##VIDEO ID:lB6ZvffgRQQ## so I will call to order the Public Safety Committee meeting I am Rachel Leon chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee the committee members are councilman Brian Callahan and councilman Grace kampy Smith the clerk will call the role Miss Liam present Mr Callahan present and Miss KMC Smith present other council members present this evening are council person quk and council person will Helm the city solicitor attorney Stewart is also present this evening city council solicitor attorney Stewart is present this evening YouTube stream reminder if you start this meeting after 6m please make sure to scroll the time bar all the way ahead so that the YouTube stream is current rather than a recording of an earlier portion of this meeting there is one agenda item tonight involving the Police Department police department PL to curtail illegal use of dirtt bikes and ATVs on City roadway uh I will I will now accept public comment with a 5 minute time limit seeing no one present we will move on um the only agenda item is on illegal dirt bikes and ATVs I will now recognize a member of the administration to address this matter I will ask everyone tonight to be um concise we do have a meeting starting at 7 we can take the time that we need but I just want to be mindful of the fact that there is a another meeting going on today so take it away Chief good evening I'm Chief Michelle cot with the city of Bethlehem police department and tonight we're here to talk about the city's plan to address the illegal authoriz uh operation of illegal dirt bikes and ATVs on our city roadways so the illegal use of dirt bikes and ATVs on our city roadways is a pressing issue that is affecting our community these vehicles pose significant risks when operated illegally and recklessly on our city streets and in our neighborhoods for example these vehicles are often driven without proper training protective gear or adherence to traffic laws this Reckless Behavior endangers not only the Riders themselves but also pedestrians cyclists and other motorists who share the road the lack of control and speed capabilities of these Vehicles make collisions and accidents far more likely resulting in severe injuries and sometimes even fatalities from a local perspective since 2022 the Bethlehem police department has investigated seven major crashes involving dirt bikes in conclusion the Menace of illegal dirt bikes and ATVs is not merely a minor minor inconvenience but a serious threat to Public Safety and Community well-being which is why I'm introducing this ordinance by working together we can mitigate these dangers uphold the rule of law and ensure that our neighborhoods remain safe enjoyable places for all and now to provide some comments da Steven Bara from the Northampton County District Attorney's office good evening I think the chief summed up fairly well um the general safety concerns these off the road vehicles especially the D bikes are not manufactured to travel on pavement therefore um off the road Trail runs they're smaller bikes they have different suspensions softer suspensions they use different um wheels or Tire compositions that don't uh function as well in pavement so the bikes themselves constitute a hazard often for the Riders and these are uh children often or young adults across the country there are about 300 um dirt bike a fat fatal accidents because often times they don't have helmets um the bikes aren't because of the um frame that they use they're not as strong as motorcycles and when they get involved in accidents unfortunately there's often catastrophic injuries so they're a problem they're also often used illegally they doart around in between traffic and in between cars they create a hazard not only for vehicles but also for uh pedestrians because you can't see them because they're smaller when they're uh a long distance away but they can come up to you rather quickly and surprise you so it does create quite a hazard and I think it's a good uh good ordinance it's permitted by the vehicle code and I will also note that in an effort I believe to um uh deter the use of dirt bikes there's a forfeiture provision when you operate the vehicle um uh illegally on the street and that's permitted by the legislature the legisl legislature made forfeiture a possibility in the vehicle code so I'm in support I mean there's also other problems noise the the noise in the D bikes in some neighborhoods problematic when they're racing around in tandem or groups and they tend to race together sometimes it creates an awful lot of noise that disturbs the neighborhood is that enough complaints about them to support the chief's ordinance I'm happy to answer any questions if you have any questions okay thank you then I'll I'll open it up to the committee to to start asking their questions so I'll turn to any of our committee Members First do any of our committee members have any questions regarding the update ordinance I doy Smith you can go okay thank you and thank you um Chief cot and Di BR for doing this as definitely um necessary for sure and I just had a couple questions um but I am again I know it's a real issue and there's been a lot of um complaints um I have to say I think the one of the worst experiences I had in my professional life was a beautiful little boy who was on an ATV and was hit by a track the trailer and was severely severely brain injured injured and subsequently passed away and it was just horrible so I'm really grateful that we're addressing this now for for many reasons but I just had a couple questions I mean I'm fine with the ordinance I just wanted to know like on um page two where it talks about where no individual May operate at the alterrain or a dirt bike it says a highway now does that constitute any City Street then because it says Highway sidewalk or pedal cycle Lane so are we covered by any street with this ordinance yes okay great I assume so but I just wanted to make sure um on the the penalty and the fines um again I'm fine with it but I just wanted to get sort of clarification because under a it says for the first incidence it's a fine of $50 to $200 um I'm just wondering about how would we determine if it's 50 or 200 and then on the second um and subsequent offenses it could be anywhere from 100 to 300 so I guess I'm just trying to see you know what the the logic is because it could be like 200 in the first incidence but as little as a 100 in the second so I believe that would be determined by the magistrate oh okay so they would totally determine that yes okay great um and I just want to clarify on page three then so if um the ATV or dirt bike it would be impounded until a court decision would be decided and if they were guilty then the the vehicle or whatever would be um forfeited correct okay all right um I think that's all let me just look through here real quick I think that was my only no that's all again thank you so much um the only well the only other thing and I'm sure you've already looked at this is um enforcement I mean I'm sure that's going to be a real challenge it has been a challenge however it is not impossible um going over the numbers with My Traffic Unit since 2022 in addition to the seven major accidents involving illegal dirt bikes we've also towed seven illegal dirt bikes that were being operated on the roadway so it can be done and a a really big component of this is cooperation and communication with our community and getting that information from community members regarding where these bikes are being operated where they're being stored um there's a component with the gas stations owners we we're not out to penalize and and harass gas station owners we want the gas station owners and operators to be calling us and letting us know hey look there is a uh a a group of 50 dirt bikes here no one appears to has any uh license plate or or any type of registration on the vehicle so our officers can get out there in a safe manner while those vehicles are parked there trying to gas up and and be able to enforce our our regulations so communication is going to be key to the enforcement aspect of this ordinance okay great and do you have an idea I mean I know it's hard with communication but as far as communicating it as far as like you know the website or getting Flyers out there what are your plans with that website Flyers we're also going to be directly going out to all the gas stations in the city with our community services officers and educating them on the ordinance encouraging them to work with us to address this very serious issue okay okay great and I might add again I'm not sure of the ages but maybe even in the schools absolutely because I'm sure a lot of the high schools and the middle schools have kids that are riding them so absolutely well thank you again I really appreciate all the work you've put into this thank you thank you thank you uh Chief I um my my number one concern I guess is is also like the safety of our police officers I don't I don't want to I I want the K uh the the people that are on the road uh with illegal dirt bikes being apprehended but I also don't want to see like uh highspeed police chases in you know in the road so what is the protocol that is establ there might be protocol already as far as you know a car chasing uh a road bike or even you know a vehicle but so if if a resident sees uh or hears or um a dirt bike running up and down the street they would call 911 and then 911 would dispatch that through through our our County dispatch system and then and I'm assuming that the cars are all talking to each other you know so you know are so at what point do they give Chase and then back off versus you know we have a very robust comprehensive Pursuit policy um being an accredited a agency we have to or we would lose our accreditation so when an officer initiates a traffic stop on a vehicle and if that vehicle decides for one reason or another to continue on their their way um that officer would put out that they are involved in either a lowspeed or a highspeed Pursuit they would give the weather conditions over the the radio to the other officers uh especially the supervisors listening they would let the other units know what the vehicle is that they're trying to stop how many times it's occupied their location uh it could be you know traffic in the area is there heavy traffic is there low traffic is there heavy pedestrian traffic all of these factors the weather all of these factors come into play so the supervisor can make a determination at that Split Second at that moment with that information whether that Pursuit should be continued or called off uh and we have called off a number of Pursuits because I I share your concern I I do not want innocent civilians and I do not want my officers being hurt or Ser you know seriously hurt or killed chasing after one of these bikes um so there are a number of factors that are considered when determining whether we should continue a pursuit or not and because we're accredited and we subscribe to National best standards we will not we will not continue to chase a vehicle at aund you know 10 miles an hour just to try to catch someone for a a minor traffic violation if that answers your question it does thank you so uh I I the last time I was on Council uh I know it's been a few years but uh I know the Southside had a number of uh video cameras on the Southside do we have any or enough video cameras on the North side also to that could help us in in zooming in on the plates and trying to or well they're not going to have plates in right but no but that's a great point so that is another level of enforcement that we are engaging with with a lot of these individuals uh you could say it's vanity or um pridefulness but they like to have GoPros on and take videos of the stunts that they're doing and and where they're writing and then they'll either put it on YouTube uh social various social media sites and that's another way that we're able to identify them and charge them uh not only our individual cameras that we have throughout Citywide both on the the south side and North side of the city but also those GoPros that they're wearing um and the the videos that they're Facebook live that they're taking of their Shenanigans so uh another way um that we're also doing enforcement is the incar cameras that we have at the police department we're able to capture what the bike looks like who the individual is that's riding it and a lot of times our officers will put out emails to the rest of the department asking hey do you know who this IND individual is and many of times you know we we're able to identify people from the photos that are taken uh from the inar cameras of the patrol cars thank you I appreciate welcome all right uh Council I'm gonna turn to councilwoman willm since she's in the room then I'll turn to you councilwoman qu um yeah just a couple of questions thank you uh for including examples of other cities Bridgeport and reading and and actually and looking at report and readings ordinances I was curious about a couple of the differences um omissions in particular and just was hoping for a little bit of an explanation um you mentioned one registration and properly displayed license plates was one of the things I had noted in other ordinances and was curious as to why we wouldn't include that language in our ordinance so we did include in the ordinance um under dual sport motorcycle which would be on page two uh that it you know it still would need to be registered with and it says the department and that is a typo it needs to be registered with pendot uh the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation okay so is there for for a dirt bike is that something an individual can just purchase so there yes there are certain types of dirt bikes there are various categories they're the Dual Sport Dirt Bikes can be their hybrids um a type of hybrid motorcycle so they can be operated on the roadway they can be registered in the state of Pennsylvania however there are other dirt bikes that are purely meant for recreational use uh out on dirt tracks and and off-road which cannot safely be operated on the roadway okay and is is a certain type of registration required for that kind of dirt bike and a license as well or is that sort of in a separate category it's in a separate category thank you for that explanation I appreciate it another thing I was wondering about just in terms of um the highway sidewalk and pedal cycle Lane noting in reading and bridgeport's ordinances that they named also parks and school property I was curious too about um would we consider extending or do do somehow do those fit into the three categories that we've provided here I believe we have another ordinance that addresses that but Mr spur yeah I was going to comment too on uh councilman ksey Smith's question earlier uh the definition of Highway the our ordinance incorporates the definition that is in the vehicle code and that includes I just looked it up every publicly maintained way when any part of it is open to the public for vehicular traffic so it's Highway Street Lane anything open to the public and then it also includes uh uh public U traffic ways on colleges public colleges and private schools public parks and historical Parks so by are using the term Highway and referencing Highway as defined in the vehicle code that includes all of that okay I'm I wonder if it not that necessarily many dirt bike operators will be reading the ordinance specifically but I I wonder if it's worth noting some or expanding on that at all so people understand what highway what's sort of the it's a very broad definition of Highway um you don't you don't think they'll look it up in the vehicle code I don't expect so but again I'm not sure they'll be reading the ordinance at all but just it's something I noted I guess in comparing them um and then two last questions one um a a nuisance section that I noted in readings ordinance which specifically talks about having the proper uh you know addressing sort of noise levels and proper Muffler Etc um is that you know and your your explanations are helping me sort of kind of nuance the ordinance a little bit understand how things fall into different categories but um I I I think it's the noise is one of the things that that residents find the most disturbing uh and and notable um and wondered if if that was something that was considered I'm trying to in Reading I'm sorry it's on page two yes yep and they they specifically talk about they're very very specific and and obviously they they go right to forfeiture and and seizure but um but you know in their section about nuisances about operating yeah without an effective and suitable muffling device so I I know when it comes to that there is uh a vehicle code violation when it comes to Mufflers the the state violation uh that would be enforced okay um that is probably why I did not include it in the ordinance okay uh because we do have that state violation um as for number one of it that that deals with remain at least 100 feet from any adjoining or adjacent property line um I I don't know of it could be geographically specific uh I'm not familiar you know if reading has a lot of you know larger properties that may like border like Woods or right um areas that you know would be acceptable for individuals that have that kind of property to operate a an ATV on their property um I I was not really aware of any here the city yeah um I think and that no I was thinking mainly about the noise with that one but you're you're suggesting or stating that it's covered under other the muffler violation yes of the vehicle code here in the state of Pennsylvania and the city also has a noise ordinance yes as well and our right police cars used to some of them have decibel meters to to monitor that um and then lastly just about passengers um on under bikes um is that do we find that to be an issue that uh Riders are doubling up and causing extra sort of safety issues in that regard so in my experience on the dirt bikes no okay it's usually single Rider on the ATVs uh the four-wheelers you usually have passengers um but I you know in my knowledge uh it really hasn't been a major issue um here locally with the the the dirt bikes okay thank you you're welcome that was all your questions all right uh councilwoman qu councilwoman qu I Turn to You that is enough thank you um uh councilwoman willhelm um was on sort of the same track as I was and looking at uh the sample um ordinances that you sent us um but my first question actually has to do with this with the state uh the Commonwealth code um you sent us the Senate Bill That Was Then amended on second consideration by the House of Representatives it this was this signed was this signed by Governor Shapiro yes okay so then my I guess my first question is um and I and and I don't mind having one but are we required to have one in order to is why are we having one if it's already been outlawed at the state level so we've from the beginning we've been working very closely with the Northampton County District Attorney's office and it would just make things easier uh yes there is the state statute and and or the violation that allows us to seize the vehicles but um from a local perspective it's just going to make things a little bit cleaner and easier on our end if we would have this verbage um in an ordinance okay all right and I do understand you know I know that you can be charged for instance with murder State murder and also Federal I know that different levels of government have you know kind of corresponding um codes so I just wanted to I just wanted to kind of double check on that um so um the the points that uh Miss wal made were um similar to mine and so you answered some of my questions um I did think one of the things in Bridge ports on page three I think yes on Bridgeport um uh they uh they talk about the um in addition to sort of the you know hours between 8 and 7M if you're on private property so again that kind of thing is probably covered in our nuisance laws um but but it they also talked about um you know obtaining written permission of the property owner if the property is not owned by the operator passenger Andor owner of the motor vehicle so in other words I mean I guess that you could say that's trespassing it it's already covered in something else but um would it be uh do you feel like that would be redundant then I I do yes ma'am okay um and uh so then uh the other piece was um just kind of giving the owner responsibility um for people who they might loan the vehicle to in other words that it can't just be well it's just the person who was riding it but that the owner would also have responsibility for the violation obviously if it's the owner's vehicle as forfeited you know but would there be some kind of violation not only to the operator but also to the owner if they're not the same person thoughts on that could be from one of those um attorneys in the room or and I do know and and forgive me uh it's been a while since I I really acquainted myself with the vehicle code but there there is a violation for uh the owner of a vehicle um if uh they allow someone to operate it and the operator commit commits uh traffic offenses on that vehicle so the owner can be charged um so there is some accountability for that owner and and like you stated um having that vehicle seized and and you know having to pay for any tow or storage fees um that are incurred uh is also a uh a detriment there something in the law called um innocent owner and that's specific to fure matters so for instance if someone took someone's U dirt bike without permission or it took the D bike to use it operated legally and the owner did not believe that the D bike would be used illegally in the street that would be an innocent owner and that person can present that defense at the for fiture hearing um and if it's accepted by uh the judge then it couldn't be forfeit but if the owner knew that the um person operating the bike would likely use it in the street then is subject to forfeiture understood thank you that was helpful um I guess th that was all of my questions I would just close by saying that I think um that what's going to be really important is education um I think that as Miss well willhelm and um Miss kmy Smith pointed out the word Highway people don't think of Spring Street as a highway um you know so it's it is uh it is uh really important that we um also stress that we also mean public parks and public schools and things like that because the first thought when I read bridgeport's um ordinance was well if they can't ride down the street they might start coming to parks and doing donuts parks and things like that if what they're looking for is you know attend I mean obviously the motivations vary with folks who are doing this um I did have one last question actually and that was about snowmobiles so I know it's extremely rare however it has actually happened in my neighborhood I've lived here 24 almost 24 years we have during um blizzards and and periods like that we have had snowmobiles um go down our streets and uh again I know it's rare in our part of Pennsylvania but I was sure if we might not want to just put that in just to be you know inclusive so that if they were doing something dangerous and someone did call the police they couldn't say well it doesn't seem say snowm that is something we'll definitely look at um I'm I'm not sure I I have to double check how the if a snowmobile is defined as being a uh an off-road vehicle in the uh the state statute but that that's something that we can look at I know they mentioned it in here but yeah I'd have to reread it to see if they actually mentioned if it was something that was prohibited or they just mentioned their definition whether they Define it as an off vehicle under the consider that under the vehicle code under Section 7721 uh it's unlawful to operate a snowmobile which is defined at 7 702 as an engine driven vehicle which is all the following designed to travel over snow or ice has an endless belt track or tracks is steered by a skier skis um and has an overall width of 48 Ines or less so unlawful to operate a snowmobile or an ATV on a street or Highway which is not which is not designated and posted as a snowmobile or ATV road by the jurisdiction so perfect thank you section 7721 of the vehicle code thank you you're welcome very that so if you could look into um I I would be someone who would be in favor of adding it again just to be inclusive in our language um given that it is in that's all I had thank you very much thank you uh the only I had some thoughts some comments some questions uh I appreciate the forfeiture question one of my questions was how how do you differentiate between taking someone's vehicle who genuinely doesn't know because they're coming from a different city that has very different urban life culture and riding around on those bikes is normal and acceptable versus someone who is a repeat offender at doing this over and over and over again and I I would hate to see someone lose something that they've invested in if they just didn't know that it was okay here um so and that that that's worked out at forfeiture hearings I'm assuming even before that um so just my personal knowledge of a gentleman that went and bought a dirt bike and was driving it on the roadway here our officers um exercise a a great deal of of compassion and and um discretion thank you when dealing with that gentleman and tried to educate him on the rules because he was it was the exact scenario where he was told yes you can operate it by all his friends the individual that he bought the bike from but they utilize their discretion not to site him but rather to educate him so even before it gets to that forfeiture hearing um our officers are are able to speak to the individual depending on what exactly they were doing if they're just driving down the roadway like this gentleman was um he was not cited uh he was educated on the matter but obviously that changes when someone's driving down the street doing a wheelie or burnout or um crossing the double yellow to to pass Vehicles so before you even get to that forfeiture hearing uh the officers have discretion in the matter which is is good to hear and it's like there's there's a wider range of dirt bike owners there's people who just throw an engine on a bike and it is a dirt bike but they're not going faster or doing any more tricks than somebody who's on an electric bike which you would be allowed to do based on of this ordinance I just wanted to make sure that there was some kind of wiggle room that the cops can use discretion to okay this is just someone who can't afford an ebike and kind of did the best that they could versus this is somebody who's actually like poses a nuisance to to the community is there anywhere that you can legally operate a dirt bike in Bethlehem it just seems like there there really isn't considering the public parks and all that stuff and and considering that how do we deter stuff like that from happening most of the complaints that I've heard are from places like walking purchase Park St Michael Cemetery and S um and I'm not sure how this kind of addresses these nuisance problems I get that IT addresses it in the the community areas but is are we going to continue to work and see what we can do in these other areas where it's it's happening kind of in The Blind Eye that is why we purchased the one of the reasons why we purchased the Dual Purpose police motorcycles for our Traffic Unit so they can get down to S Park so they can get up onto the mountain on South Mountain um so they can get on the topack and address uh the individuals that are utilizing motor uh dirt bikes on the the less populated areas of the city illegally awesome I think the the other I had two more curious about the um you said you could use all types of cameras including we just gave did that provision for you to use ring cameras so is do you think that there would be a time in which a ring camera might be useful absolutely well just another shout out to our community to cough up ring camera footage if you have um the other question I had was about the the gasoline the you said it it it encourages to work and I don't see anything about a penalty here but what if you have a a gas like a a business owner who just kind of really doesn't want to get involved in anything like that is is there anything that's going to require a a owner of a gas station to work with the police officers or is it voluntary and if they don't is there a fine uh it should under uh page two section B under the sale of gas no owner operator employee of any gas station or other retail dealer of gasoline shall sell um and I'm just curious as to is that something that we're going to make gas station owners do or is it just an Avenue that encourages them to work with you but doesn't mandate them to work with you so the way it's written it they they could be subject to the fine okay um but it's like I said we're we're trying to work together with the commun community get people's um help to address this issue so I I would go about it through education and communication um and you know we're not trying to put people on the spot they they can be anonymous and and just let us know hey look there are 30 bikes parked in my my business trying to gas up can you send somebody out here um and that's as far as that goes on their end uh is there a language that we could add that wouldn't make them subject to the find I I just don't want to put a business owner in the crosshairs between a cop and a dirt bike interaction no I understand that um it kind of loses its weight though okay if we provide certain businesses because then I I I think you you would have some businesses that are going to adhere to the ordinance and then others that are going to want that business um and may choose not to not to cooperate with the ordinance so I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that okay all right those were all the questions I had before I I turn to the solicitor over here to talk about when we want to bring this to council does anybody else from Council have any questions before I I just have uh one qu one question on a topic that just came up so on we already have an ordinance for noise uh for the uh modified muffers that's already on the books yes and do would do I don't know if sister spk was was asking or stating it but is there a uh are there do we have police cars that do have the um uh the meters for the uh uh noise meters I believe so yes right I I mean I you know I've said this a few times but I think it's really important that know especially in our downtown areas where the noise uh from um modified muffs and excessively not talking about you know someone's got a window down the music con I'm talking like excessively having blaring yes the modified muffers in the music it's bouncing off of the you know you know the the the the buildings because it's almost like a canyon you know and when people are I don't care if it's the South Side on third or fourth street or when it's broad or or Main Street you know PE people come to the city of betham to have a nice dinner you know especially on weather like today and it's it's really a nuisance uh and I know all the businesses um you know complain about it and so I don't know if there's something that we can do as far as ramping up a little bit more enforcement or having like uh like maybe one or two weekends a year or something where we have uh officers down there with a decimal uh meter so we can just like start getting the word out that we don't want people coming down here with modified Mufflers revving the engines and blasting music I mean I I think I think the I think the noise ordinance says if you can hear anything is it 40 feet Yes and and I was going to say that as well that you know if if we don't don't have these meters in every single vehicle um as long as the officer is is within that you know can hear it um per that distance we can site and we have done details down on Main Street and I know on East uh East Third and East Fourth Street and West Fourth where the businesses are because of like you said the buildings it echoes um we have done details that's something that we can increase as well because it is problematic thank you I I would really appreciate that and I know the businesses uh in the business in the Central Business districts would also so thank you Chief thank you m president thank you I'm just I'm just conferring with our solicitor here about whether or not we should push this to committee tonight or not there's just a little bit of word cleanup here the Department of Motor Vehicles one that was pointed out by I believe councilman wihelm um and I'm curious before we do push this to council does anyone on the committee have any reservations about pushing this to council want to clean up any language or anything like that no right let me get my handy chy cheat sheet all right I will accept the motion and a second to send the proposed ordinance to the council meeting agenda on September 3rd second uh I Mr Callan I miss grmy Smith I and Miss Liam I this meeting is ajour --------- ##VIDEO ID:DBbyAt0SEwk## all right thank you good evening everyone thanks for your patience we're going to get started tonight I ask that we all rise for the pledge to the [Music] flag Al flag indivisible andice Mr Miller please call the rooll Mr Callahan present Miss pmy Smith present Miss quac present M lard present Miss Leon Miss Wilhelm present Mr col president thank you tonight we have one citation honoring retired city of betham firefighter Kirk Decker I don't believe Mr Decker is here so Council will see to it that he receives it via mail moving on to the approval of minutes for the August 20 2024 council meeting any disc question regarding the council minutes from our last meeting minutes stand approved moving on to public comment as this custom will start with subjects not being voted on this evening we do have eight people signed up in advance I ask that we all adhere to the five minute time limit and just a reminder as anyone chooses to address Council you may be deferred to members of the administration who are here the different department heads who might have more hands on um work to do with whatever issues are brought forward today or I may invite anyone to stay after the meeting or follow up with Council should you wish to depending on what the comments are tonight so I'll start with Miss Mary Joe mcol and if everyone doesn't mind stating their name for the record please Mary Joe mcol 449 Grandfield Boulevard I'm here tonight to ask Council to consider enacting an ordinance requiring utility companies to complete work once started within a reasonable time limit my request for such ordinant stems from UGI replacing gas line main gas Mains laterals and meters on Grand View Boulevard and Glendale Avenue my neighbors and I and myself were notified over eight weeks ago that this work was going to be done the city posted no parking signs which I assumed the work would would begin shortly it was delayed to glitch in paperwork with the city when it did begin the crew worked steady replacing Mains along Grand View Boulevard in Glendale the crew stopped work after about two weeks as they were called to another job site no work was done for a week they returned to install laterals along Glendale Avenue this work was completed on August 22nd 2024 on the 23rd of August the contractor returned to what I thought was to Begin work on the lateral salong Grand View Boulevard I was sadly mistaken they loaded up the equipment to proceed to another job this job I was told was to remove a steel plate that was on a state road and by law could not remain in place over a holiday weekend my home is located on the Northern end of Grand VI Boulevard where the street is more level than the upper end of branville Boulevard they use this Loc as the staging area for two piles of stone and cold patch two of which are directly in front of my home today I they began adding to these piles they also dropped off the Lo a load of large Stone to the added to these piles and also two of which were today they began adding to these piles also when they drop the load of large Stone the pile is so wide it blocks one driving lane due to the angle parking on the east side of Grand View Boulevard making it difficult for traffic to turn onto or from Glendale Avenue mind you they began this project Stone was when they began this project Stone was placed too close to the curb and during rainstorms the stone was washed up into my grass between the curb and the sidewalk at my insistence they had to stop to remove it from my lawn it was was too heavy for me to move so I was able to mow my lawn without the possibility of injuring myself or damaging my mower causing caused by flying Stone due to the equipment parked too close to the curb and corner and one storm drain Heavy Rain once again fell and washed up onto my sidewalk and ran down the middle of my sidewalk some homeowners meters are located inside their homes others are not the contractor will need access to homeowners basement to reconnect new laterals and to remove meters and install them outside this puts unnecessary burdens on homeowners schedules and everyday activities homeowners without natural gas are also inconvenience due to parking restrictions this is why an ordinance of this nature I feel is necessary I am fortunate to have a garage but I have but if I have several errands to do parking in front of my home is more advantageous and less strain with the new school year underway the contractor will now not only have to deal with normal traffic but School Bus traffic as well the corner of Grand View Boulevard in Glendale is a school bus stop I respectfully ask you to take this situation under advisement thank you thank you our next speaker this evening Jordan bold good evening my name is Jord sorry Jordan bold uh first and foremost I would like to thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for giving us the freedom uh to be able to convene together regardless of our personal opinions for the betterment of our community secondly and to the point I'd like to make uh I would like to address an issue that has caught my attention in the very short time that I've been attending these Council meetings uh with all due respect to the council members we do need to tighten the ship up here in the city the infighting has gotten too bad between all of you it does no good for all of us uh I'd like to go over a letter though from John Adams to his wife from a visit to Bethlehem just to remind us of what we used to be tell me if this sounds like anything that we are today here writes that uh sorry he he promised her a more particular account of a curious and remarkable town called Bethlehem and uh you know when he he says when he first came into the site of the town we found a county better cultivated better cultivated and more agreeably Diversified with prospects of orchards and Fields Groves and Meadows Hills and Valleys than we had ever [Music] seen uh let's see they have carried the mechanical Arts to Greater Perfection here than in any place we have seen we used to be that there are three public institutions here of very remarkable nature there still are but you know and then he says that they showed us their Church which is hung round with pictures of our savior from his birth to his death resurrection and Ascension and quote to which I have to respond what happened here how far have we come from the natural beauty of our landscape because we gave way to corporations warehouses and affordable housing uh you know it's obviously aimed to uproot the citizens that have been here in the city before it became a third rate City instead of a third class City with their obviously less than affordable rent prices which brings us to the next portion of his letter which states uh Christian love is their professed object but it is said that they love money more and make their public institutions subservient to the gratification of that passion that apparently has not changed what I do propose though is a start to the solution I'm nobody in the eyes of the public especially you guys but in the eyes of the Lord I'm plenty that's all that counts to me so the start cannot come from within a system so far devolved into the basic concept of greed it must come from without and swallow it whole I propose that the people of this city take hold of what is ours and tell our government what we need but what I need you as a community to do is succumb to them with your problems but come to them with a solution also because nobody wants to help someone who doesn't even want to help themselves the world has come to rely on people around them for everything instead of taking accountability for their own behavior and their own actions and helping them eles first so before you project your failures and insecurities onto the world let yourself burn in the fire of your own contempt uh when we see something that needs to be done if you can do something about it do it if you see somebody possibly in need ask to help if they decline move on but at least you tried it might Inspire them to pass it on change starts with the people you must take back that control I will leave you with this say less do more thank you thank you next person signed up Helen rck sorry hi I'm Helen rook and um sorry I'm really nervous but I'm here today to um talk to you about the city ordinance and the trash haulers um I have an issue with um M on Union Boulevard 40 East Union Boulevard I live at 38 East Union Boulevard is MOSI Tile and Marble um he has a trash holler Republic and um CSI is the other one there's two of them that come there at 5:30 it's 5:30 now but it was started out at 5:45 in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays every morning um 5:45 you can hear him over there with the um dumpster in the air shaking the dumpster now I live right next door shaking the dumpster up in the air bouncing it to make things fall out of it and my brand new windows I just got put in vibrate my dogs bark run around like crazy the cats run it's ridiculous I call and complain and talk to them I've called the city of bethleem I've talked to um a few people um Bill Santiago and Tad Tad Miller um spoke to you um I've spoken to neighbors and I I've spoken to everybody and I don't know who else to talk to I get the finger from them I get the you know when I go out to talk to them at 5:30 in the morning now every time I complain it gets earlier now it started at um 5:45 now it's we're at 5:30 now and 5:28 in the morning on Tuesday morning they were there I go out there in my nightown one my husband's at work he works Night Shift I go out there in my nightown to talk to these guys and I get the finger I get laughed at um they do the Barbie wave to me um I have no idea what to do but the city ordinance does say that they can't to be on the residential collecting residential trash till 6:00 a.m. 6: a.m. it says I think that should be seven because of where I live but I mean I'm not going to argue with it I'll be happy with the 6: a.m. because I can prepare for that I have a dog that has PTSD so so I can prepare for it I can get up early I can make sure that dog is sleeping I can make sure that dog's comforted when that thing goes you know bounce bounce bounce bounce and shakes our house but I can't if I have no idea what time that thing that truck's going to show up you know if I know that truck's not going to show up before 6:00 am I can deal with it but I can't deal with it at 5:30 on a Tuesday and on a Thursday it's 5:45 or whatever I can't prepare for that I just just want them to do what's right I've tried talking to them I don't know who else to talk to so now I'm here talking to you I just need help and I don't know where else to go so if you point me in the right direction I'll do what he said I'll do whatever I have to um because I I don't know what else to do I've tried talking to everybody talking don't work I don't know if I should you know start suing them I I don't know I don't and and I don't want to do that because I don't want to be just like everybody else run to the the lawyers and stuff I think you should sit down and talk about your problem work it out figure it out but I don't know I don't know I'm I'm out of figuring it out I need some help figuring it out so here I am thank you you're you're welcome is thank you for coming out tonight to our chief of police chief C is here if you wanted to briefly touch base with her in the hallway I'm sure she caught she appears very eager to speak with you if you want to step out and speak with her thank you our next speaker is Valerie Nunan hello um so I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend um I was having a pretty good one and then I found out something pretty upsetting so if you recall I believe two meetings ago last month the meeting during Music Fest it was pouring rain it was really early you had to navigate the parking no one was there except for like me and two people um yeah so I came there because I wanted to share some of my conversations with people down in the homeless Camp under a fahe bridge um I felt it was important and at the time I was concerned about their restroom and their hygiene situation I didn't realize there were other things I should have been concerned about um so this weekend Mounted Police came to the encampment and told residents they would be kicked out in the next two weeks um and the alleged reason for this is that they're trying to install telephone poles on the side of the river opposite the encampment by the DNL trail and I have to wonder was this plan already in place last month um and if so that's kind of deceptive the kind of conversations that were being had about improving their conditions if that was already planned um but regardless of that it's cruel it's very cruel the the very Act of sweeping a homeless encampment a 10 encampment is cruel down to its bones um and I come and I sit through every city council meeting and you guys love to talk about affordable housing you love to talk about housing it's like some meetings it's the only thing you talk about and it's incredibly cruel and hypocritical for the city to be doing this if you care about housing people and I I just want to know whose decision was this who authorized this when was this decision made it it's really frustrating to me I've been stewing about this all weekend because sweeping a homeless encampment like that if they had a better place to go they would be there no one wants to be living under a bridge I I'm really frustrated today um and talking to people excuse me talking to people at the encampment I know there are people who have tried to come up here and advocate for themselves before and they said they were made to feel unwelcome which is unfortunate because while there have been kind of clashes between you know myself and city council and some of the people I know and love in city council before I feel overall that this is a relatively welcoming environment and it breaks my heart to hear that not only are these people suffering ing these issues that but that some of them feel like they're they're not really welcome here to talk about it um so I can't really speak to what the exact incident was but um from from my understanding it came from a poor experience they had before um but really like what I want to keep the focus on here is that being given two weeks notice to uproot uproot everything you have and go somewhere else when you're already living in the last place anyone would pick to live um it it's horrible and sweeping encampments like this people can lose their possessions the only things that they have um they they lose their only place to sleep they're only peace I I just really I I I am frustrated by this and I would really like some answers and I would like to ask that we put a stop to this um and that the encampment be allowed to stay where it is thank you thank you and when we get to new business there may be questions for members of council when we get to our Council agenda our next speaker Ry CA hi I'm Ry Kola 813 laer Street Bethlehem Southside um uh I was talking to my attorney friend who I hang out in Vegas with and he pointed out some things to me it's ironic that uh a number of years ago when I ran for the mayor of the city arts Quest as I was doing a comedy show the place was packed nobody left nobody stood up and said anything but the guy that run the comedy show from Arts Quest said I was racist because I said some jokes about the Mexican people however I performed Mexican restaurants for about the past five years all over the tri state area they thought the jokes were funny over there too in the Mex but anyway I was labeled as a racist by Arts Quest and for forever banned it's been seven over seven years from Arts Quest and then when I was going to run for mayor again somebody from city council pointed out to the press that I said something anti-semitic and even the mayor was behind this and this went right into the paper of me being anti-semitic because I stated that this city was named after the city that Jesus Christ Christ was born into Bethlehem so therefore we should be an example in everything that we do it was written up in the press that I said we should practice the teachings of Jesus Christ that we live in the city of Bethlehem now that's what they wrote as the main thing of being considered anti-semitic now for I don't know how you practice teachings for one thing but the thing is I didn't say I said we should honor the teaching of Jesus Christ of we should be an example there is a difference there now the things that I stated that were considered anti-semitic all are backed up by the Bible or by history books I stated the Jewish people are very intelligent people they started the Bible actually and they are the chosen people God actually let them kill people but I didn't say that but I would ever said the Jewish people were like the Nazis there was never an anti-semitic statement made and I'm not one to make a make a uh something about myself but my attorney friend said that was all ployed so you would not get your votes from the police who were behind you the firemen the teachers and since I was for the lower class the lower middle class people to help get things done right and try to get things done right in the city they squashed my whole thing by letting this go with backing it up saying I was anti-semitic any statements that were made that you might consider anti-semitic if you look at them you will see they were backed up by the history books backed up as far as the Bible where I also said I guess all the Jewish women that are running for office if you're putting yourself above your man don't forget Eve was from the fourth rib of Adam that meant that the woman's supposed to stand by her man support her man that says all throughout the Bible but then again they don't go by that they didn't go but they do go by the Jewish people can kill and get away with it because they're the God's chosen people now if that's considered anti-ema so be it but I never stated that before but I'm saying that now anti-semitic that killed my walk for going ahead and running for the mayor of this city to be able to help people so now you have what you want you wanted your mayor to be elected again he will be I'm not going to be standing in the way anti-semitic I want to know what I said that was anti-semitic I pointed this out before nobody came forward I like to get a retract in the in the Press on this thing if what I'm saying is right I said the Jewish people are very smart they made a whole couple books on anti-Semitism us Italians and we didn't do that Puerto Ricans didn't do that blacks didn't do that but the Jewish people are very smart actually I did State they actually organized crime they got the Italians to go ahead and go with them was that considered anti-semetic That's History Arnold rotstein Meer Lansky Bugsy seagull Gus green bomb all Jewish people they organized crime so am I anti-semitic for saying that point it out or I want a retract me I want you to push it like you pushed the anomatic thing in with the Press you go ahead and look at that God bless you our next speaker is Harry fa let me just say what a tough act to follow um mayor Reynolds glad to see you it's been a minute um so I've been reading uh lobbying for Zionism by Alan Pape on both sides of the Atlantic and um in the first chapter he talks about this idea that I've never heard of called the city on the hill and that's um I I wrote a little bit about it and the phrase can be traced back to the New Testament now full disclosure I'm not a religious person but in The Sermon on the Mount as recorded in the Book of Matthew Jesus tells his followers you are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house in the same way let your light shine before others so they may see your good now I'm not a religious person anymore but I grew up Moravian the as you guys know are those who built this city we are the city on the hill when they came over uh from Europe you know this was their way of creating you know their Paradise on Earth and that's what they wanted to do and it's kind of funny that a couple other people also talked about you know the city of Bethlehem and its name and its meaning and um I I gotta say you know I'm not it's not awful you know the city has so many great things and that's why I love the city of Bethlehem so de you know besides just the fact that I grew up here my whole life it you know the moravians tried to be revolutionary you know and they try to be different from the Injustice around them and I'm not saying that you guys aren't but it's crazy that you know we're going on a year now of the genocide in in Gaza and that's where we're named after from Palestine and it's still just so disheartening that and I understand if you guys were to say you know what if we denounced the genocide we would lose funding if you just set it straight up that would make sense I can understand that and that would then in in turn affect the material conditions of those of the city those I care so much about but we're not getting that we're not getting anything it's often like you know swept under the rug and I find that very disheartening because we are the city on the hill Bethlehem city has so many great attributes and we are so different from a lot of other cities just in the Lehigh Valley like town you guys do not just beat up the protesters and arrest them you guys are very compassionate and nuanced and I know when I first started coming I didn't view you guys like that I didn't see the nuances you guys know how I used to be and how I can still be but I try to see the nuances every day and I hope you guys do too and when I heard what Valerie said about what's going on under uh F bridge I walked the DNL Trail all the time it's I've been doing that since I started going to Moravian University and um I can definitely say they've never been a problem for those around and I'm not saying that like you know there could be problems going on I've never personally visited the homeless encampment but when you look at issues like homelessness right it's kind of almost like a weed right if you just cut the top off okay it's just going to grow back you didn't intact The Roots right when you look at these issues that are systemic okay you can force them out from under the bridge where are they going to go you want them in the street camped out front Hotel B is that what you want no no what we really should be striving for is again affordable housing housing those that are in need I mean it it's it's kind of simple and you know the mayor and you guys also talk about these systemic issues but yet here we are still doing the same old surface level baloney and it's that's what it is you know like doing that isn't going to solve the homeless crisis solving the homeless crisis starts by giving jobs that pay a living wage and by creating housing that is Affordable by putting and I know we as like a third class City or whatever can't you know set limits on that and I understand that like there are these restrictions that the federal and state level government has imposed upon us but they're also not being uh communicated effectively and some of the decision-making is uh definitely can be described as inadequate you know so as far as it goes on uh what we do here and how we stand for our brothers and sisters and humankind in Palestine or the people that are living under F Bridge because they have nowhere else to live I ask for compassion to see the Nuance like I used to not see in you guys I I know I used to be kind of nasty and I apologize but I ask for your forgiveness on behalf of those people because they don't deserve the living conditions and even if they did wrong or they committed crimes and that's why they're homeless now people can change but they're not going to they're not going to change or be able to change if they're not given an opportunity to do so in which you know they're being cared for or treated properly so thank you and nice to see you m thanks for the Nuance Mr favor our next speaker Olympia Ransom hi my name is Olympia Ransom I live on 507 first a Bethlehem 18015 um I have a lot of different topics of things that I wanted to talk about number one the most recent would be during Music Fest I did see even though I have heard that that is not happening I did see that a lot of people did push back because of the fireworks on the DNL Trail and the DNL Trail is right around that area where they were having fireworks right over top of fahi bridge the entire Bridge was blocked out but I was honestly hearing ringing in my ear for multiple hours after the fireworks and I was just standing on the bridge so I can't imagine being under the bridge around that area I'm sure it was really hard to deal with that on top of that during Music Fest I also saw people spraying um things around the musicfest venue they did take out the trees and the boulder that was right by on the corner of the intersection where the wooden matches and I mean that does cause soil erosion but that's not really the point they were spraying loads of P well I believe it was pesticides on the news they did cover it that it was a mosquito repellent um regardless if it was Roundup or MOS mosquito repellent they can't be sprayed at certain temperatures and at that day I believe it was over 90 degrees that day that I saw them spraying but I saw them spraying various times and various days so I did contact the environmental advisory Council and they were going to um push that that got lock uh looked into and made sure that they weren't using Roundup at all and just make sure that everyone that does work for Arts Quest and Music Fest make sure that they know exactly the right temperatures that they can spray those if even needed to be sprayed a lot of the trees and shrubs and whatnot were taken around all around the city not just at that one venue outside of wooden match so I do want that to be looked into also I urge I forget the woman's name but I believe it was last meeting on August 6th I do urge the St call to get a count of the student housing that's outside of the zoning ordinance because it's under my impression that the ones that were there outside of the zoning ordinance were grandfathered in if they were there before the zoning ordinance so I would like a count on that also there are two buildings that say they're for student housing under surface development I believe and that's on Southside and they're being built but it looks like it's going to be a large development and I'm not sure why we need more student housing because there's already loads of it I live on off-campus housing as well I'm transitioning from 507 first AV to 524 Thomas Street on the south side and almost half of the properties that are Amicus around my area are all no one's living in them so they're completely open and they could be renting them out for lower income because the range of rent with those properties is anywhere from 400 to over ,000 doll but 400 500 a month is considered low affordable housing for um some people so they could be marketed if students aren't living and then they could be marketed to low income families and we could push for that as well also on top of that also want to push that we get more trash cans down on the DNL Trail I know there's the one outside of the one passageway but I've been down there myself I've helped pick up trash I've brought loads and loads of garbage bags they don't have the garbage bags to put into the trash container first of all and then second of all that one trash container every single time I pass by it's completely overflowing um usually the trash isn't picked up every single week also need people to come through and make sure that there's no bio biohazards or anything if the trash is being dumped into the Le High River I would push for a um research development on how the trash is affecting the river and the wildlife that's within the river I also push that we um look into the Northfolk southern train derailment because I'm not sure if actual further research and proper research was done for the chemicals that were unloaded during that trail derailment but I also um would like that being looked into as well and let me think I think that was everything okay I think that's everything thank you thank you nice job going by memory by the way our next speaker in the last person who had signed up Dylan I believe it reads McFarland apologies if I'm misreading that hello everyone uh thank you for allowing this time to speak um one uh shout out art funny as I could give you a pass on uh behalf of all Jewish people for that being the funniest speech I've ever heard I I totally would um but on a more serious note um I'm a student who's studying to being an engineer um specifically in the realm of public development um and when I was told about the situation that could potentially be going on with f Bridge uh I came running because um my profession in specific is constantly sort of weaponized uh in order to harm people who are less privileged than others um specifically uh if I could recommend some reading to the A Jim Ferguson uh the author of the anti- politic machine discusses how Public Work projects are often used um for larger development organizations such as municipalities um in order to make political problems technical problems where they might not be otherwise um and that's dangerous it's dangerous not only for the people being affected but also for those enacting the pro the projects it ruins public trust so if I could make an ask to the city of Bethlehem regarding FY bridge and the situation at with the encampment under there is to really reel in on the core values of what the city should be is to understand that a municipal government is only as good as the public consent it receives right um Roger Mah I think he's a he was a cardinal in Los angelist dases of something described that a society is only strong as it treats its least privileged members as it treats its last its littlest and its least and sort of with the themes on all the things that have been discussed thus far I believe that the city of Bethlehem has an obligation to use this moral framework of judging itself based off of how it treats its last its littlest and its least in how it acts so please moving forward with the FIY Bridge situation I urge Extreme Caution uh with regards to the potential gu of a public works project being used as justification to clear out the encampment because it's dangerous to everyone involved so that is my time thank you thank you Dyan that exhaust our list of everyone who had signed up in advance I will go around the room from my left to my right is there anyone to the left who has not spoken I'll start fortunately we're already moving on but I am going to start here in the center uh yes if you don't mind come with the microphone please uh hi I'm a Lee High Valley resident uh who uh came uh to this meeting because I heard about um the uh plan to clear the uh homeless encampment under F Bridge um yeah I think um it's just really uh a travesty that uh there are uh the solution uh that the governments of this country seem to have chosen to uh deal with homelessness is not uh housing uh but uh you know police and things of that nature um I'm the son of a social worker who worked um for uh uh affordable housing uh projects and homeless shelters in New York City for most of my childhood um and uh uh he's he's uh part of a a group of people who uh believe in housing first solutions to homelessness um I imagine that most people who work with homeless people um are Advocates of this um but uh yeah um I think uh I understand this is just a city council and uh there there's limits to your power but um I do think um prioritizing uh building housing that people can live in and shelters that people can use uh is more important than prioritizing uh you know sweeping the places that they're already living uh because they have no other place to live um yeah and I think it's just important uh it uh that we treat all our neighbors uh even those without addresses um with the respect uh and dignity they deserve uh I yield the rest of my time thank you do you mind sting your name for the record for oh yeah Milo opposite sorry about that no no need to apologize thank you anyone else to the left Mr Rodriguez Eddie Rodriguez Holy Family Apartments Bethlehem I'm here to talk about cil's attacks on each other and how you vote I didn't want to do this but I'm getting a little sick and tired of seeing debates amongst you yourselves with certain individuals that are instigating the attacks or dislikes or being disagreeable or debating with each other which is not good for the other ones that are trying to stay out of it but it's like a wolf pack you know going attacking each other and it's also affecting our mayor uh first of all there seems to be a dislike among yourselves your president does not stop anger among among each other others uh not using a gavl as he should favoritism has been shown by exceeding the five minute time limit I'm not going to name the individual that I had in mind uh someone uh well known with a strong Community title uh there's been other council members that seem to be debating with uh the mayor constantly disagreeing which shows with speaking over each other or this individual for instance interrupting either the president of council or council members this is not good the president of council should step in and take care of the these issues immediately voting should not be expressed by any council member prior to actual voting this process clearly encourages the council member on how to vote council members should keep their personal vote secret until the actual vote sometimes members of the audience audience interact with their council member anyone at the podium should not have interaction with anyone in the audience at any time even turning around to speak to I've seen this and the president of Cil wanting to do something about it yet hesitant to do something about it doesn't use the gavel and I'm not blaming you sir sometimes it gets I understand sometimes it gets to the point you know where it gets hectic you know and there's loudness and there's disagreements and it gets out of hand and this is not good the image of city council should be kept at a certain point where you have to respect each other uh the gentleman that was speaking before he was right but I go a little bit deeper stop the debates stop the disagreements among each other I would strongly urge it's only a suggestion to change the position of your council members that way they don't interact with each other like for instance influence a vote by speaking with each other so that it affects the vote like Whispering this or that that doesn't make any sense whatsoever it's influencing each other to act and vote and to be disagreeing with a certain individual also teaching yourselves to act in a certain way that is not right I used to be that way a long long time ago and that's why I know when I see these things happening because you I spoken about my history but I'm not going to go into that but when I see this among among yourselves this is not good at all and This Is Where I Leave in so please think about these things act a little differently stop debating with the mayor the mayor got a lot of things on his hand you know I never lik that guy I never liked that guy but I learned to respect them I learned to respect them because he's doing a great job for the city so all power to you keep on doing the right thing because I know that you're out to do the right thing for the city I thank you for your your actions thank you thank you Mr Rodriguez I always liked you M Rodriguez don't make me gavel you as you walk back to the seat come on is there anyone else to the left who wants to speak who has not had a chance to speak yet I turn to the wide Center is there anyone I'll start hello five minutes right hi folks hello I'm a member of the homeless community in the town I used to live down in the township for 10 years before I came here I have good relationship with the police the fire department and the a lot of the organizations around here and if you need a resource I'm available for interaction I know most of the people I've been here a couple years on F Bridge hi Jim I know a lot of people around town so um I don't want to talk politics or religion or voting or any of that but my experience while I've been here was has not been bad and I believe that the individual is responsible for the individual and I've received a lot of support while I've been in this town and I appreciate it thank you again do you mind stating your name for the record sir you're ask sound like the police they F me over Drew God g o t m e r I used to live down on Wilson Avenue in the township for about 10 years thank you thank you I'm going to go from left to right in the center is there anyone in the wide Center who want to make comment Mr shy and then I'll continue going from my left to my right well I resolutely will not compliment anyone to night belshire 1898 Avenue uh it's no secret we have immigrants in Bethlehem and very likely some of them are illegal and so this relates to an issue that has arisen again in the campaign for president of the United States one of the candidates is repeating the allegation that illegal immigrants are coming across the border and murdering American citizens so it was very interesting to come across some research by the Kato Institute now you might ask what in Earth is the Kato Institute and I'll give you a little context for that having lived in DC temporarily I learned about the various think tanks uh we start with the Brookings Institution which is a little left of center then there's the American Enterprise Institute which is a little right of Center and sometimes those two do cooperate on projects then to the right of the American Enterprise Institute is the Heritage Foundation and they are The Originators of the project 2025 which you may have heard about and then to the right of them is the Kato Institute now Kato was a ancient Roman Senator alive when it was still a republic and they are Libertarians um they believe in smaller government the better so it's uh doubly interesting that they've come out with this research and I will read the title of the article new Kato research shows that illegal immigrants are less likely to be convicted of murder in Texas uh the reason for Texas is that it's got an unusual law not the only unusual law in Texas but this one requires the police to assertain the immigration status of anybody who is arrested for anything uh this researcher at the Kato Institute is zeroing in on murders and not just murder arrests but murder convictions uh and for obvious reasons and he also states that uh he feels that something as serious as a murder conviction they're going to try harder to be accurate bottom line in the 10-year period from 2013 to 2022 by the way this this particular article the latest one in their research chch is just came out in June it's a 10-year period the rate of well he knows the numbers so many murders convictions for native born citizens so many for legal immigrants so so many for illegal immigrants and he has data then on the size of the population so he can compute the rates illegal immigrant ANS are 37% less likely to be convicted of a murder than a native born American in the state of Texas for this 10y year period there's probably good one thing that occurs to me is that [Music] U illegal immigrants want to keep their heads down because if they get to the attention of the police Le they may get deported for whatever reason but that's that is the number so uh hopefully that's it's not wiely hasn't been reported in the media or not the mainstream media anyway just wanted to lay that out there I think it's an important number on another subject very quickly homeless housing heard on NPR about a town of Newberry Port Massachusetts 30 miles up the coast from Boston this church starting with the Don ations has been acquiring vacant properties fixing them up and then selling them to people helping them with a down payment and these people are paying a mortgage payment then instead of uh rent and once the mortgage is paid off and then they use the money to start doing it again I tried to Google this but I was unsuccessful and uh the by the way I have a copy of of this uh KO thing if anybody wants it but but I seems like it's something worth looking into thank you thank you sir yes in the very front row um hello my name is Quincy I won't be providing my surname I'm here tonight to also speak in support of not clearing out this homeless encampment under fee Bridge um I used to to be homeless I became homeless through a combination of disability and pure dumb bad luck and I am not homeless anymore through pure dumb good luck um and I'm here to tell you that when you're homeless it's the most difficult thing that I have ever experienced it's so hard sorry um it's terrifying all the time you never well I didn't ever live in an encampment but I did live in a downtown of a city I was always having to be on the Move um I was completely unable to do anything with my day other than deal with the reality of being homeless um it's so hard to get out of there by yourself um you need the help of a huge community and if you are kicking people out of where they live then you are not helping your community you are telling these people who are going through one of the most difficult things that people can go through you're saying hey I hate you I don't think that you should have a chance do not clear this encampment let homeless people live leave them alone thank you sorry in the very back [Music] okay um my name is Naomi uh no last name given um a few months ago myself and a few other community members spotted a homeless encampment under Center Street and New Street right down the hill from here which was struggling with trash pickup and accessing bathroom facilities uh we decided to organize some Community cleanups to remove some of the trash and keep the area cleaner for the residents and for the river nearby we've since discovered that many of the challenges the encampment is facing are about lack of resources lack of access to trash cans for Waste Management and wheel barries wheelbarrows to carry trash to dumpsters which have uh and lack of access to public bathrooms which have been closed during Summers and night times many of the homeless people who live in this encampment are committed to removing this trash as well and assist us with our cleanups when we provide the resources to help they are also desperate to remove this trash and maintain their own living space and are committed to pres preserving the area they all have tough stories about how they ended up down there they all used to be regular Bethlehem residents just like you and your neighbors before they wound up in tough times uh they call Norfolk Southern regularly to make sure that they are allowed on this property and they regularly communicate with the city to make sure they won't be kicked out I am concerned that we've been hearing reports from the members of the encampment that they have received a two weeks notice from officer Ryan presumably from the Bethlehem police department uh no last name was given uh but the residents under the bridge were told that they would be kicked out due to the need for telephone polls all the way across the river this is despite our repeated reassurances that the encampment would not be removed from city council and police and this comes as a direct spit in the face to activists who have worked hard to pass Pro homeless legislation in other areas of Lehigh Valley I want to know first off who is responsible for this decision who is authorized this removal on behalf of the city what Corporation is asking that these residents be removed has Northfolk Southern authorized this removal second where are you going to have them go the city is facing a serious housing crisis do you have Emergency Shelters open for them have any of you supported permanent public or even affordable housing legislation that will pass soon enough to house these folks in two weeks are they going to be allowed to come back to their encampment or will all of their belongings be destroyed will you even be providing them Waste Management resources and public bathroom access near the next encampment they are bound to set up what is the point of this if the issue is telephone polls the only location this should apply to is across the river on the DNL Trail if the issue is trash Sunrise Lehigh Valley is already organizing events to remove the trash and you could provide trash containers trash bags and bathroom access for residents I've invited a few of the encampment residents here to share their stories of how they ended up under this bridge one of them has already shared his story Drew as well as other members of the homeless Community to discuss how they have been treated by the police in the city so you can understand that these people and you and everyone in this room are much more likely to end up living under the bridge than one of those corporate Executives that are trying to kick them out I know I speak for so many people when I say my partner and I are one check away from losing our housing and that this housing crisis has taken up about half of our income as you listen to them tell their stories please keep in mind that many couldn't make it today due to language barriers and disabilities and due to the fact that we only found out about this problem two days ago and this was put this was put together very suddenly and that many of the people here today are sharing horrendous personal experiences that may be one story on a Tuesday night for you but represent a lifetime worth of trauma for them trauma you could prevent from happening again thank you thank you and then as I stated earlier to anyone who would to stick around for the actual meeting after public comment there may be some dialogue about this when we get to new business in the green hoodie hello C all my name is Bron stroll I am part of the homeless Community I come here tonight to talk to you about what's going happen with us um for starters if you guys actually helped us we wouldn't be in this situation if you actually cared about us you would help you would give us housing maybe affordable places to live you know it's pretty ridiculous how I have to go outside every day and get shamed for being homeless it's not not fair to me or my wife was pregnant being out here and not being able to get the resources we deserve we're just like you we were we were born in God's image it doesn't matter where you where you come from or where have you been it's the matter of fact that we all are human beings we deserve to have what you have just like you have what we don't it doesn't matter what we are or what to you we are it's the fact that we need help but you guys just don't do anything and I understand Mr may you try everything you can but you could do a little bit more to help us especially with the Housing Community every time I look I see a new place for college students we have enough college student housing we need the housing I've been trying to get off the streets for six years Mr Mayor do you know what that's like you probably don't I've been homeless for six years half with my mother and half with my wife who I've just met recently I'm TR I have three kids to raise I'm trying to get off the streets I'm 22 22 years old going on 23 this Friday I'm trying my best to get a job but no one will hire me because of my situation and no one cares the police just harass us They Don't Care About Us um what else can I say basically what happens is we will be sitting at the library and I understand it's your city hall I understand that but sometimes we have things to charge I understand we're not really supposed to do it but we have to because my wife has other kids that she needs to talk to we just sit there and we're not Bing bothering anybody and we mind our own business and we get harassed and I'm tired of it I understand my attitude may come off is rude or harsh but I just wanted to come here to have you guys understand what we go through every day it's not easy getting a meal for us either we have to eat one me day and you guys barely have any services for us to eat at New Bethany gets overcrowded and where we go right now basically serves us only one meal day we would just want to be treated just like the rest of you guys we're not here to harass you hurt you or harm you steal from you we just want to be people just like you we want the things you guys have and if you guys can help us there wouldn't be so much of us left we can actually be people again I used to live here when I was a kid for over 10 years I lived on two Mechanic Street here on Southside Beth my family I was home I became homeless because of a certain situation that happened to me a very shitty situation excuse my language sorry a very crappy situation that happened to me I didn't ask for this no one asked to be homeless it just happens because with circumstances that we get forced into and I understand what you guys try to do but you could just do a little more thank you thank you was there anyone else in the wide Center who want to make comment yes in the very back um the name is Willow I will not give my surname um first of all correlation does not mean cation um as for the housing in the Lehigh Valley I wanted to talk about how housing in the Lehigh Valley has become available to those of us who don't live here new developments present themselves like traps on Al an asphalt waiting to suffocate our communities where people meant to go if I were to lose my house tomorrow should I consider myself homeless should I see myself to your front doors so you cannot avoid the issue without be too kind should I just plant myself on your lawn with a tent and ask when the housing crisis happening and that'll be will be addressed because I can promise you I will your trespassing signs be damned your pretty patunas be damned I will sit on your roses and disrupt the growth of your flowers until you notice that the city isn't blooming it is dying empty buildings present themselves as solutions to the issue if the city has yet to answer the calls of our neighbors and acknowledge housing is a right not a privilege thank you thank you is there anyone else in the wide Center who would make comment yes in the very front good evening my name is gray Simpson that's G Y for the record um I'm also here to uh advocate for my neighbors who live just a couple hundred feet south of here um I'm a resident of of Bethlehem have been for six years and I I consider um everyone who lives here to be a neighbor um and uh I think that's all I'll uh I think that's all I need to say I'm looking forward to the dialogue tonight and hopefully some action thank you thank you was there anyone else in the wide Center who want to make comment anyone in the hall or uh hello there um I'd like to put my name into the record as Stephen um declined to give a a last name uh I'm a resident of the city and I've been a resident of the city for about two years now uh I've probably had upbringing related to many of the people sitting in the table across from me um always had was able to have food on the table was able to afford an education was able to to have access to a lot of the public amenities and social programs that every citizen this country is uh entitled to um I was shocked in a lot of ways to move into this area and see work within a lot of the social uh safety net programs that we have um we have bus stops plastered with advertisements from PA Career Link from different organizations around here saying we have jobs we're hiring we're thriving and the reality is far that is that that is far from the truth the I've seen seen the homeless encampment grow uh exponentially since I'm I've been here and I want to speak out to say that that some kind of support network needs to be provided some kind of social network as a lot of people who testified here have said it's no fault of the people who end up homeless that they have ended up in that situation and with the smallest amount of support maybe it's disability support that they didn't receive or um some kind of financial support or primarily housing and access basic resources like water and food uh they'd be able to not only quote unquote turn things around but able to actually thrive in this community and be strong contributing members um that's about all I have to say and I yield the rest of my time thank you was there anyone else in the center who would to make comment Who's not had a chance hello everybody how you doing um you could just call me Alex and um the city right now is hurting seeing the homeless people out there oh I don't want to provide my last name just um see my friend Braden he's going through it um just seeing how people are hurting you know getting their lights cut off getting evicted you know me myself if I seen any of your daughters if they were partying and you know college on Main Street a girl was walking down she a little intoxicated I pushed her out the way I didn't get a Silver Star medal but I said that's somebody's daughter they could have got hit by a car so I'm always going to be for the little guy always going to be for the people anybody could always come up here I come up here some days and work out but I I just don't like seeing people hurt and struggle and go hungry and seeing the homeless people they all come up to me and tell me different stories and I tell them I treat you like a person trying to sell me a car a Salesman because you're human you're you're not below me you're not above me you're my equal I can look you and eye and say there's nothing wrong with you there's nothing at all you're you're a human being they ask me do I need food I come up and I bring anything I could bring them charge cords anything I can if I could do more I just say we got to unite as a community because if one is hurting then we all hurt because it just has to has to fit and I don't have a problem with the mayor I don't have a problem with anybody in the community I'm just saying we have to unite together nobody should have to take a dump at the library or go through the embarrassment and the shame of it so um that's all I really got to say just I had to say something that that couldn't just stand around anymore like I said I've seen plenty of people that needed help walk in if they're drunk car was coming and I push them out the way and I thought somebody wouldn't want to see their kid get hurt so I had to push him out the way and say you almost got hit by her car and I said is she with you they said sure right in front of hotel be is somebody had mentioned here because I'm always going to stand up for what's right I'm never going to be brought down or change who I am never so I appreciate everybody's time and thank you thank you was there anyone else in the center who want to make comment who hasn't had a chance to or to the right welcome bit nervous that's okay I don't usually do this um my name is Amanda white um I'm part of the a homeless committee area um like guess my husband as he said we have three little ones on the way I've been doing this for two years um not because I wanted to because of a abusive situation with my ex-husband and uh my four kids uh that are with their father only for now until I'm able to get you know out of the situation so it's kind of very hard like I said try to support my husband and you know what you know him what finding a job trying to be his support system trying to like keep myself you know focused on me at the same time with the babies and it's just hard doing this like I said we only eat maybe once once a day I just wish there was a lot more that you guys can do to help and that's all I have to say thank you thank you was there anyone else in the wide Center who would to make comment is there anyone else to the right who want to make comment did I miss anyone who didn't have a chance to speak so that's going to conclude our first public comment as we move through the agenda our second public comment is for anything that pardon anything that we're going to be voting on this evening no one had signed up in advance so again this is for any ordinance resolution that council is going to vote on is there anyone to the left who wants to comment on anything we're voting on tonight anyone to the wide Center who want to make comment on anything we're voting on tonight anyone to the right moving on to Old business any old business for members of council we're going to move on to new business any new business for members of council councilwoman Leon I think we're all going to ask relatively along the same questions before but before we dive into that one actually I think Chief cot just stepped out to talk to them so um maybe certain questions I have specifically before we move on to the grander um what where's this information coming from is regarding our community health outreach program is there anything specific that the health department does uh with helping um get people with disability support as in like walk them through the the process or what resources do they have there and also does the health department do any specific Outreach for homeless people or unhoused people that are pregnant those are two specific questions I have before all the other stuff Council Leon would it be possible for us just to I mean there was a lot of information obviously that was shared and I think different people in this room have different levels of understanding of some of the things that are currently going on so I would ask respectfully if it might be possible for Miss Collins and chief C to kind of lay some of that groundwork as far as what has been our involvement both in shortterm and long term as far as the homeless situation is this current kind of level of uh some misinformation has to do with ppnl who wants to temporarily um come in and do some work but I think before we get to that point um I think there's a bigger Point here that we obviously are able to talk to people afterwards about is about how and who are the people within City Hall that are working on these issues on a day-to-day basis that can be contacted to understand what information is accurate and what information is not accurate as well as what services provide and I think listening and you know I think all of us probably at some point in the last hour thought you know and it's not the way this is structured we wait till this point to kind of talk is many of the things that were repeated were just not necessarily consistent with things that were true both as far as what the city's working on and what is going going on with this particular situation but I think it might be beneficial if we were allowed to allow for uh Miss Collins to like go through what community connections is and just some of the other things that are going on as far as because I will tell you the most touching thing to me is obviously the long-term housing and stability stories that we hear we heard here tonight and it's completely legitimate for people to want to know how in America you can have a job and not have a place to live we've also been talking and working on this for months and years now where we talk about what the challenges are with being able to find both places for people to live along the housing Continuum and also be able to provide services to people that are needing someplace to sleep tonight so I think it would be an important backdrop to this individual question as far as what ppnl is asking to do on private property to be able to give some background there before we dive into that if you would allow allow us to do that my my grander overarching question was um I'm aware that we have a general understanding that we do not move encampment so yeah my my overarching question is can you guys provide some clarity as to what we're hearing about power lines what we're hearing about movement of people um and just in general that whole thing if you haven't said those other two questions awesome but let's I I'm really curious as to what we're hearing about power lines and moving people I'm just going to jump in real quick Miss Collins if you could give us because we did hear a lot tonight and I'll be honest I didn't come to tonight's meeting with any um background on the situation over there so any kind of broad information you could get into just so we're all on the same page as the mayor alluded to about what is going on what's the city's involvement all the things you know we're going to ask and then I'll I'll open it up to everybody uh short so Chief cot I think is in the hall and she may be able to add a little more context but the very short answer is that the encampments are not being swept at all uh I believe ppnl reached out there's one single poll that either needs to come down or needs to be worked on it will happen sometime over the next six months it's temporary um my understanding is community connections regularly goes to the encampments to do its regular Outreach work Community connections is a program a social work program of our health Bureau when they were down there most recently knowing this information they mentioned to the people right around I believe the one poll that needs to be worked on that sometime in the next six months there will be a very temporary uh work situation being done at the poll that they would come back down obviously um when they knew more specifically when that was happening and would let them know I was just giving like very very very advanced notice that's as much information as I believe we have from ppnl at this point it was not meant to be like alarming in any way it was not meant to suggest anybody needed to move immediately um and so you know I'm not quite sure how that information was spread but uh there is no like sweeping of the encampments I didn't know absolutely no sweeping of the encampments even though the Supreme Court ruling came out saying that you can it does not mean that you should so um we were notified by ppnl that work has to get done on this poll uh they said that they and this is from them they are saying that they've tried to do it before that they tried to speak to the individuals down at the encampment and that they face some resistance so they reached out to the police department and our community connections program to try to help move the people temporar tempor temporarily sorry dry mouth um temporarily from the area so they can do the work and and we can continue trying to do our Outreach down in the the encampment with our unhoused neighbors sorry I popped in I wasn't sure and Council M to add to that is we are City staff whether or not it's Community connections with the health Bureau or people within the other parts of Department of Community Economic Development are down in the area um you know multiple times a week that one of the challenges is sharing accurate information in a way that when the information gets diffused and coming in different directions stopping rumors stopping information from spreading in a way that continues to be something that we try to do everything we can to stop it seems like every day or every other day we're answering some type of rumor that the city is trying to go on to Northfolk Southern's private property and move people which is not true Northfolk Southern has allowed us and allowed Community connections onto the property to be able to work with people to be able to work with trying to help people with new Bethany trying to help people with bees trying to help people with different uh services that are provided through Community connections so it it is Norfolk Southern private property um we don't even have the ability really there to move people not as we said that we even would would it's like not even something that we have the power to do here but it's also a situation where we continuously are down there trying to provide not just services but accurate information and voices to be able to contact Miss burger and the health Bureau other people connections um you know Mr tulo other people there as well as a lot of the other nonprofits like New Bethany BS are down there you know interacting with a lot of these residents on a day-to-day basis about what services there are to provide but it continues to be a challenge to both provide accurate information and respond to misinformation so one of the things that I think is important going forward and there are clearly a lot of people that are Advocates here and we will be here after the meeting to talk about who those people are to be able to contact in City Hall if you hear something and says this just doesn't sound right this doesn't seem like something that should be going on um because we are already doing it now but it is something that you know we are here to try to to share a lot of the a lot a lot more of the information um as far as what we hear and what we what we're not hearing was there anything else you want to T before I I think it's I think it's important for and maybe Miss Collins can just talk a little bit because obviously we have different levels of Education here as far as what some of the things are that we've been working on um but I think that it would be important for Miss Collins to kind of talk about our housing initiatives in general here as well as what we are doing uh with a recently High Conference of Church's property as well as some of our ongoing work with bees um to be able to find permanent Sheltering uh a permanent shelter um and just what we're doing as far as housing is concerned sure so just on on the current situation and the encampments as mayor Reynolds was mentioning Community connections is working frequently as our other departments in the city with all of the service providers who are doing work with this community you know so not only are we trying to provide direct service and Outreach share information about different programs that are available or Services certainly I think Chief cot was just talking specifically with some of the folks who spoke tonight and giving the contact information for Miss Burger who can connect somebody who's in that um uh situation um uh you know whether with children or you know pregnant or whatever like the the specific services that are available um but so that's happening on a regular basis Community connections is on regular calls with the service providers I think it's once a week if not once every other week uh we're also working with bees regularly um but in terms of like the broader uh and more systemic Solutions um you know we've talked a lot about our homelessness plan we're currently looking at a multi-site solution I think at the last council meeting you approved our resolution to put forward a Grant application for additional uh dollars from HUD uh to support um non- congregate shelter units at the property on Packer Avenue that we talked about last week um so that's currently a a property that is restricted for affordable housing but is having a a variety of code issues it's owned by the conference of churches we're applying we already have $14 million we're applying for an additional uh about $1.5 million to continue to support not just the improvements to that property but also to convert um some of the units to um units that can support families who are experiencing homelessness in a shelter situation uh we are also continuing to work with Bethlehem emergency shelter uh talking with them about the you know Christ UCC Church where they currently have the temporary shelter and how we can support uh turning you know a facility into a permanent and a year- round facility as we know that we don't have one in Bethlehem um there's really not one in the Lehigh Valley that um you know supports the need that we have here in the city it's something that we're working on regularly and it's also something we're working on regionally U part of the three Cities Coalition that the mayor is involved in and our work with the other Departments of community Economic Development we're constantly talking about uh the regional resources that are available um it's what's prompted the Lehigh Valley RAB the regional um homelessness Advisory Board to ask the city of Bethlehem to app app for emergency Solutions Grant dollars to support um we applied on behalf of nine organizations in the Lehigh Valley that are providing um homelessness Services um so in addition to submitting the grant last Friday for the home ARP dollars we also submitted a grant last Friday for those emergency Solutions Grant dollars as well just on behalf of the service providers um in the region so we're you know leading that on behalf of the RAB as well um and then tonight of course you'll see think the uh application for uh the local share Grant uh dollars and those are to support the Gateway on Fourth project that's uh the affordable housing project that we're working on with lvip and penr uh development that's hopefully going to be 120 units um uh in South Bethlehem and it's a predominantly affordable housing project as well that's just one of them you know many obviously as you know um affordable housing projects that we're working on but that's one that has you know tangible units associated with it as well that covers and then just add to that is I mean we've talked a lot over the past year after we put together opening doors about the challenges of building housing units and we absolutely have a housing crisis going on in America and it's it's affecting every single Urban and metropolitan area that you're going to find we do not have enough housing units throughout the Lehigh Valley that at every income level we've been very honest about that the the what Miss Collins talked about between Gateway and fourth in our neighborhood and our choice neighborhoods program with marvine Penbrook and our ability to be able to build more affordable housing in the city of Beth is you're talking about projects that are 30 40 50 60 million do that cannot be done quickly the thing that we can do quickly is react with compassion with care with accountability with access and I can tell you that between the health Bureau between Community connections between everybody with Miss Collins and Mr tulo with our Police Department um you know we have not just a multi-site solution but we have a multi-organizational solution to dealing with our current unsheltered population some of the conversations came up today having to do with trash we had individuals down um in the area um that have been cleaning the canal that have been cleaning the creek we've been working with bees Bob R is a hero as we know being able to mobilize individuals down there over the past six months um to be able to have conversations with individuals we understand that not everybody is going to be like come on in city and clean this up or do all of these different things which is why we're relying on a lot of people including a lot of the incredibly dedicated and passionate individuals today who we say thank you as well for being not thinking that you're above this that just because you have a place to live doesn't mean that it's not your problem that other people don't have a place to live um you know I've said it before housing is the number one situation that's facing this country and we are going to continue have to deal within a systemic level but in the short term we are doing everything we can on a day-to-day basis and more important than that probably is if you want to know what we're doing we have people that you can contact every single day in different departments um Health Bureau and others that can tell you what we're doing and what information is true and what information is not housing insecurity and you know lack of housing is obviously as was mentioned today the biggest thing that people can possibly deal with they don't need to deal with misinformation on top of that or they don't need to deal with add additional things to be fearful of um and we're very aware of that so as soon as we hear anything the mayor's office as soon as we hear anything we think about what are the best avenues that we can do to get out to try to respond to this information um and that's something we continue to do but I guess I would finish these comments by just saying is like we will also be here after the meeting so those of you that want to know who the people are to be able to contact UM to be able to get accurate information going forward we can certainly give you those those names and things after after the meeting thank you thank you and I think that was just helpful background for everybody we will get back to new business uh councilwoman Leon do you have any additional questions I did um you mentioned the regional homeless Advisory Board it's totally cool if you don't know the makeup of this board off the top of your head but I'm wondering if there's any representation on the board of people who who have experienced homelessness or are currently experiencing homelessness or if this is a board that is open to the public where people who have real lived experience with this stuff can go to the board and and kind of bring their perspective to this I would have to confirm with Sarah tulo she's actually sits on the board um my understanding though is that it's a it's a part of the Continuum of Care so it is like service providers who are part of the Continuum of Care are represented on VI on the board so it's Lehi Conference of churches it's bethlhem emergency shelter it's Third Street Alliance um you know we have a seat as a municipal government but I think it is um structured to to involve all of the service providers uh who are part of the Continuum of Care it's my understanding that that most of the organizations that you just mentioned New Bethany and and Pastor Bob and all those have a real housing first approach to homelessness right like we we try and catch people and keep them in their housing situation before it gets his point yes um I I believe you might have hit on this but you said that there are specific resources for people who are uh in need of maybe disability support financing or pregnant uh pregnant unhoused people that they they can reach out to the health department and get specific services for yeah and I'm I'm not an expert on The Individual Services but certainly um um Benet Berger or Kristen wrick or any of the other members of community connections could direct you to the specific services or not you but any anyone um and then back to the telephone poll um is is it like a safety thing is is it just a down cable or is the poll itself lack structural Integrity wise is there a very specific reason of poll is being moved I I'll have to look into it more I was just told that it it was work that needed to be done a while ago they haven't been able to get the work done um and and that it's it's something that's pressing so and being mindful of everybody's time I know everybody wants to have their say too but I did have a quick question that's deviating from this and it was about the bus the bus accident that took place it was like a school bus and a uh a silver car I was wondering if you could provide any input as to it happened close to that Cherokee area and quite a few residents reached out to me reached out to me about um what happened there uh and if you can give some kind of that I would have to look into just because I'm confusing it with the other bus related accident that occurred over on East Fort Street near Edwards um where make arrest community meeting with them when when I head out there again I just want to be able to give them some details yes ma'am I will get the details and I will for forward them to you thank you very much you're welcome I appreciate everyone speaking into their microphone just for the record and those following along at home and some of the audience who are having a hard time hearing any other new business for members of council councilman KY Smith okay thank you um still talking about thank you for the update on the um the shelter um as far as Le have valy hardboard um I'm pretty sure that there is someone that is unhost or at least has a history of being unhost as a rep but it is all people that are working in the field of of homelessness and housing um I was just wondering I know this is uh who knows but with ppel is there a way that we can have them hold off until at least es open so at least these folks have a place to go at night to sleep if they need if they need to not be in that encampment for a short period of time again I'm not sure it's something I have to look into um they they said the the work it was pressing uh oh it is pressing but it's something that I I can reach out to them and try to you know figure out how pressing it is and okay on a timeline but yeah I think that would be if if possible if they can wait that can help alleviate some of the issues as far as at least they have a place to sleep at night you know if even for a day or two and I know I just I said this at the last meeting um um for uh Miss Collins I think it's really important I think it's great we have Community connections and it sounds like there's a lot of multi- systemic issues that these folks are dealing with unfortunately it's a lot um and I think it's really important that hopefully Community connections is aware of all the services available through the County Human Services because having worked there for years there there is an array of services and um not that I want to pass the buck we have we have Services we could provide but they're larger than us and they actually have more funds and a lot more services so hopefully um if Community connections is not aware certainly someone can come from the county and give them an overview you know everything that they have to offer because I think that's really important that we try to incorporate you know County and city services as much as possible yeah absolutely okay thank you any other new business councilwoman L yeah uh I just had a couple of questions about the same issue um so one um in terms of being able to communicate important updates or what resources are available for certain uh circumstances um I know mayor Reynolds you said that there's permission requested before the you know for the city to go in and provide um information talk to people would Norfolk Southern perhaps allow for some sort of resource posting or Ure box or signs or whatever that might have some of these resources easily accessible for people all the time or for important updates to actually be posted so that there's less chance for miscommunication I think we have posted some things before depending on what the topic was um but that's something else that we can we can absolutely talk to we have interaction with several individuals that are not associated officially with the city such as Bob r that visit it on a regular basis um but you know we can continue and we have we have often to be completely honest we often and listen to what people that we do talk to within the community tells us are the best strategies or the best things to do um as far as what's going to be the most effective and sometimes it is trusted Messengers obviously more so than us um but we absolutely can continue to to talk about that and think about that as far as like if there's a if there's a best way to go about posting information like that and then uh my other question was there was a particular officer named as the source of this information and the name does check out for where that for the description of the officer would are are you able to follow up and just make sure that everybody's on the same page recognizing there could have been miscommunication from any angle uh in what was communicated here or there just to make sure that everybody's got the right message absolutely thank you and just miss lar to add to that we try to and I don't want to speak for chief cot we try to limit the interactions where there's just a police officer going down there it is I think it's safe to say rare Chief cot often times if there is a message that needs to be delivered or a situation going on that requires a police officer either by choice sometimes people within the community within that Community call the police and someone has to go but we try to do everything we can to make sure that police officers are not responding to anything on their own without other individuals from Community connections without other IND the health Bureau without other employees to be able to to go down there being very aware Norfolk Southern also does have their own police which obviously don't listen they don't call us so like they if they're responding to something on their own that's also been a challenge we've had in the past the police were here and it's like well and then we ask around and it's wasn't any of our police um so it is something that we we we don't really send police officers down with that being said all employees that go down there and obviously our health Bureau employees are trained to have these interactions we also continue to be able to have ongoing conversations within whatever employees respond down there about the manner in which they respond the tone how we have those conversations how we approach them oftentimes there is a multi kind of Step plan to be able to like okay this person's going to go down on day one and then these two people are going down on day two and then these people are going down on day three with things not yet to happen so we try to be as intentional as we can um about that but that includes having own conversations with their own Personnel about what's the best way in which to be able to handle these I I never want to speak that every city employee handles those things perfectly but it is absolutely a priority that that we are that we are focused on yes thank you and and I do get the the impression that the police and the city staff do make every effort to uh communicate well and to treat people with respect and everything so thanks other new business for members of council everybody else councilman wilh I don't have any additional question questions um but I I think I just wanted to acknowledge and address everybody who came to speak on the issue tonight I think president cologne you mentioned earlier that this was not a situation you were aware of I I was not either and I I imagine many of us were not so um whether it be a matter of making sure that information is um made full and complete that everyone understands the full picture you know there are lots of valid reasons for partial information misinformation um so I I hope that you feel and know that your advocacy and voice does make a difference you uh opened up an important conversation and hopefully um we can get get everybody on the same page as a result thank you other new business this wouldn't be the time but a after the meeting as mayor Reynolds alluded the mayor other members of the administration will be here to speak with uh anyone in the public who's here and has other questions other new business councilwoman quch thank you uh first of all I apologize for not being there tonight um in person I had every intention and then I tripped and fell um on the sidewalk um earlier today and wrenched my foot and I'm just kind of taking it easy and not putting a lot of weight on it so apologies and I want to thank everybody who came out tonight with their who shared their concerns who shared their personal lived experiences that's so important um and I hope uh that folks will come up and talk to us directly uh we you are welcome obviously you are residents of Bethlehem and I want to reiterate that I did have one question which um I know that apparently a lot of this information was not factual or um misinterpreted perhaps in some senses there was a mention of a mounted Patrol coming and I was wondering if that was factual or if that was not true Chief K so that's something that I'm H going to have to look into I I know in the past our mounted officers have gone out with Community connections just because they're able to cover more ground um also the the the name May check out with being a mounted officer as well so that's something I'm going to look into ma'am okay I mean I would have a concern with that just because different people have different reactions to forces to mounted Patrol um C certainly in some cities when they have swept encampments they've used their mounted Patrol so that was just something that kind of caught my ear so that was a concern and I also just wanted to say that um you know when the Supreme Court decision came down that that allowed municipalities to uh essentially fine and punish people for being unhoused um you know it was important to me to know that this is not what we stand for in Bethlehem um as uh Miss Collins shared there is a tremendous amount of work that has been going on for the last uh two and a half years three and a half years three and a half years um two and a half years two and a half years uh regarding all of this and uh very much um happening from a position of housing first um so to everybody who came for the first time tonight I hope it's not your last time I hope you'll come continue be engaged and hear about all of the things that we are working on um we're all impatient and it all takes too much time and people are hurting in the mean time and so those um those programs and those things that the city um is doing are so important and it's so important to make sure that the communication is happening and that we're getting it uh as right as we can that's all I had thank you other new business for members of council there's a couple of things I like to say and uh I appreciate well one I appreciate everybody who came out this evening as I said I walked into town hall tonight with no knowledge or awareness of of the situation that that's been discussed uh for the last two hours but also I hope everyone who spoke tonight and always speaks whether previous meetings this meeting or in the future always feels welcome as council president I speak for Council as a whole uh I like to think that even despite sometimes having disagreed with members of the public Who come out to give perspectives or opinions that might be different than mine or uh or even as we as council members disagree as we've talked about at different times that everyone feels welcome that everyone who comes here tonight with a purpose and something that's important to them to speak about feels that this is a place where they can effectively communicate where they can tell us what it is that's going on and and feel that they're shown the respect to even if we may not agree that Council will at least listen and and the administration as we alluded to before is here and while Solutions I always use the example that life is more of a light dimmer where things happen slowly things get brighter or darker it's not a light switch where we could just hit a switch and things turn on or turn off at the speed we'd like as councilwoman quch alluded to a moment ago but I think it's important and I appreciate the the background that was given before that a lot of us Council the administration the community have a lot of the the same shared opinions about how we should be focusing energy whether it's Council supporting some of the things that Miss Collins had brought forward the administration that is here dozens and dozens of hours every week uh working towards these initiatives members of the public who volunteer on different boards authorities or even just coming out to to give your opinion so I do hope everyone felt uh if nothing else that this was a place where they could come and and again tell us what it was that they were thinking I I do recognize and appreciate that there is a certain vulnerability when talking about our homeless population and whether it's the authority that comes with a badge and a uniform or just someone who is coming to deliver knowledge that or tell you that something project is going to be happening there that we continue just to effectively communicate with those who are residing in the encampment because from what we heard at the start there was a very big disconnect between in two weeks everything's going to be cleared out versus what I hear to be more of the um situation that's going on that PPL gave this sort of broad timeline of when this is going to be going on and and this work to the poll that that doesn't that doesn't stop the other work that was going on but it's at least encouraging to know that that it's not to the severity that I may have interpreted some of the comments to be so the and just from my understanding and whoever wants to take this Norfolk Southern owns the property but it's a PPL poll so they have the right to go in there and to do the work on the utility of whatever they have to and historically have Northfolk Southern and or PPL been effective communicators to the city as it regarding these kind of projects did you have any I let me ask this way in just a broad sense without getting too uh critical of them how much heads up were given of this um situation not not a lot okay and this was actually the first I've heard of their repeated attempts in the past so we we were given very short notice it was the towards the end of last week um I believe or or the beginning of last week uh was when ppnl reached out to us about the the need to do this work as for the particular uh area where the pole is located um I I I don't want to misspeak uh I I thought that it may not be northpolk Southern Property uh it may be city property but again I I don't want to misspeak on that that's something that I can find out for members of council understood and that's something that I think we'd all be interested to know once that's figured out exactly where and and I don't know if that necessarily alleviates ppl's rights to go with whether the poll is on Norfolk southernland or 's backyard I think PPL has the authority to go in and do the work to the utility that that they need but I I would just hope that now and in the future they would be communicative with everyone regarding projects like this um so that we could use our resources like we talked about with Community connections and I appreciate as the mayor alluded to and um I believe councilwoman L had spoke about just looking at what's the best way to get messaging out there and keep it out there because I think that's often happens in my own experience that someone might a message might come through one time and if you weren't there how are you going to know and then things happen sort of someone hears third hand fourth hand fifth hand and then things get lost as it goes further down the the communication chain so uh looking at best ways we talked about people staying after the meeting talk about who to contact and where to contact I think that's relevant to have in different channels out there so that people that aren't here maybe tonight but are affected by this have somewhere whether it's your social media the city website whatever it would be just where at one location to direct questions or or or different resources but to get answers because that's something that we hear about you know from time to time either someone hears something fifth hand or they have a question but they don't know who to who to turn to necessarily so and again I just want to thank everyone for coming out and thank mayor Ren Chief cot Miss Collins uh regarding just that update and and clarification for everybody was there anything is it relates to that that I misspoke about or that seems accurate thank you and thanks for updates periodically as we go along because if it's going to be this undefined timeline I think it's relevant for all of us if it becomes more clear or the the utility uh communicates more defined timeline that's obviously what's of highest concern and priority even if it's a temporary dis placement what does that look like where do people temporarily get displaced too um the only other thing I I had that I think we didn't get to yet for Mr Miller to read but I do want to address the memo it's Council agenda item 6C that we're receiving only for information but I I wanted to bring it up dur our new business because I think it's very relevant that we talk about it while we have the floor so it's the 2025 budget for the minimum Municipal obligation again we're not voting on this tonight this is only for information it came from Mr Evans to members of council but we we've sort of alluded to this over the months as it relates to the the actuaries who talk about what our pension obligations are going to be and again just anyone following along we're going to talk we're going to change gears a little bit from what we've been talking about but I still encourage everyone who has interest about what we were talking about with the encampment and as relates to homelessness to stick around for the end of the meeting but relates to the minimum Municipal obligation so and Mr Evans I'm I'm going to turn to you in a moment but I just wanted to to address the memo that uh essentially we are given these dollar amounts by by the actuaries independent of the city correct that we we don't determine what it is and the it's abbreviated MMO essentially our minimum Municipal obligation it's what we're told we have to contribute to these Pension funds uh to keep them solvent I'd say in in simplest terms now the the financial requirements and this is for the end of calendar year 2025 to be paid by December 31 2025 our financial requirements amount to for the police department fund 7,869 539 for the fire department fund that would be $3,662 763 and then for pmrs uh essentially our non police and fire pension participants it's $ 4,816 129 and of that our contribution the minimum that we have to contribute amounts to just over $7 million for the police fund just under $3 million for the fire fund and just under $3 million for the pmrs uh pension so Mr Evans I wanted you to take a couple minutes please and I appreciate the memo that came out just to keep Council informed to give us a little background about where these numbers come from what these numbers mean I alluded to that this is our and it's in our budget book for this year every year our budget book has our our pension contributions but can you just put in context what these numbers look like versus what we've been seeing historically and what we can expect to see this to look like when the 2025 budget is released later this year these are the exact numbers that will be in the 2025 budget later this this year these are numbers that have increased significantly since last year and if you remember when we talked in this spring this uh is the impact of the drop of the market in 2022 there's a delay from when the market closes um uh we have an actuary that works on the numbers and those numbers are calculated every other year so uh 1123 was the uh closure of the markets that they use the 1231 number so as a 1123 they'll use the 21 and 22 market results uh throughout 2023 we reconcile all the counts so we know what our market value of our Pension funds are later in 2023 and into 2024 it goes into the hands of the actuary the actuary will use the market value of our pension fund that will uh also calculate a lot of data that we provide with regard to how many people are in the plan the age of the people in the plan how many years they've served and calculate using mortality tables how how long they expect each person to be able to eventually collect on those pensions so it's a long and detailed calculation that worksheet will be provided to me in mid August uh we'll use some information uh uh from a a worksheet that the actuary provides uh using uh information we've collected also during this year in order to calculate that MMO but I think really the big news is that they jumped collectively over $2 million from last year the MMOs to this year those three line items will move up $2 million and that's a that's a big jump before anything else starts in our 25 2025 budgets just kind of early sign that it's going to be a very challenging year in order to put a budget together because there's also contractual salary obligations and any other inflationary pressures we face without uh with all our vendors with our medical and other so we'll be working we have been working uh very hard in order to put a budget together best we can but this is this is a known a known number already that will be in the 2025 budget and then for Budget year which is calendar year 2026 the same number close to it it'll same it'll use the same Actuarial values from our our our pension fund what will change is the number of participants in the plan the amount of money they're making they'll all be getting a salary increase a contractual increase of 3% so you could assume it might be this number plus 3% because our our staffing level should be about the same in the police and the fire so for using the same number of people some are coming some are going there'll be distributions people are collecting pensions every day that are you still that have been retired so when all that gets puted together it'll come out to a number somewhere close yeah when when I say close within a couple hundred thousand so if it's seven flat for police maybe 72 73 next year can you it won't be a w wild swing as we have this year can you speak a little bit to if you have this information if not we could talk about this more when we get to budget season can you speak to what the anticipated or expected returns are on these funds versus what the actual performance of the funds was um last year I don't have I have 2023 going into our next valuation like the one one25 which is coming up at the end of this year so the one that was just used so that we saw the big we saw the big jump did were we just looking at kind of higher levels of market performance in these funds uh and now it dropped off a little bit or was there is there an anticipated return that these funds now underperformed and now we're seeing um this big jump are we seeing just based on the data that they look at and more people drawing on these funds um Can can you speak to what a little bit of is there I guess is there one key variable that led to the big jump and what our Min minimum Municipal obligation is contributions are quite steady depending on which whether you're in fire police or pmrs employees put in a set amount might be 5% 8% or 7 and a half% depending on which which pens fund you're in so if you ever look in our audit Book You'll see each year the member contributions and you see it on my memo here for this uh the anticipating employee contribution for next year is for the police is 83,000 if you look through the last three or four or five years it's it's quite consistent that number doesn't change uh dispersements also stay about the same moving out it's it's the market it's primary driver and in 2022 if you recall back to that year was an awful year for the markets our fund lost money for the first time in some time we're well Diversified we're protected but there's really no Safe Harbor in 2022 so that's that's a primary hit I'll tell you since that time 2023 was a good year the return on our portfolio and our funds was 11% and that's good for one year our expected rate of return is seven so if we hit that seven each year which is tough to do year and year out because there always when the market corrects itself or makes adjustments that uh unavoidable no matter what you're invested in so last year was 11 and this year that it's also doing pretty well but we're only we're not quite three quarters to the year with a an election cycle ahead but uh things so far through this year have been pretty favorable so we're hoping this two-year cycle which ends at the end of this year uh would be strong the fact we have an 11% already in the can that's good that this year continues moving along in the same manner it should be okay and we still again still May face a small increase in the MMO because salaries and the and of the participants are going up but it won't be a what what what's what we're looking at here but even with a strong year now we're still locked into these numbers for next year yeah yeah what what's happening now will impact us two years from now and is is there I know we see it in the budget every year can you speak to what kind of um state aid comes in to offset some of these obligations now state aid is BU at $4.2 million so that's a number we receive to offset the pensions that number is unknown in exact form until September so we have not received it yet we'll be receiving it sometime later this month it'll arrive in the form of a wire transfer with an email and you'll you will get that memo as well to know exactly what that number is but that's a calculation done by the state and then sent to us with a with a cover memo do we know how that number in terms of relief that comes from the state is calculated or is that pretty flat or to be expected to be fairly flat regardless of increases we might see as a city it will increase with the size of our MMO and we also submit a very detailed uh data file that includes all our participants the time serve their age so they they they also collect a lot of information that they use in order to perform that calculation but at the end of the day we're going to be looking at about $2 million more for 2025 correct and this is not we don't volunteer this we're obligated to contribute this correct yes this is the minimum amount required in order in order to keep the funds solvent understood and I know we'll have more questions or more discussion come budget season but I did want to recognize it now because you sent that memo so thank you it's important thank you Mr Callahan how much money do we have left over from the American Rescue fund um well there's about if you look in the capital plan in our Capital count from the 22 allocations about 5 million I'm sorry from the 24 allocations 5 million left there's 1 million left from the 22 allocation and the funding that's available in in uh in 0901 account which are the Civic expense line for housing affordable housing there's one for Sheltering there's a line item so I don't have those numbers with me tonight but but the I I might be wrong but it uh I thought that when those funds were uh dispersed to the cities and the states that we were allowed to use those funds for loss Revenue correct so we should be able to hypothetically take the $2 million extra that we have to pay next year and use the American Rescue funds which that which those funds were originally yeah there's a hard stop on pension though they said they're not by any means allowed to be deposited and we signed a certification to be used to put into Pension funds there was a clear rule on that one for whatever reason but that was yeah and just to add to that Mr call and I think your question is as a legitimate one is like our plan that we had laid out to what to do with that 34 million they really un on it's not there's last next year is the last year that we're using $2 million of the arpa dollars for what is called The Lost revenue from back in the calculations during the pandemic the only other like new spending we have going forward for next year as far as that's concerned is going to be the capital dollars that we have set aside to avoid the borrowing to be able to do the roads and things like that so that's where the capital projects are but as far as like unallocated we planed for the idea that like $2 million is the Lost Revenue that we're using towards next year's budget we've used $2 million of like the Lost revenue from like a lack of EIT and whatever over four years next year is the last year that we're doing that so that's where like the last of the two million the last of the the arpa dollars are going thank you any other new business for members of council before we continue thank you mayor Reynolds and everyone in the administration we're going to move on to communication resolution excuse me communication 6A August 28 2024 memorandum from city solicitor John FBG Jr with an attached use permit agreement and resolution perit is Christmas City Spirits LLC with the sub permittee of the Redevelopment authority of the city of Bethlehem the event is Night Market event dates are 3:00 to 800 p.m. on both October 5th and 19th the duration will be 1: to 9:00 p.m. on both dates the approved premises will be the Nan place right of way in West wner Street as well as Redevelopment Authority owned parcel located at the Sun and Courtyard both locations are shown on an exhibit attached to the agreement and we're going to vote on resolution 10A this evening it's on the agenda communication 6B August 28 2024 memorandum attached proposed resolution from Laura Collins director of community and economic development his Collins seeks permission to apply for two local Share account grants administered by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth financing Authority one Grant seeks 2 million under Monroe County funding and the other Grant seeks another $2 million in additional funding under Lehigh and Northampton counties the grants are being sought on behalf of developer Penrose LLC for the first phase of construction for the Mixed use housing development at the Gateway on fourth in South Bethlehem and resolutions 10B and 10 C are on the agenda tonight communication 6C in August 27 2024 memorandum from business administrator Eric Evans regarding the 2025 budget for the pension M minimum Municipal obligations act 205 the pension reform law requires the chief administrative officer to a submit for 2025 purposes Financial requirements of the plans and the minimum Municipal contribution to the plans of the governing body of the city based on the most recent Actuarial valuations and payroll data minimum Municipal contributions that will need to be budgeted for 2025 are as follows police 7,556 37 fire $2,989 39 and pmrs $2,951 uh, 877 and as you just heard a few minutes ago that memo was sent for information only we'll discuss that further come season communication 6D August 26 2024 memorandum and proposed amended ordinance from DC business manager Tiffany Wismer M Wismer explains the need to amend ordinance 2421 to fulfill the original intent to increase funding for ada8 curbs and ramps by $153,500 and ordinance 9A is on the agenda tonight 6E August 26 2024 memorandum and proposed amend amended ordinance from dced business manager Tiffany Wismer Miss Wismer explains that if ordinance 22421 is amended then section one of ordinance 202 2422 home budget adjustment should be amended to accurately reflect new figure to new Total figures an ordinance 9B is on the agenda communication 6f and August 23rd 2024 memorandum and proposed ordinance from Public Works director Michael alol Mr alol explains that is necessary to revise the amount of money received from UGI cover Paving reimbursement associated with utility work revision will decrease money in the non-utility capital fund budget an ordinance 9C is on the agenda reports I have nothing to report this evening Mr Mayor uh yeah I would start with uh administrative order number 20 2429 I hear by appoint Ian Van halem 127 East Wall Street bethem PA 18018 to the betham authority this appointment is effective through January 2029 administrative order appointing Ian Van Helm to the Bethlehem Authority the resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss cramy Smith any discussion on the appointment we'll call the rooll Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan hi Miss grmy Smith hi Miss qu hi Miss L hi hi Mr I pass to 70 thank you and I do want I do want to take note that Mr van halum is here in attendance today um so thank you for volunteering and um I also would at this moment before I I'll run through my other updates quickly but I did want to take a minute to uh acknowledge uh the passing of um Tom donz this week um who was a member of our Authority I see Mr D back there who has served with him as well um there was a lot written in the newspaper about Mr Don as you grew up here in the city um who was a uh very man very dedicated to his community dedicated to his family uh dedicated to the city um he served on the Water Authority uh he would always have a sunny disposition when he was coming into City Hall um and he did a lot for our community and you know obviously he was well known for being a star at Penn State and things like that but you know you wouldn't know that when you talk to him and you know he was one of the many people that make um our city go both in the private sector to get a long career at our products but then also volunteering during his retirement to serve on the Water Authority um and take all of that business expertise um you know and he was just uh as I've said many times our jobs are easier because there are so many people in the community that want to do the right thing and want to be involved in things like that and Mr donz was one of those people um and I just wanted to I wanted to just publicly acknowledge Him especially here today as we are appointing um Ian to be his replacement but uh um I'd send a note to Tom's wife today um and uh he as I said he will be missed and he was a he was a good guy um a couple other um just updates here quickly um just you know Mr Evans did mention you know our budget conversation's coming up obviously a lot of those are in depth I really encourage anybody in city council has any question about any Department to sit down um to meet they'll meet with you virtually in person how whever you want to do it to talk about any of those budgets um in the next you know as we've said they're coming together now so doing it tomorrow might not be able to give all of the clarity on the information um but I know those meetings can be very intense as far as information is concerned so I mean we're over two months out or just a little bit under two months out so I would encourage anybody on Council has any questions to to to reach out to sit down with them um just a couple other things one is um Council had supported a couple years ago the purchase of Camino which was our online uh special events permitting uh uh technology that's really really done um special things for our community it's made it more efficient we are taking now all special event events online so we are no longer taking any paper events that process become a lot more efficient these are the type of things that don't get headlines but they're the type of things we say like the grind of good government it's like every week you would have a group of people Mr Evans uh representativ these different departments that would sit down we essentially had to build this particular software to meet our individual permit like needs which you know I know from Miss L's you know uh you know professional experience outside of city council that's not always an easy process to be able to do um it took us a while we had people uh come in to be able to do different permitting but this is the type of thing that allows us to be able to focus on um the big things and it makes employee time more efficient it makes that experience more efficient it used to be that if you want to do a special event you would come in and different people have called The Gauntlet or whatever that you would sit there and all these people that worked in City Hall for many years would be like can't do this you need to do that or you can't do this you need to it just was not a good experience and you know there are employees within the city um in all the Departments legal included that kind of sat down um I believe it was Miss Shields that had worked on this when she was here as well um to be able to make that process more efficient and it really is um it's really going the right direction um our next opening doors meeting is Thursday October 26th I think the doors open at six o'clock but the ual program uh begins at 6:30 or Mr tulo and others will be giving our updates on Gateway and fourth and things like that um uh one thing I would say uh councilman kmsy Smith I don't want to bring it up again but you talked about the county interaction as far as some of the things with homeless Services um I personally think there's even more progress that can be made um in that regard uh the cities I really think are doing a lot here and I know that people you know last week or two weeks ago when we had voted to be able to take some of those dollars because Allentown didn't have the grant together um it was because they looked at us and they looked at individuals like yourself other in Council and us as as advocates for this but I really think the next step as far as those services and not just the services about calling people but just the advocacy for some type of regional wide um uh uh you know initiatives here is the type of thing that we need both counties to be involved in so I didn't I didn't want to interrupt but that was one thing I wanted to say so thank you for making that point um also we are undergoing there were comments here today um about public space and streets we do at Council I think at the last meeting had approved uh our um con or we're in the process of approving the contract for the uh bike plan and the complete streets plan which will be looking at how we use public property which is going to be a big deal uh going forward um this Saturday right outside 4:30 we have a tree planting you might have read about in the newspaper associated with uh a documentary called rooted that focuses on the art scene from the 70s uh with some of our you know familiar names uh you know Doug Royston uh Bridget Bill George Dave Fry so we're actually planting that tree at 4:30 if it rains we're going to do it on Sunday um earlier on Saturday over at Bernie Fritz Park from 11: to one uh city arts and Moravian are celebrating the peace mural that was built over there you may have seen the article about that too there's going to be music and arts table and things like that uh we had a successful uh public shuttle with Arts Quest during Music Fest I was talking Mr fman about that today uh we were able to take hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of car trips off of the roads um I think it turned out to be something like 2 200 people had ridden that which was an impressive number when you think about obviously we know that over a million people come but that reduction in car trips is obviously a huge deal um uh next Saturday on September 14th at 10: am we have the Chilean flag raising uh outside and then the last thing I would say is that on September 20th at 1M right here we are doing our big betham sister city ceremony with pus in Puerto Rico uh we have representatives from pus that are coming Miss sentur has spent a lot of work planning just a couple of days here but it is a big deal um Miss sentur and I were on um audio Ortiz's wdiy program last week talking about that sister city process what it means bringing people together we've had a ton of positive interactions and just a ton of work that's been done by volunteers G Lopez and so many other people um and on September right here we are signing there over a couple days there's a bunch of different events there on the 19th the 20th and 21st but that's the big one where we do the signing so if anybody's a able to come by uh that'll be our um our next sister city and like I said we're super excited about that and I think with that being said I'm done with my report thank you Mr thank you may rold one question I may have missed it if you said it but I just want to make sure for opening doors what's the location for that meeting it's over at the Fowler Center understood um in the same same location thank you thank you councilwoman Leo the Public Safety Committee met earlier this evening on Tuesday September 3rd 2024 in town hall there was one agenda items to be reviewed involving the Police Department police department's plan to curtail the illegal use of dirt bikes and ATVs on City roads the committee voted unanimously to place the ordinance on the city council agenda this evening Rachel Leon chairwoman Bethlehem or Public Safety Committee thank you councilwoman we're going to move on to our ordinances for final passage Mr Miller Bill 2722 four ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2024 bill number 27 2024 sponsored by miss quch and miss Leon any discussion we'll call the role Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi M grmy Smith hi M quack i m lard I and Mr colom I pass 70 agenda item 8 B ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the 2024 capital budget for non- utilities deal number 28 2024 sponsored by miss quc and miss leam discussion call the RO please miss Leon i m wilham i Mr Callahan I M gry Smith I miss quch I miss lard I and Mr colum I 70 moving on to new ordinances Bill 29 2024 an ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the Community Development block grant fund budget for 20124 Bill number 29 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion we'll call the RO Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I FR Smith i quch i m lard I and Mr col I pass 70 Bill 30 2024 ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the Community Development block ran fund budget for 2024 bill number 30 2024 is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kampsy Smith discussion call the rooll Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr call I Smith i i m lard I Mr colum I pass 70 Bill 31 2024 ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth Pennsylvania amending the 2024 capital budget for non utilities bill number 31 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon Miss kmy Smith discussion councilwoman lard uh just a a brief comment um I watched that committee meeting on YouTube um as it was happening and heard some conversation about the term Highway um and I don't think it would be a substantive change yes we're we're on agenda item 9C oh for the UGI pavement I jumped ahead we've all been there some I was anxious to to say it all right some some of us been there several times don't worry about it any discussion on 9C we'll call the RO Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Callahan I ramc Smith i i m lard I Mr cologne I pass 70 Mr Miller please read bill 32 2024 from motorbike ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania establishing article 525 of the codified ordinances of the city of bethleem titled allterrain vehicles and dirt bikes and establishing prohibited offenses involving the operation within City Limits bill number 32 2024 sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss crampy Smith discussion Council um so that term Highway in the ordinance um I don't think it would be a substantive change but if it could be we heard you Mr Rodriguez if that could be expanded on in the the body of the ordinance I think it would be more clear like even just thinking through if um a press contact pulls out a quote from that without looking at the definition from the state code it could really be misleading um yeah I talked to the S about that between the meetings oh we we could graft the definition from Section 102 of the vehicle code which I I can read now if you want to make that part of a motion um into the definition into the ordinance sure or I yeah I advise please on how can we hear it first before well and I just I just want to make a couple just general procedural points just for everyone's understanding before any amendments are proposed this is the first reading for the ordinance as with any ordinance we always have two readings is the procedure uh we would have to this has happened over the last couple years we talk about anything's changed and having to read vertise if if it's something that's di Minimus in terms of just cleaning up language or something like that it doesn't have to happen on the floor tonight if someone wanted more time to consider exactly what we would be amending uh and I'll let our solicitor correct me if I'm wrong but I think something like what you're alluding to um if you if you wanted more time to to propose something or to come up with whatever that language would be wouldn't be be a substantial change that we couldn't vote on the amendment at the next reading and then pass the ordinance at the second reading at the next me at the next meeting that is correct it would be Dem Minimus however this is this is an established definition that we would be importing to the ordinance understood could we hear can I clarify or well could I would say councilwoman leair or whomever wants to can we speak to what exactly it is that we'd be changing and why we'd be changing it my thought was basically just a parenthetical definition of the word Highway uh per the code uh from the the vehicular code I think it is um so that people don't see that word and think oh I can't ride my dirt bike on 37822 and 78 but actually understand that it's on all roads in the city can just asked to clarify then so if we just add that definition in can we vote on it tonight then and the next meeting or do we need to delay it there's no need for a delay okay all right can we hear the definition before we before anybody adds it as an amendment well that would be part of any motion that would be made I would say like with any amendment I would open discussion from all members of council before we propose any amendments if that's fair and then we could have solicitor steuart Reed whatever it would be that we'd be adding is that I mean Miss L you're the one that referenced making an amendment or a motion is are you agreeable to that whatever that procedure should be yes I'm not want to say what it should be that's what I'm I'm asking for but everybody can comment and then we hear the definition understood did you have any other comments Council any other discussion for members of council I just think that I think it's a very good idea that we include it so that we can be very clear on um so that people cannot say you know they misinterpret it to be a a real like Highway any other discussion so councilwoman quch sorry but we're we're we're in general discussion now not specific discussion about a proposed amendment because we're not we haven't actually had a motion for an amendment right correct that would be correct okay so my my only um comment is basically all of my questions were answered during the committee and I appreciate cot and others for um Coming and sharing their thoughts I do I would like to add snowmobiles to the list along with ATVs and dirt bikes um which would require us to um both add the word s mobile um to the section of the prohibitions and also the legal definition in the definitions list as well and I I mean I I can discuss why if we want if if a motion um you know if if it if it actually gets two uh two motions um if it gets a second I should say but basically um as I said in the committee uh they're have been instances of snowmobiles On My Street Spring Street during um snow or I especially ice they really like the ice um uh and uh it has happened several times over the years and I just think for our own um consistency and ability to enforce um it would be good to have that in there and it is in the uh commonwealth law um prohibiting these types of vehicles on on roads and municipalities so it's not inconsistent with what the commonwealth law says and councilwoman as as you allude to we're still in discussion are are you going to wait to make your motion until we conclude discussion on it or did you want to make that motion now as I had shared before I always invite full discussion on anything before we propose anything yeah along with Miss L I'll I'll withhold until everybody's had a chance to say and then see if there's see if there is an appetite for it understood Chief cot if you don't mind coming to the lecture because we did have to anyone who wasn't here earlier we did have this Public Safety Committee meeting C can you briefly and you don't need to restate everything that was said at committee but can you just speak to the the power that this ordinance gives the police department to enforce how people are operating ATVs and dirt bikes and potentially other vehicles within City Limits how it changes things from today to enactment and and what power it does give the police department so state law the statute affords us the power to seize an illegally used dirt bike or ATV on a roadway in the the common wealth of Pennsylvania turning that and including that in an ordinance in the city of Bethlehem just makes things cleaner and easier um after we got done discussing the matter with the Northampton County District Attorney's office it was an agreement that we decided to create this ordinance to make it easier for us to do that to seize these vehicles that are being illegally and recklessly driven on our streets um it still gives officers the discretionary uh ability to um just site or or uh to possibly give a warning but for individuals that are engaging in that Reckless Behavior and and are repeat offenders it gives us the the capability to to seize that vehicle that is being illegally operated thank you Chief k for that background any other discussion for members of council before we move on Council um I just was wondering if Chief co could um give us her opinion since you put a lot of work into this for the two amendments that we're discussing or the two changes what what are what's your thoughts so I am not a lawyer uh so I I I did do my best on it um I I do realize though that it would be incredibly helpful uh to kind of better explain the the highway portion of it if that's the will of council then by all means we can make it happen um as as well as I I and I do believe we talked about it but if if we have to spell out about the the snowmobiles I'd be willing to do that as well thank you can we ask solic spurk for his opinion then is fine with me thank you thank you Council any other discussion for members of council thank you Chief kot so I will turn back to members that alluded to making amendments to to the ordinance I'll start with councilwoman lir uh solicitor can you please read the definition so that the understand what would be added certainly the vehicle code defines a highway as the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when in any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel the term includes a roadway open to the use of the public for vehicular travel on grounds of a college or University or public or private school or public or historical park that is the full definition and would miss Lair just to help with with clarification so and I want to speak for you but is your motion then to include under the definition section so 52.2 where reads definitions is your intent to include Highway and the definition that attorney Stewart just read in definitions yes I initially said parenthetically but I think uh just looking again at the document that would be the place to add it understood so the motion so the motion is made by councilwoman leair to add the definition Highway and then as defined by attorney Stewart that's the motion is there a second second be as defined by the code that you wrot oh yes as read thank you from Section 102 of the vehicle code that was quite quite a way to define it extemporaneously but the as was read by attorney Stewart that's the motion on the floor is there a second second second by councilwoman Wilhelm any discussion on the motion to amend by adding that definition we'll call the RO on the amendment is Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi M kmy Smith hi Tech I miss lard I and Mr colog I the motion passed to 70 so now Highway and the definition as read by attorney Stewart is included in the ordinance councilwoman quch I'll turn to you for any potential amendments thank you so um my motion to amend would be to add within the prohibitions uh in section a number one after the words dirt bike the words or snowmobile and then to um also correspondingly in the uh section 52 5.02 definitions to add the definition of a snowmobile as defined in the vehicle code um of the Commonwealth defens do do you have have that definition attorney Stewart to read from the vehicle code I did I read it earlier now I just need to uh okay the definition of a snowmobile from section 7702 of the vehicle code is an engine driven vehicle which is all of the following number one is designed to travel over snow or ice number two has an endless built track or Tracks number three is steered by a ski or skis number four has an overall width of 48 in or less it then specifies that this term does not include a farm tractor construction equipment military vehicle vehicle with inflat inflatable tires or Machinery used strictly for The Grooming of snowmobile trails this term includes vintage snowmobiles which is likewise defined as a snowmobile that is at least 25 years old and is not operated in this common wealth except at vintage snowmobile events I will note that in the um in the language as it currently stands the word the the term allterrain vehicle is defined with just a reference to the vehicle code and if that is preferable to folks um in this instance I I would be fine with that as well so that it doesn't add you know all of that um but rather at least I mean I think people have a working idea of what a snowmobile is and then to just refer to section 7702 of the vehicle code as as this does with the alterrain vehicle term um that would also be okay by me so my motion is again adding the words or snowmobile after the word dirt bike in section A of the prohibitions in um item number one and then the corresponding definition of snowmobile either the full definition or uh I have to pick one don't I I would say just to add the definition in the same way that allterrain vehicle is defined with a reference to the section of theod so the motion on the floor just so I can make sure I'm restating it councilwoman quch is to U add or snowmobile to 5 5253 prohibitions in section A subsection one and then to add under definitions the reference to the vehicle code for snowmobile am I following along correctly yes thank you just want to make sure so that is the motion on the floor is there a second second second by councilwoman Leon any discussion on councilwoman quch motion to amend to include snowmobile we'll call the rooll on that motion Miss leam hi Miss Wilhelm hi tahan I gry Smith I miss quch I miss lard I Mr colog I pass to 70 thank you thank you so now on the ordinance as amended president colone there's one more Amendment we need to make so I I make a motion to amend on page two under 5 25.2 definitions where it says dual sport motorcycle that um it needs to be titled and registered with pend dot not the department so delete the department and ab pen dot we discussed that at the um committee meeting that we needed to amend that understood thank you councilwoman KY Smith so the motion on the floor is under definitions dual sport motorcycle uh towards the end of that sentence where it reads the department will be deleted and in its place added pend dot so that the full definition reads is a motorcycle that's designed and manufactured to be written on and off-road and is titled and registered with pendot for on-road use that's correct correct thank you is there a second to the motion second second by councilwoman Leon any discussion on councilwoman ksey Smith's Amendment we'll call the rooll Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Callahan I Ramy Smith i quch i m lard I and Mr colone I the amendment passes 70 any further discussion from members of Council on the ordinance as his amended Mr Callahan I just want to thank everybody that worked on this um I think the uh downtown business owners and residents and uh the people that visit Main Street Broad Street and third and fourth street on the South Side our Central Business districts are going to appreciate this so uh I thank uh all of council for working on this thank you any other discussion on the ordinance as amended Chief cot I had one quick question or attorney spurk attorney Stewart whoever wants to so I'm reading under forfeiture we did not so I see these vehicles of as it relates to the police shall immediately seize and impound the allterrain vehicle or dirt bike and then in section B under forfeiture again it's reference to bines and alterrain vehicle or dirt bike Opera in violation of this accordance and it continues on as relates to forfeiture could we include snowmobile in there is that is that encompassed in what powers we have attorney spurk I'm I'm seeing you shake your head can you just confirm that um yeah the state law authorized it for the dirt bikes and the other things that are already in there okay but not for snowmobiles understood are we sure I apologize for not noticing that there were other places where snowmobile should be added I well I I'm not going to make that I'm not making that motion that's why I want to check with our law Bureau and attorney spurk is indicating that we are not permitted to seize snowmobiles is that correct attorney correct it's not covered in 3722 okayed state law a couple years ago as a deterrent for dirt bikes that was all understood so I will not be making that motion I just wanted to clarify to make sure everything reads cleanly any other discussion on the ordinance say is amended we will call the role on the ordinance Miss Leon I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry Council qu attack it was it was my understanding the way that I read the Senate bill that snowmobiles were included in the list of prohibit vles so we're saying that if we do this it's not consistent with what the states with what they passed I apologize I would again turn to attorney spurk who had given his Insight if you don't mind coming to the lecturn or any microphone attorney spurk I just want to and I asked for clarification I was not at the committee meeting for anyone following along but I want to make sure not only are we being consistent but that we're within whatever the powers given to us are from talking to the district [Music] attorney from talking to the district attorney tonight at the meeting uh and talking to Chief cot uh earlier about her prior conversations with the DA's office they're the ones who actually do the forfeiture that they handle it they prosecute it they litigate it uh and so our discussions were limited and my understanding was that their interests were limited to the dirt bike Menace as opposed to any other vehicle no mobile Menace um I see now that it's not included in the forfeiture in the list of vehicles forfeit forfeited and I I apologize for um not fully understanding that um given the fact that we don't have powers of enforcement in that way um I would like to withdraw my amendment I unfortunately it won't be enforceable so so there may I withdraw my amendment I mean at this point they were already voted on so the ordinance is amended I would simply say and attorney Stewart you could correct me that at this point we would just uh Council quch would make a motion to essentially revert the ordinance back to I mean we don't have to reconsider because we're not bringing anything we vote on back to the essentially we'd make a amendment to just revert the ordinance back to its original language we' make a motion to can I can I can we have to clarify something first yeah I'm GNA ask a quick quick question can I can I just clarify um with the snowmobiles can they be fined but not for forfeited so they still can be fed so there's still is some regulated yeah so there is still is some validity for have snowmobiles okay so they can be fine but they will not be forfeited exactly okay thank you it is illegal they can be there is a penalty for jur is not part of the penalty okay thank you Council woman for that councilwoman quer are you satisfied with that penalty understood so we would not so back to where we were there are no more amendments currently on the table and any further discussion on the ordinance as amended thank you Chief cot thank you Mr spurk for clarification for me as I wanted to with the forfeiture part of the the penalties any more discussion Mr Miller please call the role on the ordinance as is amended Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hion Smith i i i and Mr colog I pass to 70 resolutions resolution 10A yet resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller Endor such other City officials as deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute a use permit agreement with Christmas City Spirits LLC for Night Market resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion we'll call the RO Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I M grmy Smith hi Miss quch i m lard I Mr colone I pass 70 resolution 10B it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem that the city officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor hereby authorized and directed to execute all application forms necessary to apply for $2 million Monroe County local share assessment Grant from the Commonwealth financing authority to be used for mixed housing development at Gateway on Fourth Phase 1 resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion we'll call the rooll Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Callahan ion Smith I miss quch i m l i Mr colog I pass 70 resolution 10c it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem City officials deemed appropriate by the city solicitor hereby authorized and directed to execute all application forms necessary to apply for $2 million Lehigh Northampton local share assessment Grant from the Commonwealth financing authority to be used for mixed housing development at Gateway on Fourth phase one resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss kmy Smith discussion Miss Leo just didn't want the moment to pass without saying how great this would be for the city if we do get this and how great it would be for the the Eastern Gateway project um I I'm aware that we're just trudging along but this really is a big deal um and just continue the the great work on on the affordable housing projects thank you councilwoman any other discussion we call R Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi mson Smith I I miss lard I and Mr col I pass to 70 I'll accept a motion as second to consider resolutions 10d through 10f as a group sove second I'm going to say motion by councilwoman Callahan second by councilwoman Leon any discussion on the motion to consider as a group we'll call the roll on the motion Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi Mr Callahan hi M gron Smith i quch i i Mr col I motion passes 70 Mr Miller please read the COA certificates of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of Pennsylvania legislature Bethlehem resolutions are hereby granted for 30 East Walnut East Wall Street to replace existing rear slate roof with GAF shingles in the antique slate color for 3032 West Market Street to replace a total of 36 Windows including 32 double hung units one picture unit and three casement units with Marvin elevant Windows the applicant also proposes to remove restore repaint the existing shutters repaint the wood Sills and lentils for the windows being replaced install new 6inch half round gutters and for 229 East Wall Street to replace existing shingled roof with GF Timberline hdz shingles in the Antiques Lake gray color resolutions are sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss grmy Smith discussion on the group we'll call the rooll Miss Leon hi Miss Wilhelm hi M Callahan hi M gmy Smith hi miss quch I miss lard I Mr colom I pass 70 and lastly 10g the COA from HCC certificate of appropriateness under the provision of the act of the Pennsylvania legislature be resolution is hereby granted for 325 Broadway to replace existing storefront install a new awning and new signage along with upgrades to the entrance for Americans with Disability Act compliance resolution is sponsored by Miss Leon Miss pmy Smith discussion call the rooll Miss Leon I miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I Smith i i m l i and Mr colog I pass 70 meeting is adjourned get home safe everyone