure that we've got these units are becoming affordable if you look at the zoning generally there's the possibility that you you you can't restrict um accessory uses you know if somebody wants to convert a garage you can't require that they make it affordable necessarily but what we can do is is create incentives packages that help people do that um but so depending on what kind of incentives or what organizations are involved or where funding is coming from maybe to Subs IED to keep things affordable I think would impact um things like the period of affordability that would stay on different projects okay thank you any other discussion for members of council Mr Callan I'm going to be voting no against this I'm um I'm just um adamantly opposed against adus and uh and I I think it's going to lead uh I think it's something that alltown did many years ago and I think it's going to lead to increase crime and the lowering of housing values in our neighborhoods and the safety of our neighborhoods so I'll be voting no any other discussion for members of council thank you Miss Collins we'll call the rooll Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm rck Hughes Mr Callahan N Miss grmy Smith hi Miss qu ruse and Mr colum I passes four four to one or two members of council were accusing themselves HG ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehi and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the 2024 capital budget for non- utilities bill number 39 2024 is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss crampy Smith discussion we'll call the rooll Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi M Callahan hi M grmy Smith hi m quch i and Mr cologne I pass 70 8h ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the 2024 capital budget for non- utilities bill number 40 2024 is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion we'll call the rooll Miss lard hi Miss Leon hi M Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I M kmy Smith I miss quch I and Mr colog I pass 70 8i ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton conwal of Pennsylvania amending the 2024 capital budget for non- utilities bill number 41 2024 is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmsy Smith discussion sorry I just had a question I um I think it's wonderful we're doing with FIP Park but I know it's it's a lot of money and I'm wondering how do we um earmark this park in particular to do all the improvements because there's so many parks without the city that can certainly use them and I'm just wondering like do we look at the census and the number of people that um that use this park I'm I'm just curious as to how this was um determined to be the park so Friendship Park was identified in the Northside 2017 plan that was when that Park you know kind of first um started getting a lot of attention I think in that in that planning process which you know involved um the school district and neighborhood groups and others and that's now um evolved into the north side alive um you know program um and so that it was a big priority of that of that plan so it's one of the recommendations of the plan that the park be um improved um based on community feedback and a number of other factors and um that neighborhood is also designated Now by Hud as a neighborhood revitalization strategy area a nursa um designation which um as part of that designation it is it is important for us to be um directing you know some funds into that area and being able to show that um to maintain that designation but aside from that um we have also recently talked about um the fact that we are uh we have a grant now we're completing a a Parks and Recreation master plan and I I think we had sent probably a memo on that and have talked about it but I think that plan also gets at a little bit of what you're talking about is how are we looking you know Citywide um we know we have a lot of great um neighborhood assets a lot of great Parks we've done a lot of work to improve different parks and improve monoxy pool and um chip away at at different things at the parks but we can also be you know taking we can also be building on that and looking at um you know for example like neighborhood networks of parks right if if you've got um you know a splash pad or a water feat F in this park and in a neighborhood park you don't have that but you have there something that's for you know younger folks or a different age demographic like how do all the parks work together and how do we look at these things holistically to then decide um you know what's our future plan for where we're next trying to invest dollars and doing planning like that also helps us secure Grant dollars because part of the reason we were able to get so much money in Grant support for Friendship Park was because we had the north side plan so we were able to take that plan and show this is part this is a demonstrated Community need here's the data here's the community feedback and that that it's always much better to have something like that when you're going for grant funding because it's more likely to be supported so this new this Parks plan that we're going to be working on over the next year will also serve that purpose more broadly Citywide okay thank you any other discussion yes thank you Miss Collins we'll call the rooll Miss lard hi Miss leam hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan grac Smith i m quch i Mr colum I pass 70j ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the Community Development block grant budget for 2024 bill number 42 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss KY Smith discussion Mr Miller call the ru m l hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi rmy Smith i m qu I and Mr colum I pass 70 moving on to our our loone new ordinance ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the 2024 capital budget for non utilities bill number 43 2024 sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion Mr Callan Miss this is the the last piece of the uh of the puzzle correct we should give you a chair I'm just shifting all my papers around um yes this is this is the last piece of the green M correct good I I I just want to I want to thank you for for all the work on this and all the prior administrations and councils this has been uh you know I I'm not sure if if it started with uh mayor Cunningham I know that when my brother was mayor uh they got the the the first rail trail there if it if it if there was something that started with mayor Cunningham I apologize but this is something that's been going on a long time it's been piece by piece by piece by many different mayors and many different councils and uh it's uh it's it's unbelievable to see this come to uh you know a final solution so um I think it's going to be a beautiful thing for uh the city of bethl you know in the Holy High Valley so thank you for your work on it any other discussion Miss l yeah this is incredibly exciting um and even to see just the work uh in this current piece of the puzzle that has gone into making sure that we didn't need to um acquire land that we then were trying to sell immediately or didn't really have any business owning um there is yeah just decades and Decades of work by so many decades yeah right of by so many people uh it's it's really exciting to coming to fruition M will yeah I just want to add my congratulations and excitement I think uh we all know what a wonderful resource this is the fact that it runs right through the city just increases its access exponentially and it's just it's really very exciting so I'm I'm looking forward to voting yes any other discussion Miss Leon just kind of pile on with how great this is uh for the city it's one of those moments on Council where it's like we had very little to do with everything that led up to this moment it's really just super cool to be able to not be the stumbling block before completing a decades long multiple decades long project we didn't vote yet really slightly any other discussion Mr CR Smith I'll just add to that thanks to everyone in the city that um has has worked on this because it's definitely a win-win I know um up in the gy FL are they were able to purchase land from the railroad finally to complete uh the trail and it has been like unbelievable how many people have been using it and really thrilled with it so I think this is a real win-win thank you any other discussion I'll just say uh again just piggybacking off what everyone else said that being able to acquire that last nine tenth of a mile to complete the greenway to be able to go from the end of the fahe bridge down to Quaker Town and everything like that is really G to be something I mean uh few C few members of council and I spoke last summer about saen Park and just the ability to travel from you know South Bethlehem through sain Park and then now connecting to the rest of the trail system it's uh often I've said before a lot of these projects they're they're a series of kind of data points uh on a timeline and now to be able to see this just like we have other especially Trail projects over the years that were little by little chipped away at and it's something that I look forward to as a you know a legacy of this is years and decades from now being able to say hey I remember when this used to be railroad tracks as we used to go around the Southside and and things like that so thank you to to everybody that worked so hard on this I know it wasn't wasn't something that just came together overnight so Mr Callan I I I think even Mr Evans was on Council when we voted on a couple pieces of this correct yeah it goes back that long ago yeah yeah long time we I'll point out that Darlene heler is here also who has been involved in this for quite some time and Mike alol thank you round Miss Miss lar did you have something you want to share yeah just I mean also pointing out that earlier tonight we also voted on um or looked at sorry the capital plan to extend the minoy way path that last stretch which would take you to Sand Island which then takes you to The Greenway which then goes all the way I mean this is awesome wanted to note thank you Miss L any other input for members of council we shall call the role Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I miss gmy Smith I miss quch I Mr colum I pass a 70 moving on to resolutions 10A be resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem in accordance with the municipal records manual hereby authorized the disposal of public records in the law Bureau as set forth in exhibit a resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion on the resolution we'll call the role Miss lard hi Miss Leon hi Miss willhelm I Mr Callahan I M grmy Smith i m quch i and Mr colum I pass 70 10B it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller Andor such other City officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute an agreement with tactical data Group LLC to develop a Communications plan for the city resolution is sponsored by miss quak and miss Leon discussion we'll call the rooll Miss L I miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi Miss kmy Smith hi Miss quch I and Mr colog I pass 70 10 C be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller and or such other City officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to allocate 4,844 , 49756 in the 2024 General municipal pension System state aid line item specified in the resolution resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss leam discussion on the resolution we'll call the rooll Miss lard I miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I M kmy Smith I miss quch I Mr colog I pass 70 10 D be resolved by the Council of the city of Beth that the mayor and controller and or such other City officials deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute an agreement with entech engineering Incorporated to prepare the air quality operating permit renewal application for the city's wastewater treatment plan resolution sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion we'll call the rooll Miss L I miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi M Callahan hi M grmy Smith hi Miss quac I and Mr colog I pass 70 10e be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller Andor such other City officials doed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute a use permit agreement with the Great Valley Chamber of Commerce buying through its downtown Bethlehem Association for the 2024 Christmas City Village resolution is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion we'll call the rooll lard hi Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I miss crampy Smith hi Miss quch I Mr colum I pass 70 10f be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller Andor such other City officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute an agreement with Christy M Davies for review of a Greenway land appraisal resolution sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion we'll call the rooll Miss lard I miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan I miss grmy Smith I miss quack I and Mr cologne I pass 70 and 10g 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 to execute contract of purchase and sale and related documents with Norfolk Southern Railway company for the purchase of approximately 11.8 acres to develop recreational trail connecting existing Trails on the Bethlehem Greenway with the S and rail trail resolution sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion over here miss quch I was reserving my chance to celebrate about this for this particular agenda item congratulations to everybody who has ever had any part of this um it truly is a special uh a special moment and I'm thrilled to be able to to support uh this agreement of sale very excited thank you any other discussion we'll call the rooll Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi M Callahan hi Miss grmy Smith hi Miss quid I Mr colog I pass 70 I will accept a motion then a second to consider resolutions 10h through 10K as a group so moved second motion by Council Leon second by Council Wan Wilhelm any discussion on the motion to consider them as a group Mr Miller please call the roll on the motion m l hi M Leon I miss Wilhelm I Callahan hi mmy Smith i m quch i Mr colog I motion pass 70 please read the group certificates of appropriateness under the provisions of the ACT Act of the Pennsylvania legislature Bethlehem resolutions are hereby granted for three West Church Street to paint the window shutters in sea serpent Foundation front porch and basement double door in polished concrete and the moldings and bricks in Ice Cube for 47 East Market Street to install handrails on the porch steps to address 38 through 46 East Wall Street to address safety concerns for 402 North New Street to replace existing black I shingled porch roof with GF slate line shingles in a gray color and for 40 East Walnut Street to paint trim and ground floor shutters Shutters on the second through fourth floors secondary door on Church Street and the primary entry doors on New Street resolutions are sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion on coas we'll call the role Miss L I miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Callahan hi Miss grmy Smith hi Miss quch I Mr cologne I pass 70 that concludes tonight's agenda get home safe everyone have a happy Halloween we'll see you at the parade --------- ##VIDEO ID:MVd1x2WOe74## it was 8 AM maybe something good evening everybody I don't know I will call this meeting of the committee the hold to order I'll ask Mr Miller to call the role Mr Callahan present M gry Smith present M quac present Miss lard Leon Miss Wilhelm present and Mr cologne I am here thank you okay councilwoman Leon's going to be running a little bit late uh she should be joining us in the next couple minutes but you said okay to get started without her so just for our YouTube reminder if you start this meeting after 6 PM you can scroll ahead so the YouTube stream is current rather than a recording of earlier portions of the meeting if our YouTube audience want to follow along in real time with the meeting tonight we only have one agenda item that's our 2025 through 2029 Capital Improvement program the meeting tonight is for information purposes only I'll accept public comment after discussion of the agenda item and then we'll impose our typical five minute time limit we will begin with a presentation of the capital Improvement program from Ed Administration representative a memorandum was received from Darlene heler our director of Planning and Zoning advising that the City Planning Commission unanimously had voted to recommend approval of the 2025 through 2029 Capital Improvement plan at its September 12th meeting in accordance with article 121.0 6 of the city's codified ordinances the 5-year Capital Improvement program may be modified by an affirmative vote of five council members just for everyone's reference and the proposed 2025 non-utility Capital plan that is Incorporated in the five-year Capital Improvement program will be reviewed by Council again during the 2024 budget meetings as part of the 2025 non-utility capital budget first reading of the proposed 2024 non-utility capital budget will take place at the November 19th council meeting and final reading will take place at the December 17th council meeting I'll turn it over to the administration to discuss the capital Improvement program started off break the ice okay before you start Miss hel I will recognize councilwoman Le is here now okay thank you thank you for having us um as you as you noted the plan was reviewed uh by the Planning Commission at their September meeting uh without comment or revision uh we reviewed um the projects overall Eric reviewed the uh uh General budget I think there's some accounts in here that we didn't see a few or several years ago and and um DPW reviewed the bulk of the uh projects that are within the plan we did talk about how some of these projects fit into our uh overall neighborhood planning and and other um Community initiatives Etc but the plan was well received there was no public comment and uh this is really um a fiveyear look at um what we would uh anticipate our Capital spending would be for the next five years hand off yeah hand off okay thank you Darlene um I'd like to point to count I'd like to have Council take a look at the spreadsheet with me and I can kind of explain the format of way this sets up this Capital plan is provided through two documents one is an Excel spreadsheet that shows the timing of the different projects and it's accompanied with a Word document that has a nice description of each and every project or in some cases purchased as planned if you look at the spreadsheet the bottom right corner you will see in the next five years the total accumulation of all these projects and purchases the spend is nearly $90 million if you look in the leftand margin I'll just briefly explain some of the funding sources that will help us pay for the projects Andor purchases the first we listed our bonds and you'll see in parentheses 2013 17 19 those are the dates of the issuance and I'll remind Council that for a number of years dating back to well before I think any of us in this room were here this city would take out a bond every other year uh that Bond issuance was over $5 million between five and seven typically and it would take care of capital needs for a two-year period that funding would then be sub not subsidized but would be joined along with other federal state county and other opportunities to fund so through um 13 17 19 you'll see the remnants of those example of the first one the bond 2013 that started with $5 million and through time it's been spent down different projects have been completed and from time to time either project or purchase has a Remnant amount it's moved around and that one will finally be finished out in 2025 there's only 12,000 left on that so that'll be taken care of very quickly the 1719 bonds are on the same same status uh that they have small amounts left you'll see that after 2019 there is not a 2021 bond in the fall of 2020 we were in covid and we we did not borrow at that time and in its replacement we used the loss Revenue reimbursement category from the American Rescue plan to replace the bonds uh so you'll see lrr in 2022 that Bond was or that um borrowing Source was initially 9.3 million in 2022 the balance left is $1 million it's expected to be paid out in 2025 the second round in 2024 was originally $9 million and you can see it's almost halfway spent down there's 5.8 that's expected to be spent in 2025 that would take care of that sort beyond that when you move down and those sources are taken care of you'll see in 26 and 28 to take care of those future plans from 26 through 29 we inserted two new line items one's called Reserve SL Bond there's our hope it's close enough now we believe that we will be able to fund our Capital allocations with capital reserves in 2026 at this time as was here tonight that amount in the 2026 column is expected to be or anticipated to be 7 .4 million in 2028 we're talking out far enough we we're going to hedge and still say it's Reserve or it may be a bond if we do not have Capital reserves enough to meet the demand in 2028 but if you look at to 2028 that number is 9.2 it's a little bit larger and as we move through this plan you'll see some of the items that we need to take care of in 2028 below that is a host of mostly Grand opportunities you're all familiar with the cdbg program they're host of number different types of federal grants state grants some are Blended and that's why we have federal and state county uh liquid fuels which is an annual allocation from the state our storm water fund is specific to one of our uh to the storm water fund itself there's some cash reserves left from 2019 when we moved from the general fund Into Cash reserves uh into the capital account Recreation fees is a funding source that uh is I guess constantly refilled through a Development Across the city so re fees typically produce $300,000 a year they're able to be spent on any types of recreational projects so you'll see those attached to Recreation projects throughout this plan appropri from generals for our police cars and then other is often uh in a place where we don't quite have a specific funding source Set uh we are most times in search of grants for the those types of projects are listed as other and they're typically in years that are a year or two further out and often between now and then we are able to secure grants if not it's our job to either find another way to pay for it or we're going to postpone that project or purchase so that's the way the spreadsheet sets up I I will to turn to Mr alcohol very shortly because this plan is primarily set up around public works but page one is specific to Public Safety so if you actually it's actually number page two after the title sheet there are five items from Public Safety and just look over my shoulder both the police chief and the fire chief are with us tonight they'll ask they can answer specific questions with regard to each of these uh the ambulance replacement we plan to replace one ambulance every year we have eight in the fleet and uh if you can do a quick calculation that they average 20,000 miles a year on an ambulance over eight years it's can have ,000 it's due to replace and fill in with something new so we do have Reserve but we have eight uh ambulances so you'll see in 2026 we're going to fund $670,000 and you'll see in 26 335 and 2027 335 and then 28 the same thing so we'll continue to have the goal of replacing one ambulance each year and from time to time we'll buy two in in the same year and then skip the next year just for efficiency efficiencies with our purchases we have two large fire apparatuses in this plan we we've done a great job the last couple years in replacing all of our Frontline apparatuses and this will continue that plan in 2026 there's one and in 2028 you will see a large purchase uh plan of 2.77 five and the chief in a moment will'll be able to talk about uh the difference of those two item number three is our continued replacement of police vehicles the last couple years that's included five vehicles and two motorcycles last year it was five vehicles in one motorcycle now this year it will just be the goal is to replace uh five vehicles all the motorcycles now been replaced I think there are five five harleydavidson in the fleet the public safety camera we've been aggressive in replacing and and upgrading throughout the city you'll see they're funing through a a series of sources as well as a Northampton County grow Norco Grant and then the last number five is a police armor rescue vehicle replacement that's a little ways out that's planned for 2028 it's under the federal state the one we have in in uh I guess in play now it was Fed was funded through Federal sources and we'll be looking along those same lines to replace a vehicle to do some of of the similar functions that that one takes care of for us so at this time I would ask um could the fire chief just um second just because of size i' like you to speak to the council about uh number two those those apparatus Replacements thank you sure [Music] um the 19 which one do you want me to both of them both of them yeah if you could the 26 26 be replacing that 1998 model and it'll take three to four years to for that vehicle to come in all the manufacturers that we spoke with are currently on about a 3 to four year build cycle for once you order it till it's constructed and and can be to us and on the road and then in uh 28 will be a replacement for ladder two and currently that's a 2016 model and in projected for 2028 replacement uh it'll be 12 years old and then with that 3 to four year uh build time and until it's to us and that's as of today the three 3 to four years that fluctuates based on how many orders they get in and the availability of parts they manufacture uh the entire apparatus but some of the source uh some of the parts they Outsource like the engine block they would purchase from cumins or Detroit and the transmission would be from Allison so some of those parts at times are hard for the manufacturers to get because of back orders and other uh those Transmissions are used across a wide variety of large Vehicles so sometimes there's a backlog in getting those those uh parts so that's where we came with the uh plan for 26 and 28 the officer that's in charge of vehicles now is Lieutenant Paul Herzog he is contacting other vendors to ensure that we're getting a fair price it's pretty close price-wise amongst all the the uh vendors and we rely on our fleet manager and Public's work uh the garage Public Works to uh guide us in what they would like us to purchase as well so that we have uh like common parts on trucks so that they can keep them in stock and we can get vehicles back in the road quickly so working uh with them and with Lieutenant Herzog working with the manufacturers uh we're looking at other manufacturers than a current one that we've been using just to make sure that we're getting the vehicle that will serve the city for the longest at a fair price any questions I would say let's go through the whole presentation and then I'll open it up to questions okay that takes care of Public Safety you just want to move into questions or you want to move through the whole plan let's go through the whole presentation and then I'll open it up to members of council okay this time as we move into the next several divisions they all are bureaus or divisions of Public Works I'll turn over to Mr alol yeah each section supports uh specific functions the first one is Eric indicated is traffic and that's where we have a couple of items that um deal with with our signalized intersections in the city we have roughly I think 128 traffic signals in the city um these two items either uh address upgrading um any intersections that might be needed um and the second item is um for the larger equipment that makes up some of those signalized intersections we we we indicate funding here um in case there's accidents or repairs that are needed for those significant items the next section is streets and I'll try to go through this fairly quickly but give you a good idea what type of projects are there again there's a lot of um equipment um trucks dump trucks that are needed for that Bureau we try to fund most of those items from other sources principally liquid fuels um or the general fund for smaller items but um anything that can't be funded because of the time uh we we we we place on this plan and you could see on here uh what the funding is that we plan to utilize to meet the needs of the Bureau of streets also in this section of course is our street overlay program and you'll you'll see that over the next couple of years we have made a significant um progress in increasing the funding so I we can better uh maintain uh our streets in this section we also have what we've talked about a number of occasions uh the planned um conversion of uh Lynden and Center into two-way streets uh um versus the current configuration oneway Street also here another couple of high-profile projects are East uh broad Broad Street active Transportation plan and the West Broad Street corar improvements um those consist of pedestrian um safety improvements introduction of islands uh bike Lanes um Etc and we expect those to occur um East Broad Street um will be starting next year uh West Broad construction will probably start in 26 and probably go over a couple of Seasons into 2027 the next section all deals with our storm water infrastructural needs it's it's basically addressing any nuisance Flooding at various locations throughout the city any capacity issues with our collection uh conveyance um system um any requirements to meet Our obligation for pollution uh prevention and control is all laid out in this section of the five-year Capital plan that of course is all funded by the fees collected under the stor water program the next section supports all our facilities throughout the city the first item is somewhat of a I guess you could say a catch all those are smaller uh capital projects they may be already identified uh or they may come up uh during the course of the years um the funding level is a million over two years and we spend against that depending on the on the city's needs and the rest of the projects are individually identified projects they could be um um HVAC support systems uh boilers uh basically large expensive uh item that support all our facilities the next section is support our ground and ground maintenance operations again similar to facilities the first item is somewhat of a a catall item for smaller capital projects and again they may be projects that either we already know and are working to chip away at or they may come up during the course of uh of the year um there's also in this section and the grounds Bureau um as far as funding availability for their larger equipment they have similar equipment the streets um there's no other sorts of funding other than uh on this Capital plan um except for the smaller maybe pickup trucks which we sometimes would fund from uh the general fund I don't think there's any other specific I mean the Rose Garden is in this area obviously relate the grounds the French ship Park improvements which is a major project that we're currently um we completed the design and we're going to be uh Outsourcing soon for construction that is expected to take place next year and be completed next year the next section is Recreation um and again is set up the same way as facilities and grounds uh and then there's some uh specific individual items uh to take care of the other infrastructure in W like the ice rink um the U ice rink locker rooms um and um of course that the tennis courts and San Island we've talked about that project and the possibility of uh what we're going to do with those courts um in in the future right now we're maintaining them uh with the current surface um but we want to try to stay ahead of the game and and plan on um how we're going to sustain those U those Recreation facilities on San Island and the last section in public works is other projects it's basically projects that don't fit into any of the other sections um such as our Bridge maintenance program uh we currently don't have any uh individual Bridge replacement projects uh we basically have to maintain 10 bridges in the city the first item we budget for um items to maintain that infrastructure also in this section you'll see the Main Street ramp we've talked about the hill to Hill Bridge uh that's going to go to Construction in 2026 now um and we're hoping to uh rehabilitate the Main Street ramp as well as the Spring Street ramp in conjunction with that project and we're currently working through lvts to try to um line up the funding for those projects um we have a lighting upgrade project on 370 eight um in this section um as well as the final improvements envisioned for minusy way uh Trail that's completed the Design's completed we hope to fit it out and go to construction uh first thing in the in the in the spring and we're also of course working towards the last phase of the greenway um we've been working on the acquisition of the rway necessary for that project and in future years um we'll be working on getting the funding for the design and construction so we can complete that trail and the final section in the fiveyear plan is community the uh CD Community Development uh and there's just one item that's a carryover from years past that's blighted property acquisition I don't know that we need to discuss that item in any detail so that that gives you an rview of the the plan if you have any questions about any specific projects or we can certainly address them anything else from admin I just want for clarification the um the blighted property isn't shown on here anymore there's one project from um dced listed as a non-congregate family shelter There's an opportunity on the south side for the uh City to try to participate with a nonprofit to um upgrade a building that's really not habitable at this point and uh include in that 11 um non- congregate shelter units so um we have that in here because it is a also a capital Improvement understood thank you Miss hel Mr Al call Mr Mr Evans anything else from Administration before I open it up I think that's it Mr yaso did you have anything before I turn to members of council so I will open up comments and questions to members of council any members of council with questions or comments for any members of the administration regarding the capital projects that were listed Sor M cramsey Smith thank you thank you for the information I just have some questions to clarify guess um the first is for the fire apparatus replacement talked about how it could be um three to four years from the date of order till receipt I'm just wondering how that will will that just be a continuation for example the one um vehicle make we would order it in 2028 would we be built for it in 2028 or we wait like the three to four years and be built for it you know in 2032 and then that would just have to continue in the next um budget plan that would probably more Mr Evans question I think because it's more budgetary or we're paying it right away right yeah yeah we pay for it right away okay and then we have to wait okay so it will so it will not affect this plan because the funds will go directly that date of order okay yeah they send a lot of pictures they're complicated machines they become very expensive if you remember a couple years ago these things were five $600,000 if you go back we're talking 16 18 and now they've like many things have moved up but more than I think anything else in this plan have increase in price is okay the the fire machines and you know the one is we I think we have two laders that are the much more expensive than the regular machines but uh yeah they they've all become much more expensive so it's really important that we went as far as we did in replacing a number of them in 2021 and 22 to get us back on schedule so yeah we're doing our best to keep on schedule okay yeah I'm not questioning replac them at all I know there's a need I was just curious how it works out budget wise but it's probably um in our favor that we pay for it in 2028 rather than three or four years when the price increases so that's that's a plus right yes exactly and we switched to that in order to so there by paying in 2028 even though it won't be delivered for three years then there's a cost savings that's figured into purchasing the equipment for the truck then then it that doesn't have to be a separate budget item so by paying it at that time for that price than the savings that we have because it won't be delivered for that three years or so that goes towards purchasing the equipment equipment okay great thank you thank you that clarifies that um I just have a couple more regarding um streets this would be for Mr alol one quick question I know for the Broad Street each Broad Street someone had asked me um with the Improvement on Broad Street are we looking at putting an island in on Broad between new and gutter because people are concerned that the the Street's not wide enough do you know if that's in the plan there was some discussion about in introducing an island but there isn't sufficient width to be able to include an island on that street there are several locations where there's bump outs already right which is a pedestrian safety feature sure but no island in that um block okay fine because that's was concerns from people that live in that area they thought right and then I just some there some questions about the lyen street conversion and Center Street conversion so um the traffic analysis results do we I don't know if we receiv received that I mean I know it was done a while ago for Linden Street but could we get could we get a copy of that if not or can you tell me briefly what the results were of that traffic study that are pertinent in to the conversion yeah we completed a preliminary evaluation of the traffic and preliminary design for the conversion of was it last year or the year before and we're currently revising that with the state now that we've lined that now that we're working on the on on the funding but yeah we could uh we could provide you with a copy I mean it's fairly technical document but I have no problem sending it to you I'd just be curious to know what were the major points of it that you know that um substantiate doing the conversion yeah I mean obviously it focuses on analyzing all the uh intersections evaluating the movements as a result of the conversion and evaluating whether the level of service is going to be effective for any of the movement and any of the intersections it also evaluates whether or not we have to add any signals at any of the intersections I believe the results were that there wouldn't be any um added signals uh with the not necessary at least not this time with the current projected traffic uh count and the level of service at just about all the signalized intersections and movements uh was uh minimally uh impacted uh via the conversion okay thank you and I know I probably um had this answer before but the two million for the conversion Mr is that um is that gr funded or is that City funds the two million through the lenry conversion we're working on securing that funding okay through the lvts uh we've been working on that for at least couple years and uh at the same time we're also looking for any Grand opportunities to fund that project on depending how that goes we're fairly confident one from One Source or another we'll be able to uh fund it the key being it that we we already have the funding for the design for the uh preliminary final design and um environment clearance work $200,000 are already programmed and the funding is in place and that'll be available starting um in uh February I mean I'm sorry in October this month at the end of this this month it'll be available so we're going to start that and then we're confident we'll be able to put in place the construction funds needed in time to go out to bid and start construction either in the spring or early summer okay thank you and um I know the Center Street conversion we're looking at that that's down the road but what did we what did you say that was going to cost we're estimating if it if it occurs within the next five years we're estimated $2 and a half million doar okay great thank you um let me just look and right now we have a slated in 2027 but just a honestly a guest and for that project we're also looking for any uh funding opportunity via grants or if we can work with lbts to program that project on the on the tip or future tip great last question I think thank you the Main Street ramp Improvement um in when that's being improved the constructions happening will it have to be closed fully at some point do you know and if so how long um I mean obviously all those details will be worked out during the design of the project and the focus would also obviously the traffic control would try to focus on maintaining the maintaining traffic during construction it's not a replacement it's a rehabilitation of the structure much like M much like the hill to Hill Bridge that's we're going to maintain traffic and do one half of the bridge at a time and um the ramp would probably most likely be similarly executed great thank you that's all thank you Mr Smith M Le yeah uh thank you all for the thorough uh documentation that you provided to us um I just have a few questions is that better little bit um so under the um isolated intersections section I note um you've got Eaton and Union and Pennsylvania and Eaton um which is great uh given especially the that there's been fatalities there um in the past couple of years uh is that I know the design it says is uh to start first quarter of 2025 um would that also include looking at The Pedestrian elements of those intersections to make it better for people who uh to walk to the grocery store and whatnot yes absolutely we would they would look at that and obviously with the intersections upgrades would include any improvements whether uh regulator required or we feel they're needed at those intersections yes okay great um glad to hear that um for there's several large vehicles um I realize the Emergency Services Vehicles like are very you know uh standardized I would imagine uh but when we looking at dump trucks or street sweepers or um you know pickup trucks things like that uh is there any effort to look within what's good for doing the work uh at what could be more sustainable options in terms of emissions and things like that yeah I mean as we've discussed we're we're very much focused on trying to Electrify our Fleet uh We've introduced a lot of the smaller Vehicles into the fleet I think we're now up to between us and the parking I I think the city alone we have somewhere in the neighborhood of almost 15 now EV Andor hybrids and with the Parking Authorities it's somewhere in the 20s as far as the count out of a total Fleet of um little under 400,000 pieces um we've also been looking at heavier equipment uh but quite honestly I don't we don't it's it's been from a financial as well as from a a feasible perspective that just hasn't come to fruition yet but we we continue to focus on that and and um as soon as that becomes viable or feasible we certainly plan to execute on that okay yeah I I knew that um several of the local Representatives had spoken in support of the EPA uh strengthening their guidelines um for large Vehicles so I I am hoping that we can see some movement on that um here in the city yeah the LA last major Grant we we looked at the possibility of acquiring um five large dump truck trucks by the time we were done with the process I think the cost was going to be somewhere in neighborhood and this is not including any infrastructure needed in order to support the operations of those dump trucks like recharging and there we have certain requirements that we have to meet I mean if we're in the middle of a plow operation we can't wait you know more than five minutes to refuel and be back on the road but each piece of equipment was going to be like $1.2 million versus 250 to 300,000 and if it was feasible we wouldn't rule it out but it just wasn't feasible uh at this time understood I'm I'm glad to hear that it was uh explored and will continue to be um for the Ice shink uh the sewer system being extended out there um does that mean that now I know that there are homes along the Main Street Extension that are still on septic even though they're City residents um if the sewer line is being extended out to ilix Mill would that give the for those homes to be connected to sewer yeah actually I mean there is sewer on um on on the road um when we upgraded the swimming uh pool we can that used to be on septic as well we connected that through the system we were also planning to connect the ice rink which has a separate septic system as well but because of cost constraints we had to take that out of the project and that's why now we're planning to pursue that separately at some point there's nothing wrong with the system it's still functioning uh but just eventually we'd like to take it off septic and and and have it uh enter the system okay so um so does that mean is the entire city now City proper uh covered by or will it be with with this well no you're saying I think there's um if not mistaken and Mr basca could more definitively answer this I think there's a total of 90 90 properties total that don't have access directly to the sanitary system and that may be because of grade challenges um you know but that's that's what what what's left I mean the city is 90 9% connected uh but there are some isolated properties for one reason or another mostly had to do with um um elevations and not being able to at least gravity wise connect that are not currently connected and they even they they would have either cess or or or um a septic system on on lot uh right I think that's all the questions I had for now thank you thank you m lard we're here Mr C Mike I just have two two quick questions so um the um the $2.5 million it's appropriated um for the street overlays yeah that's not count that's two and a half is not counting the the million plus that uh from the UGI cost sharing monies right correct yeah this plan is focused on you know the city funding um let me make sure yeah UGI is not in what's that I don't see it no it'll be in the in the budget yeah and you'll see it in in the Nuki in the non-utility in the budget you'll see ugi's the agreements covered there but not it's not laid out here that doesn't include that money I believe in the we have almost five million available for next year if you include that thank you and then on on the on the um on the switching of the uh both directions on Center Street and on lyen Street that's not going to right now the this uh the lights are timed to you know to move everybody in and out as fast as possible the the timing of the lights is not going to change just because we're going to a twood directional road now right yeah I mean I don't know that it's over time I don't know that either of those streets are if the lights are synchronized or not uh but when we do the conversion um they'll be optimized again and they different than what what the what what the what the what it is right now but all those things will be worked out through the design all right thank you over here miss Leo I had a question about the the public safety cameras I know that it's um to kind of check them out but is there any um any effort to like expand have more camera in more places or is this just to replace existing cameras yes it would be to expand and also refurbish uh replace Antiquated equipment throughout that how do you go about selecting that process is that like are you using like crime data to do that I know I'm getting into the weeds of this but um or are you looking for Community input for where people would like to see cameras it's a little bit of everything okay all right thank you you're welcome um the only other question I had was and maybe I missed it but when we're talking about the water management and the swells I was thinking about um the all the flooding that happens at soin and I was wondering if there was any money designated specifically for s or or was there something that we could do to manage the Overflow of the water at at stocking Park when it floods so often yeah I mean Ravine Ravine Source flooding quite honestly that's a pretty substantial um undertaken to try to address and significantly improve flooding conditions there in order to do that you'd probably have to do a combination of some subst significant Channel improvements which may or may not be acceptable from the standpoint like you're not going to concrete that Creek which could solve the flooding but that would not necessarily be an acceptable solution uh and or some Regional stor water management and that would have have to be throughout the Watershed not just within the city but throughout the Watershed even in neighboring municipalities and of course that would require coordination with all the other municipalities and it it's a it's it's hard to believe that could happen anytime soon yeah not on our fiveyear campaign now we have anything that is manageable and and we can do like more recently uh that intersection U fire lane and um um and College Drive uh people you park in that area there's some localized flooding there we're just completing a project there that's going to address that uh but as far as the substantial flooding as a result of Ravine Source um I don't think there's anything on the horizon yet thank you m quch thank you uh starting with the um traffic section um I was curious about um item two the traffic safety improvements um do you know sort of about how many of these need replacing annually this is this is outdated traffic controllers and Signal cabinets I mean about how many of those do you do or does it vary widely depending it it just depends like I said it could be as a result of um you know an accident that takes out a controller we use this funding to replace that or malfunction but so it's hard to tell most of the time it's a a few a year that we encounter and I may have asked you this before but if it's an accident that that involves you know vehicles are we ever uh reimbursed through insurance if if sometimes they don't have insurance in which case we don't get reimburse but most a lot of times we do collect that money but we still have to budget and pay it out first before it can comes back and when it comes back it'll go into the general fund not that particular line item that we need to use for for the for for the work understood thank you um so the two-way conversion of Lyndon is a popular question uh topic tonight um we've had people come in here over the last couple of years um One Way or Another and um making sort of claims one way or the other um can you just kind of for the record sort of share what the philosophy of this is um you know it's very clear that uh you know I think people have different opinions one way or the other whether the goal of a road is to get people through as quickly as possible or whether it's to uh calm it so pedestrians can be you know safer and uh and perhaps people linger in our neighborhoods a little bit more can you kind of just yeah as as most people know the whole reason that those two streets were paired up as they were was be to to efficiently move traffic in and out of city as quickly as possible um at one time there was a peak of some 30,000 people working at steel and so that was a um a significant need now obviously that's no longer the case and when you weigh the pros and cons of leaving it this way um the the the the there's no longer the need to quickly get people in and out of the city and now that's outweighed by the conversion would improve uh circulation improve access to both sides of the street hence we believe it would improve the business environment and access to all those businesses and it was it would slow down some of the traffic and and that's a desired outcome at this point from the perspective of pedestrian safety um of course there's going to be people that still want to move quickly through that area but it it's a matter of what the benefits you know between the two um layouts and we feel strongly that the conversion is well worth pursuing uh given today's conditions and projected future conditions thank you I think it I think it's important for people to remember sort of like the the principles and philosophy of what's behind this decision and right and that is that you know we we want to make sure people are safe and uh to build our communities within corre our city as opposed to just trying to move people through our city as quickly as possible I appreciate that um so uh on the street overlay program just another uh uh continuance in the interest of transparency to try to again get information to our residents um because you know even even if things have to change I think it's okay to say this is what we know now um it may change and if it does we'll let you know but for instance you know Neighbors on um sth Avenue all that UGI work the giant pile of gravel for weeks and weeks and weeks and now they're like okay that's all done when do we get our new street so if if we can manage expectations through some kind of transparency I just want to add another um another request for that I was just wondering if our leaves go to the composting Center I know that that's kind of yeah okay I just wanted to make sure that I thought so but yeah um okay um so if I could learn a little bit more about flusher trucks tonight that would be great um under what circumstances do we flush uh parking lots and streets and what exactly is Flushing a parking lot or Street what does that entail a lot of times we flush FL streets that are heavily parked in because that's the most efficient way to clean the streets basically they'll start at one end and flush the the the the parking Lane um sometimes it's very effective but if there's a lot of cars sometimes the dirt gets caught up in the wheels of the cars and not everything ends up at the intersection where they can go and you know clean it up uh but that's one you know it's just a more efficient quick way to clean areas during Music Fest after night you mean you don't have time to go and and and and and spend a lot of time during the cleaning so we'll flush the Main Street flush the lower streets uh flush the streets on the souths side that's when we we use use the flusher the street flusher and of course we have a a vacall that flushes the storm sewers as well great thank you that was very helpful um I was wondering if the timeline had changed on the West Broad Street Corridor improvements um I had thought it was going to start a little sooner is it or is this what the timeline has been all along yeah I mean we're we're um trying to execute the uh Grant agreement I mean it's a pretty substantial Grant and it's taking a little longer than originally anticipated one other thing that came up is uh we're using some of the matching funds from the East Broad Street project so um I think early on there was anticipation of at least a phase one starting in late 2025 which is now pushed to 2026 so you're correct okay thank you um and another um educate me please moment what are H&H analysis analyses hydrology and hydraulics hology and hydraulics thank you I didn't do this just to prove that I actually read the whole thing I really did have questions as I was um the City emergency services facility that's a really interesting project I think it looks like it's about 6 $100,000 to build like a pole building um and I was just wondering um in the narrative it discusses kind of um efficiency and things like that um has there been any work done to kind of project a cost savings um in terms of wear and tear and damage and you know like will we you know how we'll know if this will extend the life of vehicles and things like that or is it just there there hasn't been any detailed assessment of that this was a project that was identified by both police and our fire departments uh basically to house some of the more expensive units that have certain sensitive equipment that could better be maintained and their life prolonged if they were sheltered rather than out in the elements I mean it it makes sense logically just common sense I was just wondering if there was any kind of like if they gamed out like we spent $600,000 on this over 10 years only intuitively that's been done intuitively that of course if you shelter it it may last longer but nothing in more depth than that okay at this time um and then I guess my final question was about the um sunin Courtyard Renovations the city applied for funding through the Pennsylvania 250 program do we know if we got it or uh not I didn't think we got my understand we did not get those funds my understanding is that the the program was not funded so nobody got those funds is oh my understanding well that's too bad um so it'll stay on here and we'll just addition we'll keep working towards trying to secure funding once we can then we'll more definitively pursue the project thank you very much it yes just a couple of quick questions um I had a similar to councilwoman L's question about uh electric vehicles I was curious about that specifically as it relates to fire trucks U when I was serving as the liaison to the environmental advisory Council there have been some questions about that can we assume that the barriers are exactly the same as for other vehicles very high expense very long wait time and are there other uh barriers to electrifying fire trucks that are different from others and infrastructure to recharge the exact exactly what Mike had already explained is the cost of the vehicle is many times more and the infrastructure needed would be pretty significant right and the technology to recharge that apparatus in a reasonable time is still in play I think the fastest yeah I think the fastest I mean for that piece of equipment it might be longer but as I recall I think it's now down to you can recharge from zero to full charge and this is for a regular vehicle I think they have it down to a half hour now uh for the fast charging stations um as that technology substantially improves then that'll bring the larger piece of equipment into play okay so it's it's in essence worth waiting for as the technology improves the price drops and the wait time diminishes that's the hope is that something sort of on the horizon that you're keeping your eye on absolutely for fire as well great thank you uh for all larger pieces of equipment including fire apparatus got it thank you last question for me is is really um with regard to the the courts at Sand Island I know had been some interest from some members of the community and really feeling really passionate about the surface the harre and I wondered what's the state of that is that completely off the table uh we're definitely moving on from that you mean converting them to hard surface yeah yeah I mean that's just a right now our our our plan for the near future is to try to maintain those surfaces in their current in their current status as long long as possible uh if in the future something substantial comes up then we'll have to re re re-engage in terms of discussing what to do with those courts okay so it's not imminent no and in terms of the public use of those courts I feel like I should know this but they're not they're not free are they who who manag can we just walk onto those courts now yes yes great they're open for okay and that's been one hour increment or something like that yeah so do you you do have to sign them sign up yeah there and take turns and they haven't been you know fully booked very often um and the feedback has been very positive okay and is the city Staffing that the courts now yes okay great thank you yes that's allk you Mr just a couple General comments questions real quick and then anyone who's joining us you're walking in towards the end of a committee of the whole meeting so we'll start our full council meeting once this wraps up um of course you're more than welcome to hear what we got going on so the a couple General things Mr Evans you reference lrr is loss Revenue reimbursement that's from the American Rescue plan correct those are the L lrr funding source for 22 and 24 yeah correct so then after um it's essentially going to be exhausted once we work through that then yes on these capital projects and then W fees which are budgeted um in the spreadsheet to about 975,000 you alluded to those that's a re replenishing account that when there's development projects they pay so much into the W fees correct yes yeah there's there's Prett or calculated amounts that are provided when develop new development goes on new Land Development so it replenishes I again I would say on an average of2 to $300,000 each year our funding comes along and it's been used for a number of projects we can provide you with a list of what it's been used for in the last 15 years but they it always shows up in the budget uh often to match we have matching grants that's what has been used to do a lot of your projects at dcnr and DC and requires that match so that's um been very helpful in those sources and those funds can only be used for capital projects they're not used for operations at all are they no yeah for capital projects and then what can you if you have the number if not you can share it at a later time you know because we we drew that down pretty low Memorial Pool project correct yes and more more even more recently was that was went the South Mony Greenway or the South bakasi Trail yeah if I give you a list I'll show each year how much was brought in also the projects that were completed that went through the budget and uh yeah both phases yeah so there's several hundred, each but the pool was a large use there and you know the pool Memorial Pool was a couple large GRS but also wck fees to to B especially when it came in um at the end um trying to think Rose Garden I believe was done some of those phases were done with Rec fees there's a couple right now the 250 Rec fees and then when you get a chance if you send that to members of council I think that's good good information for reference as we look at just that funding source and how it's been used historically and also how some of these projects that we hear about turn into some of these real dollars that then go to help fund some of these other um Community projects the and then on the spreadsheet so it's Reserve slash Bond but you did say for for 2026 the 7.4 million that's anticipated to be cash reserves and not anticipated to be a borrow and then potentially for 2028 um look at a bond depending on where we're at with that yes if we can save enough by that point it's a little bit bigger number a couple more years out or a goal would be to save that much by then if we can do that still not determined but that's that's the goal every time we do that we push off as we talked last year during the budget um every time you um put off a borrowing you're s you know you're not g to have to pay that back with interest over maybe 20 years and we 2019 is the last time we borrowed 2019 was the last issuance yes it's just a good point of information to recognize that we essentially went through three what historically would have been Bond issues that we have not had to borrow that money which have been another 15 to $20 million in debt plus you know plus the interest we be even more until you pay that back so yeah it's been it's been a nice um chance for us to pay down our debt and that at the same time every year our debt service from existing all these past issuances is getting paid down at the rate ofx million a year for the next several years and uh already we're down $99 million in total debt since 2014 so it's a relief you know helps provides more funding for everything else we're talking about I just had one last question from Miss heler unless Miss Collins is still here just briefly as it relates to the last item on the list they referen the non congregate family shelter The Narrative references um Capital Improvements to a South betham property uh partnering with a third party can you share I not specifics of course because I know these are potentially ongoing but just what our maybe level of confidence is that this may because this something that's been talked about for a couple years now so our level of confidence that this is something that may be executed in 2025 is a a property been uh recognized we um talked quite a bit about what whether or not the project should be in the capital plan if it you know if we weren't certain so um because there is some confidence level um we did decide to put it in there so that it's part of um Capital planning uh nothing's 100% guarantee especially when there's Partnerships and and and other things that you um need to work through but uh we do feel pretty confident that this is a project that can move forward understood look forward to hearing more about it when the time is appropriate thank you thank you miss Helen before I turn it over to public comment anything else from members of council all right thank you everybody so again this is public comment this is strictly for the 2024 non-utility capital budget we'll maintain a f minute time limit as is typical we had one person sign up Mr Haynes I'll ask anyone who speaks if you don't mind stating your name for the record Bruce HS um I live in Bethlehem so I guess U my my biggest disappointment in looking at the capital budget that there's nothing in here for world heritage uh the major designation we just got in July and I know it's you know but we've known this was coming for over a year and I would like to think that we're going to start allocating some capital budget for world heritage enhancements specifically specifically what I think of right now are the are the gateways the two gateways coming into the city we obviously I own a business that host a lot of the Heritage Travelers that are coming here have been coming and continuing to come and increasing with our designation and the main gateways are really off of 7 8 and you know what was done between 78 and the M Trail bridge is fantastic obviously real well you know all those new roads all the new Landscaping nice grass that's mowed regularly so it looks great there um but then when you get to uh miny Trail which the the main access road to the visitor center in the hotel is coming down Market Street uh Market Street's like a ATV test track it's so bumpy and messed up I mean it's really I know we've had a lot of sinkhole issues on Market Street over the years we've had sewer lines that have you know deteriorated is Market Street in for the paving program in 2025 is my question um I I don't want to take my typical uh comment on the budget but there will be opportunities as we we we're not voting on anything tonight I understand but I'm I'm putting out there what I would like I don't want an answer right now I just want my questions second thing is coming in from the West uh it's an embarrassment getting off 378 and turning on to Center City first off the some of it's maintenance and some of it's just the fact that there's weeds there there's always garbage on that turn when you make the turn to come up to third Third Avenue uh right off 378 it's the center city EX first off usually the limbs S cover the sign that says Center City so you can't even see it and then when you get off just take a look at that if what I would ask is a nice group a new planting and a new statement getting off there would be would be appreciated um uh and finally the scurve uh going down from Main Street when you go down to the lower part you know perhaps you can include that in the Main Street ramp program uh Mike because it's you know it's really an embarrassment the the railing is all rusted uh there's weeds constantly there again plantings there plantings in the ciq for example in the pottery the ruins of the pottery you know those are just High weeds and then then Music Fest we come once a year and we kill them all and it just turns brown I'm saying an entire planting landscape program I believe would be really helpful in addition to the other things and from my point of view the funding for all that can truly come from I I just don't see the need for the conversion of Center in Linden Street I mean I've lived in the city for 25 years traveling those roads they're they're great roads they're they're if if we don't like that people are moving too fast and desync the the lights to make people slow down if we don't want to put people through fast then just don't have the lights syn but those are the greatest roads to come in and out in and out of the city on I use them constantly and quite frankly if you turn it into two-way it's only one lane each way with parking on each side so if somebody's going to park traffic has to stop and wait for that person to park whereas now if you're coming and someone's pulling into park you go into the other lane and they can park and there's no no danger no issue of stopping for traffic I just believe that's a project that really is not has no value whatsoever that $4 million could truly be used to spruce up what we're you know what we want to be for the the visitors that are going to be uh really com into this city in a big way in the next year or two so thanks thank you Mr hes is there anyone else to left who want to make comment the gentleman in the blue poolover George yaso City controller uh just very quickly for peace of mind for all of you guys when we're talking about the W fees that come from those developers agreements I can I can tell you for sure none of those get signed or pushed through until we verify that the rec fees are in the account sewer tapping fees are in the account and all those things are paid before any of those developer developers agreements move on so just some peace of mind for you guys thank you Mr J anyone else to left who want to make comment I turn to the wide Center and I end to the right all right thank you everyone we are going to adjourn the committee meeting we'll start regular Council in about five minutes good job 10