##VIDEO ID:YuUVBcVRGY0## to putting the show on sometimes we're going to get tonight's meeting called to order I'll ask that we all rise for pledge to the flag pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Mr Miller please call the RO Mr Callahan M gry Smith pres M quch present Miss L present Miss Leon Sant Miss Wilhelm present and Mr colog present thank you just a couple things uh council members Callahan and ksey Smith are joining us remotely this evening we have been experiencing some technical difficulties we were able to get councilwoman cramsey Smith U the issues resolved Mr is trying to resolve them and he will be joining us if we're able to work through that mayor Reynolds may be joining us late this evening as he had to attend a viewing tonight going to move on to approval of minutes from October 15 2024 any comments on the minutes for members of council the minutes stand approved continuing on to public comment we will start with as is traditional anything not being voted on this evening I ask everyone be mindful of our five minute time limit I'll start with those who signed up in advance again this is for anything not being voted on this evening I'll start with Miss Lyn Rothman good evening Lyn Rothman 870 wford Lane I'm speaking on behalf of the Bethlehem environmental advisory Council uh on behalf of its members Ben feler Ben Guthrie Vib Park Kumar Mandy toino Mike topping and Katie trembler in accordance with our EAC bylaws we've submitted a year-end report which can be found on our website Bethlehem eac.org and tonight I'll summarize that report our 2024 meetings have been held both virtually and in person at Northampton Community College fer Center in accordance with the sunshine laws our meetings are open to the public our most important work is supporting the city's climate action plan we cap which aims to reduce our carbon footprint increase sustainability and utilize alternative energy sources in order to implement the strategies of the cap we continue to work with the administration and participate on five of the city's internal cap committees beginning in 2025 we look forward to forming a close working relationship with the city's new sustainability manager under our green committee the Heritage tree program was activated this year and we're working with the city Forester to expand this program Bethlehem city is a registered birdtown and the birdtown committee submitted our annual report out of four levels with four the highest Bethlehem City achieved a level three our waste reduction committee is working with the city's food and waste cap committee on a survey for local restaurants with the goal of reducing plastic waste our transportation committee is working with the cities on ways to make electric vehicle Chargers available for those that don't have access to a garage we're collaborating with the Bethlehem parking authority and the Departments of Public Works and planning and zoning on options for a pilot project this year Bethlehem backyards for wildlife maintained native plant demonstration Gardens with the help of community volunteers these ongoing projects include continued maintenance of the two native perennial gardens at the Rose Garden which Bethlehem backyards for wildlife designed and planted in 2019 in addition reinvigoration of the Hoover Mason Trestle garden beds to bring more blooming native perennials and shrubs into these areas French Gardens landscape company has been working with volunteers since September to clear out the overgrown spaces and open up additional spaces for new plantings this spring at the meadow on the Southside Greenway the refurbished boundary walkway surrounding the planted areas has been maintained to improve pedestrian access in the spring and summer of 2025 Bethlehem backyards for wildlife will continue to work with neighbors to add native perennial wild flowers along some of the fencing at Madison Park on the South Side the department of Planning and Zoning gives the EAC the opportunity to comment and make recommendations for proposed developments all of our correspondents can be found on our website other EAC activities included tabling at the Rose Garden North side of lives block party Lehigh University climate day Bethlehem food co-ops May event and The Rock and grow event at the Ice House co-sponsoring Monocacy Creek cleanups in the spring and fall through the monasi Creek Watershed Association mentoring Lehi University students on compost research and the Lehigh Valley freees Project interviewing for a podcast on eac's for the nurture nature centers create connections project continuing participation in the Lehigh Valley EAC Network work attending the EAC net State Network Conference and fall Gathering and providing information to and assisting residents with environmental concerns our great appreciation goes to Tad Miller City Clerk and Betina Bubba assistant city clerk for their assistance additional appreciation to Stephanie aguelo chief of staff for facilitate facilitating communication with the mayor's office we're grateful to Darlene heler director of planning and zoning and Craig feifer Pier assistant director of Planning and Zoning for the generous amount of time they give working with the EAC as well as their administrative staff Stephanie seesta our thanks to Michael alol director of Public Works and basil yandam chief of engineering and deputy director of Public Works for their Department's ongoing contributions to Bethlehem City special thanks to Chris Su superintendent of grounds maintenance for his assistance with the Bethlehem backyards for wildlife projects we also recognize our city council liaison Colleen L for her efforts on behalf of climate action and finally we commend city council and the administration for their support of the cap especially the hiring of a sustainability manager in 2025 we will continue to assist in implementing the goals and strategy of the climate action plan thank you for your time thank you Miss Rothman our next speaker is Mary Joe MC marij Joe mol 449 Grand View Boulevard a few thoughts to bring to light I recently obtained my own card allowing me to take my own yard waste to the compost center in the past I relied on my neighbor I would like someone to investigate the traffic lights at that location making a left enter to enter the facility is no problem exiting is difficult making a turn e in either either direction is difficult because the light does not change change often the light changes three or four times for traffic on eaten Avenue and shanesville Road making a right onto shanesville road is an option but it takes me out of takes me out of my way to get home also trying to make a right turn on red after stop can be difficult with the right turn lane on Eaton Avenue to chainers Ville Road my next uh comment would be I wish to West Bethlehem had a community center that could be utilized as a polling place well I understand this is determined by the county voters would County voters would experience less confusion having to try to remember the ward or District where they live being told to go to a website while waiting to vote to determine which line to get into to obtain a ballot in 37 years since I moved to my current home my polling place has changed four times I'm sure it is not only confusing to the voters but also to the polling V volunteers next item I am not sure if the city council or the city is aware that BX has purchased 2300 Handover Avenue property outright for approximately $3 million I not sure if this provides them with any leverage in the appeals of Varian is sought just wanted to bring this to light in preparing appeal briefs this purchase will surely motivate Norton heric to continue his fight I hope the city has the same fortitude and while I understand city sidewalks and neighborhoods are open and free for anyone to to enjoy I just wonder if there are any guidelines for political canvassers this past weekend I encountered several and struck up friendly convers ations none wish to listen to My Views or perspectives which is their choice trespassing is another issue while I was walking my dog I encountered one such c one such canvas when our conversation ended I continued my walk with my dog when I reached my gate in the backyard I observed this canvas are running out between two homes to the alley behind mine he looked both ways when he saw me he ran the other way there are no homes behind me behind my home behind my home is the property that bhx bhx wants to construct Apartments while they have the right to Canvas I wonder if there are any permits or other legalities necessary and one final thought happy Veterans Day to everybody who was a veteran thank you Miss mcol Mr Callahan can you hear me I I can the the issue has been resolved uh thank you and I'll just know Mr callahans now join the meeting our next speaker Ry CA hi I'm r j Creek CA 813 law for Street Bethlehem Pennsylvania I'd like to say something about the situation with the homeless uh we could eliminate that very easily by getting Advocates out there on the street to talk to them and a lot of them at least 50% would be happy to have jobs they just don't have the somehow they can't seem to get it together to file the the form and do the interview but come on they can have there there's jobs that the city can give them so try to give these homeless people at least 50% of them jobs help them get a place to stay uh to get the they get situated uh when making a decent income from the city you know start hiring some of the homeless people some of them they have mental uh problems and they shouldn't be on the streets would you put somebody out there on the streets that had a had an aneurysm or a heart attack or a stroke come on you know let's be real let's start helping those people the other thing is talking about the streets like some streets are the the streets are so steep going up the hill like where I live on laer Street you go up the hill go towards St Michael Cemetery it's almost vertical you get vertical walking up the thing come on put some steps there for some of the older people like me you know like you know it's just just a suggestion the other thing is to take care of the situation where it comes to putting mail into the mailboxes that is soliciting for different things of that they can't do that so what do they do they put them on cars and they wind up on the on the ground they become litter make it that they could put them in a mailbox put their uh their stuff in the mailbox what's so what's so hard about that this way it won't be litter all over the place one other thing to see if we can tweet tweet the article of uh of exotic pets I mean like hyenas they look so cute when they're small you know like I was wanting to adop one but I can't we can't do that let's let's make it that we can have exotic pets we have it we have chickens okay to be in betham why not hyenas and you know and other different things cougars and stuff I mean I had to pet cougar once I had to get rid of her because she got too big my uh neighbor thought she was going to eat her dog but the thing is so you know like I I want to get a black bangal tiger I mean you know come on work with me on this people please make it that we could we could make Exotic Pets in Bethlehem I mean I'm I'm in a good mood as you can tell I mean like I just won $10,000 friend of mine came with 100 big ones to me and I took it to the bank I'm going to have to pay bigger taxes now he he made a bet with me that uh I said no my premonitions are always right uh he he bet that Trump is not going to get it because too many people are talking down about him it doesn't matter what they said about Trump trump could have been in New York City and he could have raped his mother's Superior at the church at the school that he went to and he still would have got it he still would have been there even though even though he went to I don't know what the school was maybe the the the uh uh the Divine Trinity of the Immaculate Conception I don't know what it was but anyway the thing is the thing is you okay he won but have you ever take notice that the presidents are getting older and older and older maybe in 20 years from now I might have a chance or maybe we'll have a female president maybe one of you ladies will be president you know like uh Hey it could happen you know like uh one day we can have I think the whole world should be run by female leaders and we'd have a more perfect world I mean like it it really firmly believe that but as it is we better say some prayers for the guy that was elected that God sends a legion of angels to guide him upon everything that he does I mean like you know a quick thing before I go this Rabbi goes into this goes to the goes to this Holy Ghost Church I'm gonna ask you to bring it to City business please oh but this this is City business then get to the city business please sir this is this is this is interesting I mean like there's pre priest they they they're in the city I mean like they're they're right okay so the Rabbi says after you become PR priest what are you going to do you're going to retire he said no I'm going to go on I'm going to be my senior he said how about after that I want to try to be Bishop after that I'm going to be Arc Bishop after that I'm going to try for Cardinal would I you going to retire then no I'm going to go for pope then afterwards you're going to be really tired you're going to want retire he said what do you want me to be God he said the rabbi said hey one of our guys we did it with three easy steps he was Rabbi then he retired then he became God I'm Jake Hardy kolic was that exhausts our list of everyone who had signed up in advance I'll go around the room is there anyone to the left who was make comment Mr Rodriguez again this is for anything not being voted on tonight's agenda you do have a we'll wait till you get to the left turn on H Eddie Rodriguez uh Holy Family Apartments you know I I Friendship Park I looked at I haven't been here in quite some time uh but I was looking at the October 15 I believe that's a date and you were mentioning something about funding for Friendship Park and a couple other comments I have a comment you really don't know what's going to happen later on at Friendship Park you're spending all this money to put that for the kids over there it's all good you know it's good intentions but that area right there I said it all along for the longest time there's a lot happening in that area that yous are not aware of and I don't want to make I don't want to scare nobody off but there's a lot uh I also saw in that in that video when asked about tax dollars being used for for garbage uh by the homeless and there wasn't a mention of 100 well there was a mention of $100 $20 and $5 but the thing that struck me was why was it mentioned uh when asked and requested that of Miss Collins no no offense uh when she got up on a Podium that was it was it the uh Health Bureau that was funding the uh garbage dollars but again there was no answer and I'm wondering why I think it was Miss KY Smith that had asked that question why didn't she follow up on that as to what those dollars were used for and there was no answer from either either party so that struck me right there are there tax dollars being used for garbage disposal by the homeless so moving on Holy Family Apartments where I live in apartment J uh was pass by inspectors I'll go into it because the cracks along the wall where I live I had to take them off with blue paint tape because the smoke comes up in there the other thing is the doors don't meet top and bottom the cabinets on the bottom have cracks that I've had to tape off that is destroying my health because this fabulosa or fabulosa detergent smell comes up and now the next next door neighbor across the way from me is also and also the people that clean the hallways are using that product to clean the hallways full strength that's entering my apartment and I'm very scared that that one day is going to take my life because of the strength of that is not diluted and if they diluted that that I'm aware of the AC where I live also doesn't block the air from the outside though it's new brand new but it doesn't block it so I'm constantly turning off whenever I decide to put on the air conditioner I had to shut it off I can't use it when I when I want to it's brand new nor pen Legal Services refused twice to take up my case I really want to put a lawsuit on these people wholeheartedly because there is an available apartment there was other apartments available at the time five and six Apartments were available and they didn't give me one though they had moved me from 330 to 336 I was grateful for that but after that all these problems came in that apartment that's a failure on the inspector's part at all due respect and I saw them in the apartment yet they didn't meet with me they're saying that it's all on the outside we saw nothing from the cameras on the outside the problem is on the inside of my apartment not on the outside but they refuse to take care of the maintenance work whatsoever they don't do no maintenance work in my apartment everybody else yes that's wrong it's wrong but I put up with it as much as I can and I have to constantly open up the windows full blast and sleep in a cold air what happens in the Winter thank you Mr Rodriguez was there everyone else to the left who want to make comment tonight I'll turn to the wide Center Mr sh Bill sh 1898 AV well piece of positive news to start with U recently I appraised Gina in the Mr Al Call's office and uh the other day I had the occasion to call again about the leaf collection schedule I talked to Angela and she's just as good as Gina so there's two of them there who are helpful friendly courteous and kind that's 410 of the Boyce Scout pledge um something not being voted on tonight is the minutes because they've already been voted on and I'm pleased to report that they did summarize my comments at the last meeting accurately which is a good thing since I did not have an opportunity to comment on them before they were adopted and about Holy Family manner about um another aspect there this um former Chief Gardener house when it was the Eugene Grace estate on Spring Street uh they went to demolish it and they erect a 4unit apartment building I think four four units they made the same request 10 years ago and then it was turned down so uh it's a it's another case of demolition by neglect um they haven't apparently done any maintenance on it and have left it deteriorate to the point where it's harder to justify not demolishing it and my my understanding is that is still pending before the historic Conservation Commission and I'll speak about them in the next courtesy of the floor thank you thank you Mr sh is there anyone else in the center who what's make comment anyone to the right that concludes our first public comment moving on to anything being voted on tonight for ordinances or resolutions we have one person previously signed up Valerie Nunan hello um so I'm commenting on resolution 10f on the organized crime drug enforcement tax Force um or the ocdf um so I looked up information about this and what came up is that this is a federal program created originally by Ronald Reagan in the controversial War on Drugs and it collaborates with state and local authorities in collaborations like the one being proposed here um generally Bethlehem police do appear to take pride in being Community oriented and try to avoid the kind of controversies that plague many police departments across the country but a move like this has the potential to move systems in our municipality to a more carceral and militarized direction if you look at the website for the ocdf they have a page of press releases consisting entirely of people they've sent to prison nothing about how they've made communities safer and for the resolution that is before us today it doesn't really contain many details of what the actual responsibilities of the task force are um and the information I found when attempting to research the issue wasn't very enlightening because most of it was either historical or directly from the program website so really what I would like to see is I would encourage the city to apply closer scrutiny to this proposal um and personally I would be against it thank you thank you so as I mentioned we only had one person sign up for psych in public comment so I'll start is there anyone to the left who wants to make comment on anything that we're voting on this evening I turn to the wide Center Mr CH item 10g from the HCC the so-called Boutique Hotel and on West Third Street 41 rooms doesn't sound too bouquey to me but it's um the main part of the building and you have a recommendation from the HCC and be nice if you over Road them again and this time in the other direction the main part of the building is six stories which matches the better building right next to it but then on one corner there's this one and a half Story Tower which brings it up to seven and a half stories um the I this is worth a historical thing that you should be aware of when the mayor's task force on the zoning ordinance the comprehensive plan and the zoning map met about 12 years ago and for some reason I was asked to be a member of it I considered myself to be the token citizen on that task force at that time there was no height limit for the two downtowns so in one we were going through the Orin a chapter a week and when we got to that chapter at one meeting and some people had already left but I got an opportunity to raise this question and to propose a 100 foot height limit which was adopted um the moderator of the meeting says he doesn't remember that happening but I do when they when it went from the mayor to the Planning Commission that 100 feet had become 150 ft and the Planning Commission if you can believe this not only approved it unanimously without Amendment they did not even have a single word of discussion then it went to city council I had 26 amendments to the uh none of which were adopted but there was some some discussion now recently there was a consultant did a report on the Southside and proposed 90 feet height limit which would be about eight stories that I understand the convention now is 12T per story and that seems to have gotten taken some hold because the eight the tower was proposed at 2 feet which would have made the building 8 feet and that would have been exactly 96 feet so a member of the HCC proposed a half story reduction which reduced it to exactly 90 ft so there we are it's just a tower but you know as well as I do it's going to be used as a justification somewhere down the line for an 8ot eight-story building and as one member of the HCC said well in urban areas the scale of the heights will vary true but I've never heard that argument used for smaller buildings only larger ones so why is that a problem well this is the larger planning issue two two reasons first it's not historically appropriate Southside was not a burrow at one time of six-story buildings the typical building in the downtown was three stories with retail on the first floor and two floors of apartment above it these buildings have been disappearing in fact I think Third Street is gone um Fourth Street there's still some hope although we do have Benner's seven story apartment building in the middle he does step it down on either side and a gesture to his neighbors but it's seven stories in the middle so well what's wrong with that I think [Music] taller buildings make people feel smaller that's why I would not choose to live in Manhattan and now there are some people here who think this is a good thing that we get to see Tiny Manhattan on the Lehigh thank you thank you Mr sh is there anyone else in the center who wanted to make comment on anything that we're voting on this evening and I'll turn to the right is there anyone to the right who want to make comment on anything we're voting on this evening that concludes our second public comment I will recognize mayor Reynolds joined us moving on to Old business any old business for members of council going to move on to new business couple things I we'll go over briefly for new business then I open it up to everybody uh I will accept a motion and a second to set the date for adoption of the 2025 budget for the second council meeting in December which is Tuesday December 17 at 7M here in town hall so moved second motion by councilwoman quch second by councilwoman Leon any discussion on the motion Mr Miller please call the RO on the motion Miss leam hi Will hi Mr Callahan hi M grmy Smith I miss quch hi Miss lard hi and Mr colom I pass 70 thank you so I'm gon to go over our schedule for the upcoming budget hearings they're going to start on Monday November 11 at 6 PM the first one will be here in town hall first budget meeting is going to cover the public works department the liquid fuels fund the storm water fund the non-utility capital fund the water fund revenue and expenses the water capital budget the sewer fund revenue and expenses and then the sewer capital budget so those are this Monday November 11 at 6m the following evening Tuesday November 12 at 6m here in town hall we'll have our second budget hearing that's going to include the golf course Enterprise fund administration's budget Council mayor treasur controller and law bureau's budgets our general fund revenues our general our general fund expenses our Civic expenses and then Debt Service and then at the second council meeting of November Tuesday November 19th at 7M we'll have our city council meeting and that'll be the first reading of the 2025 budget ordinances and then on Monday November 25th again at 6m here in town hall we'll have our third budget meeting that will include the community and economic development Department's budget the Community Development block grant fund our police department and then the fire department and then we have Monday December 9 at 6m scheduled for amendments and that meeting will only be if necessary if there are no amendments proposed then we will not be meeting and then we've also included as a backup date Wednesday December 11th 2024 again at 6 PM that backup is in case we have to cancel a meeting for inclement weather or anything like that we'll push everything back uh in terms of the schedule I just read to to wrap it up potentially with amendments on Wednesday December 11th and again that's only going to be as necessary so that is our budget hearing schedule coming up starting next week couple other General things I want to touch on I would like to welcome a junior council member from Shish Gund our sister city in Germany Mr Luca creger who's in the back row to my right Shish kund has a junior Council which is elected and gives works as an advisory Council to the city council see uh Mr creger is going to be here with us in town hall at City Hall um observing Bethlehem government for about the next two weeks uh he's currently a student studying industry and he'll be moving on to I believe Rhode Island to to visit um an industrial site for a company that he's involved with so again welcome Mr creger I encourage all members of council to introduce yourselves after the meeting if you haven't had an opportunity to yet and I thank all the members of the administration who have worked with Mr Miller so that we have a a schedule of things that Mr creger could participate in and observe what what we do here in Bethlehem and how we administer our government another announcement that previously we had announced a public hearing for zoning text Amendment involving 119 Technology Drive that has been withdrawn by the applicant so the public hearing for the next council meeting is cancelled uh and that's at the applicant's request last piece of business just for new business and I'll mention as we get to Communications referring something to committee we I did just want to note so our parking authority currently falls under the Public Safety Committee over the years we've kind of kicked around different things with as issues revolving the parking authority or one of their assets or the citations have come up where that where the parking authority should be housed uh I am considering for the next council meeting um looking at kind of the scope of every committee and and potentially and it'll be right into the record at the next meeting if I submit it looking at changing the scope of what each committee looks at uh again it's been t talked about over the years as it relates to the parking authority some of its Community Economic Development some of its Public Safety but I will be looking at the scope of the Committees and recommending any other potential Council rule changes for uh the near future so that's what I have for new business any other new business for members of council start with councilwoman Leo um first and foremost I wanted to give a big shout out to uh Chief Reich who was over at the banana Factory yesterday I mean I've said it to him a thousand times but I think it it should be said in a public forum um there was an intensity to the banana Factory yesterday and I I couldn't be more proud of how the city was represented by by the way it was handled ensuring um the saf not not just Chief reicha we had quite a few First Responders there there was an emergency the EMS came the police came for for a little incident and I'm just I'm beyond proud to have such quality people serving the city it was hand handled so well the temperature was kept agreeable um it was it went off without a hitch everybody was able to vote um I'm just incredibly proud of the work that was done yesterday you uh the paramedics and the police officers that showed up it was wonderful um also thank you for uh the the memo that was sent out there was quite a bit of discussion um had about the parking authority um and uh the genis point for that was the only thing that I could see uh the parking authority being Public Safety related was assessing fines everything else felt more Community or economic um development and because we are accounts when we don't make decisions independently it just felt best to talk with our solicitor about the best way to do this the best way seemed to be put a memo out there see how Council feels about it and and discuss it so thank you for considering uh the memo considering um just I guess kind of some of our view on well my view specifically on what the role of the parking authority is in relation to uh Public Safety um so I look forward to having further discussion about that that's thank you any other discussion members of council for new business councilwoman Smith oh thank you yeah I just wanted to clarify um sorry if I'm not easy to understand but I um I just brought up the issue because my concern is again it's not a matter of you know whether or not I agree with Chang in jurisdictions of committees but I feel it's really important that we follow protocol and that's why I did ask what is the protocol because I think it's important that we can't you know we don't um while I I see the May in in looking at this for sure we um just need to follow the protocol which my understanding is that an ordinance has to be proposed to change any jurisdiction of a committee to another committee is that not correct so bless you it it would be a resolution so council members may recall earlier this year we amended our Council rules there were uh I believe three Council rules amendments so the just for everyone following along so Council has our various committees there's six committees three members of council serve on each committee each committee has a chair in our Council rules there's a defined scope of each committee parking authority has uh falls under Public Safety Committee as Council Le own referenced there's been a lot of talk about the parking authority recently you're going to hear about a proposal that's going to be sent to undefined committee right now um and then we had looked at the the council chairs for Public Safety and community and economic development and kind of talked about where parking authority should be housed in terms of uh the scope of each committee so the U my understanding and and I don't chare either committee but is that no committee committee meetings are going to take place regarding the communication that's going to be read until I have an opportunity to address potential rule changes to council which would happen at subsequent meetings following tonight so the But to answer your question um more directly councilman cramsey Smith as I give background Yeah in our in our Council rules to amend them our Council rules State and I'm going by memory but that a a resolution has to be proposed to amend the Committees there has to be a certain amount of time that each council member has that resolution and uh before council could vote on it so then it would be a roll call vote to amend our Council rules parking authority has historically someone who used to share Public Safety Committee and had committee meetings revolving the parking authority become the sort of uh again it's included under Public Safety but it's been talked about for Community Economic Development I mean that's why we landed last year as it related to the parking garage having a committee the whole meeting uh to get everyone together or that was earlier this year excuse me that was calendar year 2024 so I I think taking a look at before we have the committee meeting to review um councilwoman Leon's memo looking at the scope of those committees and then I I like I said would put forward a communication for um with the intention of the next council meeting if I'm going to to look at if if my belief and I want to propose a change to the council rules to to put Public Safety under Community Economic Development as it again I see Merit Ste side it's just hard to say Public Safety should be under this committee if it's this particular issue versus Under This committee for this other particular issue so I I understand I guess I'm just making the point because um I didn't know anything about this change except via the memo and then I did speak to um councilwoman quch but I just want to make sure that we're following proper procedure because it it felt like you had even said that you were going to let the chairs decide and make those changes and again I just want to be clear that um you know that all Council um is involved in changes like this and that we follow proper procedures which um thank you to our s our solicitor who sent us those procedures and writing so that's my that's just my point Thank you understood any other new business for members of council councilman l uh yeah I just wanted to recognize a note of appreciation to uh Miss Rothman for her report tonight uh the EIC is a really excellent example of our community's uh civilian engagement in the community itself um and it has been doing really excellent work and shown a ton of dedication so I appreciate the work of you and and everyone on the committee thank you any other new business business for members of council all right we're going to continue on with the agenda communication 6A in October 30th 2024 memorandum and proposed resolution from Laura Collins director of community and economic development memorandum seeks support to apply for a $1 million local Share account Grant from the Pennsylvania community financing Authority requesting funds for development construction of the greenway Trail Gap following acquisition and resolution 10A is on the agenda tonight communication 6B and October 30th 2024 memorandum and proposed resolution from Laura Collins director of community and economic development memorandum seeks support to apply for a grant totaling $40,000 through the Pennsylvania Department of community and economic development if received funding would be used to update the north side alive plan and potentially apply for an Elm Street designation and resolution 10B is on the agenda this evening 6 and October 30th 2024 memorandum and proposed resolution from Laura Collins director of community and econ Economic Development the memorandum seeks support to apply for two main street matters grants totaling $1.3 million through the Pennsylvania Department of community and economic development if received funding would be used for the first phase of Gateway on Fourth mixed income housing development and resolutions 10 C and 10d are on the agenda this evening 6D and October 30th 2024 memorandum from city solicitor John fburg Jr with an attached resolution and Associated use permit agreement the permit is the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce Foundation buy and through its citizens Christmas City committee sub permites are Country Club Brewing LLC Franklin Hill vineyards Incorporated social still LLC and McCarthy's Irish Pub Incorporated the agreement is for the 2024 Christmas City correction Christmas tree lighting ceremony event hours will be 4: to 7:00 p.m. on November 29th the agreement covers payro Plaza and the Southside Lane of Church Street in front of City Hall in the library complex and resolution 10 is on the agenda this evening 6E and October 30th 2024 memorandum with proposed resolution and agreement from city solicitor John MBK Jr solicor spurk recommends an agreement between the city and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania office attorney general Bureau of Narcotics investigation drug control and resolution 10f is on the agenda and 6f and October 14th 2024 memorandum from Rachel Leon chairman chairwoman of the council's Public Safety Committee Miss leom recommends that a proposal to amend the residential parking permit ordinance would more appropriately be considered by the council's Community Development Committee she recommends the council authorize the transfer of this consideration and that was what we're referencing with uh this will be referred to committee for a meeting date yet to be scheduled and any uh committee consideration along with the date and time will be announced in the future moving on to reports I don't have anything to report this evening Mr Mayor thank you I have uh two administrative orders um the first one is I hereby appoint uh Nikita capasso 1170 Arcadia Street betham PA 1808 to the betham human relations committee and this appointment is effective through March of 2026 administrative order 2430 of Nikita capaso to the Bethlehem human relations commission commission the resolution is sponsored by Miss cramy Smith and Miss Leon discussion we'll call rooll Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi gry Smith hi Miss quch hi Miss lard hi and Mr colog hi pass 70 uh I I'll ask everyone to mute who's not currently voting thank you so second uh administrative order I hear by appoint esmeel Den nario 1729 West North Street bethle PA 1808 and the Civil Service Board and this appointment is effective through October 2028 administrative order 2024 31 esmer Elden nario to the Civil Service Board resolution is sponsored by Miss grmy Smith and Miss Leon discussion on the appointment we'll call a roll Miss Leon hi Miss willhelm hi Mr Callahan hi M grmy Smith hi miss quch I miss lard I and Mr colum I pass 70 uh thank you and then just two other quick updates um this is also the first meeting since we had our world heritage inscription event and I know many of you were there I was not um because I was under the weather um but I just wanted to let you know that you know we've had a lot of people reach out to us um from a lot of the informal conversations that members of council had with just uh nothing but glowing remarks for all of you that were at the multiple ceremonies and the dinner um about just the overall um Vibe and feeling in Bethlehem and our elected officials and I just wanna I want to thank thank everybody for coming um to as many of those events as you could it really meant a lot to both us and our International Partners um and like I said we got quite a few emails afterwards um and Communications that uh it really meant something to everybody and you know it's not just been a long journey for us but it's been a long journey for the other countries um and uh it was just uh it was it was special that everybody was able to attend so I want to thank everybody for coming um and then also just to follow up on Mr rothman's report um next Wednesday at um I believe it is 9:00 am we have our climate action plan annual update uh right here where we will be sharing what our implementation groups have been working on over the past year there's nine of them uh some of you may remember that when uh the climate action plan was first introduced or proposed back in January of uh 2017 um it was right around when uh the United States had chosen to pull out of the Paris agreements and um you know one of the things that we talked about at the time was we didn't know what was going to happen obviously at the state and federal level as far as climate action was concerned and we were both inspired and obviously incredibly impressed by how many people in the city of Bethlehem wanted to be a part of that process um and you know obviously we don't know what's going to happen as far as climate action is concerned or sustainability or any of those things that we have worked so hard on but I am and we had some conversations about this today you know what we have built here in our city between our EAC and the administration and our community and our climate action plan and our road to sustainability and all the things we've done and all the things that we're working on I think is a very apt time next week to be giving that update both on what we've accomplished in 2024 as well as what those goals are uh that we are setting for 2025 that are consistent with the climate action plan um and that plan has obviously been very very important in allowing us to be able to acquire a lot of the other Grant funds that we have gotten to re rebuild parks to acquire The Greenway to do all of the West Broad Street work that we're working on now as far far as the engineering the grant Agreements are concerned and a lot of that uh success has grown directly out of the climate action plan process and I know I've thanked Lynn many times for everything she's done with EAC for for helping be a part of that process um but you know it is it is sometimes we get lost I think in the grind of progress some of the things that we are accomplishing as a community with everything that's going on but uh next Wednesday is going to be just going to be an hour it's gonna be an opportunity to hear about all of the great things that are going on um in the in the world of sustainability as far as the city is concerned thank you president clone thank you mayor Reynolds moving on to ordinances for final passage we have one this evening Mr Miller Bill 43 2024 ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehi and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the 2024 capital budget for non- utilities bill number 43 2024 is sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon discussion we'll call roll Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi Miss grmy Smith hi Miss quch hi Miss lard I and Mr colog I pass 70 no new ordinances tonight moving on to resolutions 10A be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem the mayor and controller are authorized and directed to execute all application forms necessary to apply for a local Share account Grant through the Pennsylvania community financing Authority for the green Greenway Trail Gap development construction and that the mayor and controller are authorized to execute such agreements and documents as are deemed to be necessary and were related th too resolution is sponsored by Miss kmy Smith and Miss leam discussion on the resolution we'll call the rooll Miss leam hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi cramy Smith hi miss quch I miss lar I and Mr colom I pass 70 resolution 10B be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller are authorized and directed to execute all application forms necessary to apply for a Main Street matters planning Grant to update the north side alive plan and potentially apply for Elm Street designation and that the mayor and control are authorized to execute such other agreements and documents as are deemed to be necessary and or related theto resolution is sponsored by Miss kmy Smith and Miss Leon discussion we'll call the role Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi M kmy Smith hi I I I pass 70 resolution 10c be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller are authorized and directed to execute all application forms necessary to apply for Main Street matters Grant to be used toward the first phase of the Gateway on Fourth mixed income housing development and that the mayor and controller are authorized to execute such other agreements and documents as are deemed to be necessary and or related there too resolution is sponsored by Miss KY Smith and Miss Leon discussion we'll call the rooll Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi mson Smith hi Miss quch i m lard I and Mr colom I pass 70 resolution 10d be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller are authorized and directed to execute all application forms necessary to for Main Street matters Grant to be used toward the first phase of the Gateway on Fourth mixed income housing development that the mayor and controller are authorized to execute such other agreements and documents as are deemed necessary uh and were related there too resolution sponsored by Miss crampy Smith and Miss Leon discussion call rooll Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm Mr Callahan hi grmy Smith hi miss quch I miss lard I and Mr cologne I pass 70 10 e be 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 hereby authorized to execute a use permit agreement with greater leh have Valley Chamber of Commerce Foundation by and through its citizens Christmas City committee for the 2024 Christmas tree lighting ceremony resolution is sponsored by Miss kmy Smith and Miss Leon discussion C question um the sub permites here include Brewery Distillery Vineyard and Pub uh is this the first time that we would be I assume this means we are there would be alcohol sold at this event is that correct is this the first time that there's alcohol being sold at the tree lighting I think they had a last year Leo was like two months so I was worried about him getting out of the cold so I don't remember exactly um but I think they I I thought they might have but I yeah so last year was the first year but it is it was approved last year yeah okay all right all I was remembering was cocoa and cookies so I think you probably can still have cocoa and cookies that's still offered nobody's forcing anybody to have anything they don't want yes yes uh okay I was just wondering if it was new this year uh okay thank you any other discussion on the use permit agreement we'll call the rooll Miss Leon I miss willhelm I Mr Callahan i m cron Smith I miss quac I miss lard I and Mr colog I pass 70 resolution 10f be resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem with the mayor and controller Andor such other City officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute an agreement with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania office of Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics investigation and the agreement shall become effective upon signature by both parties and shall end on December 31st 2024 after which the agreement shall automatically renew for successive one-year terms unless terminated earlier in accordance with the terms of the agreement resolution is sponsored by Miss cramy Smith and Miss leam Chief k before I open it up to members of council for discussion and questions can you please give us some background on this task force and how this would potentially change Police Operations so the individuals named to the task force are handpicked by myself and they would still remain full-time employees of the city of betham police department um this is a part-time assignment that would be through overtime details and the whole goal the purpose of this partnership is the investigation apprehension and prosecution of drug traffickers and drug trafficking organizations in the state of Pennsylvania um Miss Nunan is correct this is a federal program however this mou that we're entering into is with the state of Pennsylvania Attorney General's office um the scope of the task force is drugs and I'm I'm talking considerable amount of drugs alone it wouldn't be um anything involved in Immigration or anything else that um there are other task force other joint operations for it's just clearly um the scope of this task force is laser focused on drug trafficking and um the movement of considerable amount of Narcotics thank you Chief I open up to discussion for members of council I'll start with councilwoman L um one question right off the bat would be is there a reason why Bethlehem is being approached at this time for a partnership like this yes um and again I'm I'm trying to be modest but we're the best I I'm very proud of our Police Department I'm sorry I I I'm very proud of our police department and and we are being sought out by these agencies and they want us to participate um one of the things I failed to mention is any of the joint operations has to come through my office as well so I have to sign off on it um Palmer Township the Allentown Police Department and upper mccan Police Department have already signed on to this partnership uh it basically affords us the opportunity to capitalize resources and expert pie um something that I mentioned to councilwoman Leon prior to the meeting was uh they're in desperate need of Spanish-speaking officers for various uh details where the individuals that are their individuals being interacted with only speak Spanish so we have a number of Spanish speaking officers here in the city that um would would be able to help with those those various tasks and activities thank you um would the work that the officers appointed to this uh task force would it be local like would they be staying local to be doing this work or would they be working on Statewide yes ma'am so it would be here in the Lehigh Valley they would be working um from Allentown out to Easton uh again if they were to travel any further it would have to go through my office and I will be upfront and honest we don't have the Personnel uh that I can be sending officers across the state to eie and and other you know counties I'll let some others go there might be some more things R rattling around in there any other questions for chief cot councilwoman Leo um are we free to like kind of back out of this at any point absolutely so um I have to give 30-day notice uh if I'm not satis SP uh this mou is current for 2024 and then it would be current for a year um but again we have that option to back out 30 days uh if not satisfied and we it's a way to share resources so Bethlehem would benefit my thought process here is this is a way of the police officers to get more resources without us having to expend more money within our own budget to do so correct more training more resources available intelligence gathering and sharing uh amongst um local and state agencies um as well as uh um just the resources that come from these investigations as well being able to get our officers that experience okay nice to know that they want our Spanish speaking officers I remember was it two years ago we talked about the the language and and the budget for the language so it's good to see that that's paying off in professionalism um also this is just a a thought um and I want you to to confirm this you're you're targeting high level people who are actually like dealing in so this is not going to be targeting anybody who might be suffering under the burden of addiction but this is targeted at like drug dealers not people we're we're talking about drug traffickers that are moving um uh High quantity of products and our close prox it to New York City as well as Philadelphia put us in that sweet spot unfortunately for a lot of drugs that are coming in in a few weeks I'm going to be giving my budget presentation and one of the things that I enjoy doing is is giving you some stats from our year and methan fedmine is is a real issue in our community right now and it's something that I want our officers to focus on um because we're we're seeing a a high level of it being dealed here in the not only the Lehigh Valley but in the city of Beth him thankk you those were all my questions any other questions for chief cot thanks so just to confirm then this this is a commonwealth Office of the Attorney General so the the funding comes from the federal government but it's not you're not working with doj directly it's not it's all within the state correct yes ma'am um does do and I mean you can't disclose maybe too much but do the off officers in the task force do they work undercover do they do things like that there there's a possibility of that um going to various uh mail sorting locations uh a large quantity of Narcotics are believe it or not mailed um so doing interdiction at a mail you know sorting facility uh is going to be part of the detail um as well as you know undercover operations and and the intelligence gathering and um okay and so is it more focused now on things like methamphetamines um fentanyl oxycodon like that that kind of correct stuff yes ma'am okay all right less so on marijuana I mean is that just not a big a big emphasis anymore or do they still and I don't want to speak for the task force but there would have to be moving a very high quantity of product to uh in in in a lot of places suring Us in New Jersey uh New York marijuana is legal legal right yeah so it's not really as much of an issue okay all right thank you very much you're welcome councilman will just one more small detail regarding the officers themselves just to help me understand so you select the officers they receed some special training after that receive special training and I I forgot to mention um forgive me uh they also have to undergo a background investigation through the Attorney General of Penn Pennsylvania's office okay uh so so um it it's difficult uh to get someone on the task force got it and then does this become their full-time assignment or is it something that they do they're sort of pulled they continue to do their typical duties and then are pulled as needed they will do their typical duties they'll continue to serve the residents of the city of Bethlehem and it will be an overtime assignment I'm sorry you said that and overtime I forgot to mention will be reimbursed through the PA Attorney General's office okay thanks for re clarifying that that's only question any other discussion for members of council president colog I just had one question yes councilwoman can you hear me okay thank you she all the information I was just wondering off hand um do you know if there would be any Grand opportunities available through this because I remember years ago we had the Route 222 anti-guy anti-drug task force and I'm not sure if it was fed or state money but there was um there were grants available like I even applied for when they used in the school with kids who were risk of being G and and getting involved in drugs yes there will be uh not so much through grants but asset forfeiture um so our our vice unit here in the city of Bethlehem again I'm stealing my thunder from the budget presentation but uh was able to seize over $2 million this year and that money goes to the district attorney's office but we receive some of that funding back whether it be for training of our officers for equip um a few years ago I'm not sure if you remember uh our forensic Services Unit was able to buy new alternate life sources for the use in their forensic investigations um so we will get funding back from our participation in this program okay great because I remember that program it was probably 15 years ago was really great and um I'm not sure you know I'm sure you have ideas on how to use it but the one thing is it was really helpful that when we were able to use it in the schools to Target students at a younger age that may get involved in drugs and GS as far as a prevention measure thank you any other discussion from members of council councilwoman L um couple additional questions so um under the new administration at the state and federal levels that is coming in uh is this program expected to continue or like has there been any um discussion of whether things like this would continue any no one has contacted me uh so I'm I'm not sure uh I can reach out to um the agent that is in charge that I've been dealing with uh again to see you know what the status of that may be but I I have no indication at this point that the program would be ending okay um and then in terms of collaboration with other agencies um you mentioned mail facilities uh and I had always been under the impression that crimes that were um involving the male system automatically became federal crimes and were investigated by the US Postal Inspector General yes so why would our local officers be investigating at male facility so they would be assisting with the Sorting okay that occurs when you know looking for the the narcotics and would they be under the purview of the US Postal Inspector General then no it would be through the PA Attorney General's office so the PA attorney general would be working with the uh the mail okay I think that's all all the questions I have any other questions or comments from members of council Mr will'll call the role Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi M Callahan hi gramy Smith hi M quch I miss lard I I'm correct Mr col passes 70 thank you Chief cot G to move on to our certificates of appropriateness Mr Miller 10g of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of Pennsylvania legislature Bethlehem resolution is hereby granted for 14 through 36 West 3 Street to secure a COA from revisions to an eight-story structure previously approved in June of 2021 the proposed building now hosts a hotel use rather than ground floor commercial storefronts and multif family residential dwellings above facade revisions include window sizes and placements addition to roof of rooftop dining space structural canopy at the lobby entrance and other material changes this is uh sponsored by Miss kmy Smith and miss leam any discussion on the certificate of appropriateness coun I'll start with councilwoman Leon and then councilwoman cramy Smith thank you I have thoughts um so there's a I do I have quite a few thoughts about about this um one of them was it was always going to be something so for context to anybody who's like spatially unaware of what building talking about it's the one right across from the banana Factory right next to the new Street building that's kind of propped up with 2x4s I'm on the right sea right cool um if you walk by it it's quite obviously a hazardous building it's extremely deteriorated um the original thing was going to be student housing uh now it's this this hotel which again we live in the Great United States we can't tell people what to build when it when it's in private hands um so I've been thinking about how I feel about this hotel going there and I had some time to talk to some of the Riverport guys people who live around there and get their feedback so I I mean I think a couple of things can be true at the same time I think the historic preservation in South Bethlehem um there has not been the strongest line on historic preservation in South Bethlehem uh Third Street is kind of an example of that but also Economic Development comes and economic development helps people that live within South Bethlehem the businesses that live within South Bethlehem the owner the homeowners that live within South Bethlehem and were able to sell their houses at at a much higher rate than what they bought them from so it's I think it's a very nuanced conversation regarding this hotel um so it's it's not a contributing structure it's it's a better use in what's there it's going to finish the greenway I'm I'm correct with that Laura right like this is going to close up that that section of the greenway that's currently being used for like delivery um and it's going to be kind of proportionate to the cultural art center that's going across from it so I was trying to think about think about this hotel through the lens of could this be a win for South Bethlehem so I looked into the numbers at at Wind Creek and how often they're filled and they actually have quite a high demand over there they're they're not often vacant there there is a desire for people to be staying in South Bethlehem in hotels and now we offer them the Comfort sues or we offer them Wind Creek so this is a way to offer them something additional uh to that and to see a a boutique hotel want to be in South bethleem without us ask without them asking to build a parking garage for them or anything like that from my understanding of the last three years of looking into Economic Development and what an economic wind looks like to me this is an economic win this this is a a high-end hotel that wants to be in South Bethlehem and is not asking us to do anything other than say yeah go ahead and if we say no it's still going to be a building of a similar height because that height was already approved through the HCC um and I I think that this is a a way to bring new energy to that area the cultural art center is also there but there are also other things that can use some eyes on in that in that area there are some buildings that have heavy deterior ation you know like hey the tank farm doesn't look that great so this I I believe that this could be a very good thing uh for South Bethlehem I hope that community members continue to engage along the process of what they want the greenway to look like of what they like encouraging the the best businesses to go into that ground floor so that it's not another vacant store for for 13 freaking years um so I'm really excited to see what what could happen there um which is a very hard right from my my vote on the banana Factory and I'm I'm aware of that but this just seems like a good economic win for for South Bethlehem for the businesses that are going to be surrounding South Bethlehem for the the restaurants that really really really need help we're seeing them close at too high of a rate on the South Side so I'm I'm excited to see what can what can happen there thank you councilwoman I'm going to turn to solicor Stewart briefly just to remind everyone because um there's Merit to a lot of different perspectives just to what the scope of what we're actually voting on is and I will be um referring to section 8004 of the relevant statute stating that any governing body in determining whether or not to certify the appropriateness of the erection reconstruction alteration restoration demolition or raising in a bu of a building in whole or part shall consider the effect with which the proposed change will or the effect which the proposed change will have upon the Gen General historic and Architectural nature of the district the governing body Shall Pass upon the appropriateness of the exterior architectural features which can be seen from a public Street or way only and shall consider the general design Arrangement texture material and color of the building or structure and the relation of such factors similar features of buildings and structures in the district the governing body body shall not consider any other matters not pertinent to the preservation of the historic aspect and nature of the district and that is um State Statute which is also reflected in our local ordinances thank you attorney Stewart can I ask a question Mike because I meant to ask the question before I went on my diet tribe about how great this could be ask your question thank you so much if we say no doesn't it just default to the height that is already currently allowed Within the original proposal that was given in 2021 we can't relitigate the I guess my question is can we relitigate the height that was given in 2021 you are passing upon the certificate of appropriateness um I don't have the entire ordinance in front of me right now so I did have it pulled up earlier and I apologize so I can't read to you from it in terms of um what you can state in but you If you deny a COA that denial has to be written in and you can say you know this is why we find it inappropriate why we denied it and this these are the corrections that could be made um there's also an appeal process set forth in the in the uh ordinance okay does that help no um sorry so if if we denied this it would just go back to whatever previously was approved by Council whether this Council or a previous Council of as to the height that was originally given to the building I'm not sure I understand your question If you deny can I interrupt this is a revision to a previous application so a COA was already awarded and I going turn to the administration just to correct me if I'm misstating anything but Council has already awarded a certific of appropriateness for this project now there's a a application for revision which is outlined in the narrative that we were given so my understanding is deny there's still an approved certificate of appropriateness to engage in building what what's approved over there so I'll turn to Mayor Reynolds uh Miss Collins Mr spurk whoever would want to weigh into kind of the mechanisms of what we're voting on here and just well Mr Spur's getting up there just the there is an approved certificate of appropriateness for a building that that wasn't built this particular applicant went to the HCC multiple times I'm not sure how many times they went and the reason why part of the reason why this building is recommended and was recommended by the HCC I believe unanimously was because there was agreement on the changes that were made it was both in the both from the applicant and from the members of the HCC that they appreciated the conversation they made several suggestions at the first meeting they came back at the second meeting so yes there is a current COA that if nothing got approved it would still be standing but that process over the past several months has included multiple trips the HCC to improve and judging by the unanimous vote and also the minutes in the conversation there was agreement and as far as the changes that were made were an improvement over the one from a couple years ago so I think that that's just that's a little background there as well Mr spur yeah just as a a brief legal matter I would emphasize U one thing that attorney Stewart read before you have to consider the effect of the proposed change on the general historical nature of the district the proposed change from what the proposed change from what's already been approved and thank you for that so I think already read the words the the effect of the proposed change I think is really what you're considering and it's a change from what what's already been approved yes I thank you to both of you for that background which which I'm coming on the tail end of that so I appreciate that sorry I should have clarified that does that give you some clarity councilwoman Crystal councilwoman ksey Smith okay thank you I I just have questions I'm not sure maybe Miss Collin can answer I'm wondering um is the height of this building going to be the same or less or more than the the building that adjacent to it the zest building as well as a new banana Factory building are you aware of that off hand how that will align with the other buildings in that area I I do not have the height of the other buildings in the area but the the height that was approved in the original COA 88 feet and the height that is approved here is I believe 90 feet so that's the comparison that I was looking at okay um the other thing is of course yes the third the third and new building is comparable I just don't know the exact height of the off the top of my head okay and um I I tried to look at the um the plans but any idea where are where will the entrance be like the car entrance to the hotel because one thing is uh really worried about traffic how it backs up there and I know it may not have something to do the historic um architecture of the building however um it's impos on the um historic area any idea the proposal has a like carport um that is on on third um you know on the westernmost portion of where the building would end so there would be sort of like a a a U-shaped carport where cars would sort of circle in drop off and and circle out there so closer to Lake Comfort Suite so it would be farther away from where the traffic backs up hopefully I'm thinking correct that okay all right um the other thing and again I know we have to look at it from the uh historic perspective but I'm thinking also you know it's important to look at it um like our role within the city is what about um the need for it and thank you to councilwoman Leon for talking about wi Creek but do we have any idea on where we're at with um hotels in the area like vacancies or you know the overcrowding or the need for hotel units in this area and the most most recent conversations I've had with um the Discover Le High Valley folks who track this pretty closely is that you know in in the area we see about 80% um occupancy rate in hotels which is which is very high um we've heard from them that there is indeed a a a need for and a value in additional hotel rooms in the area so I think um you that's that's been a figure that we've looked at and I I think had had that there there would be capacity for additional hotel rooms okay all right I I think that's all I have thank you Mr Callahan no I just want to say that I'm and I'm in agreement with this uh you know I think if you look at the the property as it is right now there's really nothing that's historic on the property um I think that uh I think Miss cins is 100% correct I think the uh don't don't quote me on it but I think the occupancy rate uh at the uh Sands or at the Wind Creek is in the high 80s and and low 90s which is astronomical and uh I think it is a need within the city uh Miss cins do you have any idea what the the proposed taxes will be coming in on it uh once it's finished I I have not calculated that no all right yeah I I mean I I mean I think if you look at the property right now the amount of taxes that you know that were probably taken in city county and school district is minimal and I think if you look at the amount of uh taxes that will be paid uh City County and School District once it's done uh and including all the new jobs that will be brought into that area uh you know I think it's a win-win for the Southside so I I will be supporting it thank you thank you any other discussion from members of council Miss L um just a a comment uh it sounds like the uh proposed developer or owner here um has been working back and forth with the HCC is what I'm hearing um which I'm I'm really glad to hear that there's been conversation um both ways and uh I see the note in The Proposal that uh the applicant would be returning to uh the HCC for some further conversation about the details to help it lend in uh so I appreciate that as well um and think it's a a good example of how we can um balance things in our development thanks thank you any other discussion for members of council call the roll Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi M Callahan hi Miss kmy Smith hi M hi hi Mr colog hi pass 7 Z 10 H sess under the provisions of the act of the Pennsylvania legislature Bethlehem resolution is hereby granted for 116 West Graham Street to install 22 solar panels on the roof resolution is sponsored by Miss kampsy Smith and Miss Leon discussion call the rooll Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callan hi M grmy Smith hi Miss quch hi Miss lard hi Mr colog hi passor 7 Z 10i certificate of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of the Pennsylvania legislature Bethlehem resolution is hereby granted for 125 East thir Street to secure a COA to install a perforated final window decal to the glass store front window decal size is 3' 9 in by 4 4 in resolution sponsored by Miss kmy Smith and Miss leam discussion we'll call it I just wanted to say I believe this is Paranormal pizza and I'm very excited that theyve found a home on the South Side so uh very excited to vote for this any other discussion call the r Miss Leon hi Miss willhelm hi Callahan hi Miss KY Smith Miss KY Smith is ky Smith councilwoman can you hear us oh this is weird well we're gonna continue on with the roll uh Miss L hi and Mr col I pass 60 you skipped me oh excited I'm Sorry Miss que is wrong hi councilwoman cramsey Smith can you hear us sir I got knocked out I'm sorry yes I on that last vote everyone accounted for they are now sry 70 it passes 10j certificate of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of the Pennsylvania legislature Bethlehem resolution is hereby granted for 312 East 4th Street to replace existing metal door and frame at the northwest corner entrance resolution sponsored by Miss crampy Smith Miss Leon discussion call the rooll Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr calan I miss KY Smith I miss quch hi M lard hi Mr colog hi pass 70 and lastly 10K certificate of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of Pennsylvania legislature Bethlehem resolution is hereby granted for 1006 Prospect Avenue to remove rotten portions of both side porticos and rebuild to match existing and to remove four small pent roofs on the sides of boths Side porticos Resolution sponsored by Miss kmsy Smith and Miss leam discussion call the president yes councilwoman I just have one question I just want to make U um I'm clear on this that they're not looking at demolishing the whole home just part correct I don't know if anyone the way I read it it is only parts of but I just want to sure that it's not the entire home I I believe that's correct let me reread it real quick yeah I think this is a house that's being uh worked on a lot that's in pretty yeah pretty thorough recap it's just a few blocks from my house that's the only reason I know sure it's not the entire home everyone saying yes okay thank you I'm good we'll call the roll Miss Leon hi Miss willhelm hi Mr Callahan hi Miss grmy Smith I miss quch hi Miss lard hi and Mr clone I pass to 70 that concludes tonight's agenda get home safely everyone this meeting is adjourned quick