Harrisburg City Council Policy Work Session 3/31/2026

of your time. The time is 5:30 p.m. So,

I would like to call our policy work

session to order.

Mr. Truesdale, could you please call the

roll?

Ms. Davis Present. Ms. Green

Mr. Jones Here.

Mr. Lawson Here. Ms. Rolls

Mr. Rodriguez Present. Ms. Hill Present.

Please note Councilwoman Rolls is

excused this evening.

Uh we are gathered uh this evening for

our second installment of the boards,

commissions, and authorities policy work

session. If you'll remember, we hosted

one last year. We received really good

feedback, so we didn't want to leave

anyone out. So, thank you all for

joining us this evening. Um so, just a

brief overview of what we'll hear. Uh

we'll learn of the general function of

the board, commission, or authority in

which you represent.

Uh we will discuss current membership

status,

opportunities for public engagement, a

reporting structure, and qualifications

for appointment.

So, we will begin with the Broad Street

Market Alliance.

Good evening, Council. Thank you for

inviting us here to speak.

Thank you. If you wouldn't take a a

moment to introduce yourselves, please.

Um we do have new microphones, but um

just if you could move them really close

to you just so that those viewing um on

YouTube and on Channel 20 are able to

hear you. Thank you.

Sounds good.

Uh

my name is Paul Gellerman. I'm the chair

of the Broad Street Market Alliance. I

live in Uptown Harrisburg, and um really

looking forward to just sharing some of

what the Broad Street Market Alliance

has been doing recently and some of the

overview questions that you asked for.

I'm joined by other members of the Broad

Street Market Alliance.

Hi.

This is Sherry, the market manager. I'm

just here to support and answer any

follow-up questions you may have. And I

also live in Uptown.

And I am Doug Rickards. I

uh recently joined the market board as

the vice chairman, and uh live in

Midtown.

So, for an overview of our general

function and scope of work, uh so the

Broad Street Market Alliance is a 501c3

nonprofit organization uh that was

established to manage and preserve the

Broad Street Market buildings in

Harrisburg. Uh we hold a lease and a

a lease and management agreement with

the city of Harrisburg. Uh that was

recently extended for a year and uh

through the work of City Council and the

mayor's administration. And uh we hope

to talk more about that in the future.

Uh but under this arrangement, we serve

as both a lessee and the exclusive

manager for the market. Uh so our core

purpose is to operate an urban public

market that provides accessible,

affordable, and healthy food. Uh

we try and bring local farmers, growers,

producers, and chefs into the city into

the market to

make their goods or sell their goods. Uh

we also a big part of our mission is to

preserve the architectural and

historical character of the market uh

along with

really celebrating the diversity of

cultures and foods that are within

Harrisburg.

Uh

we have done some limited uh

non-food vendors that sell locally made,

handmade, artisanal goods. Uh and we

really want to support entrepreneurship

within the market. Uh there have been

several local uh restaurants that have

started in the market and have

eventually spun off into their own

standalone uh businesses within the

city.

Uh and a big goal of ours is to achieve

long-term financial self-sufficiency.

Uh that's a

been a challenge for the market

recently, especially since the fire uh

and something I can go into more detail

if if needed.

In practical terms, we run the market's

day-to-day operations, uh which is

really championed and led by Sherry, our

excellent market manager, who does so

much good work for the market. Uh

that includes work with vendor

relations, marketing, community

programming. Uh we have

Uh we report to the city of Harrisburg

under the lease, but we operate or we

exercise the full operational control

over them over the building and the

operations. Uh, we would like to express

our appreciation for the some

partnership with the city recently in

getting some

much needed capital improvements and

projects done. Uh, replacing the water

heater in the market, that was in

partnership with the city. Uh, repair to

the heating system, which would

sometimes just drip and uh, that was

repaired in partnership with the city.

And some other improvements.

Uh, and so moving on to the next

section, the current membership status

and vacancies. Uh,

according to our bylaws and our articles

of incorporation, we have no traditional

membership in a legal sense. It's really

just the board of directors itself

constitutes the membership of the

corporation. Uh, and we are structured

with 18 positions on the board.

Two of those positions are appointed by

the city council. Uh, two are ex officio

voting seats, which are held appointed

by the mayor's office. Uh, and then we

have 11 seats that are elected by the

sitting board. Two seats that uh, are

elected by the vendors committee so that

the vendors have some representation on

the board. And then we have one seat

that's elected by the friends of the

market, which is a community

organization uh, affiliated with the

market.

And so ideally these members serve

staggered 3-year terms uh, divided into

three groups. Uh, operationally that

hasn't quite happened. What's really

just uh, the members

uh, have

churned over, switched out, refreshed

over time. Uh, not necessarily always on

that 3-year term. Uh, but ideally that's

what we are trying to go for. Currently

we have 14 seated members of the 18. Uh,

Uh, there are there's uh, an open

position for the Friends of the Market

elected member. There's one open

position for a city council appointee

and two elected directors positions are

also open.

And so for our public engagement

practices, the bylaws we have in our

bylaws, we have two standing committees

that are specifically focused on

outreach and the public presence. Uh,

this includes our marketing committee

which uh,

is

really responsible for sharing

information about the market, what's

going on, uh, trying to promote both the

market itself and the vendors inside of

it.

Uh,

we

uh,

we've done some

uh,

attempt to understand really the patrons

of the market through some surveys and

through some just trying to understand

what the overall

um, traffic in the market, how many

people visit. Uh, just to support the

marketing efforts.

And so our we also have a community

outreach and engagement committee

which

helps to plan events,

uh, conduct some of those surveys and

con- uh, hold food and agriculture

education for students. That's been

something that really just given

everything going on with the market

right now hasn't been a top priority,

but we would really like to in- have

more of that type of programming in the

future.

So moving on to the governance and

reporting structure, uh, so the Broad

Street Market Alliance is governed by

the Board of Directors which operates

under the Pennsylvania nonprofit law. We

hold our uh, board meetings following

Robert's Rules of Orders.

Uh we have four officers, the the

chairperson, vice chairperson,

secretary, and treasurer.

Uh and then those four consist of the

executive committee with one additional

executive committee member being a

vendor. Uh

And so

um

We also have to go over the committees a

little bit more. In addition to the

executive committee, we have the

facilities committee, uh which oversees

the market facility, is responsible for

developing a capital improvement plan.

We have our finance committee, where we

review budgets, talk about fundraising,

uh and really all of

money matters. Uh we also have a vendor

committee, which is where the vendors

are able to get together. It's also

where we will typically review uh new

applicants for the market uh through the

vendors committee, the marketing

committee like I mentioned, and the

community outreach and engagement

committee.

Uh

as far as other governance, the city uh

in within the lease has uh specified an

annual report that needs to be that's

supposed to be shared with the city.

Uh

it's details the assets, liabilities,

revenues, and overall uh operations of

the market for the year. And uh

we also have some other internal

governing documents, including a

financial management policy, conflict of

interest policy. Uh and we really try

and be as open and transparent as we can

be with our operations. Uh we post

meeting minutes

as quickly as we can to the website. We

post financial statements to our

website,

uh bylaws, and

the

the annual budget onto the website as

well.

Uh and so for the qualifications for

appointed board members,

uh really it's fairly standard, 18 years

old. Uh the majority of the board

members must reside in the city of

Harrisburg, which is a threshold that we

meet.

Um and the directors serve without a

salary. We're everybody working with the

market with the exception of uh Sherry

and the market staff are volunteers on

the board.

And so uh

the appointments, like the appointments

made from city council, uh those are

really done at the discretion of city

council and by a majority vote. And

uh the

mayor nominations are largely done

through the prerogative of that of the

administration.

And so

uh we have a nominating committee, which

when we are looking to uh bring new

directors into the market, uh goes

through nominating committee, uh

interviews, and then uh the nominating

committee will recommend uh

or uh nominate some of those applicants

for election onto the board.

And so

um

within this document, uh it goes on.

I've got really just the overall uh

skills that are looked for for some of

the different committees. So our finance

and accounting, obviously we're looking

for our financial backgrounds, we're

looking for management background.

Really anybody with background in

facilities or food service uh is a great

candidate for the board. And so uh

it's a

you know, the market is I think a

institution of Harrisburg and it's a

really uh

it's an asset to the city. And so

we really value the community ties that

that we have with the market. See it not

just as a food hall or as a

really just food related space, but it's

really a community related It's a space

for the community.

And so

As the new chair, I've outlined three

primary goals that for the board and for

the market that we need to focus on for

this year. The first one being process.

We need a clear consistent process so

that everybody every vendor is treated

the same way so that the market becomes

more resilient to turnovers

with the established ways of doing

business and established process.

Participation is another key focus that

we have. Which is really oriented

towards active participation from board

members. If you're volunteering, there

needs to be participation

within the market whether that's

not just going to board meetings, but

participating in events and really

helping support the market with all of

the different efforts that we have going

on.

And the really the final final one, but

the most important is

shoring up our financial foundation.

So in order to fulfill any of our

mission, we need to be financially

stable. And so we don't have a balanced

budget right now,

but that is something that we are

working towards really through the

initiative of the our market manager

through our treasurer. We've already

implemented some ways to increase

revenue. One of those being another

revenue stream through the information

display which is a

TV in the market which we're selling

advertising space on to local

organizations

and nothing food related, no competition

with the market,

but that is an alternative revenue

stream.

We've been exploring hosting events at

the market as another revenue stream,

and we also have uh and have been in

discussion with uh for sponsorship

opportunities or other larger

fundraising opportunities.

Uh that in addition to grants, which we

are constantly looking for new grant

opportunities. Uh we've applied for two

this year already. Uh and so

those are all some of the different ways

that we're really looking to strengthen

our financial foundation, especially as

we look towards the opening of the brick

building, where we don't necessarily

know what the operating expenses will be

like. We have an estimate from the the

tent and the HVAC-related expenses, but

we want to make sure that we're in a

financially sound position for when the

brick building opens.

And so uh despite some of those

challenges, we've got real momentum,

real optimism at the market. Uh we've

got a committed board, dedicated

vendors, and the community really values

the market uh itself. And so uh through

some of those those

efforts that we've got going on,

uh we

we plan to make sure that the market is

a

sustains itself for another 160 years.

And so that is all I have.

Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you for your presentation this

evening.

Um I don't have any questions. I serve

as one as one of the appointees um on

behalf of City Council just for

everyone's transparency.

Um so I don't have any questions. I will

open the floor to my colleague who may

have some additional questions for you.

Um I'd like to begin with Councilwoman

Davis. Do you have any questions?

Thank you, President Hill. Good evening

and thank you for being here this

evening.

I wanted to ask about the new building.

You mentioned the budget wasn't

balanced. Um

in terms of the new building,

do you have any information you can

offer us um

from a financial perspective?

On the building.

Uh in terms of cost projections or

current financial situation?

>> On the financial situations. Yeah. Um

the

most recent financial documents are up

on the website. I can also share them

directly with you. Um

but we can share

more financial information. Could you

give us a 4-hour residents um

information? Give us the website the

name of or the website address, please.

Sure. It's uh broadstreetmarket.org.

Uh

let's see here.

Okay. And you mentioned

outreach and surveys. To what extent

throughout the city have these surveys

gone out?

Uh the surveys were really just

conducted for uh patrons of the market.

So they were posted as QR codes within

the market building. Um and if a

patron of the market wanted to

share some feedback or uh answer some of

the questions, then they could do that.

Uh

and so it was really limited to only

patrons of the market already. And we

were aware of that bias uh when we did

the survey.

How do you

come up with the names of the patrons of

the market? How do you determine who's a

patron of the market?

Uh I just mean that in the general sense

as somebody who came to the market.

Customers. Yeah.

Okay.

Um

So, how do you determine? Do you look at

someone's credit card to I mean, how do

you know? Is there a list a sign-up list

for patrons or customer? How do you get

the customer's information to be able to

send out the surveys to them? The The

surveys were a QR code. Uh and so, in

order to take the survey, they would

have to use their phone, uh physically

be there with the QR code, and take

picture of it, open it up on their web

on

Oh, okay. Was the QR code at the market

itself? Or Okay, only at the market.

>> Correct. Okay. That explains why I

didn't get a survey. Sure. Um so,

patrons or customers or residents of the

city who don't go to the market every

week, they may not have an opportunity

to

participate in the survey.

Um I think that the survey was up

on the tables of the market for about

the last 6 months. So, no, if you were

not at the market within the last year,

you would have not seen the survey.

Okay. Was there information on the table

that an average person who's just

walking through shopping

can see and that they would know that

this is a survey for

>> Yeah, I think they were

fairly prominent. Uh

Yeah. Okay.

Um

I think I have one other question.

Uh

Maybe not. I make it that

a little bit later. Sure. Enough

question. Thank you very much.

>> Yeah.

Thank you, Councilman Rodriguez. Do you

have any questions? Thank you, Madam

President. Thank you all from the BSM

team for joining us this evening. Very

thorough I presentation.

Although I know we all know the value

that the market brings to the city.

Could be potentially some would argue

with the heart of the city.

Thank you for all the work you do.

Miss Parks Taylor, what would be the

most challenging part of being the

market manager? If you had to put

something on there, just maybe one or

two.

What gets lost in the story of the

market a lot is that

it is comprised of two buildings and a

courtyard that put together is 20,000

square feet of facility space

in the middle of Harrisburg. Managed by

a staff of one administrator, myself,

two janitors, and that it has

operated in such function with very

limited staff

for many years now.

The relationship with the city and the

relationship to our

lease pre-the extension

doesn't bode well for a healthy

relationship for the caretaking of

160-year-old

260-year-old buildings

that are very large. So, I think for me

the daily operations and upkeep of the

building itself.

Weekly, monthly, things are breaking,

things need to be cared for, and the

budgeting that we have is just not

there. I don't think there is a

non-profit in the city that has the

budget to care for 20,000 square feet of

160-year-old buildings.

So, that is very difficult.

As well as that we are open to the

public, right? And so, we have to

function in some sort of way

in order to be open to the public and

comply with health code. So there

there's a juggling act here that for me

finances are the only solve.

And it's the only solution. Thank you

for that. And

just to reiterate, I understand and

appreciate all of your work. Um

Yeah, I appreciate you going through the

structure of the 501c3 and all its

components. And for those watching, it

could definitely help because I know

sometimes on the outside looking in, you

don't really know what the structure of

the market would be or who the go-to

people would be on a daily basis. So

Sure. thank you all. Nothing further.

Thank you. Vice President Jones, do you

have any questions? Yes, thank you.

Thank you all for being here. Thank you

for your presentation.

Um some of my questions that I had were

answered by you so far.

Uh

Mr. Gillman, um one of the things though

you talked about um and I'm taking it

it's in the the standing building where

you're talking about uh

the HVAC system. Is that's the building

we're talking about the dripping and all

of that's coming from, right? The storm

water.

Okay. And and and I agree with you as

well. You know, just reading this and

and seeing how this all laid out, I

don't think the the public knows that,

you know, even though the city owns it's

a landlord-tenant relationship, right?

So we don't want to be slum lords,

right? So we got to seriously, we got to

we got to find a way to to to pitch in

to help with that maintenance. Um

as far as the city goes. Uh

do you have grant writers? I'm sure you

do.

What type of grants are you going after?

Uh we do not have designated grant

writers. Really all the grant writer has

or grant writing has been through uh

board members that are not I'd say

professional grant writers.

Uh and so

um

that would be one thing that would we'd

really like to uh establish more of a

relationship with the with the city is

you know

not only working with the grant writing

department

maybe being able to leverage some of the

resources there but being able to work

together with the city staff to write

some of those grants as well as really

the overall maintenance of the

buildings. The Broad Street Market

buildings are a little bit unusual in

that they seem to fall outside of a lot

of the regular maintenance planning

schedule and that is

because of the structure of the current

lease I believe it really pushes a lot

of that work over to the Broad Street

Market Alliance but the Broad Street

Market Alliance is just not equipped to

to handle that all the time

and so really

trying to

merge that or not maybe maybe not merge

it but have a relationship there where

the buildings are just kind of treated

the same way as most of the other city

buildings or assets and as part of the

regular maintenance planning cycle for

them.

Yeah

because there the reason why I said you

know and I wasn't aware that you guys

just

you know pick up a grant writer here and

there

so because there's a lot of

infrastructure money out there right now

that we we the city and you guys can go

after right so I think that's something

a conversation for the administration

where you can sit down and figure out

how we can share it in that in that

space far as our grant writers and and

and get you guys some assistance in that

area.

The other thing is that

I'm going to take some notes.

Oh yeah one of the things you were

talking about far as finances and you

expressed

that you're looking to be able to stand

alone on

without much assistance. You know most

401c3s I just had this conversation

today um on grants. If grants aren't

there,

they fold up, right? So, you know,

having a 504 with it can help, you know,

bring in revenue when those grants

aren't serving the purpose that you need

it for. So, um I'm interested in some of

the ways that you look to increase that

revenue. Um you mentioned a few

uh you know,

but for just for the public's

edification, could you share in some of

the ways you like look to stand on your

own when you're creating this

revenue-generating

mechanism?

Yeah, I mean, the

largest effort right now has been the

information display. Uh that's created a

new stream of revenue, uh

which is the information display is used

to sell community ads to local

organizations.

Um

the other big one would be holding

events. Uh that is another revenue

stream.

The other large ones start to fall into

more of the fundraiser fundraising or

sponsorship categories uh outside of

grant writing. And so, what sponsorship

looks like or might look like would be

uh selling the naming to a courtyard or

to a particular aspect of the building.

Uh

that's one potential way that we've seen

that we can set up a sponsorship program

with different tiers where we can

raise money through that and give those

partners or sponsors some recognition

through the information display or

through that naming.

Okay.

Yeah, you know, my only concern is is

for for the market again, you know, even

with the

uh reconstruction of of the brick

building and and the time that it's

taking, you know, we all are aware of

the state that we're in right now. Um I

think it's vital though that there is a

sit-down to make sure that if if there's

uh uh ways that we can assist, you know,

far as uh with some of those repairs. I

mean, there's a bunch of I mean, there's

a bunch of funding out there for a lot

of the issues that you guys are dealing

with. And um you know, I think it's

vital that that we do look at helping

you with a uh grant writer or finding

one of your own, right? That's That's

going to be vital moving forward, you

know? So, um those are my only concern.

Other than that, I think you guys have

got a a thorough layout of of what's

what's needed um where you're going and

where you're at right now. So, um if I

have any other questions, I'll just

reach out and uh double back. And um I

love the work that you do there, you

know, other than the QR code just being

um present and and and engaging with the

the customers that are coming there. So,

yeah, hopefully we can get this thing

right, you know? Uh anything that I

believe if I could speak for my council

that that we can do, we're definitely be

looking to uh to help in that way. So, I

have no further questions.

Thank you.

Uh I would like to note that

Councilwoman Green is participating

virtually. Uh Councilwoman Green, do you

have any questions?

Thank you, President Hill. Uh the one

question that I really had was already

asked and answered, so I don't have any

questions for you at this time, but

thank you for the work that you do on

the uh the dedication that you have for

the market.

Thank you.

Councilman Lawson, any questions?

Thank you, President Hill. Um

I

First question I'll ask is kind of

tongue-in-cheek, um but uh when when are

we opening that brick building?

Uh so, the last date that has been

communicated uh to us from the city is

the end of May 2027, but the city

remains really the best place to get the

most up-to-date information on the

construction. Right. And I I'm aware

it's always a moving target, but it

seems to be um a point of interest for a

lot of our residents um for when it

would be open.

But that does lead us to opportunity as

uh

I I want to kind of

reiterate what Councilman Jones has said

that, you know, we want to stand behind

you and there there may be opportunities

to um

create a non-profit funding model that

that may not be prop may not be

currently being used right now. Um so

much as whether it's grant writing and

and maybe uh looking at a fundraising

committee because there seems to

the tongue-in-cheek of the question was

there seems to be a lot of interest from

the community in this building and and

in the market. So that may mean that

there are donors that are sitting on the

wings that don't necessarily know

how to engage and how to

to help. So so that could be another way

that we could uh look at finding an

additional funding stream, but I do

believe also

it's it's best to marry with what's

already being done in the city and

figuring out a way to say, "Hey guys,

you're already writing a lot of grants.

How do we

get in into this? Because it is a

city-owned building." Um and uh

I'm sure that there are more grants that

are available to you that you may not

have been able to see at this point

because it sounds like we have

one person running the the day-to-day

and and then, you know, the the board is

is trying to do the the management, but

for one person on the day-to-day is is

difficult to say, "Okay, now

go find grants." And it's difficult for

the board who's probably working 9:00 to

5:00 elsewhere to say, "Okay, in your

part-time go find grants."

But um within our facility, we have

people who are doing that

every day. So I just think that's a a

good way that we could work together.

Yeah, I agree. Uh and that is a great

overview of the situation in terms of

the board as 9:00 to 5:00. We try and

volunteer and do as much work as we can,

but a lot of it has fallen to Sherry for

the day-to-day and she's done an

excellent job at it, but

it is a it is a constraint that we have

of just the time available to devote to

the market.

Right. And I just believe that there are

are ways that we can partner

within all the city

entities. You know, there are there are

ways to to kind of work with each other

and and not duplicate efforts where we

might be able to just, you know, keep

keep doing that.

The the the next question I have is as

we get into events.

Yes, there are those that we want to

support that would be

paying quite a bit to come and then I'm

I'm sure there are also community

people who would like to have events and

would look to you for helping them host

them. How would someone at this point

contact you guys to say, "Hey, I want to

hold an event. I would love to have it

at the market." And how do we go

forward?

Well, since I'm there every day, you can

just come in.

Our phone number is listed on Google

under our Google business.

My cell phone number is on the office

door as well as my email address. My

information's also on the website, but I

have an open door policy to the public

as well as the vendors and the staff and

the board. So, you can literally just

come in the market and talk to me and we

can figure it out.

The long-term goal would be that

booking large events and having large

revenue streams come in from events

would give us a little bit more of a

foothold in order to do more public and

free events for the community.

And so, we're starting small, as you can

see, we're not the prettiest place to be

at the moment, surrounded by

construction. So, um, these are future

aspirations, and hopefully within the

next year or two, we can really see it

roll out a little bit more.

That's great. Thank you guys for the

great work that you're doing. Um,

speaking of the construction, it looks

like a roof is coming into place, so I'm

I'm excited. I'm sure that the the

citizens are excited, so again, thanks a

lot for everything you're doing.

Thank you. There are no further

questions. Councilwoman Davis. Yes,

thank you, President Hill.

Again, thank you for being here.

I just wanted to mention that in terms

of the QR codes, I think it's vital that

we try to

reach the entire community, uh, even

those who may not frequent uh, the Broad

Street Market. Um, as my colleague

mentioned, uh, there's a broader

community out there that

you may be able to sell ads to, um,

there may be donors out there who are

willing to um,

contribute to the market, um,

grant writers. We have grant writers in

our community,

and I wanted to ask, would you consider

broadening that aspect of your surveying

and your outreach?

Yeah, um, I would say the outreach has

gone out to, uh, much wider audience,

through email, through Instagram, uh,

through like different updates.

Uh, the survey itself was

really just a effort to try and get an

understanding of were people walking,

driving, how are they getting to the

market? Um

but I would definitely uh

one

plan to continue to reach out to that

larger audience, uh people who might not

attend or who might not come to the

market right now. Uh we'd like to be

able to reach them, but

yeah, don't don't necessarily

know of the best way to do that besides

like mailers. We had talked about that

as an initial part of the survey, uh but

really it just started to get too

complicated. And so

we were aware of the bias with putting a

QR code in the market. You're only going

to be able to get information from folks

who show up at the market, uh but we

really just saw that as an initial

starting point. So

yeah, it definitely agree that it's

important to understand the perspective

of folks who don't come to the market

right now, as well.

Right. And everyone that doesn't

actually frequent the market or walk in

the market, they there's a lot of people

who still purchase food from the market,

senior citizens who can't physically go

there. They're maybe um

visually or hearing impaired

residents who can't go there, but they

may send people there to shop for them.

So they may, you know, be able to

>> Sure.

offer. So thank you for considering uh

this and thank you for being here and

for all the work that you're doing.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for joining us this

evening.

Next we have the Civil Service Board.

I'll be referencing a document. It is

available um both in a physical form and

on eCodes

for everyone's reference.

Good evening.

Is that a There you go. There you go.

If you wouldn't mind taking a moment to

introduce yourself. Yes.

I'm Ellis R. Roy Jr. I'm the chairman

the Harrisburg Civil Service Commission.

Thank you.

I'm just going to read again from our

document providing overview of the

board, uh share some of its general

function, and then their formal

reporting

and advice provided.

Uh the Civil Service Board helps ensure

that hiring and promotion within the

City of Harrisburg's Police and Fire

Departments are conducted fairly,

transparently, and based on merit. By

overseeing examinations and related

procedures, the board promotes

professional public safety services

while maintaining public confidence in

the city's employment practices. The

board operates in accordance with

article

34

of the Pennsylvania Third Class City

Code, uh specifically

referencing um

53 public service section 39402.

Its general functions include overseeing

examinations for appointment to police

and fire department positions,

overseeing promotional examinations for

police and fire personnel, ensuring

civil service process comply with

applicable state law.

Continues and concludes proceedings

initiated under prior civil service

commissions when required and adopts

rules and regulations governing hiring

and promotion procedures or follows

existing rules until new ones are

adopted. In reference to formal reports

and advice provided, certifying

examination results and eligibility

list, maintaining records related to

civil service examinations and

proceedings.

Exactly. Thank you.

If you wouldn't mind sharing, I guess a

little bit about

your service

as a chair of the board.

Yes, Madam President, I've been a member

of the Harrisburg Civil Service

Commission for 16 years.

And it has been rewarding

because it was just in keeping

with my service

to the city of Harrisburg as a law

enforcement officer.

I retired

in 20

six

in November.

I was then

asked in

2010

but I don't know if she was the

president or just a member

of city council because it is the

council

that appoints to these positions.

And Gloria Martin Roberts,

as we would I served

on the civil service

board. That was called the board then.

Since then it's been changed to

commission.

So yeah, city services

always been my thing.

So

So between my police service then

the service on the commission, it's been

I've been serving the Harrisburg

community

for 51 years.

And have found no complaints about it.

But the civil service board itself, the

commission,

just oversees

the integrity of the process.

Making sure that all those

who apply to the city,

be it police and fire,

you know what I mean,

codes enforcement, all those people that

come under

civil service

are treated equitably,

you know what I mean,

and responsibly,

you know what I mean, without

dis- discrimination or any other

derogatory process,

you know.

When people come here

as a member that they're going to be

treated reasonably and fairly.

Thank you.

I'll just continue to reference the

document here that in reference to seats

and composition,

uh it is composed of three citizen

members.

Members are appointed by city council.

The term length is 4 years and they are

staggered terms. Vacancies are filled by

city council for the remainder of the

unexpired term.

And alternate members may be appointed

as permitted by state law.

In reference to the meeting schedule,

the Civil Service Board meets as needed

to administer examinations, review

eligibility lists, address Civil Service

matters, and adopt procedural rules. All

public meetings are conducted in

accordance with the Pennsylvania

Sunshine Act.

Current members,

Mr. Ellis Roy, um his appointment

reference is resolution 124 of 2014.

And Mr. Kelly Summerford, his reference

appointment is resolution 138 of 2014.

And there is one vacancy.

Yes.

Um

Unfortunately, we had a member pass

away.

So, we need another member.

Okay. Well, I don't have any other

questions. Thank you. Um I'm going to

open the floor to my colleagues who may

have some additional questions for you.

Um I'd like to begin with our Public

Safety Committee Chair, Councilwoman

Green, do you have any questions?

Uh no, I don't have any questions for

you guys. Um I kind of know what the

board does. I thank you for your your

service. Um all the years of dedication,

especially for Mr. Ellis. So, I don't

have any questions for you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilman Lawson, do you have any

questions?

Thank you, President Hill. Um

Not not as much of a of a question, uh

but it looks like uh, Mr. Roy, we wanted

to first thank you for your 50 something

years of service to the city. 51 years

of service to the city, thank you.

That's That's That's commendable.

Um, but we need to get someone else, I

guess, serving with you with this vacant

spot. So, that's that's something

that we'd have to look into and and I

guess What What do you What would you

look for if you say, "Hey, City Council,

this is the the person that I would love

to have, uh, serve with me." Not

necessarily person, but qualities. I

don't have one any one in mind,

but when you're looking to put somebody

on the sport,

first, their integrity,

their dedication

to see the the highest quality

of individuals representing you

and the city

is doing it

with the utmost admiration,

caring

for the quality of life.

Cuz you're talking about police,

you're talking about fire,

you're talking about code enforcement.

That person

should be

above reproach.

Something in their eyes.

Okay, thank you very much. We have the

assignment. Appreciate you.

Thank you. Vice President Jones, any

questions?

Yes, um, how you doing today? Good?

All right.

Um,

very simple questions for me, just

looking at the general functions and

just seeing how often you are, um, Mr.

Kelly, participating

and, um, overseeing those, um,

examinations and appointments

for the police and fire department

and also, uh, overseeing the promotional

examinations

for the police and

fire personnel. How often do you guys

participate?

Oh.

The function of the civil service

commission is that we certify the list.

If there is questions

either by the fire department or the

police department

meaning the candidate

the candidate can file an appeal.

That appeal comes before us.

We listen to their appeal

being their position and the city's

position.

And if their position outweighs the

city's position the appeal is upheld.

If the city is able to show

that this individual, whatever

discrepancy it is

failed to do this or failed to do that

that met the requirements of the

firefighter

or a police officer or a code

enforcement officer

then the appeal

is denied and then

we move on in the next stages of the

process.

So, how often do you participate in

those

Oh.

>> duties?

That doesn't That doesn't happen that

often. We

They They usually the process moves

right along because one thing about it

is we have the excellent

you know, HR director and HR department

that screens

these people very, very carefully.

And it it moves right along. When it

comes before us

that means that this particular person

did not out of might be 20 people

might be 10 people

that that that this particular

individual

needs to be looked at by the

Civil Service Board.

Let us snap in that off.

Okay, and then I'll move on to uh, the

police and personnel uh, promotions. Um,

how often do you participate in that?

And the reason why I ask is because, you

know, um,

when someone gets a promotion and

someone's already existing in a

position, um, you may or may have not

had a a say or a e-file when it comes to

that person. So, I'm just looking to

expound on for you to expound on how you

participate when it comes to the

examination or the promotions of

individuals that are moving up the

ranks, per se. I want to see how that

how that looks. Is there

um,

a bio-psycho-social? I just want to

expound on it and see how how that goes.

That's easy for me. We don't.

So So, Councilman Jones, they oversee

the exam. So so a proposed exam

the contents of an exam is

>> The test, you said.

>> Yes. Yes. Okay. And then so they don't

do the promotions, they approve the test

questions and they ex- they have

hearings when people challenge a test

question as unfair.

We've heard that a lot.

But so but so but but so but they don't

they don't actually say you're promoted.

Right. And promotions in part are timed

out by the union contract. So, they can

only do them have the exam every so many

years by contract. Yeah, we don't

actually promote. Yeah, that's that's

that wasn't my question, but thank you

for the clarification. That wasn't my

question, but it was just more so again,

now that we can identify we're talking

about the test, right?

How does that look for you when you when

you go over there? Is there anything

that pops out to you that make you say,

"Hey, uh,

we don't know about this

uh, uh officer because of the way they

answered?" I mean, how involved I'm just

looking for you

You know, to share.

>> we get involved is if the individual

appeals

and they come before us and they lay out

their case. That's the way we can eval

them.

You know, other than that, we never see

them.

Okay.

Thank you. That's all I have. All right.

Thank you. Councilman Rodriguez, any

questions?

Thank you, Madam President.

Mr. Roy, it's always a pleasure seeing

you. Thank you for your years of

service. I think you Did you retire as a

lieutenant? Yes, sir. If my mind serves

me correctly, I think I remember that.

And then thank you for your time on the

school board as well. Um

always a pleasure seeing you up there

making it move. Um

my I don't really have a question per se

for you. Um

I was just I see the appointment

reference in 2014 and with a four-year

staggered, would it take us to maybe 18?

I don't see a term expiration. Um

was that was just a mistake? Was that

erroneous or No, we have serving They

they serve until replaced. I mean,

that's So, right? So, there's an initial

term and if someone left, we'd have to

figure out where they were in their

second term or their third term. Okay.

That's right. Okay, got you. So, the

then there's only one official vacancy

currently. Okay, perfect. Um always a

pleasure seeing you, Mr. Roy, and good

evening. That's all I have, Madam

President. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilwoman Davis, any

questions?

>> Thank you, President Hill. Good evening,

Mr. Roy. Good evening. Good seeing you.

I don't have any questions. Thank you

for your service um

on the police force

and with the school board and just all

your years of working in the city. Thank

you.

Thank you.

Thank you. There are no further

questions, no further discussion. Yes.

President Hill,

this uh

And I put this to the council.

We used to come down here every four

years for reappointment.

During COVID

is where that got interrupted.

So, get back to that.

This is suggested.

Okay. So, we can back to that.

Thank you. All right. Thank you. Thank

you.

Next we have the Harrisburg Housing

Authority.

Good evening.

You wouldn't mind taking a moment to

introduce yourself, please?

Uh good evening, council members. I'm

Marcus Williamson, executive director

for the Harrisburg Housing Authority.

Good evening, council members. I'm the

vice chair I'm the vice chair

of the board of the Harrisburg Housing

Authority. My name is Zachary Jackson.

Thank you. Thank you both for being

here.

Uh

so, the Harrisburg Housing Authority,

it's a public agency established under

Pennsylvania law.

Um

our mission

is to provide affordable quality

housing.

Um

we work to improve the quality of life

for our residents.

Um, we focus on program and service

delivery

uh that promotes self-sufficiency.

Um, we also work to maximize assets and

resources for our business interests and

um, our ultimate goal is to be the best

in class in terms of a housing

authority.

Our focus and uh general function

is to provide

uh housing stability.

Um, as an authority, the housing

authority owns and manages public

housing properties

and administers the housing choice

voucher program.

Um, through its resident services

program, we work to bridge the needs of

families with service providers for the

benefit of improving the quality of life

for the residents.

Uh in terms of the portfolio size, we're

looking at we have a portfolio size of

1,600 units.

We service uh 1,300 families through the

housing choice voucher program.

We are both the landlord

and program administrator.

In terms of our jurisdiction and

footprint,

um, we operate within the city limits of

Harrisburg.

Um, that's the zip code 17101

through

um 17104

uh and 17110

primarily.

Uh it's the similar footprint to the

Harrisburg City Schools.

Um, as indicated before, the housing

authority is established under state

law,

um, but it is governed locally through

our board of commissioners.

Um, it is regulated by the Department of

Housing and Urban Development.

Um our board members our our Excuse me,

our board members are uh

mayor-appointed. We have a uh

five-member panel.

All seats are

filled, no vacancies, and the board is

led by its chairperson.

Uh the role of the board is to provide

governance and oversight for the

authority.

Uh

we do this by setting mission,

uh by establishing culture,

um

by uh the development of policy and

making strategic decisions that align

with agency goals.

Um the board meetings are held monthly.

They are public public.

During the session, the board will

review housing authority operational

reports,

um approval of financial activities,

including its annual budget,

and um

take recommendations or revisions to

authority policies.

Um from a priority standpoint, the

Housing Authority

uh prioritizes redevelopment and

modernization of its affordable housing

portfolio, um expansion of affordable

housing,

um offering expansion in housing choice,

uh with the intent on being a beacon of

affordable housing and contributing

positively to the city of Harrisburg.

Member qualifications,

um we're looking at our board members

have areas of expertise in real estate

and business development, uh

construction and engineering,

public policy,

business ownership and entrepreneurship,

and we also have a resident member

appointee.

Uh the strength of its of our board is

its collection of experienced

professionals, each accepting

uh the call to serve.

Sorry.

My My name is Sheila. Um first of all, I

want to say uh hello Madam Madam Chair

and hello to City Council. Uh my name is

Sheila Bennett. I am the chair of the

Board of Commissioners for the

Harrisburg Housing Authority.

And that is the presentation.

Okay, thank you so much for your

presentation this evening.

You mentioned the meeting schedule and

it being open to the public, so I just

wanted to note the Harrisburg Housing

Authority board meets on the third

Wednesday of each month beginning at

1:00 p.m. at 351 Chestnut Street on the

12th floor. And again, the meetings are

open to the public.

Thank you.

In reference to composition, I think you

noted this, it's composed of five

commissioners, the appointments are made

by the mayor with the consent of City

Council and the term length is 5 years,

just for everyone's reference.

Um I don't have any questions. I'm going

to open the floor to my colleagues who

may have some questions for you. I'd

like to begin with our Building and

Housing Committee Chair, Councilwoman

Davis. Do you have any questions?

>> Thank you, President Hill. Good evening,

everyone. Thank you for being here.

Um you do a great job with housing. Um

I I just have one question. Just one

question. And that is pertaining to the

fire

code. Evacuation plan?

Yes, evacuation plan, fire code.

How often are those updated?

We

honestly at the request of a council

member, we took some time to revise our

uh evacuation plan for our senior

buildings. Uh that was done last year,

2025. Yes.

>> Um

you know, I to answer that question

I believe it's best to revise it as

needed, but it's

generally something done in my opinion

every couple years. You review it just

to make sure it's up to date.

Make sure that um

if there's any

persons, personnel, or organizations

that provide support that there's any

changes or revisions to that plan, and

we make sure that if that's been

updated, but it's

it's a it's a living document that

should be updated

every couple years.

Thank you, and I believe the fire chief

and our great fire department is on

board and keeps up with

you know, those plans and everything

also. I think I was the one that I

reached out to you and asked you about

just one particular building, but I know

that it was it was taken care of and

the um

the the codes or the plans or the

evacuation plan had been updated. So,

thank you very much for that.

I'm always concerned about our seniors,

anyone living in in our in the housing

authority, anyone. Um

I have relatives in there and um

by profession, I'm a nurse, so I'm just

that's just who I am, and I'm going to

ask the question.

But thank you very much for all the work

that you do, and um

I appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Rodriguez. Any

questions? Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you all for joining us this

evening. Always a great seeing you all.

Um I have a just a quick two-part

question. Um for let's say a low-income

family or single-parent family that's

looking to get out, get on their own,

start the housing, um just start

developing. Um what what would be the

process to apply for the Housing Choice

Voucher Program or Section 8? And then,

on the landlord side, what's the process

or procedure they would have to go to to

maintain their Section 8 status? Uh

unfortunately, the waiting list for the

Housing Choice Voucher Program is

closed. Um so, families would have to

wait unfortunately until we

organizationally reopen it, at which

point we would publicize that

opportunity. We'd go through um

uh the local newspaper, put it on our

website, use social media as an outlet.

So, that'd be like a general

announcement.

>> Yes, that's right. That's right.

>> Okay. Uh and that just to kind of carry

that question all the way through, what

what what would that family expect um

after making the announcement and

opening the waiting list, we'd leave the

waiting list open for a particular

period of time.

Applicants would then be placed on that

waiting list. We may, you know,

we may be looking for a certain number

of uh candidates. Let's say we're

looking looking for

two or 3,000 families. Usually, we like

to keep that count um

based upon how many families we serve or

can serve within a certain period of

time. After a while, a waiting list can

be stagnant if we leave, you know,

5,000, 10,000 people on the waiting

list. So, we'd like to keep that number

in terms of waiting list management to a

manageable number within exhausting it

within two or three years.

Um so, we would open the waiting list,

accept applications through a particular

period of time, close that waiting list

once we have a number.

Um, we would uh

sort the waiting list based upon

preference. We have certain preferences

that we look to prioritize housing.

And then as opportunities come up, as

families treat from the program, you

know, they no longer need the service.

We do have unfortunately families who

pass away. Um, but as an opportunity is

presented, we would then select from the

waiting list and begin the eligibility

review process.

Uh, for uh landlords, we're absolutely

currently accepting and would love to

have to partner with landlords for the

opportunity. So, they just need to call

our office. And we would certainly uh

begin the process of connecting them,

educating them, and getting them into

the program. Into the Housing Choice

Voucher program.

>> Awesome. Uh, no further questions. Thank

you.

Thank you. Vice President Jones, any

questions? Yes, how are you?

Finally good to meet you. I think I may

have met you once. Once or twice. Yes,

sir. All right.

Uh, and thank you guys for your service

as well. You know, I don't want to leave

you out.

Uh

I have some questions and um this not

only for me for myself, but for the

public as well.

So, when I'm looking at again, I look at

the redevelopment and modernization that

undertakes to

undertakes projects to rehabilitate,

modernize, or replace aging housing

stock. So, that will couple that with

Can you tell us if there's any

redevelopment initiatives? Because um

I don't want to say there is or there

isn't, but I think I was made aware that

there uh initially is. What we're

looking at aging housing stock. I think

specifically in

South Harrisburg, I think those houses

been there for maybe since World War I.

And it's it's it's or II, which you tell

me. One, two, one of the world wars. I

wasn't around, but

it's it's disheartening to see

when we have events out there to see

that people have to live in those

conditions. So,

can you share if there are any

redevelopment

initiatives regarding specifically South

Harrison? I mean, you can you can talk

about any other ones, but I was

specifically asking about that. I I want

to remind council that we

through your support we did participate

in a

South Harrisburg redevelopment

initiative.

Um

this was last year we were awarded

grants.

I'm sorry.

So, that was part of the initiative.

Yes, sir. The planning initiative. So,

we were through that initiative this was

the redevelopment initiatives of South

Harrisburg.

The Housing Authority was awarded grant

money for the planning process which

involved

working with different vendors to

determine with community input

what the community wanted in terms of

redevelopment.

The focus was going to be if you are

familiar with one of our properties

Hoover Manor Homes, a 233 unit property

with ultimate that's first phase with a

second or third phase going to

focusing on Hall Manor which is a 530

unit property.

So, the first phase the initial

um

planning phase that concluded last year

with a ton of support from the city, a

ton of support from the community. Um

this year

we recently submitted an application for

that second part of that which is the

actual construction.

We answered a federal

application.

Um and if

we are awarded we're looking at about a

$26 million project which includes

redevelopment and some supportive

service

uh support. Um

if everything goes as planned, we could

be looking at construction of course if

we're awarded, you know, somebody knock

on wood make sure we get that. But uh

construction ideally starting thank you

at in 2027

with a 4-year construction plan. So it's

you know, it's it's a chicken we can't

yet count yet. However, um there is

opportunity um we are working with um

we work with a grant writer. We

submitted the application and now we're

just waiting on the applica- application

to be reviewed. So South Harrisburg to

your question is a

uh

strong point of interest for the Housing

Authority and its board.

Well, one of the things I was waiting to

hear that there's going to be some

construction.

Uh we can't be just putting lipstick on

a pig, right?

>> That's right. That's right. You know,

the outside of it. But again, there's

there's some tough conditions, you know,

at one point I did live in South

Harrisburg Park Apartments to be exact.

Uh grandmother lived in ID Lane. Uh so I

seen

it's it's time. Let's just say that. So

I do cross my fingers and hope that we

do get uh that grant money to actually

begin uh renovating.

Um one of the other things is um

uh the services resident services

provide services provide supportive

services to improve self-sufficiency,

employment, educational outcomes for

residents. I think that one there is is

is huge. That should be number one. Um

you know, because people become

complacent when um there's a handout. We

want to bring pride back to families. Um

we want to actually get people into home

ownership. So uh what are some of the

uh

uh

services that you provide to our

residents to so they don't stay in this

condition.

We we focus uh

it's kind of a two-pronged approach. Uh

we've got seniors

and our resident services we commit to

providing services for those seniors and

that's meal programs and exercise

programs and some health and wellness

activities um

to to to get uh our seniors moving, to

get them educated um on um healthy

programs uh and and to fill in the gaps

when it comes to meals and whatnot. So,

we do that for our seniors.

Um we have a family self-sufficiency

program um where we provide a uh

support for families who are looking for

self-sufficiency and this is

job placement, this is financial and

credit planning and management. Um

you know, that that program, you know,

when successful families contribute uh

with a match from the housing authority

in a savings account and they can use

those funds at the conclusion of their

grad the graduation of that program

for housing to to to purchase a house or

for college education or, you know,

simply to make a repair on a vehicle,

that kind of thing. So,

uh

we look to bridge families, individuals

that are looking for employment

placement. We do work with organizations

to do that. Um we want to get uh

uh

families focus on um

reading

and um

English as a second language, get

families more comfortable with that.

Uh those are our our uh steps as an

organization

through the self-sufficiency.

You know, it's obviously not where we

would like it to be

but um you know, we think it's a step in

the right direction and obviously, you

know, we'll try to take advantage of

grants um grant money and you mentioned

that in a previous conversation. We'll

try to take advantage of grant money

where available uh to support and to

fortify the program. It But we do

continue to focus on looking to improve

that service, that self-sufficiency

service, and broaden that for families.

Um and we do take um

input from residents. You know, we want

to make sure that we are providing a

service that they find viable, they find

uh um

something that they're interested in.

So, we take their input and then we look

to work with partnerships to expand that

that program and to offer more

assistance and more services to to

residents. So, you have a you have some

data on that and see how you guys have

where you were, where you're headed, and

where you're at currently.

>> I I don't have it with me, but I can get

that for you, Councilman.

>> Yeah, I would I would love to see that.

I I I definitely have an interest in

that. Again, um you know, especially I

would ask in in that regard too, because

I I remember the South Side. I was in

it's different today, you know, where we

have more uh Latino uh uh

you know, um

people of different other ethnicities

living in South Harrisburg. So, how is

there a challenge there or is there

communication barrier? How are we

dealing with that with these same

services? Yeah, we we uh there's you

know, when you have a uh population

serving um a variety of cultures, yes,

there's that an opportunity for

uh a barrier communication barrier. We

do have

um several staff members who are very

fluent in Spanish. Um but there are

other uh cultures there, too. So, we you

know, we work with um when there is a

gap or

a communications barrier or whatnot, we

do

um

work with organizations that can help us

to communicate when there is that issue.

Um

but I think we are

doing a good job of addressing the needs

and and getting past or addressing the

needs in terms of a uh addressing the

needs of the families

uh

and um

working through those communication

barriers. We We do

really good job of

of um

of speaking Spanish and and some of the

other dialects and also making sure that

we're bridging

um

um issues with families that don't have,

you know, let's say we're talking

Russian or some other language.

Um

So, we do a pretty good I think we do a

a decent job of making sure that

uh if there is a language barrier, we're

addressing it or we're That's no longer

barrier when it comes to understanding

what the needs are for that particular

family. Okay. Um last question. I had a

couple more, but I don't want to hold

you up.

Sure.

>> But

um

the financial statements and audits. Um

I know that may be boring to a lot of

people,

uh but you know, just to see uh where

can one find and I know you said it's

available, but where can one go see uh

We We can make it available uh to

councilman if if you're interested.

>> It says it's It says it's it's it's

available to the city and the public,

and I'm just wondering where. It It It

generally is available upon upon

request.

Okay.

>> So, if you you're asking if if someone

wants to write, you know, wants to

submit a right to know We have We Yeah.

No, no, man, cuz cuz I mean, this if

we're going to be transparent,

something's happening here, right?

Because we have politicals out here that

that really want to see where our

money's going, even whether it's federal

dollars, state dollars, whatever. We

definitely want to be able to take a

look at this

um in that regard. And again, not that

uh no one's being trusted here. I think

it's just I think it's a it's a it's a

government function that we should

actually be looking at when we speak in

the terms of transparency. So, um that

if if we can make that readily

available, that would be great. And my

last thing was just to make sure that um

you can um give me some information or

give counsel some information on those

services that self-sufficiency services

where we're at, where we were, and see

if there's any progress and if there's

anything that we can do to chip in as

well. So, that's all I have. Happy to do

that.

Thank you. Councilwoman Green, any

questions?

I know I think Councilman Jones covered

a good bit of them, so I think I don't

have any questions at the moment. Thank

you. You're welcome.

Councilman Lawson, any questions?

Yes. Yes, Councilman Jones answered

asked many many of the questions that we

wanted to ask, but

one one question that I do have uh

sort of following up with Councilman

Rodriguez

in in that vein.

Affordability has been a big topic with

with people as far as housing and and

getting

places to live. Um

Now, you said the Section 8 voucher has

been closed off for a while.

Do you anticipate when that may open

just based on like your rate of meeting

landlords, getting available units?

You're going to hold me to that. We try

to avoid that question because it's such

a popular

question amongst the community. Um

That's why I asked. We don't anticipate

it it opening this year and

will likely not open 2027. So, it could

be at least another year and a half,

maybe two before we have an opportunity

to reopen it. Okay. And and do you have

vacancy at any of our um

owned units? We we do have vacancy

as families move out.

Uh and we do have a waiting list for our

public housing Okay. uh properties

and we are placing families when we turn

these units in these units are ready.

Okay. So, right now we're we're waiting.

We're waiting.

Basically, affordable housing is in such

a demand. There's obviously not enough

housing to to go around. So, there's

always

um in my opinion, there's always um more

demand there is than there is what's

available. So, there will be families

waiting unfortunately for the

opportunity.

That's unfortunate, but I I do

appreciate uh the efforts that you're

putting forward with um taking care of

the housing need, but also um as as

answered in your your questions, taking

care of some of the uh the more um

uh personal needs of of the of the

residents that you have. So, we

appreciate what you're doing. Thank you.

>> Thank you. There are no uh Councilwoman

Davis. Thank you, President Hill. Of

course, I always have to finish with the

last question.

Would you also be able to give us a um

of all all the facilities

the updated evacuation plan and when it

was done. If it's not updated, you know,

when you're looking to have it. Are you

looking for an answer tonight,

Councilwoman? Or

>> No, whenever you send all of the

information and that we were requesting.

Certainly.

I'll make certain to provide that for

you. That's you know, important to have

those updated and that our um the

residents know what to do and where to

go in case of an emergency.

Thank you.

>> It's on my list. That's it. Thank you.

Thank you.

Didn't know if you guys wanted to speak

to your um

your roles on the board or your

experience before we move on to the next

one.

I guess

Yeah, I I can say I can say a little bit

here.

Um

as I said before, my name is Sheila

Bennett. I am the chair of the Board of

Commissioners for the Harrisburg Housing

Authority. Um I look at my role as

uh

being as being the chair, I look at my

role as communicating with the rest of

the Board of Commissioners

uh as well as our executive director to

make to make absolutely sure that um we

always

put great policies and procedures,

you know, ahead for the organization.

Um we have a five-member board. Um

Thank you.

We have a five-member board now, which

is great because a lot of the

commissioners,

you know, every commissioner has their

own opinion on the different procedures

and the policies, which is great, and

my job is to make sure as far as the

board, we come to common ground. I do

believe

uh

with the executive director because I

look at me as being the liaison between

the executive director and the Board of

Commissioners.

So, um making sure that we just keep a

common ground as far as the authority,

um so we can implement, you know, our

procedures and policies

uh in advance the things that we want to

do so that it is helping out our

residents in our communities.

So,

that's basically it. Thank you. Mhm. Mr.

Jackson, did you have any comments?

>> Again, my name is Jacqui Jackson. I'm

the vice chair of Harrisburg Housing

Authority.

First of all, I'd like to say um

we hired this young man not too long ago

and I'm impressed.

Uh I'm very pleased with the his

presentation

to you guys today and um

he's exactly what we needed.

It It's timely.

And uh when it comes to quality of life

as uh

Councilman Jones mentioned, I mean

we're implementing

policies that go into the lease.

You know what I mean? Sometimes people

need a little nudging.

You know, and when they make that

agreement, that lease

then that's when when when we have a

chance

most to make a a difference in their

lives.

You know, when it means something when

they're putting their name to it.

You know, so that's just one of the ways

that we have a way to to prod them into

to even know a better way of life is

possible.

Cuz I came out of Hillside,

you know.

So.

Yes.

You know, 11 years in Air Force, I mean

I've served. I'm a inspector for for the

state of Pennsylvania right now in

construction, so.

Yeah, I mean that's why I I That's the

passion I bring to this board.

You know, cuz I see what's possible.

And then when they're done with 83

hopefully we'll get the money, then we

do Allman Drive and that whole thing

looks great, you know.

So So, but I just want to thank you guys

for having us here today.

Sure, thank you. Thank you for your

time.

We appreciate you and your presentation

this evening. Thank you.

Next we have the Susquehanna Area

Regional Airport Authority.

>> Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Would

you and Matt take a few minutes to

introduce yourself before you begin your

presentation? Thank you. Uh yes,

thank you very much.

My name is Tim Edwards. I'm the

executive director with the Susquehanna

Area Regional Airport Authority. And

with me today, I'd like to recognize two

of our board members. We have Fire Chief

of the City of Harrisburg, Mr. Brian

Enterline. I believe everybody is knows

who that is. And Treasurer for the for

the City of Harrisburg, Nelva Wright.

Both are members of the Airport

Authority, our 15-member Airport

Authority. And to my right is Mr. Blake

Blake Lynch, who is with the firm of One

Plus Strategies, who has

worked with us on some advocacy issues.

And

in the back is Rebecca Burke, who is

with Delta Development. And I heard you

mention

grant writing.

Delta Development works with the Airport

Authority

very

very detailed grant writing

responsibilities.

So, I'm here to take a few minutes

just to update the city of our

operational statistics and planning

objectives for the Airport Authority.

I want to stop start by addressing some

of the detail that we were were asked to

provide as we were preparing for this

meeting. First of all is our general

function.

The Airport Authority, or as we call it

SARA, is a multi-municipal authority

that manages and oversees the operation

of Harrisburg International Airport and

three general aviation airports. That

includes a Capital City Airport,

Franklin County Regional Airport, and

Gettysburg Regional Airport. We do have

a strategic plan that was adopted in

2025.

The core areas of focus on that

strategic plan include expanded

expanding aviation services, developing

staff, ensuring financial stability,

investing in airport infrastructure, and

strengthening the regional impact or

community engagement.

Our vision is more flights, more places,

more often. And we'll talk a little bit

about that. I do want to talk a little

bit about the current membership and and

qualifications of the Airport Authority

Board. As I mentioned earlier, we have a

15-member board, two of which are from

the the city of Harrisburg who are with

me here today. We also have three from

representatives from Dauphin County,

three representatives from Cumberland

County, three representatives from York

County, and also two representatives

from the city of York, one from Lower

Swatara Township, and one from Fairview

Township in which Capital City Airport

is located.

With regard to public engagement, the

SARAH Board of Directors meet the last

Wednesday of every month. We meet in the

the the David McIntosh Board Room, which

is in the main terminal building at the

at the Harrisburg International Airport.

We also have four airport committees, an

executive committee,

airport operations committee, which Mr.

Anello line is is the chair, finance

committee, and an HR and legal

compliance committee.

The committee and board meetings of the

Airport Authority are held in person, is

I said, in the McIntosh Boardroom, the

last Wednesday of every month.

Prior to that, we have our committee

meetings which take place the Friday

before the Wednesday board meeting.

With regard to reporting structure,

SARA's Board of Directors is appointed

by its incorporating municipalities and

they provide strategic direction and

priority and and policy oversight. The

Airport Authority operates under the

Pennsylvania Municipal Authority Act Act

which is established which establishes

its legal, financial, and operational

requirements.

SARA maintains compliance with federal

and state regulations including those of

the FAA and other applicable agencies.

With regard to operations and economic

impact, I just want to give some

statistics as it relates to our 2025

operations and service statistics. This

is for all four airports. Total

passenger enplanements in 2025, 814,718.

That was a record for the Airport

Authority

historically. It was a

a record passenger level of activity.

Our previous record was 2019 right prior

to the just prior to the COVID issue.

And then we saw some significant

declines but happy to report that those

that has been reversed and and we are

now seeing record enplanements, record

passenger activity. Total cargo handled

we are one of the

top 100 cargo airports in in the

country. I think we're in the in the

number 60 range. 55,700

tons of cargo in and out of Harrisburg

International. Total capital projects,

46 projects and this is covers all four

airports

totaling 119

million dollars approximately.

The most significant economic note that

I want to make is that Harrisburg

Airport system pays for itself. Unlike

many other transportation operations, we

are self-sustaining and do not receive

local, state, or federal subsidies for

operations. If you do not use the

airport, you do not pay for the airport.

Uh we do receive um

significant federal funding. Uh but that

federal funding comes primarily from um

contributions to the Aviation Trust

Fund, which is contributed to the Trust

Fund when um when a passenger purchases

an airline ticket or when cargo is

shipped. Uh there's there's a certain

tax or or fee that's applied, which uh

which then goes into the Trust Fund and

it and is then therefore used to uh fund

uh infrastructure projects uh throughout

the across the country and um and and

primarily for us at Harrisburg

International Airport.

The annual economic output generated by

HIA, as determined by the Pendat

Economic Impact Impact Analysis in 2022,

is approximately $1 billion.

And you can see in the chart on the

right there, I just wanted to mention

our uh composition of our workforce. Um

primarily uh Dauphin County, I think

it's like 47, 48% of our uh

employee home county is uh is from

Dauphin County.

Next, I want to mention airline

activity, which is uh a primary service

of Harrisburg International Airport, of

course. And I hope everyone here is is

as is familiar with the airport. Uh HIA

offers five airlines. Uh Am- American,

Delta, United, Allegiant, and Frontier.

Uh Frontier's actually going to be uh

leaving the market. It's discon-

discontinuing service as of April 13th,

I believe. So, we'll lose that one. But

providing daily non-stop service to 18

destinations and hundreds of connecting

points.

I did want to point out that seven of

those 18 destinations are international

gateway hubs, meaning you can depart

from Harrisburg International, whether

you're connecting through Atlanta, or

whether you're connecting through

Philadelphia, or connecting from through

Chicago.

You can you can find yourself anywhere

in the world, whether it's in Asia, or

Africa, or Europe, or South America, or

all just with one connection through any

of those international gateway hubs. And

again, we have non-stop service to seven

of those international hubs right from

Harrisburg.

From January 10th this year to April

4th, which will be next week, HIA was

offering service, new non-stop service

to Miami, Florida. That was kind of a a

trial to see how that was going to how

the how the community was going to

respond to that service. I think it's

been very successful, so we're hoping

that's going to come back next year.

Uh in 2025, HIA reported a total of

1,458,000

passengers, which was an increase of

12.1% compared to 2024.

And the airport authority anticipates

HIA will set another passenger traffic

record in 2026 with an estimated 1.6

million passengers. You can see with the

chart on the right, our core market

breakdown by percent.

Um approximately 57 50

3% of those pass of our market breakdown

is Dauphin County, Lancaster County, and

York County.

And excuse me, I had a little bit of a

cold last week, so I'm a little stuffed

up, obviously.

Next slide is cargo activity. Um HIA is

part of the FedEx and UPS global air

cargo network, processing nearly 115

million pounds of cargo each year.

That's that's inbound and outbound. 2025

was the fifth busiest year for air cargo

over the past decade. Our busiest year

was 2021. Again, going back to the COVID

issue, that's when people were sitting

at home doing

much much of that was the the e-commerce

uh

shopping online and and uh that's when

we saw our our our biggest our our our

best cargo year.

Um this year we saw uh in 2025, 55,000

nine almost 700 uh tons of cargo and

we're expecting an increase in 2026 as

well.

I did want to mention the air cargo

reconfiguration and expansion project.

This is a project we had just completed

earlier well, it was late last year. It

was a $64 million project. It was a

multi-year initiative.

Um it took it was a 3-year

um phase construction project both

airside and landside. It increased

increased our capacity by 30% cargo ramp

capacity.

And uh three new large cargo aircraft

parking spaces will now be available uh

which will give us a total of seven

aircraft parking spaces for additional

cargo capacity.

Next slide is our priority uh planning

project coming up uh if if any of you

are familiar with Crawford Station, it

was a former power plant located in in

Middletown. Um we had become the owner

of Crawford Station somewhere along the

line the Airport Authority did. Uh we

have also we have eventually we have

finally taken that building down and

it's uh our next spot for uh

aeronautical development for

aviation-related development. So, we

have uh 65-acre brownfield site located

on the eastern edge of the HIA campus.

It's the last remaining parcel that of

the HIA campus available for

aeronautical development.

If you're familiar with the airport,

it's kind of wedged between the railroad

and the river. So, we're very limited as

it relates to development opportunities.

And we have applied for federal fiscal

year 2026 EPA brownfield cleanup grant.

We are an applicant for $3.9 million.

Or we're asking $3.9 million.

Next slide is general aviation airports.

I mentioned we are an airport authority

with a system of airports. Capital City

Executive Airport is an FAA designated

reliever for HIA. It's the airport of

choice for several state agencies

including the governor's office, the

Pennsylvania State Police, and the

office of the Attorney General.

And two other smaller general aviation

airports. Number one is Franklin County

Regional Airport. We acquired that the

airport authority acquired that in 2004.

The

city of Chambersburg where the airport

is located was no longer interested in

in being

a sponsor of the airport. So, the FAA

asked if SARAA, the

Susquehanna Area Regional Airport

Authority,

would would sponsor that airport so that

they we would not lose that general

aviation facility. We agreed. And

and secondly, same basically the same

story with Gettysburg Regional Airport.

The airport authority acquired that

property in 2006.

They're both two small utility type

general aviation airports.

Lastly, I wanted to mention our air

show. Hopefully, everybody has heard.

2026 air show will be 3 days over

Memorial Day weekend, May 23rd, 24th,

and 25th. It will be the only air show

in Pennsylvania with military acts

commemorating the America 250

celebration. Headline act of course if

hopefully you've heard is the US Navy

Blue Angels as last year. We also have a

commitment for 2027

from the Thunderbirds for for 2027 air

show. Dates will be in July.

Um

and then also this will coincide with

what's called a Navy Week. There's like

there's there's there's

almost a dozen of these or or

approximately a dozen Navy Weeks across

the country.

So they they they are um

initiating one here in Harrisburg and

it's a week-long series of outreach

events with corporate civic government

educational media veterans and community

services organizations hosted throughout

the region to emphasize and highlight

the the the services provided by the

United States Navy.

Finally the last slide. I did want to

invite the the the board the council to

a site tour

when when the opportunity presents

itself but we certainly would love to

show the the airport and our our

services and projects and and

amenities concessions

to to the board. That was my

presentation subject to your questions.

I appreciate the opportunity to

bring you that update.

Thank you. Thank you so much for the

invitation to tour and for your

presentation this evening.

I don't have any questions. I think that

your presentation was thorough enough

for me.

I will open the floor to my colleagues

who may have some additional questions

for you. I'd like to start with

Councilman Lawson. Do you have any

questions?

Thank you President Hill. Just just a

couple.

One

being a Navy veteran and and seeing uh

Navy Week uh

being being there and also seeing a USS

Harrisburg. It it It's all kind of

piqued my interest. Um,

do you know off the top of your head of

any um

uh engagement that would happen with the

the city of Harrisburg during that Navy

Week?

I think the answer is yes. Yes, good

evening, Councilman. Um, currently the

United States Navy is working with the

mayor's office. Um, I know Deana is a

point of contact for that as well as the

mayor's office, especially with it being

the USS Harrisburg. Uh, so I would defer

questions to the mayor's office with

regards to that. Um, they're also

working with the Harrisburg School

District um to bring the um Blue Angels

in to visit the schools as well as the

Milton Hershey School and a couple other

area schools. Uh, so those are things in

which we've been in conversations with.

Um, and we're also working with

community uh leaders uh for unique uh

very unique opportunities. Hopefully,

that'll be uh there's ongoing

discussions currently uh for some local

celebrities to participate uh for the

air show. So, very very exciting that's

uh to come. That's great. Thank you.

And Thank you, Blake. Yes.

And then I I just noticed uh didn't

notice, but you but you mentioned that

um

you'll be uh applying and and I well, it

looks like you're going to be

redeveloping that brownfield. Yes.

And I just remember years ago sitting

with a bunch of contractors that were

trying to get jobs with the um

uh with the airport. Um, when when that

opens, would you uh be willing to open

bids to help promote some of our our

local um minority and and women-owned

businesses?

Uh well, I absolutely. All our our

projects uh uh particularly federally

funded projects are bid on on the

PennBid platform which opens the

opportunity to

a very wide audience

interested contractors and engineers. So

the answer is yes. We have only applied

for the grant so we're not close to

posting anything or making any

announcements and award has not been

announced. So but that that will happen

in the future. Hopefully we'll get the

award and we can proceed. Right. We get

the award I just asked to be intentional

to make sure that we can bring some of

these smaller

women and minority contractors in to

help them build their business expand a

little bit of what they're doing and

maybe even

become someone that you use as

as you need maintenance in the future.

Understood.

If I may the last project that

Tim had talked about was the airport

cargo apron expansion $68 million

project. The last portion of that

project

I believe was $32 million

that was awarded to

Triangle Golden Triangle out of

Pittsburgh was a woman owned business

was the largest minority contract ever

awarded by the airport authority and

went to for a minority contract and it

was $30 million

and I'm embarrassed I forget the exact

number because it was that was our

committee that had that.

>> Right. But that is correct. So that was

a

DBE contractor. That's that's

impressive. Now now we just have to get

one from Harrisburg to to get out there

and make the next bid. But but that's

impressive that you did award that to a

woman owned and a minority business

because that's what we're looking for.

Not necessarily that you just need to go

after them.

Yes, I want you to do this

intentionally, but but but you but we

want to make it so that the playing

field becomes even so that it's just you

hiring a contractor is is the big the

big goal, but to get people to that

that level we have to give them the the

bites of the apple,

you know, until they get to that point.

So, hearing that you awarded a $30

million contract to someone

what I read between the lines that tells

me that it wasn't just a charity

award cuz you don't award $30 million to

someone just to be

intentional or woke. You you you you

award it to someone who's going to

perform the job well. So, that's that's

why I was so impressed by that because

that means that one you were on the

lookout for someone and two that person

was already at the capacity that they

could handle a project like that. They

were high they came highly qualified and

and

completed the project on time under

budget. So, it was they did a great job.

Under budget, I love that.

Can't you can't argue that.

And then the the last thing is just a

statement I I I haven't seen my my

friend Blake for

probably several years and now all of a

sudden I see him in DC and now I see him

here and

so so he's he's everywhere.

Um

I guess he's your your backup today.

Absolutely, yes.

Okay, great. Well, anyways, I looks like

you've been doing a great service for

the the airport authority and Blake, if

you're on top of your job, then maybe

you know, we'll reach out and say, "Hey,

man, we need help." But anyways, we we

thank you for what you guys have done.

We thank you for uh

this presentation and that's all that I

have.

Thank you.

Thank you. Councilwoman Green, Do you

have any questions?

Thank you, President Hill.

Um, my questions

uh I don't really have any questions.

Um, I will say I I frequent the airport

pretty often and um I've definitely seen

the increased movement um from the cargo

planes um to just passenger activity.

Um

I know when it comes to like the TSA

debacle everything that's going on right

now, I will say um HIA has been doing a

pretty good job of keeping lines down uh

from what I can see. So, I could I thank

you guys um

you know, just for that effort and

keeping everything moving. Um I love the

fact that it's a small lounge inside of

HIA and a lot of passengers uh are

surprised by that cuz it is a smaller

airport, but we are the third largest