Harrisburg City Council Work Session - May 6th 2025

some public hearings this evening and a

work session. So, I'd like to be mindful

of everyone's

time. The time is

5:34 p.m. I would like to call our

public hearing to order.

Mr. Parker, could you please call the

role?

Miss Daniels.

Miss Davis, present. Miss Green,

present. Mr. Jones, here.

Miss RWS, present. Mr. Rodriguez,

present. Miss Bowers, present. Uh,

please note for the record that

Councilwoman Daniels is excused this

evening. In her absence, I will preside

over the public hearing on behalf of the

Community and Economic Development

Committee. Uh, for this hearing, there

is one bill for discussion. It is Bill 3

of

2025. Mr. Parker, could you please read

it into the record? Yes. Bill three of

2025, an ordinance amending the city of

Harrisburg's official zoning map to

change the parcels zoning designation of

640 Street from the industrial IND zone

to the residential medium density RM

zone pursuant to chapter

[Music]

7-303 of the codified ordinances of the

city of Harrisburg.

Thank you. Um, who is here on behalf of

the administration to provide an over

overview of bill three of 2025? Uh,

Jeffrey Knight, planning director with

the city. Um so I believe we had

discussed this at a previous workshop

session um where we discussed that this

is um essentially kind of like a

curative amendment um to uh the original

uh zoning map that was adopted in 2014.

And when that happened um the subject

property was looped into the industrial

zoning district with um uh larger

properties to the north and east uh of

it. Um, and I'm sorry if we could. I'm

sorry. He has to be sworn in. Yes, he

needs to be He needs to be sworn in

first. And I first would like to put the

exhibits on the record. Okay. Um, just

for clarity. So, if we would take a step

back just for the record, I'm Ti

Cameron, senior I'm sorry, deputy

solicitor. Um, and for public hearing

Bill 3 of 2025 in accordance with

7303, we will enter

seven exhibits I believe. Um so a

exhibit A is the zoning map amendment

application with all attachments.

Exhibit B is the planning bureau the

Harrisburg Planning Bureau case report.

Exhibit C is the Dolphin County Planning

Commission report. Exhibit D is the

resolution of the Harrisburg Planning

Commission. Exhibit E is the extension

letter from the applicant. Exhibit F is

uh the posting, a copy of the posting

and then proof of posting which are

photos. Um exhibit G is the public

notice advertisement and H is the proof

of the publication of those

advertisements. Um, at this time I guess

I would have the applicant and or her

representative come forward as well so

they could be sworn in in case you all

have questions for uh any of

them. So then on behalf of the city of

course we will have uh Jeffrey Knight,

planning director and I believe Mrs.

Patricia Walker. Pette, I'm sorry.

Walker is the property owner and the

applicant for the zoning map amendment.

So now, Mr. Knight, if you would nicely

continue. Sorry. Oh, sorry. Sworn in and

then continue. Um, I guess would you

like me to do it? Yes, ma'am. Anyone

who's going to be testifying if you

would like to

raise or

I do. Thank you.

Okay. Sorry for jumping the gun there a

little bit. Uh uh so as I was noting we

had previously discussed uh this issue

um and um essentially what it came down

to was just when the current zoning map

was developed between 2008 and 2010 um

which was later adopted in July 2014. Uh

the subject property um was uh

encompassed by the industrial zoning

district of the properties to the north

and east of this property. um and

without kind of regard for the clear

differentiation in in the use and

history of the property. Uh and so the

current proposal is being um brought

forth as kind of again a curative uh

amendment. Um and uh the applicants can

provide more information about the

background of it. But uh in essence um

as as Miss Walker is looking to um sell

the property uh the industrial zoning

designation um I guess has created some

hiccups uh in that pro in that process.

Um and so she has requested that the uh

property be reszoned to the residential

medium density district uh which is um

how the blocks just to the south of this

uh site along like Penwood Street uh and

further west on street are also zoned.

Uh so this would not represent you know

a spot zoning proposal in the midst of

an industrial district or anything like

that. Um, and so from the planning

bureau's perspective, this is a

relatively uh straightforward uh request

and proposal. Uh, the planning

commission uh has recommended that the

city council approved the request uh

without conditions for the following

reasons. The subject property is

adjacent to and representative of

residential properties to the south

which are located in the residential

medium density zoning district. meaning

that uses permitted by the new zoning

district would not be contrary to the

character of the neighborhood and would

include those which could otherwise be

established in adjacent properties. A

property appears to have been

incorrectly zoned as industrial by

previous city staff. An error propagated

during the 2014 review and adoption of

the current zoning code and map.

Property is and always has been

residential, yet the current zoning

designation would not permit such a use

by right. And finally, the applicant has

provided evidence and testimony

documenting that the current industrial

zoning designation adversely impacts the

the value and salailability of the

property.

Thank you. Uh would the applicants like

to share any thoughts or add anything to

what Mr. Knight has shared for the

record? No. No. Okay. How about you? I

know you were sworn in as well.

Okay. Oh, you're later. Okay. You

confused me. Okay. Okay. Just if there's

any if you guys have any questions for

the applicant, that would be coming now.

Thank you. Um, I will now open the floor

to my colleagues who may have some

questions for you. Um, I'll begin to my

left with Councilman Jones. Do you have

any questions for the applicant or Mr.

Knight? Uh, thank you, President Hill.

Um, no, I don't have any questions at

this time. Thank you, Councilman

Rodriguez. Thank you, Madam President.

Um, thank you, Miss Walker, and um to

both of you actually for joining us this

evening. Um, I'm just from my own

curiosity, what are some of the

difficulties you've had while you were

trying to sell the property?

The difficulty uh for selling it is when

you have industrial zoning. checked with

every lender. I I called around to even

local banks to see was there a

conventional type mortgage to be had in

an industrial zoned property and and

100% was no. It has to be a 25% down

commercial loan which is only fixed for

one to five years on interest rate. And

given that it's more of a it's it's a

home that's probably in the upper tons

in price. It's about,00 foot uh

two-bedroom, one bath ranch. So to have

a commercial, it would devalue it by at

least 50 if not 60% because it would be

relegated to being an uh an

investorowned property and used as a

rental property would be the would that

become its highest and best use because

it's only a tenth of an acre. So there's

not really anything industrial that you

could do with that particular parcel.

Awesome. Thank you for that. I just was

curious. No further questions. Thank

you, Councilwoman Ros. Any questions?

Thank you, President Hill. Um, I don't

have any questions. Um, what Councilman

Rodriguez asked was was kind of the line

that I was thinking. Just wondering what

were some issues you were having um with

it being zoned as industrial. Uh, so

that's um it for me. Thank you for

coming tonight. I don't have any other

questions. Thank you, Vice President

Green. Any questions? Thank you very

much. Thank you all for being here

tonight. I don't have any questions. It

seems pretty straightforward.

Thank you, Councilwoman Davis. Any

questions? Thank you. Good evening, Mr.

and Mrs. Walker. I don't have any

questions, but it's nice to see you this

evening.

Thank you.

And if there are no questions, you could

open up to the public in case the public

has any questions. Thank you. At this

time, we will open the floor uh for

public comment. Just a few housekeeping

notes. Um, please state your name and

your address for the meeting record. If

you don't feel comfortable sharing your

address, please share the vicinity in

which you live within the city. You have

four minutes to share your comments. Mr.

Parker will serve as our timekeeper. I

will begin to my right. Is there anyone

that would like to offer public comment?

Okay. Seeing and hearing no one. Anyone

in the middle

section? Seeing and hearing no one.

Anyone to my left? Seeing and hearing no

one. Uh the time is 5:45 p.m. I will

entertain a motion to adjourn our public

hearing. So move. Is there a second?

Second. Thank you. We stand a journ. And

just so they know um of course the bill

will be moved to the next legislative

session for a formal vote. Yes.

Thank you all for your participation. At

this time, uh, at 5:45 p.m., I would

like to call our second public

hearing to order.

Mr. Parker, can you please call the

role?

Yes. Miss Davis, present.

Miss Green present. Mr. Jones

here. Miss RWS

present.

Miss Rodriguez

Mr. Rod Mr. Rodriguez present. And Ms.

Bowers present. Thank you.

As I mentioned during the previous

public hearing, uh, Councilwoman

Daniels, who serves as our Community and

Economic Development Committee chair,

um, is excused this evening. I will

preside in her absence. On behalf of the

Community and Economic Development

Committee, we have one bill, uh, Bill 4

of 2025 for discussion. Mr. Parker,

could you please read it into the

record?

Bill 4 of 2025, an ordinance amending

the city of Harrisburg's official zoning

map to change the parcel zoning

designations of 320 Rowley Street, 1511

North 3rd Street and 329 Harris Street,

formerly 1530 North Street from the

institutional INS zone to the commercial

zone CN zone pursuant to chapter 7-30.

303 of the codified ordinances of the

city of Harrisburg.

Thank you. We will begin with a review

of the exhibits. Yes. Thank you. Again,

for the record, Tissa Cameron, deputy

solicitor. Uh, exhibit A is the zoning

map amendment application with

attachments. Exhibit B is

and kicked out the pool.

Exhibit B is the planning um Harrisburg

Planning Bureau case report. Exhibit C

is the Dolphin County Planning

Commission report. Exhibit D is the

resolution of the Harrisburg Planning

Commission. Exhibit E is a copy of the

posting and proof of posting. Exhibit F

is the public notice advertisement. and

G is the proof of publication of those

advertisements. Um, again, we will have

uh Mr. Jeffrey Knight, our planning

director, representing the city. And if

the applicants could please uh state

their name and who they represent just

for the record.

My name is David Shy. I'm an attorney

with Troutman Pepper Lock. And with me

is Doug Naid, who's principal of the uh

of the applicants.

And now they can get sworn in.

Do you swear or the testimony?

Yes. Thank you.

Okay. Uh so for uh bill number four of

2025, uh this proposal uh is a zoning

map amendment uh for three separate

properties. Uh those properties are 320

Riley Street, uh 1513 North Thirdrd

Street, and 1530 U sorry 329 Harris

Street. Um and so this proposal uh is um

uh recommending requesting a change from

the institutional zoning district to the

commercial zoning district uh commercial

neighborhood zoning district. Um, and in

looking at uh this proposal, um, we have

to kind of go back to consider why this

was institutionally zoned in the first

place. It's kind of in the middle of the

Midtown neighborhood on a um on a major

corridor, Riley Street, uh, going

through the neighborhood. Um, and what

it really comes down to is that this uh,

the zoning code was developed at about

the same time that the um, Hack Midtown

campus was being considered and proposed

for this exact area. um some portions of

which it was part of a larger uh plan

for this uh area. Uh and some portions

of which such as um the uh 1500 North

Thrd Street which is now the Steam

Academy. Uh there's a hack building

that's still standing on Fourth Street

and then the Boyd Street urban meadow uh

that was uh developed uh to kind of

connect uh through to the whole campus.

uh those portions were developed um but

later portions that were proposed for

these blocks uh were not um and I think

that was due to a variety of issues the

recession and then later on um hacks uh

decision to kind of um focus on their uh

Wildwood Lake campus. Uh so uh in the

intervening years there had been some

demolitions of the buildings on site

there uh in order to prepare the sites

for uh for the eventual construction of

new academic buildings um in this area.

Uh obviously uh those never were

constructed. So uh the pro the

properties have uh remained as kind of

vacant lots. uh they do have some

accessory parking for some of the uh

hack uh faculty uh and uh students that

event that were going to some of the

buildings that are in that neighborhood.

Um but as again hack has withdrawn kind

of to their Wildwood Lake campus uh

their use has been slowly whittleled

down uh and now it's very the the lots

are very little used uh for that

purposes. Um and so in looking at how to

incentivize development there, which I

think uh you know is not only uh

important for the vitality of the

neighborhood and for the city, but would

also be in conformance with the city's

uh comprehensive plan. Um we need to

look at what the zoning is and how it um

uh promotes that type of development. Uh

right now the institutional district uh

you know has limited allowances for the

types of uses that we might expect to

see in this area um such as multif

family dwellings and various commercial

uses. Um and and additionally on both

the east and the west side of this

corridor you have CN zoned properties.

Um 1511 North Third Street uh kind of

wraps around the corner of Third and

Riley Street which are all CNZ zoned.

And then further east um of these

properties uh along sixth street is CNZ

zone as well. So the proposal to convert

the zoning designation from

institutional to commercial neighborhood

uh both you know makes sense from a kind

of cont from a contextual standpoint

where you're looking at uh how does this

relate to the neighborhood. There are

existing CNZONED uh properties nearby so

you're not just kind of plopping this

down in the middle of a residential

neighborhood for example. uh and it will

help to effectuate uh the implementation

of the city's comprehensive plan um by

promoting uh kind of mixed uses along

this corridor and uh apartment uses

commercial uses for the the general

neighborhood. Uh and so uh for those

reasons uh the applicant has submitted

the current application uh and the

application was um recommended for

approval by the planning uh

commission and the planning commission

has recommended uh that city council

approve the request uh without

conditions for the following reasons.

The properties appear to have been given

the current institutional designation by

previous city staff in furtherance of

planning projects at the time. most

notably the Harrisburg Midtown campus

master plan completed in April 2007

which proposed the establishment of a

hack Midtown campus, a project that

never completely materialized. As such,

it is reasonable to evaluate the current

zoning designation and consider whether

amending it will help promote current

development and long-range planning

goals. Uh the current INS zoning

designation has adversely impacted the

city and community as it relied on a

singular and outdated development model

which failed to materialize leaving

large vacancies in the neighborhood

fabric and stying potential

redevelopment of underutilized sites

along the corridor. Uh the subject

properties are bracketed by CNZ zone

corridors to the east along North 6th

Street and west along North Third Street

as well as further to the south along

Rebec uh where the Broad Street Market

is. And thus the uses and development

permitted by the CN district will not be

contrary to the character of the

neighborhood and in fact will reflect

the mixeduse nature of the surrounding

community.

Okay. If you want to open it up to the

councilman for any questions of the

applicant. Sure. I just wanted to know

do you have anything you'd like to add

outside of what Mr. Knight shared before

we open it up for questions? I mean we

agree with everything Mr. tonight shared

and uh we thank him for uh the uh great

overview of of uh of the request. Uh

just to add a little bit more color to

this uh Mr. Naidig is working hard to

develop uh on this site should it be

reszoned AI fully amenitized uh

multifamily uh project that would have

144 units with 2600 square feet of

commercial space on the first floor and

157 accessory parking spaces. So, uh it

it would be uh and as as fully

amenitized uh talking about is uh uh

having uh fitness centers, business

centers uh and and uh the amenities that

would really attract uh uh uh citizens

and and and and residents to the uh to

the city of Harrisburg in the Midtown

area.

Okay. Mr.

would you like to add anything further?

Just a quick point to add that when we

did the hack project back in 2006

2007. By definition, we had to establish

750 surface parking spaces in the area

and that those are mainly the blocks

that we're talking about here. The city

at the time gave us pretty firm

directive that those were supposed to be

temporary parking spaces. They didn't

want to see an ocean parking in the

Midtown area. And I I agreed with that.

So, what we're really doing now with

this development is exactly what the

city asked us to do 20 years ago, and

that's turn these blocks, these lots

into more more pieces of the Midtown

development.

Well, thank you for clarifying. Um, I'll

now open the floor to my colleagues who

may have some additional questions for

you. This time, I'll start to my right

with Councilwoman Davis. Do you have any

questions? Thank you, President Hill.

No, I don't have any questions. It's

pretty clearcut to

the uh zoning board has approved this

and also the planning commission. Yes.

Thanks for being here. Thank you, Vice

President Green. Any questions? Thank

you very much. Um I don't have any

questions for uh for you. I look forward

to this plan. I know we've discussed it

previously. Uh so it's not like it's

something new coming before us. So um

just looking forward to seeing it

actually come together. So thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman Ross. Any

questions? Thank you. Um, I just have

more of a clarification just to make

sure I'm correct on how I'm reading it

and what you're saying is basically it

was formally

um one address or one property I think

or it was saying 1530 North Fourth

Street and then it got broken into three

after it got reszoned for the um pack

community college. Correct. To come into

Midtown. So 1530 uh North Fourth Street

was um one parcel that made up uh the

northern block of this site. Um and in

between the time we started developing

the case report and now uh the

applicants had uh submitted a lot

consolidation plan at the beginning of

the year and um the county I guess just

updated their maps. I think they do that

quarterly. So in between then and now

they updated it and that was the new um

address at 329 Harris Street. So that's

the same thing as 1530. That was just

the largest parcel that made up that

block. That's why I clarify to make

sure. Okay. Other than that, no, I was

fine. Um I would only say as um I love

about um changing it back and

redeveloping it. I know we need more

housing. Um I we don't want to see if

parking, but we do want some parking. So

please, as you do, parking is an issue.

So as you think about it, please make

parking easier. Um especially in

Midtown. Everybody's like, "Well, you

live in a city. Parking is always hard."

But I'm like, "No, that's just cliche.

It doesn't have to be. It's what you

make it." So, please, parking. That's it

for me. Thank you, Councilman Rodriguez.

Any questions? Um, no questions for me.

Look forward to the project coming into

fruition. Thank you all. Thank you. And

Councilman Jones, any questions?

Excuse me. No, more of a statement to

add on to what uh Mr. Knight was talking

about. This is desperately desperately

needed as we're looking to revitalize

the city of Harrisburg, our walkable

city, and I think this will bring that

much needed foot traffic to the other

corridors uh in the area. So, thank you

for your project.

This time, we'll open the we will open

the floor for public comment. Um same

housekeeping rules apply. Uh, if you

could please state your name and your

address for the meeting record. If you

don't feel comfortable sharing your

address, please share the vicinity in

which you live within the city. You will

have four minutes to share your

comments. Mr. Parker will serve as our

timekeeper. I will begin to my right. Is

there anyone that would like to offer

public comment related to bill 4 of

2025?

Hello.

1521 North Second Street. I just want to

stand and uh you know ask you guys do

make this change. I was actually

surprised that it currently was in an

institutional zone to begin with. I

think anyone that lives in Midtown just

a couple blocks away think this is more

of a neighborhood and a commercial by

commercial street. So I guess I'll just

ask you to approve this from the

neighborhood. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else to my

right that would like to offer public

comment?

My name is Benjamin Hall. I live on the

1700 block of P Street, three blocks

away from the project. And I was just

going to add on there's already so much

information about the benefits that this

could serve in the community. But I also

just wanted to draw a comparison.

when we look at other cities like

Lancaster is a close um neighbor to us.

Um but you can look further away. You

can look at New York. You could look at

overseas cities and you can kind of see

um this trend and this pattern of being

able to

um support you know healthy

cities through mixed use development and

that sort of thing. But we can also

you know, you see Harrisburg in the past

had 80,000 or more residents in the same

unit in the same space really. Um, so I

just think it'

be a nice addition to a nice step

forward for the city. I think as well

as, you

know, you could

also you could also kind of add the

point that the area

of Third Street, like between Third

Street and Seventh Street, uh could

certainly use, you know, the extra

business that you know from Third to

First Street that we already have so

much of. That's all.

Thank you. Is there anyone else to my

right that would like to offer public

comment?

Could I raise this a little bit?

Good evening, members of council. My

name is Shane Fox. I live with my family

at 1522 Green Street, right near the

Midtown Cinema. I'm here tonight to ask

you to please vote yes on bill 4 of 2025

to reszone 320 Riley Street as well as

the other adjacent parcels. 320 Riley is

an entire city block in my neighborhood.

It's right to an entire block. The both

of them are empty. It's just a surface

parking lot. And those of us who live

there, we would love to have businesses.

We'd love to have people living there.

And the current owner of 320 Riley is

prepared to spend tens of millions of

dollars to invest in our city to build

housing for 144 units of housing and

place for businesses. And I think that

all those people that move into that

apartment building are going to pay city

taxes and inviting those people to move

to Midtown is going to make our local

businesses boom, right? All the places

that I love that I go to all the time

are going to get so much business from

this and it's going to provide much

needed tax revenue for the city as well

as more badly needed job opportunities

for people who live in the city. Like my

daughter, she's 16. She's talking about

getting a job and she's talking about

going somewhere out in the suburbs to

get a job. That's where her friends are

working. And I I would love if she could

work somewhere close to home. She could

just walk to a place. And if we get more

people in Midtown, all the businesses,

Midtown Cinema, all the places that we

go to, they're going to have to hire

people. They're going to have to hire

more people. It's going to make

jobs. Um our our new neighbors at 320

Riley won't have to worry about driving

their kids to school in a car because

Steam Academy is literally right across

the street. Imagine that kids are going

to be able to out of their apartments at

320 Riley and cross in a protected

crosswalk and go right into the front

door of their school. Imagine how many

people in the surrounding area in the

world would love to live in a place like

that where they don't have to put their

kids into a 5,000lb SUV and drive them

miles to a school.

Um, nobody who lives at 320 Riley is

going to need to drive to LA Square to

get Vietnamese food. Nobody's going to

have to drive to Two Brothers Pizza or

Midtown Juice Lab. They're not going to

need a car to get to Rais in the Bar

Bakery or Yellow Bird Cafe or Elementary

Coffee or Little Amps. Nobody living in

320 Riley is going to need to drive to

get groceries at Radish and Ry or the

Broad Street Market or Safeford Market

that I've lost. Nobody living at 320

Riley will need a car to get to Milworks

or High Dive or Manmoose Tavern or the

new sports bar that just went in

literally next door to where this

apartment building is going to be. None

of our future neighbors at 320 Riley

will ever need to worry about where to

park their car when they come to city

council meetings. Right. I came from the

neighborhood. I just walked down here. I

walked out the front door of my house

and I walked down here. I've never once

driven in a car to to a council meeting.

Um They're not going to need a car to go

to see movies at Midtown Cinema. They

won't need a car to get to HMAC to go

see shows, Whitaker Center, Open Stage,

Gamut, Narcissist Theater, because all

those places are within easy walking

distance to 320 Riley. And so, please

again just vote yes on bill 4 of 2025.

Thank you. Thank you. That was not a

pain endorsement. Okay.

[Laughter]

Is there anyone else to my right that

would like to offer public

comment? Seeing and hearing no one.

Anyone in the middle

section? Okay. Seeing and hearing no

one. Anyone to my

left? Seeing and hearing no one. Uh, if

there are no final questions or comments

from council members, I move to add bill

4 of 2025 to our next legislative

session agenda for a formal vote. The

time is 6:06 p.m. I will entertain a

motion to adjurnn. So moved. Is there a

second? Second. Thank you. Uh, we stand

a journ. Thank you.

We are going to keep things moving. The

time is 6:06 p.m. I would like to call

our work session to

order. Mr. Parker, could you please call

the role?

Miss

Daniels, Miss Davis, present. Miss

Green, present. Mr. Jones, here. Ms. RWS

present. Mr. Rodriguez, present.

And Miss Bowers,

present. Thank you. I would like to note

for the record, Councilwoman Daniels is

excused this evening. We will begin with

the work of the administration

committee. We have two resolutions for

discussion. Resolution 22 of 20125 and

resolution 23 of 2025. Mr. Parker, could

you please read both into the record?

Yes. Resolution 22 of

2025, a resolution appointing Shea

Zwerver to serve on the board of

directors of Capital Region Water, a

municipal

authority. Resolution 23 of 2025, a

resolution appointing Pierre O. McCoy to

serve on the board of directors of

Capital Region Water and Municipal

Authority.

Thank you.

If both uh potential appointees could

please join us,

you didn't need to be sworn in after.

I even knew the rules too from the

parking authority board. I'm like,

"Well, maybe it'll help." No, it's a

December session. Sorry. It's okay. It's

all right. Um, so if you both wouldn't

mind taking a moment to please introduce

yourselves can

begin just name or background anything.

Everything please. Thank you. Sure. Um,

well, good evening um, council members.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak

tonight. I'm honored to be considered to

serve on the board of directors for

Capitol Region Water. My name is Shay

Zwerver. Very impressed with the

pronunciation. Thanks. Um, I am a

Pennsylvania native. I've lived in the

area for nine years and as a resident of

the city for the last three and um, have

always strongly held the belief of the

Sescuana River as such an asset. Um, but

I also think that access to safe and

reliable water isn't just a utility

service. It's a public trust and

building block of public health,

environmental sustainability, and

economic opportunity. And I want, like

many of you, to help contribute to that

foundation of a healthy and thriving

community. I have a professional

background in environmental policy,

public affairs, workforce development,

and program and strategy development. I

bring experience working with state and

local agencies, nonprofits, communities,

um, as well as building coalitions

between those groups to help address

issues that include environmental

quality, economic mobility, and public

safety. Uh, I also bring a deep personal

commitment to environmental stewardship

and public service. And that motivation

helps push me to not just fulfill

responsibilities, but to actively look

for ways to collaborate more effectively

and innovate. Serving on the Capitol

Region Water Board of Directors would

allow me to apply my experience to

ensure Harrisburg's infrastructure is

resilient, responsive, and equitable and

efficient. Thank you. Thank you for your

introduction.

Hello. Thank you. Uh my name is Pierre

McCoy. I live in Uptown Fifth Street

between Wick Musco and Radner. Uh I

currently work for the South River Basin

Commission. I am a hydro geologists.

Came here in this country when I was 5

years old when my mom taught the steel

school before it closed, the pen before

it closed, and then finally she retired

from uh Ben Franklin. Excuse me one

second. Can you please u move the

microphone closer to you and make sure

the green light is on? Sorry. Sorry

about that. That's okay. Thank you. Um,

I've been here and lived in the city in

2007 is when I moved in uptown. Um,

before that I was a consultant for

engineering firm. Did a lot of storm

water work, uh, clean water work,

drilling, so forth. Currently I'm in my

13th year at the commission, uh, where

it's obviously a federal hatch hatch act

job. So there are some limitations

obviously, but I deal with primarily

storm water, clean water, and most

importantly environmental justice. Uh,

one of the reasons I put my name in the

hat for this is that uptown, um, the

capital region board, we have a lot of

consent decrees. We have a lot of issues

with our combined sewer and our water,

and it's very expensive, especially for

our elderly neighbors. So, hopefully

with our innovation and my ability to

help the board kind of bring the prices

either down or stabilize them, uh, so we

can have clean water, clean storm water,

and clean sewer. Uh, lastly, I think

it's also important that the storm water

portion and the clean water help our

kids. Um, I live between two schools

right up over a division and and the

current uh steel school. And the kids

need clean water, clean sewers so they

can grow up and and and do good good

things. Sorry, I'm a little

nervous. So, that's why I throw my my

name in the hat backwards. Uh, but I

really hope that I can help the board

actually do good things for our city. I

hope that we can look to find savings.

Hope we can find ways to have other

townships help because they obviously

use our services as well. and hopefully

we can make our city thrive and and not

impose a huge financial burden.

Thank you. Thank you for your

introduction. Um I think I have one

question. You uh said several times you

threw your name in the hat, but threw

your name in the ring. Um how were you

both

um perhaps contacted regarding these

vacancies or courted uh for these

potential appointments? go first. Um, so

actually I was watching a Dolphins game

with my friend Nate Davidson. Uh, and he

knew that I worked at the commission and

he was like, you know, you have the

skills to help and I'm already on the

Harrisburg Parking Authority Board,

which is a thankless job. Uh, so why

not, you know, do another thing for our

city and I love the city. I think I

could do good work and I think my

school's going to help and that's why I

put my name in the hat.

Thank you. And how about you? Similarly,

there was a member of the board who um I

had introduced myself to and went into

detail about my background working in

environmental policy and as well as

workforce development and environmental

justice as well as storm water

management and um they had communicated

that there would be openings on the

board that there currently is an opening

and if I was interested to you know

communicate that and then share my

credentials and resume uh with the

mayor's office and then connected with

other board members and you know talked

with how I could bring value to the

board. Thank you. So maybe one other

question and and you may have um

addressed this in your introductions but

I would like to know um what impact do

you believe that you will be able to

make on this board? your turn.

Yeah. The impact I think I can bring to

the board, like I said, I have just like

the personal commitment and motivation

to helping ensure that the Harrisburg's

infrastructure, especially when it comes

to water and storm water management and

sewer works effectively. Um, also that

it's affordable and um that it's

resilient and responsive. uh my

background in the environmental policy

as well as like public affairs,

government relations, coalition

building, uh and workforce development

have kind of a diverse and uniquely

connected way that I've always been

passionate about helping um build career

pathways for people who are on the

fringes of the workforce, especially

those who have been impacted by the

criminal legal system and uh making them

aware of job opportunities in their

community and especially meaningful and

fulfilling career pathways. And so, uh,

there's opportunity now, um, as my

resume shows, I work part-time for the

city doing on their shade tree, uh, shi

program with urban forestry. And so, I'm

really excited about the opportunities

there are to collaborate between the

city and the school district with

incorporating environmental education

and how to leverage the regional

ecosystem like the Sesuana River and

bring that into the the science

curriculum.

Interesting. Thank you. How about you?

What impact do you believe that you will

be able to um bring to this board? Thank

you, Mr. President. Uh I think what I

can bring is actually my skill set

involving environmental justice and

grants um having managed millions of

dollars of grants across the basin um

looking for solutions that aren't just

throwing money at a thing. Um I've seen

the bills rise. I've seen my neighbors

complain. I've seen my neighbors, you

know, I say the trash, it's not related,

but you know, where they have to go

without trash for a few months until

they can go back and and rears. Um, I

think it's really important that we look

at our our quality of water, quality,

quality storm water, but make it

affordable for those that need it. And I

think that skill set I can bring to the

capital region board. Look at some

grants that might be out there.

Hopefully, they're still around. We'll

see. Um, but that's the skill set I

think I can bring. Plus my 20 plus years

of being a hydro geologist, drilling new

wells, doing clean water work, doing

sewer and storm waters assessments. All

that given a perspective that could

help.

Thank you. I don't have any other

questions at this time. I will open the

floor to my colleagues who may have some

additional questions for you. I'll begin

with uh Councilwoman Davis. Any

questions? Thank you, President Hill,

and thank you both for being here. Um

clean water and affordable water sounds

great to me. So, your both of your

backgrounds um seems to be that you

would be able to accommodate both of

those um very important objectives for

our

seniors and everyone else in the city of

Harrisburg. So, I look forward to

watching you and seeing what actually

evolves from your service. Thank you.

Thank you, Vice President Green. Any

questions? Thank you very much. First,

good evening to you both. Um, thank you

for being here tonight. Thank you for

even considering uh being on the the

authority or the board. Um, couple of my

questions have already been asked. So,

um, first I'll just start with um, go

ship because I see you went to

Shippensburg. I'm an alumni there as

well. Um, do you have any conflicts of

interest or do you foresee any conflicts

of interest sitting on this board? It's

a good question. I do not. I think uh

they aid each other well working

part-time with the city on the shade

tree uh program with urban forestry.

Part of what I'm working on is community

outreach. So how to engage community

members and increase tree canopy

especially in uh neighborhoods that have

been you know historically disinvested

in as well as routinely overlooked. Um

so I think that just complements the

storm water management that the capital

region water is already working on. But

again, it's just my focus is is just

part-time and aiding in that community

outreach as well as increasing tree

canopy and the environmental education

component. So I think they'll be really

complimented complimentary.

Uh yes, I do have a conflict of

interest. I work for the man based

commission. Uh we offer several grants.

One of them actually is currently with

the capital region water. That conflict

of interest would mean I would have to

recuse myself from any discussion or

voting at the board. I don't think it

would be detrimental um to that because

the board is large enough to handle

missing one vote. Um however, my

knowledge of other grants that I

wouldn't have to be accused from, I

think would be okay. The second one is I

am on a parking authority board. If

there were any disputes between say the

capital region water or parking

authority, which I highly doubt, it's a

very outside chance. Want to be very

open here. That also would require a

recusal. That board, however, is missing

um a member and so that actually would

cause an issue with that board. Uh

that's the only compliment interest that

I'm aware of that I have right now.

Thank you very much. Um and then next

you kind of spoke about community

outreach. Um how do you plan on

encouraging more community outreach

because uh I know like recently the

water meters have been being replaced

and a lot of people haven't been happy

about getting a letter in the mail and

that was about it and then you saw like

a $500 charge because you didn't call

some third party company um to get your

water meter replaced or couldn't

schedule it in a time. So, how will you

increase or how would you encourage um

Capital Region Water to increase their

community outreach so that the residents

are actually informed?

That's a good question. Um, first I'd be

excited to familiarize myself more with

what's been done historically at Capital

Region Water, but I strongly believe of

like having public input in the process

of like well looking at neighboring

communities too or other jurisdictions

and municipalities, not just NPA, but

like what's been effective um for other

water authorities when it comes to

community outreach, but then also

hearing from the comm community members,

whether it's through meetings, but uh I

think as a board and then as like

entities such as your council of like

collaborating on how is like what can we

do to be more effective. But I'd be

excited to to help innovate ways around

that.

Um for the outreach, that's a good

question. I see a lot of capital region

trucks around my neighborhood. We have a

we're right by the overflow by Front

Street. Um I think there's an

opportunity to have a more of a joint

partnership with perhaps neighborhood

services in the city. Um I know where I

in France the our capital our region

water the cleaning the street sweeping

there's people on the street it's almost

like a your mail person right uh so you

get more discussion with the people for

outreach setting up a booth is is great

you know on front street for for Capona

but actually talking to people walking

and seeing you know being around and

being like hey my my storm water's

clogged or this or that instead of just

sending a letter perhaps it could be a

little heavy-handed um that grant you're

speaking which is actually an SRBC grant

so I don't want to talk too much about

it why it's set up that way. So, I've

recused myself from that. I'm sorry. But

I do think there's better opportunity to

actually get outreach and I think

Capital Region Water collaborating with

our city neighborhood services folks. I

think there's an opportunity there that

that could actually join us a lot better

like we used to be back in the day.

Yes. When it was all run by the city

back in the day. There's a good part

sometimes. Um that's the only questions

I have. Thank you again for um even

considering the position. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Thank

you, Councilwoman Ross. Any questions?

Thank you. Um, thank you both for being

here tonight, being willing to volunteer

your time to be on the Capitol Region

Water Board. Um, all of my questions

have actually been asked and answered,

most of them. I actually do have one

more and then one comment, but um the

only question I had was kind of going

off of the outreach part two, especially

with so I guess it's more of a comment

than a question, but a lot of times in

the mail we get bills that say estimate

on them. And a lot of residents don't

know that that's what's happening until

two months later you get a $500 bill

that when you finally call and ask, "Why

is this so much?" they'll tell you, "Oh,

well, we've been estimating your bill

for the past couple months." Um, if you

are to be on this board, I will say, um,

so it is more of a comment. Please, um,

find a way to have outreach to residents

about that because everybody doesn't

understand what that estimate means

until you get hit with that large bill

at one time. And then you really can't

do anything about it. It's very

difficult. And then you have to make

payment plans. And I mean, It's very

stressful. So, I think trying to find

some type of way to one not have that

type of bill. Um, we should always be

having our meters read exactly and what

the actual read is and not an estimate

would be definitely step one, but also

step two should be changing the

processes within capital region water so

that if that does happen, there is some

type of comm customer service. So, no

one's paying that large um bill. And

then I would definitely say step three

is just that outreach to let um

residents know what what to do. So I

would truly appreciate that if if you um

are placed on this um board because that

is a huge issue. Um I will also say Shay

you had me at when you said education

and Harrisburg school district. I'm a

teacher so that that type of outreach is

big. Um Pierre, you're great too. I'm

just saying that that that education

really got me tingly. So thank you.

That's it for me. Thank you, Councilman

Rodriguez. Any questions? Thank you,

Madam President. U thank you both for

your willingness to serve in this

capacity and joining us this evening. Um

my question was geared towards the

conflict of interest, but I have more of

a statement for homeowners in the city.

Um there's been multiple complaints that

we've received regarding the underground

pipes that CRW does control, not the

waste pipes under the home, the ones

actually leading into the street. I

myself had a big issue arise where

they'll definitely bang on your door and

leave tickets and say you need to

address something but when you do

address it and it's on CRW they've been

MIA ever since and I mean from paying

there's homeowners that have that can't

afford to get the pipes jetted but they

do you know and they can't afford to get

a lot of those services done but maybe

Pronto comes out and offers a deal or a

discount but then what happens when CRW

finds out the burden is on them there's

no followup up. There's no in my

situation, we've released the camera

footage where they saw it was 60 feet

out into the street. There was never

followup. There was never anything. So,

there are still backed up pipes on 19th

Street in Harrisburg that CRW just keeps

jetting monthly because they don't want

to deal with a much bigger issue. It

could be party lines. It could be a lot

of different things. But there's a

deeper, darker secret that lies

underneath those pipes under the city

that sometimes are the burden of CRW. So

hopefully as board directors there's a

voice that you could speak for for the

voiceless in the city. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Jones. Any

questions? Um yes. Uh thank you both for

being here as well. And I would um also

add on to that because I have the same

issue. Um, and I waited for a very long

time for CRW to come out and um, stick

their camera in the sore to find out

that I did have a party line. Partial of

it was calling PA1 to mark the lines and

see where my sore line was and I dug up

the whole front of my house and it

wasn't there. Um, that was horrible. Uh,

um, but it did take them some time and I

know they had one operating camera and

hope they can invest in another one. I

know they cost about 100,000, but the

kind of money that they're making, they

should be able to purchase another one.

Um, but my other question is more to uh

both of you uh guys' background. And um

I had the the great opportunity to

actually tour um

Deart and um along with uh State Rep.

Davidson and uh Karen Baliban. So, we

all went up and um I like what they're

doing with our our sewage water. um a

tour that section, but our drinking

water as well. That's very important to

me. And as you spoke about um if you

guys are not if you guys are, but being

environmentalists

um geology um how do you feel about

fluoride in our water? Um and and this

is huge and I'm saying this is very huge

for me because um the the responses I

get well we put um the regulated amount

in it but then when I see how they have

to administer it to our water you have

to almost have on a hazmat suit to to

put this in. But I think this is a a

huge issue. It calcifies scientifically

it calcifies um our bones and we over

time even in our toothpaste. So, how do

you guys feel about fluoride and would

you be an advocate to try to remove this

from our water? Go first. So, I I'll say

from the first perspective that's a

regulatory issue that um as much as the

board may want to change and do things,

we would have to follow Pennsylvania law

and rules for drinking water. So, just

aside, it wouldn't be a magic turn off

turn turn on. I am not a biochemist to

know exactly what that the water changes

would be. Um I will say what you're

saying when you you know put fluoride

into the water, you have to wear a

hazmat suit. Uh when I was a geologist

for private consulting, I worked for

DuPont and I had to go clean up Jolly

Rancher flavoring that was a level three

hazmat. So and you put that in your

mouth. Certain times chemicals in

certain concentrations

can stop Jolly Ranch,

but so it's it's you know it's a little

bit doesn't hurt a lot can kill you. Um

so and I would follow the science and

what it says and what's good. I do know

that it's really important for newborn

children for strong teeth. It reduces

cavities uh for certain things. It's not

the cure all beall. Maybe there's a a

better thing, but I would follow the

science and see what it says along with

regulations by Pennsylvania.

Well, I I'll respond to that. Um and be

clear, this is um something that I've

been looking at for a while, and that's

the response that I get to newborn

babies, and you know, people that don't

can't afford to go to the dentist and

take care of their teeth. But um there's

are are other states and municipalities

that's actually removed this uh chemical

from from our drinking water. And I will

say once I look at um some of the the

process up there and other than the uh

fluoride, a lot of our water has a good

pH balance in it. I will say that

because I I saw the process and it was

almost 7.5. It blew my mind, especially

with with the with the old um

infrastructure and the pipes that we're

talking about underground and they break

up and get brittle. But um yeah, I just

I just hope that you guys can really

look at that and um because if it's done

somewhere else, I think we can do it.

It's really an issue for me. It's not a

deal breaker for you guys, but I I'm

just wanted to be able to share that. So

So thank you for your response and I'll

hear yours. Well, um I'll kind of echo

what Pier said, but also that I don't

have as much background in kind of the

additives to our drinking water. Um, but

I will say that I think I really

appreciate that first there's at least

the openness and willingness to go and

take the tours and see what's happening

within the system and then you like

bringing up the dialogue to kind of push

because I think that's really healthy of

ways we can one see how systems are

being operated and what's happening and

then like as you learn push back a

little bit and have a have a larger

dialogue. So I think that's what I I

need to do is educate myself more on I

think at that level of like what's the

additives and I know now fa it's a

little bit of a a

political controversial you know

conversation with I wouldn't call it

political it's it's for me it's a public

health issue you know um that that

that's more of of of that for me um

again uh but I appreciate your

willingness to talk about that and um

educate yourself on it you know um and

one last thing I will talk about is um

our river the beautiful river we all

talk about in the storm water. Um, you

know, we're being fined. I know Capitol

Region has missed a lot of deadlines um

with the project. So, I hope you guys

can help push this along. And what else

is needed to to make this project um get

right because I believe our city is

being get sued pretty much a lot. Well,

fin because of the uh the runoff that's

going into our river. But, um yeah,

that's all I have for you guys. So, um

thank you.

Thank you. I have some additional

questions and maybe some comments. Just

wanted some clarification on a few

things.

Um, Mr. McCoy, how long have you been

serving as a member of the parking

authority board?

This is my fifth

year. My term is about up. I guess to be

reappointed. Okay. Hopefully or not.

Okay.

Thank

you. And um Miss

Swerver, um is your comm community is

your role as the community outreach

forester, is that a part-time paid

position or is this a part-time

volunteer role? Part-time paid. Okay.

and you assist in managing and

implementing a $2 million grant from the

US Forest Service to increase tree

canopy and build capacity to manage the

existing canopy which you mentioned but

I just wanted to to note that for the

record. Okay. And my next question

relates to the statement of financial

interest form that is required for any

board service uh within the city. Have

you all completed the form and submitted

it to the office of the city clerk and

office of city council? Yes. Thank you.

Just for everybody's um just a reminder

for everyone um it must be within the

clerk's office for 10 days prior to any

action that council can take on uh a

potential appointee. So I just wanted to

note that and share that for um your

reference. I don't think I have any

other questions. Council members, are

there any other questions for the two

potential appointees here? Yes. Thank

you, President Hill. Thank you again for

being here.

Um, have either of you collaborated in

your professional careers with the

medical community?

um in relation as it relates to um water

quality, the

environmental aspect that you work in.

Yes. Well, I worked at the um state

department of conservation natural

resources first in their urban forestry

program and then in the policy office

and a lot of the work we did uh we

collaborated often with department of

health but also local and regional

healthc care institutions

um because of the connections with trees

and asthma rates and then there the

storm water their contributions to water

quality, storm water management um and

just the right the runoff and the the

bacteria and different pollutants that

can go into the waterways, especially in

waterways where people are uh where it

flows into drinking water systems or

they're recreating. Um but I enjoyed the

collaboration with different public

health. Thank you. Yes, I've worked a

couple several projects with the

Menanite Homes group. Uh it's a

nonprofit low-income uh retirement home

where they were having a lot of

illnesses on their seniors. It turned

out the water was being contaminated by

agricultural sources. We did a

development. We found grants from them

from the USDA. Uh and then we helped

them ch change their water so that they

got healthy and reduced the amount of

medicine they were on. Uh that actually

involved not only the the retirement

home but also the local null hospital

and the doctors all work together

because they couldn't figure out why

these these elderly folks were keep

getting sick. Uh and so it was really

eye opening how complex medical field

can be. But it was kind of gratifying to

finally solve the issue. Thank you. And

so you anticipate working with the

medical

community going forward if you are

actually selected for this position.

Water and food is medicine. Yes. And I I

agree. I think u capital region water

should be working alongside of the

medical community

because hospitals use water and water is

contaminated. It's a disaster for

everyone. There was um some pipes that

broke in front of my house. Maybe

a few months

ago. And so, Capitol Region Water

actually came out and fixed those and

they gave me a container. Well, it was a

water pitcher, a filtered water pitcher

to filter any

um particles that could have been in the

water or coming through the pipes um

from the breakage or them repairing the

new pipes.

Um, I'm not sure if I can even drink the

water now. I usually buy spring water to

drink, but I'm very skeptical about

drinking city water. Um, what can you

tell me

about this situation? I mean, do you

think that if something like that

happens and the pipes break in front of

your house, they're repaired by Capital

Region Water? Capital Region Water gives

you a filtered

um water pitcher to drink out of. Is

that something that should be used

ongoing for the next six months, a year?

Is it something that I should be or any

other resident should be concerned about

going forward? I can't speak

specifically to that break and that

situation. Um, I know that when we flush

hydrants uh up, I think it's a PA Aqua

or whatever they're called, the French

company now, uh, we get rusty water at

our work and that's particulate and it

makes me nervous as well through a

filter. I do know that a lot of that

sediment is temporary. Typically, they I

would say that they want you to flush

your house, but then again, the price of

water is a little expensive. I could see

where there was the opposite. As far as

the quality of the water, actually, um,

I have friends who have moved out of

Harrisburg and I bring them gallons of

Harrisburg City water because they miss

it. Uh, it's probably some of the best

water in the entire world. I've got I

managed to travel into in Europe. I've

seen the testing at the source. It's one

some of the best bar in the world. Our

pipes, however, are not necessarily

great. So, we still have some lead

pipes. I know that the capital region is

working on it to replace them. We have

combined sewers. We have brakes. That

needs to be addressed. The

infrastructure, but the water itself is

very, very good. So, I can't speak to

your house specifically. I think it's

interesting that it wasn't flushed out,

but I don't know specifics. But overall,

it is very, very good water.

Okay. So, you would you would be would

you be willing to drink the water from

the city without a filtered water

pitcher? Just curious. I do all the

time. Um and when they re when they

redid the gas lines in front of my

street and half paved my street and

knocked I don't know what they did to

our pipes, but it got really it it broke

something and they fixed it. I did wait

a week and flushed everything out until

all of a sudden it was out of my system

and then I I started drinking it again

and it was fine. Thank you for me. Thank

you. That's it for me.

Thank you. Any other questions before we

Okay, Councilwoman Ross, I just have one

quick additional question. Um, you both

come with such a wealth of knowledge and

um, experience um, from your other uh,

positions or things you've done in your

life that can contribute to you being on

the board for the Capital Region Water

Company. Um, I just had one question

with Miss Worver because you had

mentioned you have a paid part-time

position as with the city forester. Is

there any conflict of interest with that

at all with her being on the I know we

don't own the water company anymore but

still do you know if there's any

conflict of

interest if she just want to make

sure okay thank you that was all I had

okay thank you I moved to add resolution

22 of 2025 and resolution 23 of

2025 to our next legis legislative

session for a formal vote or legislative

session agenda, excuse me, for a formal

vote. This concludes the business of the

administration committee. The next

committee uh we will hear from is the

parks, recreation, and enrichment

committee. I will defer to our chair,

Councilwoman Ross. Thank you so much,

President Hill. Um Mr. Parker, can you

please read resolution 27 of 2025 in?

Yes. Resolution 27 of

2025, a resolution authorizing the city

of Harrisburg to negotiate and enter

into a professional services agreement

with BATA environmental associates for

the purpose of providing environmental

and geotechnical consultant services for

the Hall Manor Aquatic Facility Project.

Thank you very much, Mr. Parker. Is

there anybody here from administration

who could give us more information on

resolution 27 of 2025?

Oh yes, I do see there's someone online.

I believe they're with a

Hello. Please introduce yourself, what

position you hold, and then you can

begin. Thank you. Good evening, city

council. Yeah. My name's Go ahead. I

I'll introduce us real quick and then

we'll head over to you. Uh my name is

David Baker. I'm the facilities director

for the city of Harrisburg. And with me

we have Deborah Reheart who is our

senior project manager for the

facilities department. Um online uh sir

I'll let you introduce yourself right

now if you'd like.

Yeah. My name is Kevin Burns. Um

we can hear you. Oh, okay. I wasn't

sure. I thought I heard someone else

talking. Um yeah, my name is Kevin

Burns. I'm with Bad Environmental. Um

the department manager for the geo

environmental group. So this type of

scope of work um falls under my

department and um I was one of the main

authors of of the proposal that we

submitted to the city of Harrisburg for

this project. And my background is um

I'm a geologist. I'm a licensed

professional geologist um in the state

of Pennsylvania. Uh my background is

geotechnical investigations, phase ones,

phase twos, brownfields, you know, your

classic environmental geotech type work

here throughout Pennsylvania.

Thank you. All right. So, that being

said, um just to explain this to

everyone here, the the geotechnical and

environmental studies that we're

proposing to have done on the pool will

basically uh set up the frame. Excuse

me. Can you please speak into the

microphone?

Okay. Can better. Sorry about that. And

these things are so touchy. Um the

geotechnical environmental studies that

we're proposing to have done to the

pools here will really allow us to kind

of make the framework for our path to

move forward. Um if we move forward with

these studies and we find out that we

have a large number of detrimental

issues, sink holes, you know, buried

fuel tanks, you name it. uh we might

have to rethink a location of where or

how we're going to move forward with the

construction for this project and and

vice versa. If we find that we are um

clear of any sort of major issues in

there, we know that we have lots of

options that we can move forward in in

whatever manner we we deem necessary

after we've run these different tests

and and gotten these reports back.

Thank you. Is there anything you want to

add to that, Mr. Burns.

No. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Um I'll

open it up to questions. Um I the

resolution was pretty straightforward.

This is something we've been talking

about for a while. Um especially with

the grant money we got that I think I

believe was $13 million. Um that

included um this pull out the south and

also Jackson Lick which I know is still

an issue. Um, so the only question that

I had and I know we um needed to get

this geological um study done to see if

we are able to even build or revitalize

a pool um out the south, but uh the only

question that I had was

um where would the money be coming from

to pay for this? Um I think it's going

to cost about

$57,000 when I was o a little bit over.

Would it be coming from the $13 million

or be coming or would it be coming from

the parks and recreation uh budget? So,

that was my one question.

It's coming from the ARPA funding. It's

$8 million was allocated to Hall Manor

and this is phase phase one of that

which was the two million for the

design.

Okay. Thank you very much. Um I will

start here to my left at Councilman

Jones.

Thank you, uh, Councilwoman Ross. Yeah,

my question is similarly, um, related to

that as far as the, um, the ARPA

funding. Um, you know, uh, we definitely

need to find out what's going on with

the ground out there for the pool.

That's definitely, uh, a mustdo. But

again, when it comes

to what do you see, and I'm this

question is for both of you. What do you

see us moving forward if the ground is

solid enough for us to continue

utilizing um the pool in Southside

Harrisburg? But if it's not, again, even

the repairs, because I know we talked

about this as well, do you think that 8

million is going to be enough?

Sure. Uh so to the first part of the

question, as far as the the work to be

done out there after we have a viable

space, um I think we want to start with

that as soon as possible. Uh we all know

that prices are not getting any cheaper

for anything. So um the sooner we act on

it, the better. And I believe that we

after we get these reports back, we

should have everything in order to start

those next steps uh to start working out

there. And as far as $8 million goes for

the entirety of the project, um I do

believe the space will lend itself well

to that amount of money. Obviously, if

it's not enough money to do the project,

we can rightsize that project to make

the the dollar amounts correct or we can

look for additional funding if

necessary. So, we we have multiple

options we can do. Um obviously the

additional funding takes time. So,

depending on time constraints, you know,

either we reduce the size, the scope or

we phase the project if necessary. So,

we have different options we can look

into if it's not enough to make the

project whole right off the bat. Okay.

Would that be based off of like design?

I mean, when was this pool built? In

1968, I believe. Yeah. Yeah, around

1968. Um, but that yes, the design once

we get that design, it's going to give

us a real rough idea of the total cost

associated with it. And as we're doing

the design, we can explain to the

designers what our our cap is. and they

can make sure with that design that they

keep that in mind so they don't go, you

know, way above and beyond and design us

a $20 million structure that there's no

way we can afford to build the whole

thing all at once. So that's typically

how we go about doing it. Okay.

Um that's my that's it for me. That's

and then my questions right there for

now.

Thank you. Um Councilman Rodriguez.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh thank you for

joining us this evening. Um, Director

Baker, I remember vaguely during the

ARPA hearings, um, we were trying to

stay away from calling it an aquatic

facility because it we didn't know how

that word would confuse the residents.

Are we still considering a pool or are

we cons still considering like splash

pads or is it contingent on what we find

out with the surveys,

etc.? Uh, so I can I can tell you with

the surveys, it's really going to come

down to if construction is viable or

not. Uh, no matter what's put in there,

the the survey is going to tell us if we

can do it. U whether it's a pool or a

splash pad. I do know that a pool is

absolutely going in there. Um, I I do

believe that the splash pad was reduced

or eliminated. Uh, but the pool is

definitely still a thing that we are

planning on moving forward with. Okay,

that that was my main concern. And I

know there was some discussion about the

language, but we just wanted to rest

assure the residents on the south side

knew that that was a priority and you

know it's important that they get that

back cuz that keeps kids busy during the

summer. Absolutely. And happy and cool.

That's all. That's all I have. Thank

you. I have an additional question, but

I want to make sure my um council

members ask before I speak again. So,

I'm going to go here to President Hill.

Do you have any questions? Uh thank you.

I I wanted to clarify that we are just

speaking of a pool. Um just reminding

everyone that the residents did

regarding the ARPA funding were crystal

clear that they wanted a pool. Um so I

just wanted to remind everyone of that.

Um thank you also for the reminder of

the ARPA funding. We've been trying to

um gain some updates from the

administration related to ARPA funding

um to determine where everything stands.

So, thank you for the reminder of the

phasing of this project. And then my

last comment would be how many

um bids were received.

So we received eight. Eight.

Okay. Okay. I don't have any other

questions for now. Thank you. Thank you.

Uh, Vice President Green, thank you very

much. Uh, most of my questions have been

asked and answered. Um, I will say I'm

glad to see this moving forward. It

seems that a lot of things that we spoke

about uh during the offer process like

just kind of came to a standstill. So,

I'm glad to see this continuing to move

forward um and keeping keeping the

residents wants in needs um at the

forefront of things. So, thank you for

getting us uh to the step and hopefully

we can move forward at a fast pace.

Thank you very much, Councilwoman Davis.

Thank you, Councilwoman Ross. No

questions for me. Good evening.

Thank you. Um my additional question

just was

um I understand Betta is out of

Philadelphia. If I'm speaking

incorrectly, let me know. Um and you did

we did receive eight bids. So, just

wondering what stood out about them. I I

mean, they're local, but not local. I

know Phillies um are neighbor, but there

are some differences. So, just wondering

what stood out about this company over

the eight that um had bids and how many

were local bids.

Okay. So, um as Dave said, we did get

the the eight bids and um off the top of

my head,

There were three I believe that were

local. That would be um Navaro and

Wright, Penoni, and Skeleian

Loy. And um we did a traditional scoring

process with them with um set criteria

that all of the proposals were scored

against and um they had the highest

score. Um they were also the lowest

lowest bid.

Yes.

Okay. Thank you for that information. I

apologize. Next to lowest. Oh, next to

lowest responsible bid. Okay. Next. But

the highest score of the highest score.

Okay. So, there was just so I'm

clarifying because I'm it's in my head,

but just so I can say it out loud. There

were two that

were was there someone who had a higher

score than them? No, they had the

highest score in the next to lowest bid.

Correct. Thank you. Yes. That's why I

had to say it again. Okay. And just for

clarity sake, if you guys would like any

copies of the the scoring sheet, I'm

sure we can turn those over to to anyone

in council who would like one. Oh, that

would be great if you could email them

to us or email them to Mr. Parker and he

could get those to us. I think that

would be great. Thank you so much. I

appreciate that. Um notion director um

Baker. Uh those are all my questions.

Does anybody else have any others?

Oh, just a statement. Um, thank you for

uh

get pretty much getting those over to us

to Mr. Mike. But I I guess I could speak

for council when I say we would love to

see at any time any paperwork or

materials that are pertinent to anything

we have to look over because it helps us

make an educated decision. So, you know,

anything that goes with it, we would

always love to see it or just include it

over. That's never a problem. Director

Baker. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh, President Hill has mine

went off on me. It's tricky. Go ahead. I

have one more question regarding

timeline of all of this. So, should this

um agreement or be successful in moving

forward? What does the timeline look

like regarding uh the study?

Yes.

All right. Would you like to take this

one for us? Let us know how long you

expect it to take as far as the study.

Was that Was that May? Yes. Yes.

Okay. I was like, I thought they said

May. Um I I would say once we uh get our

um the first day we have boots on the

ground um it'd be probably four months

six worst case scenario but it'd be in

that window until you'd have you'd have

a final report from

us and obviously we'd be communicating

to you what we're seeing and what we're

finding throughout the project.

Thank you. Thank you.

And when they make that communication,

is this something that you would provide

in a quarterly report?

We certainly could. Um I'm flexible. I

can provide um the email. I can do

quarterly reports, monthly reports, um

whatever works best for um for anybody.

Um it's not a big big lift for me to do.

Thank you, Mr. Burns. I was speaking

more to Director Knight uh on behalf of

the Oh. Oh, excuse me. Uh, Director

Baker, I'm looking at you and he's

sitting right in front of me. Uh, I was

speaking more direct on to Director

Baker regarding uh the city's uh

quarterly reporting, but thank you for

your flexibility. It sounds like you

might be more flexible than uh the

directors and administration here. So, I

don't have any other questions. Thank

you.

Thank you very much, President Hill. Uh,

I think we would love to definitely see

a quarter uh report if we could. Um,

Director Baker, if this goes through,

just so we're on the same page of how

progress is going,

um, what the timeline is going to be,

especially if it's going to take four to

six months, just making sure we're

keeping the community up to date with

any findings. Would that be good with

um, you director Baker, Miss Reinhardt?

Of course. Okay. Thank you. Um, one last

thing, why have you here?

Um, Jackson Lick will be opening this

summer. And when will it open?

June. I know it's a little off topic,

but why have you in front of me? I think

it's a great question. Yeah. So, we're

shooting for the beginning of June.

Okay. And

um and are there any repairs that um are

going to be done on it? We've actually

don't get to hear from you all a lot.

So, we got you. We we've been working on

the pool sporadically throughout the

winter. Um we we did our winterization

this year. uh we did a really thorough

job at it and

um that that definitely helped us out a

lot as far as any sort of burst pipes or

anything because previous years we've

we've not been as hands-on. Um so uh

this year we we saved some time but you

know we we still we always have uh we

have to go out there we bump all the the

motors. We have some massive very very

expensive motors that run all the pool

filtration systems and if they sit

dormant all year long um they can kind

of rust in place. So, um, we have staff

that go out there on a semi-regular

basis. They bump them real quick. They

they'll turn them on and off really fast

because there's there's still water, you

know, in there. We don't want to burn

them up, but at the same point in time,

we don't want them rusting, uh, fast,

uh, because they're between, I think, 11

and $15,000 to replace these motors. So,

um, we make sure those are up and

running. We're scheduled to do that

again this week, the final time before

the actual opening, filling everything

with water. Um, we, uh, we winterize all

the filtration pipes. uh the filter

house itself, the bathrooms, pull every

single flushometer from every toilet. Uh

make sure the flushometers from the

urinals are taken care of. We do

everything necessary to to try and best

safeguard the city assets from freezing

in the wintertime. Um and then in the

summertime, we re-energize everything

and find all the little gremlins,

replace all the mixing valves, shower

heads, you name it. Um, if we have uh

this year we actually replaced every

single uh partition stall in the

bathroom and that was a heck of a job

tearing out all the the old rusty ones

and and putting in all new um partitions

between the restrooms. Uh that way we

have our ADA compliant sizing. Uh we

have all the proper grab bars and then

uh dispensers and everything else

necessary. So we're we're really trying

to make it the best we can for what we

have currently. So we should be good.

Thank you. Do you have to repaint the

bottom of the pool again? Epoxied, I

believe it was called. So,

unfortunately, we do. We have to reseal

that again. Um, you can see exactly

where the water line is, and I'm

assuming it's the chemicals in the water

that they're they're fading the uh the

sealant on that top coating. So, we're

doing that again this year. Um, it'll be

either at the end of this week or

beginning of next week. We'll be

pressure washing and then we'll be uh

pumping and and you know filtering out

all the debris that that's in the pool

shell currently. Uh we need about 3 to 4

days of dry weather and then um we'll be

repairing the expansion joints in the

pool and that's a pretty big job. We

actually have to cut into the concrete

and then fill those joints uh with an

expansion material and then that'll get

the whole thing will get retop coated uh

with the paint. Okay. Thank you. And

that was opening June 4th, right? Not

14th. Or did you say uh I said that

we're hoping for the beginning of June?

Okay. I guess I put my own Yeah. date

down there. Beginning of June. Okay.

Thank you. Well, I hope you all can come

back and let us know when it's opening

for the public sake just so when they

know uh when it's time to go to the pool

and we can get updated on them because

everybody doesn't go to the website. A

lot of residents um do listen to the

meetings even if they don't come. Uh so

thank you for that information. If

there's no more questions that um

concludes the business of the parks,

recreation and enrichment committee

unless you all have anything else to

say. Okay. And I would like to put

resolution 27 of 2025

2025 on the next legislative agenda,

please.

Thank

you. Our final committee business lies

with the public safety committee. Um, I

will defer to our public safety

committee chair, Councilman Jones. Thank

you. Um, President Hill, uh, Mr. Parker,

um, we can you please read resolution 25

and 26 into the record?

Certainly. Resolution 25 of

2025, a resolution confirming the

appointment of Leon Houston, Senior to

serve on the Citizens Law Enforcement

Advisory Committee. Resolution 26 of

2025, a resolution confirming the

appointment of Amichi Walker Senior to

the to serve on the Citizens Law

Enforcement Advisory

Committee. Thank you. Uh Mr. Walker, Mr.

Houston, make sure you guys sit close to

the mic so everyone can hear you and um

introduce yourself. Give a brief uh

description on your background.

My name is Leon Houston. Um, I moved

here in

1981 from Meville, Pennsylvania. I grew

up out the

southside. Played for the

Cougars.

Um, my life took a little turn at the

high school. I got in a little trouble,

you know, I mean, but I turned it

around, you know. I mean, I had kids. I

got four

kids and two

grandkids. I'm here.

My name is Amichi Walker, Senior. Um,

I'm lifelong residents of uh Harrisburg.

Um, I have uh been a part of the city uh

internally with the community from

probably since uh my early 20s. Uh I

also have ran for district judge in this

uh community, the same community. And uh

one of my part of my agenda was

connecting the community with the police

uh department and getting an education

uh giving education to both sides to try

to amend you know some of the um

relationships that has been strayed over

the years is finding ways to be able to

connect them being that bridge uh and

closing the gap on you know uh the

misconception of of either side. So, you

know, I definitely have a lot of ideas

and uh you know, um concerns that I

think I can help out the process because

that's a big issue in our city at this

time. So, I think that's one of the

biggest, you know, issues. So, I feel

honored to even be up here uh today to

be able to, you know, um be a part of

this committee and uh you know, make

something happen. All right. Thank you.

So, I just asked a couple questions for

you guys. Um, of course, um, grew up

with you guys, know a lot about your

backgrounds as well. Um, hopefully my

colleagues got opportunity to look at

your resumes. Uh, so first I'll ask the

standard question we always ask. You

think there's any conflict of interest

if you guys were selected to serve on

this

board that you can think of? No.

Uh, myself, I'm on another board, but I

don't think it um it would be a conflict

of interest. I'm on a uh board with a

school and that's a Silven Heights

Charter Science Charter School. I'm a

vice president on that board, but I

don't think that would be a conflict of

interest, but that's the closest thing I

can think of. No, you'll be fine with

that. And then um my question would be

um how do you feel serving on this

committee will actually uh benefit the

residents uh of Harrisburg?

Either one of you can go for it. Okay.

All right. No problem. Um, I think uh it

would

be not only a pleasure of mine, but it

would be uh I would be a valuable piece

because I'm connected to the community.

I've been connected to the community for

so long that they'll be able to, you

know, express certain things to me that

they may not feel comfortable expressing

to officers and, you know, certain

people, officials that they may be uh

intimidated by or, you know, not able to

communicate effectively with. So in the

same sense, I will be able to being in

the gap be able to educate them about

some things that the officers and the

city expect and expectations that they

should have for themselves more so than

anything first and foremost. Um as they

move forward to help the community be

more safe. Um, and on the other side,

um, being able to sit down with the

officers, uh, outside of their work

duties, you know, I've talked to them a

lot of times, they're in a uniform and

and that nature, and they're not really,

you know, able to be open enough because

they have the job to do. And to get them

in a room and sit down and really hear

what they have to say in a controlled

environment, you know, when there not a

lot of um, things going on would be a

great opportunity to, you know, hear

their side of things. also give them

some recommendations of how to deal with

our community as well because a lot of

them uh really don't know how you know

and it's not no uh it's not nothing

against them personally but that's

something we had to work on. We had to

educate them about uh our community and

a lot of it is not book knowledge things

they have training with through the

academy and all the above. You have to

be in this an environment and to

understand it to be able to police it

correctly. And if you do it correctly,

eventually it'll police itself once you

build the correct relationships.

All right. I basically feel the same

way.

Um I mean, you know, growing up in our

manner, the police used to come out here

and throw the football with us. You

know, we had the crate courts out back

there. Come, let me get a shot. You know

what I mean? I think trust, building a

trust is everything. You know what I

mean? Because even if you ain't doing

nothing good, a cop, a kid can see a cop

and get nervous.

You know what I mean? I remember the cop

just ride past. We wave at him. The fire

truck ride past. We like, you know what

I mean? So, I mean, I just feel like

this this trying to get back to trusting

each other. You feel what I'm saying?

And I and I was on other side. So, at

one time I was always like, you know

what I mean? But I know, you know, I

mean, you got to have some structure,

you know, I mean, so I just feel like I

mean, I'm a good because I can relate to

the community. They know who I am. I

mean, people don't even see me. No big

f, you know what I mean? So,

yeah, that's good. Also, for the record,

too, I am um certified as a credible

messenger.

Wanted to put that credible messenger,

too. So, unbadged officer. I said

unbadged officer.

Nah. Uh, thank you. That's all I have

for you. I open up the floor to my

colleagues, starting to my immediate

right with Councilman Rodriguez. Thank

you, Chair Jones. Um, gentlemen, thank

you for your willingness to serve in

this capacity. Long time coming.

Unfortunately, um, just something the

administration didn't see value in, but

council took it upon their own and made

it work. Um, I really look forward to

seeing this body govern and be that

liaison for the residents that we need.

And one thing I want you gentlemen to

know that's extremely important in this

work, you're going to get people that's

going to confront you and say there's no

power in the board. But guess what?

That's why you have council members with

subpoena power. So when you're not

getting the answers you need, you make

sure you come to your chair of public

safety or anyone of your council

representatives and we can not only

subpoena but go after those answers that

you guys deserve on that board. Um, they

try to downplay the board often,

downgrade the board often. But I think

it's essential because I'm a man that

has high integrity and walks a very

straight line. Proud father, business

owner, and I still get nervous when the

cop car gets behind me. And I don't got

nothing on me but food from a food

pantry, right? Like it's just something

that's like embedded in us from where we

are, from detriments that we've

encountered as children growing up. But

it doesn't mean we're bad people. So, if

you're not getting the answers you need

on that board, please see any one of us,

especially your public safety chair. And

I guarantee you, we can fight together

and make sure the residents are not only

being treated fairly, but equitably,

right? And uh we want to go back to the

days where the officers, let me get a

shot, you know, let me Right. But it's

going to take a lot of work, right?

First of all, we we're going to have to

encourage these babies that it's a great

career. And if we get more officers that

look like us in our communities, that's

when we'll start seeing things change

for the better, right? I'm not saying

that they're all bad, but there are some

instances where it's just like I said

what I said and it is what it is and it

should always be like that. We're not

prisoners in our own community and I

hope the Kleak board could bring a lot

of positivity out. So, thank you

gentlemen both. Appreciate it. You're

welcome. Uh yeah, thank you Councilman

Rodriguez. But I would I would uh think

about the the subpoena powers. I think

we've been down that road before where

it may come into an effect with the FOP

and and you know the CBA. I'm not sure.

Can legal answer that when it comes to

saying incidents?

Yeah.

Yeah. And I just want to make sure it

doesn't conflict with

Right.

Okay. Gotcha.

Absolutely.

Yeah. Yep. All right. Thank you. Um,

Council Member Rodriguez, yes, I would

again agree with it. I think this is a

much needed step moving forward going

into uh repairing a relationship with

our police department um and the

community. So, uh I'll pass it down next

to uh Councilwoman Ross.

Thank you so much um Councilman Jones.

Um thank you both for being willing to

volunteer uh your time on this board for

coming today and answering questions.

Um, I think these are the last two

positions we needed filled so we could

get the board up and running. So, thank

you so much. Um, this is a long time

coming. Um, you both are staples in our

community, trustworthy in our community,

and I think that will definitely help,

um, build that and reunite that gap

right now that is between the police

department and our residents. Um, so I

thank you for that. I know um the board

and what's laid out for it is is so much

more and sometimes we go out of our job

scope and I can see both of you doing

that um to make sure that the job gets

done. So, thank you. I don't have any

questions. It was just mainly comments.

I'm just great. I just love that I see

two positions in front of us so we can

get the board moving. So, thank you

again and um that's it for me. You're

welcome. Thank you, President Hill.

Thank you. I just had two comments and

then maybe a question. So, I just wanted

to clarify that Mr. Houston resides is a

city resident and he resides in police

district number

five and Mr. Walker is a city resident

and he resides in police district 7. So,

I just wanted to note that um as

Councilwoman Ross stated, we're really

excited because we need all seven uh

appointmentments to the board for

everyone to begin working. Um, my

question is I I know that Councilman

Jones in his role as our public safety

chair sort of put out a call to the

residents, uh, a broad call um,

specifically looking for police district

5 residents and police district 7

residents. But what piqu your interest?

What made you say he bullied? Let me do

it. Say no.

Like what piqu your

interest? Always talk to him many times.

and he he was just basically like, "Man,

you'll do good at this." You know what I

mean? So, I was basically bringing it to

him. Okay.

It was something that was already uh a

part of what I wanted to do or a vision

I had. So, when he brought it to me, it

was an honor to say, "Oh, for sure." It

was like a no-brainer. And I also like

the way that he's connecting with the

community with different topics,

different things that we have concerns

about. He's like right there, you know,

with um answers or, you know, I get back

to you. Not I don't know. You know,

that's the worst thing you can say when

you're in leadership is I don't know. He

finds the answers and he's he's really

connected with the community to try to

get things, you know, in proper

perspective moving forward. So, it was

an honor to, you know, take the

opportunity to do this. Well, thank you

both for your interest. Um and I hope

that it is a productive experience for

for you moving forward. Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Vice President Green. Thank

you very much. Um, first of all, thank

you both for being here tonight. Thank

you for taking the time to even consider

this. Um, you know, volunteering takes a

lot out of people sometimes. You know,

it's it's a lot of time. Uh, it can

bring stress. It's meetings. It's a lot

of different things. Um, and you're

representing the city. So, I appreciate

you even taking that on your shoulders.

Um, because that's that's a big step.

Um, this has been a long road to get

here. uh from the conversations to

create the bill to the community forums

to the sitting waiting waiting waiting

for the administration to make their

appointments until we um just had to

step up and and take the role on

ourselves. So I appreciate you guys for

being here. I look forward to this. Um I

will tell you like listening to you and

then knowing you coach Meech, you know,

we go back to to most off baseball days

when you was my coach. um and knowing

the the work that you do in the

community.

Um I will say uh that when this board

was created, this committee was created,

um it was with community members like

you in mind, people who really represent

the community, who know people who can

be that liaison. Uh because that's a

really important role. just putting

anybody in these positions uh that's not

comfortable with the community and the

community is not comfortable talking to

does us no good because um it just

creates another barrier. If people don't

feel comfortable coming and having these

conversations or bringing up issues that

are going on, then the board's not going

to serve us any justice. So, I thank you

guys for the work that you've already

done in the community to build that

trust and I appreciate you um lending

that to the city. So, thank you. You're

welcome, Councilwoman Davis. Thank you,

Councilwoman Jones. And thank you

gentlemen for being here. I voted for uh

this initiative to move forward. I'm

always uh supportive of anything that we

can do as a community to help our youth.

Um we have so many great examples of uh

success in our community but

unfortunately the negative has

overshadowed all of that. Um, I just uh

look at my colleagues as well as myself.

Business owner, entrepreneur. I'm a

medical professional and um I've raised

a doctor, you know, and I'm born and

raised right here in the city of

Harrisburg. And there is many more uh

success stories here. I just would like

to um see more. But for the business at

hand, I support you. anything that I can

do to help you do your jobs um better.

We got to get a handle on what's going

on out there right now with the gun

violence and everything. But again, I

would just like to see some more of our

success stories. We're all successful

sitting here and we have various

backgrounds. I'd like to see more of

that out here um in council because we

do have youth in our community that are

doing great things. They're all not

being in trouble. So, thank you again

for being willing to serve. We

appreciate you and thank you for being

here this evening. You're welcome.

And yes, uh thank you, Councilwoman

Davis. Um, so I'll just give my

colleagues an update as well. Um, on the

cle board in the community for our

people that are viewing, um, that, um, I

did reach out to all of the members that

were the five other five members that

were previously, um, appointed and they

are still are on board. Um, which is a

good thing. They are still interested. I

know they've been lingering for a very

long time, but it was just great to

reconnect with them and um make sure

that this will actually be a have an

opportunity to move forward because I

believe our community really needs it.

So, um with that being said, um that

concludes the business. Before we

conclude, I just want to make sure that

the record is clear and that everybody

understands the board is not actually

complete yet. So they once the seven

members have been uh gone through then

they have to get together pick two more

and they come back and see you guys as

well and then the board will be

complete. All right. Yeah, I did see

that. I didn't know. Thank you for that

know if they were alternative or not but

at least our portion of it correct to at

large. It's been so long that she just

But but I think um we do have other

applicants that that that apply. So I

think they can be able to to look at

those individuals as well um that

because we did once we put out the the

the request for people to attend this.

Um we we've had a abundance of people um

wanting to serve on this. So I think

this again we're we're in a good space

right now and I think um and it's time

for us to to get this thing rolling. So,

just for the record, I just wanted to

give an update. Council member

Rodriguez. Thank you, Chair Jones. And I

just wanted to make a statement on

record for everyone that's viewing at

home to how complex sometimes things can

be and the decisions we have to make as

council members. Um, Councilwoman Asha

Green started this uh in 2020 and I

picked up the burden when I got office

and chair. Councilwoman Jones is now

completing the work. So, I mean, we've

gone through it, you know, going on what

six years now, and it's not always as

easy said as done. So, I just wanted to

put that on the record because sometimes

when we're in the the streets, I'm sure

everyone gets that. What's taking you

guys so long? Why can't we just enact

it? It is a process to everything we do.

And sometimes slow motion is better than

no motion. But I really like to

congratulate the council as a whole, the

administration, and you gentlemen in

here, as well as the five that were

appointed. And I look forward to Cleak

being fully formed and getting to work.

So, thank you all. Yes, you're welcome.

Uh, go ahead.

The last thing I would say is just to

remind council that uh it is up to you

guys to decide one of these positions

goes for two years and one of these

positions is for three.

Yep. Um, so before I move forward, does

any of my colleagues have any any more

questions or comments? Just one more

comment. Um, a big thank you to the

legal department. Uh, because this

wouldn't be possible without you. Um, I

know Neil and I sat down many times,

um, predecessors to some of these

positions and myself sat down, um, and

created trainings and powerpoints and

all sorts of things that, um, hopefully

will be able to be used, uh, if they're

still available. Um, but, you know, just

thank you to the legal department. Um,

even up until now, you're reminding us

of the next steps and what needs to be

done. So, um, a lot of the work you do

doesn't get recognized, and I just want

to say I appreciate it.

All

right. Um, so yeah, that concludes the

uh business of the public safety

committee and I would ask um that this

be moved to the next legisl legislative

session um for vote and I also ask my

colleagues to support it. That's it.

Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank

you. Uh we will now open the floor for

public

comment. Same housekeeping rules apply.

Please state your name and your address

for the meeting record. If you don't

feel comfortable sharing your address,

please share the vicinity in which you

live within the city. You will have four

minutes to share your comments. Mr.

Parker will serve as our timekeeper. I

will begin to my right. Is there anyone

that would like to offer public

comment? Seeing and hearing no one,

anyone in the middle

section? Okay.

Good evening, council members. Excuse

me. Mark Kowski, current chairman of the

board for Capital Region Water. Just

wanted to thank you all for the

extensive uh vetting process this

evening for the two candidates under

resolutions 22 and 23 and

2025. Uh would express my heartfelt

support uh for both candidates. Um

absolutely on paper uh they read

incredibly well. I had the pleasure of

sitting with Miss Worver. her background

is uh so spot on for what we need on

that board. Um I actually know Mr. McCoy

professionally years ago from having

cross paths. So I think both would be

phenomenal candidates in addition to our

board. As you may be aware, we've had an

empty seat for quite some time now. So

to fill the board out would be

fantastic. And I believe, and I'm not

going to speak for Representative

Davidson who's not here this evening,

but I believe part of this was he's now

got his hands full with some matters up

on the hill uh to be able to step away

and these two candidates would just be

fantastic to fill those. A number of

questions that came up tonight that I

would happily speak to um separately

after the fact around metering, around

some of our public engagement and

outreach. Um I don't want to tie a

public comment for that. Certainly about

the fluoride situation has has most

certainly become a a hot topic. We're

happy to discuss. One thing I would say

uh to council woman Davis, our water

absolutely unequivocally, we actually

just I think four years ago, we won a

national contest that we were named the

the fifth best drinking water in the

country. We took great pride in how we

treat our water and our system.

Absolutely. We've got 100-y old pipes.

Three years ago, we dug up a pipe that

was made of wood. So like we certainly

encounter different things but we work

very hard to you know prioritize uh

capital improvements to replace those

things and when we do have main breaks

or leaks there is a process that we go

through to ensure that when those things

are reconnected there's bacterial

testing there's a number of things that