Harrisburg City Council Work Session 5-5-2026

I'd like to be mindful of your time. So,

the time is 5:30 p.m. I would like to

call our work session to order.

Mr. Truesdale, could you please call the

roll?

Ms. Davis? Present. Ms. Green? Present.

Mr. Jones? Here. Mr. Lawson? Here. Ms.

Rawls? Present. Mr. Rodriguez?

Ms. Hill? Present. Thank you.

We will begin with the work

of the administration committee.

Um I

We have

uh

five resolutions for discussion this

evening. Um I don't believe some of the

potential appointees are present yet. Um

but we can still get started. Um I'd

like to begin with resolution 27 of

2026.

Mr. Truesdale, could you please read it

into the record? Resolution 27 of 2026.

A resolution appointing Mr. Patrick D D

to serve on the Building and Housing

Code Board of Appeals of the City of

Harrisburg.

Thank you. Is Mr. D present? Okay, if

you wouldn't mind joining us.

Up here, please.

Good evening. And that microphone does

move. So, if you need to pick it up and

move it closer to you, that's fine. So,

that um

those listening on YouTube or watching

on Channel 20 are able to hear you okay.

If you wouldn't mind taking a few

moments to please introduce yourself.

Hi. Uh

my name's Patrick D. I'm a Harrisburg

resident. Lived here since 2008.

Um

moved here from Georgia. Lived in

Colorado.

Born in Chicago. So, um

came out here to work at a church in

Hummelstown. Was with that church for a

few years and then uh started buying

real estate here in town and have been

doing that since 2015.

Own about 80 some units in and around

the city.

Okay, interesting. Um

What sparked your interest

um

to potentially serve on the Building and

Housing Code Board of Appeals for the

City of Harrisburg?

I have been um since I kind of left

church work, I haven't had a lot of

community involvement and I've looked

for some different ways to get

re-engaged. Wayne became the building

administrator recently. I've known Wayne

for several years. He reached out asked

if I'd be interested in helping to serve

in this way. I thought it'd be a good

fit.

Okay, great. What impact do you believe

you will be able to make

in your service?

>> I'm not I don't have a lot of clarity on

what all that board is going to do. Um I

have a lot of experience in construction

and working with nonprofits and working

with conflict resolution.

Um so, I do think that I'd be a helpful

uh

presence on the board. I do have um

you know, some previous board experience

with different organizations. And like I

said, I'm pretty familiar with

construction. Um before being a pastor,

I owned um worked my way through college

as um as an electrician, started a

general contracting company, started an

electrical contracting company, built

custom homes,

um did large-scale electrical

contracting work. So, I've got a good

amount of experience in the trades,

understand what's involved with working

with codes and construction and

inspectors and all that goes with that.

Thank you. Uh so, just for everyone's

reference um listening,

uh pursuant to the codified ordinances

of the City of Harrisburg, Section

8-501.1,

the Building and Housing Code Board of

Appeals of the City of Harrisburg shall

be comprised of five members.

Uh pursuant to Section 8-501.1,

Subsection A, appointment of board

members shall be made by the mayor with

the advice and consent of City Council.

Pursuant to Section 8-501.1,

Subsection B, appointees to the board

must be residents of the City of

Harrisburg. Pursuant to Section 8-501.1,

Subsection C, appointees to the board

shall hold no other office or employment

in the government of the city or serve

on any of its boards, commissions, and

authorities.

Pursuant to Section 8-501.1,

Subsection B, appointments shall be for

a term of 3 years and shall serve until

a successor is appointed.

Mr. D's term shall commence on

June 1st, 2026

and will expire on June 1st, 2029.

Just for your reference.

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

going to open the floor to my colleagues

who may have some additional 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,

Mr. D.

I don't have any questions. I would just

want to thank you for your willingness

to serve. I've reviewed your resume.

It's very impressive.

And so, thank you. No questions.

Thank you.

Good evening, Councilman Rodriguez. Do

you have any questions? Good evening,

Madam President. Excuse my tardiness. A

lot of construction going on around the

city. It was hard to get

um thank you for joining us this

evening, Mr. D, and your willingness to

serve in this capacity.

Um I guess my only question a lot of

questioning is geared towards any

conflicts of interest or potential

conflicts of interest you may see with

other positions you hold.

Um the the only conflict of interest I

would see would be if there was ever any

issues with properties that I own in the

city. Um I'm not involved with any other

boards or organizations in in the city.

So, I don't see conflicts that way. I

think if there was ever an issue with

any of my properties or my projects, I

would just have to, you know, excuse

myself. Awesome. Thank you for that

answer. Nothing further.

Thank you. Councilwoman Rawls, any

questions? Good evening, Mr. D. Thank

you for um your willingness to volunteer

um to be on this board. Um I don't have

any questions. That was mine, too, with

the conflict of interest cuz I saw that

on your resume you um are responsible

for multi-property building management.

So, you answered that if there's any

buildings that um come up that are that

you own that are in Harrisburg, you

would recuse yourself. So, um thank you

for that integrity and thank you for

your willingness to serve again.

Thank you. Vice President Jones, any

questions?

>> Thank you. Um no questions. Again, I

would

uh

reiterate what my colleague said. Um

thank you for your willingness to serve

and being that you're you know, you are

uh a property owner, I think um your

resume sticks out, you know, it's a it's

a well-established

resume, I say. And um I think uh

your your voice in this space could be

helpful. Um you can understand a lot of

the things that some of the home other

homeowners uh go through um in this

regard. So, I have no further questions.

Thank you. Thank you. Councilwoman

Green, any questions? Thank you very

much. Thank you for being here tonight

and of course for your willingness to

serve the City of Harrisburg. I don't

have any questions for you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilman Lawson, any questions? Thank

you, President Hill. And and thank you

also, Mr. D, for your willingness to

serve. And in to the uh spirit of some

of the other questions, what what is

your

uh relationship with codes like? Have

you had any or interaction?

Um

the last I've had interaction with codes

both from pulling permits, dealing with

codes inspectors for

um

the uh

housing, you know, with tenants and that

type of thing. So, um I've had good

experiences and pleasant experiences.

I've had unpleasant experiences. As you

know, that's just part of the nature of

the beast. But you know, I've been in

the construction industry for decades

um

prior to being in Harrisburg. So, I

understand that not all the time does

everybody see things the same way. And

uh but you know, as long as you I found

typically that there's been a

willingness from the codes department to

find solutions and um and that's really

what I think I would be looking to help

accommodate is just find solutions and

make sure we're getting good work done

here in the city and that the city's

interests, which should align for the

most part with the residents' interests,

are are being looked after. So. Okay.

And do you believe that your um

history um um as being a property

manager, property owner

um will give you a insight that could be

helpful for those who are uh appealing a

close decision? Absolutely. Um you know,

I think there's there's times when

it doesn't feel that the system's very

easy to navigate and I think that's a

frustration for people, especially

homeowners who don't know what is what

to be expected. Um but then there's, you

know, you've got professionals who also

know exactly what should be expected and

they're trying to get around the system.

So, there's kind of an awareness of

where people are coming from when

they're coming to a point of appeals

with the, you know, when I'd be

interacting with any situation.

Okay, great. I appreciate your

experience and I appreciate you uh

coming in and putting yourself forward

to serve. Thank you very much.

Thank you. If there are no further

questions, I move to add resolution 27

of 2026

to our next legislative session agenda

for formal vote. Thank you for being

here this evening.

Thank you.

Next we have resolution 28 of 2026,

resolution 29 of 2026,

and resolution 30 of 2026.

Mr. Truesdale, could you please read all

three resolutions into the record?

Resolution 28 of 2026, a resolution

reappointing Ms. Evelyn Hunt to serve on

the License and Tax Appeal Board.

Resolution 29 of 2026, a resolution

appointing Mr. Stephen M. Ketterer to

serve on the License and Tax Appeal

Board. Resolution 30 of 2026, a

resolution reappointing Mr. Dan A.

Shoulder, Esquire, to serve on the

License and Tax Appeal Board.

Thank you.

I don't believe Ms. Hunt is present. Um

is Mr. Ketterer and Mr. Shudler present?

Okay, thank you. If you wouldn't mind

joining us here.

Thank you. Um as you can see, the

microphones move. If you could press

them on and just take a few minutes to

um introduce yourself or we introduce

yourself to everyone.

Yes, my name is Steve Ketterer. Uh first

off, I want to uh thank every or thank

the council members for the opportunity

to come before you and introduce myself

and offer my background. Uh I'm a

lifelong resident of the city of

Harrisburg. Um very much involved in a

lot of community activities as indicated

on my resume.

And probably most important is the fact

that I am a former city employee uh

for a long time in the Tax and

Enforcement Office as the administrator.

So, I come here before you with a good

amount of knowledge on how the uh

or office of one member shall expire

each year with seated members remaining

on the board until a successor is

appointed to serve a new term or, if

applicable, uh the remaining portion of

a current term.

Mr. Ketterer, you will be appointed to

the seat vacated by Ms. Stacy Bassor.

Um your appointment to the License and

Tax Appeal Board

um

for a term expiring January 1st, 2027.

And Mr. Shudler,

you as you mentioned, you have been

serving as a member of the board since

2014

and your latest term expired on January

1st, 2026.

So, you would be reappointed to the Tax

License and Tax Appeal Board for a term

expiring January 1st, 2029.

I just have one question, same question

really to both of you. Uh Mr. Ketterer,

what impact do you believe that you will

be able to make? You said you are a

former city employee, you're well aware

of the ordinance. Um so, what impact do

you believe uh you will be able to make

as a member of the board?

Uh well,

um with my past [clears throat]

experience, I you know, will come at a

board meeting, if so uh called, uh with

a strong knowledge and background of how

the ordinance and rules and regulations

need to be applied and how they should

be applied. Um I'm very familiar with

a good amount of businesses in the city

and being a business owner, a small

business owner myself. So, I feel very

confident that I could uh render a uh a

very good decision based on my

background, my previous knowledge in the

Tax and Enforcement Office.

Excellent. Thank you.

And what impact do you believe that you

can continue to make as a long-time

member of the board?

Well, I've been doing this now for since

since 2014, so

we've had a number of hearings. We had a

major hearing on one uh problem bar back

in 2015 or 2016 and uh

you know, it uh

uh

the problem of the city can't be solved

without people paying their taxes, their

fair share of taxes. And it's important

that

what they pay is what they're supposed

to pay and nothing more.

And uh

people seem to want to get away with

taxes and use is the last thing people

want to pay.

Uh which doesn't help uh

uh in dealing with paying the bills of

the city.

So, I'm here to make sure it's done in a

fair and impartial way and make sure it

gets done right.

Thank you. Um I don't have any other

questions. I will open the floor to my

colleagues who may have some additional

questions for you. Um I'd like to begin

with Vice President Jones. Any

questions?

Uh let me see here. I'm afraid of this

guy.

>> [laughter]

>> No, um yeah, I thank both of you for for

you know, your your serving and your

willingness and and the work that you've

already put in here in the city. Um one

question I got to ask for both of you.

Um being a business owner myself and you

being a business owner, you being in

this space for

um since the '80s, right? Um

you know, a lot of things in in the tax

department, um you know, most

governments run off of taxes, right? We

get that. Um however, I think in in in

our city uh codes and ordinances that um

some of them are archaic. Um how could

you think you can impact and try to

relieve uh remove some of the barriers

or assist in removing some of the

barriers that businesses face other than

evading you from here?

>> [laughter]

>> I think you go ahead and go first.

Well, unfortunately, I don't think the

board members will have the authority to

alter the ordinances today.

>> let me say that. I mean, we are looking

at some of the things, right? I mean,

are are you supportive in um you know,

re- taking a closer look at some of

these once we figure out what what what

areas that we can do? Are you supportive

of of you know, uh making it a little

better for businesses and and somewhat

easier for people to pay those taxes?

Oh, I would say most definitely. Again,

being a business owner,

you know, I pay my fair share and it's I

feel as my civic and duty to do that. Um

any way that there's a possible avenue

to save money

legally, you know, without cheating the

government,

I'm all for that. And if there's, you

know, avenues to explore, I would be

100%, you know,

all favor and, you know, if it happens,

implement them and bring it to the

customer to the client, you know, to the

business person saying, "Hey, this is

available to you."

As I've said, I've

been

dealing with the legislature and state

and local taxes at the state level for

decades and I regularly get called in as

part of the PICPA and the PA board to

review legislation. More than happy to

look at legislation and the codes and an

update uh

you know, uh it's not my job to

recommend, but we analyze and review and

provide information.

Um I'm used as a resource by the

legislature.

I'm routinely up there

talk talking about legislation uh being

questioned by uh

the House and the Senate on various

pieces of legislation and so very

familiar with the ins and outs and more

than happy to look at anything

that the city wants to revamp in terms

of its

codes enforcement uh for the tax

section.

Excuse me. Um thank you. That's all I

have.

Thank you. Councilwoman Green, any

questions?

Thank you both for being here tonight.

Um I think your resumes speak for

themselves. I don't have any questions

for you, but thank you for continuing to

look to serve the city of Harrisburg.

Thank you.

Councilman Lawson, any questions?

Thank you, President Hill. Um no no

particular questions. I thank you both

for your your willingness to serve. Um

uh

And and I guess you you both have

extensive experience with uh

the the area you're you're heading into.

So, that's that's the big plus that I

see even though Mr. Ketterer, you're

coming in fresh,

it's it's not fresh to you because

you've already worked with this. So,

that's that's what I find very

impressive. So, I thank you both for

your willingness to continue serving the

city.

And we appreciate you.

Thank you. Councilwoman Davis, any

questions?

Thank you, President Hill. Good evening.

Thank you for being here and thank you

for your willingness to serve. Mr.

Schuler gave an example of serving uh in

the past. So, Mr. Ketterer,

um could you give us an example of how

you

uh a story or a situation that you

remember when you had to work with one

of the residents in the city and how you

were able to assist that resident with

their tax problem?

Well, over the course of my tenure as a

But it was always an open door policy,

sit down, help them figure it out. It's

actually not a complicated tax, but

being a gross receipts tax, you know, it

has some of its, you know, drawbacks

because we're taxing right on the top.

Um but I think you know, 99.9% of the

folks that came in were very

appreciative to to be able to sit down

and help me or have me help them figure

it out. And likewise with what Mr.

Schuler said, I I myself was involved in

a couple of appeals when I was a tax

administrator. Um

I I have to go back to my many years of

my days when I was running for political

offices so forth. My slogan was tough

but fair.

>> [laughter]

>> And I stick by that to this day. Tough

meaning, you know, there's a law to

abide by. There's rules and regulations

under the tax ordinance, but I'm also I

consider myself being fair in

implementing them.

Thank you for that answer. I So,

you mentioned um

Okay, so this license and uh

tax, would this cover all taxes this

board just the just the business

My understanding, just the business

privilege and mercantile tax.

>> Oh, okay, great. And Thank you. Mhm. I

think the

penalty for businesses is excessive

right now.

Um and I understand that nothing can be

done about that until we're out of Act

47.

>> Oh.

Well, that's my understanding. Um That's

correct.

>> Mhm.

Okay.

So, yeah. So, that's something that

maybe could be looked at and I don't

know, you know, if you would be able to

>> [clears throat]

>> help the city, the administration at

some point. But again, I just think that

>> [laughter]

>> we're talking about small businesses

here.

>> Yes, exactly. Um so, it's interesting to

note the mercantile tax and business

privilege mercantile tax was established

through the state legislature.

And back many moons ago, it was capped

and we're at a cap right now.

So, we can never alter that tax rate and

we, you know,

fortunately or unfortunately, we have to

split it with the school district. So,

when that was implemented, uh that took

a chunk out of the city's budget. Um

so,

yeah. I mean, I know and there's always

a movement on the hill to eliminate the

business privilege tax. So, and if that

happens, then you folks are going to be

responsible to come up with another

alternative for the lost revenues, but

that's always on the radar to try to

eliminate the business privilege and

mercantile tax.

Thank you for sharing that information

and for your expertise. Were you going

to say something else, Mr. Schuler?

No, it it's just

the the uh mercantile business privilege

tax is part of local tax enabling act.

It's been around forever and a day and

uh it can't the rate cannot be changed.

You're kind of locked in as of a

specific date I think almost 40 years

ago. Uh so,

kind of stuck.

I'm an advocate for the residents, so I

always want to

>> [laughter]

>> But as

as soon as you get out of Act 47, the

penalties go back and the interest goes

back to what it is in the code cuz

you're getting an additional interest

and you're getting additional penalties

uh because you're in Act 47.

And I I I believe you're still in Act

47.

Thank you both for being here for being

and for your willingness to serve. Thank

you.

Thank you.

Councilman Rodriguez, any questions?

Thank you, Madam President. Thank you,

gentlemen both for joining us this

evening. Um as usual, my line of

question is just geared towards any

potential conflicts of interest either

of you may foresee with either of your

current roles or previous roles you may

hold. Um I feel very confident that I

would not have any conflicts of

interest. Um like I said, I file my

taxes on a timely basis. Um

pretty simple and so it's not like I'm

you know, complicated that I would have

to come in here and so no, I at this

point I don't foresee any conflicts down

the road at all. Love the G-Shock.

I I

I don't foresee any conflict. If there

is such a conflict, I would excuse

myself.

>> Awesome.

>> I have an ethical

I'm a lawyer, so

if it's a problem, I I won't serve and

someone else will be a two-member board

as opposed to a three-member board for

that particular case. So, I don't see uh

it being a problem and I'm with a law

firm, so I don't pay

business privilege mercantile tax. My

firm takes care of that. Well, thank you

for your honesty and that's all I have.

Thank you.

Thank you. Councilwoman Ross, any

questions? Thank you. Uh good evening to

you both and thank you for your

willingness to be reappointed and for

your willingness to be appointed and

serve on this board. Um that was my same

question, any conflict of interest and

my other questions were answered, too.

So, I don't have any questions. Thank

you.

Thank you. And just for everyone's

reference, um I know Ms. Hunt isn't

present this evening, but she has

previously served as a member of this

board as well since 2014.

Her term expired on January 1st, 2025

and she would be reappointed

um to the license and tax appeal board

for a term expiring January 1st, 2028.

If there are no further questions, um I

move to add resolution 28 of 2026,

resolution 29 of 2026,

and resolution 30 of 2026 to our next

legislative session agenda for a formal

vote. Thank you both for being here this

evening.

The final resolution

for discussion

with the administration committee is

resolution 39 of 2026.

Mr. Truesdale, could you please read it

into the record? Resolution 39 of 2026,

a resolution approving the disposal,

destruction, recycling, or donation of

certain personal property owned by the

city of Harrisburg which have exhausted

their useful life for city operations.

Thank you. Who's present on behalf of

the administration to discuss resolution

39 of 2026?

>> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm

Tommy Gearity. I'm a captain with the

Harrisburg Bureau of Police.

Good evening, City Council. I'm Aaron

Schaffhauser, Deputy Director of IT.

Excellent. Thank you both for being here

this evening.

Who would like to provide an overview of

the resolution?

Yes, we just have

old, obsolete equipment no longer

covered under any sort of warranty or

sometimes even broken

that we would like to dispose of.

We have Should I go through the whole

list?

If you'd like to or you can hit the high

notes. It's up to you. We do have it as

an exhibit to the resolution. Like

phones, cameras, monitors and you know,

four TVs,

network switches.

I think the most

like the laptops and the desktops

which are obsolete,

old and can no longer be used cuz

they're not supported by Microsoft or

Dell, you know. So, some printers,

a scanner, DVR,

badge printer,

and some old services, in some cases up

to 10 years old, so.

Okay, is there anything you'd like to

add?

Yes, ma'am.

I will save you reading the whole list

because it is quite extensive, but

basically everything that has to do with

our outdated body worn cameras and our

older radio systems, both of which have

already been replaced with a newer

generation.

>> [clears throat]

>> Much like was stated earlier, these

devices are no longer serviceable. They

reached their the end of their useful

life for our purposes. The exception to

that would be the Motorola portable

radios and the mobile radios. Most of

these items have no value. We've looked

at resale or trade. The items of value

would be the again, the radios. Those be

slotted with the assistance of the

Harrisburg Fire Bureau to go to

volunteer fire companies around the

city. I can tell you having been on

multiple fire scenes, there was actually

one called out here on the radio a

minute ago.

It's not uncommon to see those fire

companies come into the city. So, those

resources would ultimately come back in

service a little bit, but that would be

about all we could get out of them.

Okay, thank you. I don't have any

questions. It seems pretty

straightforward to me.

I will open the floor to my colleagues

who may have some additional questions.

I'd like to begin with Councilwoman

Green, our Public Safety Committee

Chair. Any questions?

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

pretty straightforward and simple, so

thank you for being here tonight.

Thank you, Councilman Lawson. Any

questions? Thank you, President Hill. No

questions. Thank you very much. Vice

President Jones, any questions? Yeah,

can you go through the

list one by one? So, no, no questions.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Davis, any questions? Thank

you, President Hill. Good evening. Thank

you for being here.

No questions. Oh, just one. Where does

all of the equipment go from here once

you discard of it? Does it go to the

junkyard or what do you do with it?

As far as IT, we have a disposal

company, local disposal company that

they

they certify destruction of

Okay.

We would be partnering with IT.

Try and recycle some of the materials.

It's It's quite a bit of material, but

again, it's kind of useless for what it

was designed for at this point.

>> Okay. Thank you very much.

>> Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Councilman

Rodriguez. Any questions? Thank you,

Madam President. Thank you, Captain,

Deputy Director for joining us this

evening. No questions for me.

Thank you, Councilwoman Rawls. Any

questions?

>> Good evening to you both. I don't have

any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam President, just for the

public's sake, there was part of exhibit

B missing in the published version. We

provided a printout of it. It's actually

the list of the radios or I'm sorry, the

body cams.

We've provided it to the clerk and to

the council tonight and we will make

sure it gets up online so people can see

it. Great. Thank you for clarifying.

If there are no further questions, I

move to add resolution 39 of 2026

to our next legislative session agenda

for formal vote. Thank you both for

being here this evening. Thank you,

ma'am. Thank you, Council. Pleasure.

This concludes the business of the

Administration Committee. Next, we have

the business of the Budget and Finance

Committee. I will defer to our Budget

and Finance Committee Chair, Vice

President Jones. Thank you, President

Hill. Mr. Pruesdale, can you please read

resolution 40 of 2026 into the record?

Resolution 40 of 2026, a resolution

approving the third proposed 2026 budget

reallocation. Thank you. Is there anyone

here

from

that can speak to this from the

administration?

I see. I see.

And he had a whole squad.

If you guys don't mind introducing

yourselves and just give a

>> [snorts]

>> small overview

of about this reallocation.

Good evening, Council. My name is Bob

Keneck. I'm the Finance Director and I

have Brian McCutchen and Alex Berenstein

with me.

Alex will go through the presentation of

the reallocation schedule, after which

between the three of us, we hope to be

able to answer any questions you might

still have.

Hello. Alexander Berenstein, Assistant

to the Finance Director.

Good evening, Council.

So, overall,

before you have the proposed third

reallocation for 2026,

of which one exhibit with three items.

Item A pertains to the Broad Street

Market

um

with

um the

current budgeted

Excuse me.

The with within

current construction going on and

encumbrances,

its expenses have exceeded the current

budget. To address the matter, we are

proposing the following.

So, under the within the general fund

under the general revenue expense

account for transfer and of the CDBG

fund, currently there is

no budget for it and we're proposing

that with funds being drawn down,

2,286,936

as can be seen in column H.

And that will provide and that will

change from the current budget

of it being zero to as stated,

2,286,936.

The next revenue account

pertaining to this is the insurance

reimbursement for

for loss, which currently has an

available budget of

currently has an available budget of

6,820,000

and

we're proposing that it be increased by

3,000,000 to 9,820,000.

And lastly, the expense account

underneath

the Bureau of Facilities where we have

Broad Street Market, as can be seen,

shy of a million

with due to the encumbrances,

not we are 9,730

973

Excuse me. 973,942

over the budget of at the moment due to

the encumbrances.

And so,

we propose increasing that by 3,286,936

to

amend it to

to amend the current available budget to

2,312,994.

Moving on to

item A.

So, the Harrisburg Housing Authority is

initiative of the administration. While

the grants to locals unit expense

account for this usually be under the

host municipality fee fund,

this

for item B, we are

proposing that we are the moving to the

general fund under a general expenses

and the equivocal expense account grants

to local units, of which are the current

available budget of 156,300.

We'd be raising it up by 200,000 to

3,500

356,300

and a

as a result.

And

the

This is a

And um

for item C,

this pertains to the 20 20

2026

awarded distri- awarded distribu-

awarded distributions

Uh

The the grants to local units, um of

which uh which involved the uh 25,200

for the

uh evolve youth trades that city council

is interested in.

Um to uh go with to adjust for that,

we're uh tapping up fun fund balance um

uh

adjusting uh estimating cash growth to

reflect fund balance for the 617,500

that's currently there, adjusting by

30,200

to change it to 647,700.

And following uh uh

the grants to local units uh expense

account um underneath uh host

municipality fund currently at 300,200

uh we're amending it by 5,000 to three

to adjust it to three

305,200

so that the uh annual July music series

is um covered. Um there is a um to

take a closer look at the uh grants to

local units, we also have a little uh

breakdown

um titled the summary host fund specific

designations for the 2026 award dis-

distributions for further clarity

regarding

um

what is there for grants

to local units. If you have any

questions, uh let us know.

All right. Uh thank you for that

explanation. Um and just for uh my own

edification and uh the public's, um when

we're looking at um item A in the

general fund when it comes to the

Harrisburg Housing Authority, um we are

actually moving the 200,000

over

um to equal up to 356,300.

Um so when that 200 is spent or sent

over to the Housing Authority, will go

back to the 156, correct?

Um

That would uh bring the uh that would

bring the uh available budget Okay. down

once it's expanded. Yes.

>> uh yeah.

Um the other one would be

uh in regards to the Broad Street

Market, um you there's some other funds

being um moved over there and you talked

about the encumbrances. Would this be in

regards to uh the change orders? Yes,

there's been several uh contract change

orders um due to uh

uh I believe earlier one example is one

that wall collapsed. There were change

orders pertaining to that.

Um and because and as reflected in the

available budget, um

uh those encumbrances have caused uh our

current budget for the situation to be

over by nine as seen 973,000

uh 942 dollars.

And that's uh

uh that's largely the uh

reason for item A. Right. So do do we

expect any more change orders?

Um

I I I think that we have a question for

facilities.

I don't think we have any a good answer

for that, but we can try and get from go

for you get one for you. Okay. In fact,

yeah, I think Dave Baker's out today.

All right, no problem.

Good. Go ahead. Yep.

Can I comment further? Sure. On that

Yeah. Uh good evening, city council

members. Brian McCutcheon, accounting

manager. Thank you, President Hill.

Thank you, Vice President Jones.

Um

Getting used to the new mic. Uh

Um roughly uh about 2 weeks ago, we we

met uh collectively uh with the mayor's

office and also facilities

to get an update on Broad Street Market.

And

based on the the encumbrances that were

um

in effect at that time and and still

are,

they are all based on what the balances

were at the end of last year and they

accordingly rolled forward along with

budget.

Those were based on

again, balances

per the encumbrances, but did not

reflect any contingencies.

So those have subsequently occurred and

that that's a big part of the the

request this evening. Um

At that point Just in case.

Correct. Um there there were at the time

when we met, there were actually

additional change orders with four of

the contractors that were not yet

posted. And then also with with Dave's

department uh working with the project

manager, there was an additional

2 million plus dollars asked for

uh and this is where

I'm not the one to comment on it, but it

but it has to do with solidifying or

securing the ground around the building

and also having to do with uh

uh helical pylons, if I'm sa- if I'm

saying that correctly. But uh long story

short on that, there's an additional

over 2 million dollars asked

uh for

uh additional change orders. And we

project that the total project cost

based on this and the sense is we are

of course, closer to the end of any

subsequent contingencies, that the total

project cost will be 23 approximately

23.7 million.

Um we we took that figure and and based

on what we have what we've uh

paid already and and what the current

budget is to come up with this budget

adjustment of of 3.286 million. And that

gets us to the available budget balance

of 2.312, which is made up

essentially of that 2 million dollars

plus any um additional uh can- uh change

orders that were already in the system,

but not yet posted, subject to to

approval. So that's the expense side.

The the revenue side to support and as

Alex mentioned, uh they're through the

community development block grant funds,

CDBG funds, we've already received on

deposit not quite 2.3 million that was

specifically drawn for this particular

project and also uh increasing our

insurance proceeds line by 3 million

to reflect

essentially these these additional

change orders, which are so material and

also relate to contingencies that

uh that may yet occur, but also to the

wall collapse that has actually

occurred.

So the combination of of the three lines

are reflected on this schedule.

And and also, can you um because this is

a high price tag for for this project,

right? Can you speak to to that for the

public's um

you know, edification or regarding the

price. And this is what largely due to

the historical uh

uh value or

uh space of the Broad Street Market,

the price tag.

Ri- Right, what the total estimated

project cost?

>> Yes. Um and and again, I don't know

if

if Debbie's here. I think she is. If

Debbie, would you mind if I call upon

you to comment on that?

Debbie Reinhardt?

>> [clears throat]

>> Hello. Debbie Reinhardt, uh senior

project manager.

Uh what was the specific question?

Um can you expound on the reason the

reasoning for the uh the high price tag

on this project?

Is it is it is it, you know, mainly

around the historical value of the

building or the historical zoning of it?

Right. That's some of it, um but I'm

sure you know that construction

um these days is very expensive just in

general.

Um costs have gone way up on

all kinds of things, wood

and everything. And of course, we had

the wall collapse um that was

I think Brian said about

two and a half million dollars cost to

shore everything up so that the wall

doesn't collapse again. Make sure that

it's And to be clear, this we're not

just talking about the one that burned.

This is is is including

upgrades on the on the other brick

building as well, correct? On the inside

or or stabilization of it, the stone

building. Are you talking about the

stone building?

>> Yes. Um no, this is just the brick

building.

The total cost is for just for the

brick. Mhm.

And other There's There's ancillary

things as well. Of course, there's the

um

courtyard between the two buildings.

Yeah, I see. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. Um my other question um just

around

um

section C or item C in regards to

uh evolve youth trades.

Um and and and and you could you please

In regards to that, uh

that re- that allocation, it's my

understanding that even with the

approval by our council, um there's yet

to be an award letter sent to e- e-

evolve youth. And at some point, if

there is ever one sent, um

would this money go back into this fund

or the general Harrisburg Speak to that.

Yeah, certainly. And and and you're

correct. Nothing has been expended

really for any of these uh listed

organizations.

Um actually, 25,000 dollars has been

encumbered

uh for the music series event for for

for Pop's House, but but there's been no

actual spend. So, and I I believe I'm

following you.

These are

This really This resolution represents a

bit of housekeeping, which we did not

include whenever the budget was put

together

for this year to specifically tag each

amount to the organization or or the

entity. So, this resolution

brought before you tonight uh proposes

to accomplish that by by giving an

identity to the individual amounts. Just

uh just to tag the amounts and and the

names, but knowing that uh once um So,

there's no contracts as of yet. No, and

the the

relative to that it would be if if this

would be approved, it would be then uh

up to the mayor to designate uh

like an award letter on on the mayor's

office letterhead to to continue. But

this is not This is not locking in these

amounts to these particular entities as

of as of right now. Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you for the explanation. I have no

further questions and I will kick it all

the way down to

uh

Councilwoman Davis.

>> [laughter]

>> You had to think about my name, right?

No, I just wanted to see if you was

ready. I see you.

Thank you, Vice President Jones. Good

evening, everyone. Thank you for being

here this evening.

I don't think I have any questions.

Pretty much understand everything you've

been explaining.

The numbers make

sense to and Vice President Jones just

asked a question that I was going to

ask. So,

um

So, okay. So, if this resolution is

approved,

Okay, [snorts] so once the resolution is

approved, if it's approved, does the

the items under the summary at the

bottom of the

um

chart here actually go to these

individuals? Is that what happens or

So, technically, no. Okay. So, the

reason that they're listed is the

council is there agreeing that this is

the funds these individual groups could

get. Because they weren't listed out in

the budget,

>> Right. then it was a lump sum grant

number

and with no specific allocation. The

only one that was in the host fee

allocated this past year was Kaga. And

when you do that, the when the council

lists them and the mayor's

team presents them in the budget that

way, then the mayor can issue an award

letter because it's specific who it's

going to. So, this is is a kind of a

housekeeping. I think everyone knew who

was supposed to get the money. It just

never went into that document. So, then

it triggers it the mayor can then start

issuing award letters for these.

Obviously, some of these are summer

related events. Um

A housekeeping matter for reasons that

are not clear

um for last year's summer program, they

never drew down their money. That's part

of why you have the $200,000 from the

general fund because it wasn't rolled

forward you know, it wasn't rolled

forward because it wasn't really clear.

So, they didn't get last year's money

and they're approved for this year's

money. So, and that's still being worked

through. I think that was a change in um

staffing at the housing authority.

So, that So, that's why that's there. Um

so, that's really the only addition to

what happened in December is that

number.

Well, thank you for further clarifying.

No further questions. And and just to

follow up on on on Neil's comment about

about HHA, um historically, this the the

host fund has been this primary source

for funding the the summer youth

program. You'll You'll note as Alex went

over, he mentioned that the 200,000

that's up in the general fund for

general expenses.

And it's, you know, one year is for

2025, the other year is for 2026.

And because HHA didn't submit their 2025

uh supporting documentation until

January of this year, as

as as the solicitor mentioned, there was

no spend.

So, for 2026, to lump in both is a

significant amount, of course, at

400,000 catching both programs.

Uh the the fund, however, cannot absorb

that much of a

a weight on the expense side primarily

because not so much these other

entities, but the Broad Street Market,

ironically looping back to that, there's

$500,000 that's encumbered within the

host fund currently. So, that's taking

up a large piece of the available

funding. So, the task was to what to do

about the 1200K amount for HHA.

And we we picked on uh the general fund,

of course,

uh to accommodate that and there is

available budget within

overall right now.

Uh the

there's an excess of budgeted revenue

versus budgeted expenses of about

375,000.

So, there's a little bit of wiggle room

there to accommodate this additional

200,000 that uh the administration is is

looking to provide funding to HHA for

both program years.

So, that's that's why you're seeing that

extra item B on this particular

schedule.

Okay. So, we're kind of toggling back

between the host fund and the general

fund then with That's right.

>> Okay.

Thank you, Mr. Hutchinson.

Councilmember Rodriguez.

Thank you, Vice President Jones. Um no

questions for me. Thank you all for

joining us this evening.

President Hickman.

Councilwoman Rawls.

Yeah, that's Yeah, you were.

No, but um thank you. Thank you all for

being um here tonight and um further

explaining this. Um

Not really I don't know if I have any

questions and more just concerns. I'm

always concerned with when it comes to

Broad Street Market and

I always feel like we put out so much

money from it from other entities within

our budget and

um I just don't want us to forget about

other projects in the city that are just

as important. Not saying this is any

less important, but

sometimes I feel like some things are

preventable, like the wall falling,

you know, um and the timeline of how

long this is taking. I don't When is it

going to be done now? Is there a new

timeline?

Okay, what's the new timeline, please?

>> that complete

It's ready to Um by May 31st, 2027.

Okay.

Um thank you for that updated timeline.

Um I was unaware. And you know, just

little concerns about that. I just want

to make sure the rest of the city is

getting its just due as well. Um My

other I don't know if this is going to

be a question or more like a comment,

but with Evolved Trade, I know um

the director has been here at least

twice to our meetings concerned about

not receiving the funds for her program

yet. And I know just now it was said

that um right now this is just kind of

housekeeping and it's here, but it

doesn't mean once if we approve it that

the mayor is going to release those

funds because at that point it's up to

her to

uh send out the awarded letter. So, um

Woman Rawls, we've already approved The

Council has approved these funds. Yeah,

this is true in the budget. This is

true, but I mean I shouldn't say that

way. We have approved it, but right now

it's line itemized more so because when

we approved it, it was chunked together.

Right. It was chunked together as the

three

$330,000.

I remember that in the budget because we

all asked, "Well, what does that mean?"

>> Right. Coun- Council actually did an

amendment specifically for this and and

and spelled it out within that amendment

back when the budget was being finalized

for this year. Correct. So,

I do understand all of that.

>> Okay. I think my question concern still

is

um she's been here twice and asked about

her funds. All right. And now it's

still, "Well, they could be released,

but not." And I just hope that somebody

contacts her if they're not released and

I'm, you know,

communicates what's happening because

we've done our part and there's nothing

else for us to do and I just feel bad

that sometimes I don't have the answers

for her. Um so, I just hope there's some

communication with this. But you want to

say something, Solicitor Grover? So, the

city doesn't give out many real grants,

right? But but but because it's public

money, there's an audit trail

requirement. So, when it's not just a

notice of award letter, it's

documentation from the organization to

show that how money is spent and that's

the request that was made from the

mayor, I think, directly to the director

of that program. Um and uh

some records came, but but not very

much. Uh and that was what was being

wait what was being looked for.

The records from From the applicant.

>> Evolved Trade applicant.

>> Yeah. And And so, And And that happens

with other applicants. We've had some in

the past CDBG awards where they were

awarded the money and couldn't produce

the paperwork to get the contract

because they couldn't produce the proof

of their past dealings with the funds.

Um and we had hoped because the school

district was involved and they would

have a solid paper trail behind them and

we're hoping that's still the case. But

um but you but you basically have to be

able to show the the recipient

understands an audit trail for public

money cuz just as we are subject to

audit, they're subject to audit. And so,

it's really about that sort of

tax dollar

uh handling that that sort of drives

those things. Yeah, no, I totally

understand that. Yep. I do. What I'm

saying is

the communication part of it because I

don't know if she has all been asked all

of those questions or has all that

information. Um so, there was just a lot

of miscommunication and that that's my

only part of since Evolve got brought up

tonight, I figured that I would speak on

that since she's come twice and asked.

So, that's all I'm saying. If that's

been communicated since I've spoken to

her, great. But if not, I hope that it

is because you know, if she comes back

with those same questions once again,

it's out of our hands and it's unfair

when communication is lost.

That's it. That's all I had.

Okay.

>> And again, just to be you know, so that

so Evolve and the public also knows if

the if this is if this money continues

to sit if if those documentations aren't

provided to the administration, this

money will go back into

the host municipality fees, right?

>> Yeah, it stays exactly where it is and

just just like any other part of the

fund any other fund, if it's not

expended even though it's budgeted, it

it stays in that fund.

Yep. I'm just Yep.

Uh President Hill.

Thank you. Thank you for your

presentation.

Excuse [clears throat] me this evening.

I guess

my questions lie with the

potential awardees as well and I don't

know if it's a question for you or if

it's a question for the mayor or if it's

a question for these some of these

entities. I know that we in the past

we've received presentations and

like videos of of the work and the

output from the funds that were

received. So, I would be curious to hear

directly from them again in the event

that they are

awarded the the funding.

Particularly

well, we've heard from

the

the ETC, the summer youth program. We

hear from them annually. Students come

and make presentations so and and speak

about their experience. So,

I'm fine there. Got that. Pubs House,

we've received video presentations of

the summer music series. Fine.

The Civic Club, we have not received any

type of I guess acknowledgement of what

goes on with this citywide Juneteenth

celebration. Is it a part of the Young

Professionals of Color Juneteenth or are

they separate? What

I would be curious to know what what

that entails because it seems like

everything should be one

celebration of Juneteenth. The

Harrisburg Cougar Football

Association, we received a presentation

initially around the Harrisburg Youth

Sports Association. We learned later

that it is not a formalized nonprofit as

of yet.

But the Harrisburg Cougar

Football Association is. So, I'd be

curious to know if this 60,000 like do

they anticipate exhausting that? What

does that entail? Is that equipment? Is

that uniforms for the cheerleaders? Like

what does that look like? And then we

have received as

Councilwoman Rawls noted,

Evolve Youth Trades updates on on the

work that that the students are doing.

So, I guess

is this something that that

we could potentially suspend the rules

and hear from these organizations or is

that

am I being premature in that ask? It is

in the sense if it was in the if it was

in the December budget allocated, you

wouldn't bring them in during the budget

season. But you could make a

the motion to approve this. You could

make the release of the funds contingent

on a presentation

for those. So, and that way you you're

going you'll have what you're what

you've seen from other organizations the

same way. And I think just a simple

motion to practice on this and that will

you know, bring the groups forward.

Well, I think that that's fair in that

way that we are being completely

transparent. We're not just arbitrarily

making these motions in support of

really our youth. A lot of this

is around

our youth within the city and families

and entertainment for the summer. So, I

think I would like to make that motion.

So, just for everybody's reference

because I think it will be helpful

moving forward.

So, that and really create just an

equitable space in that everyone has an

opportunity to share a presentation

about the work that their organization

is doing. So, thank you. I don't have

any other questions.

Um Councilwoman Green.

Thank you very much. I think most of the

questions I have have kind of already

been discussed so I don't have any

questions for you at this time. Thank

you. Councilman Lawson.

Thank you, Vice President Jones. I just

have one question. It's probably just my

not understanding because we're we're

adding

uh 3 million to our insurance

reimbursement.

And my my question is does it is this

acting almost like a home equity line

where you say, "Hey, we need more

money." and the insurance company gives

us more or is there a larger allocation

that's there that we're just drawing

from?

Um

the the insurance proceeds

just a brief update. Actually, the city

has received I mean, it's been a while.

Uh

4.939 mil not quite 5 million dollars so

far. The city received that back in late

2023.

And up until

from the market, correct? Specifically

for for the for the fire loss. Yes.

Right. Not

maybe I misheard not not from the market

but from the city's insurance carrier.

Um

Up really up until

the the latter part of last year and in

the fall when once the the 10 or so

contractors came into play and and they

were approved and and and the

encumbrances were created.

Not downplaying the amount of cost up

until then but it wasn't as as large.

Now that the heavier lifts are happening

with with these contractors and of

course these contingency amounts which

are which is no small amount either. Our

costs are are are becoming more

material. So, the the the anticipated

extra increase to revenue is based on

our costs are increasing. These change

orders are coming through that are that

are relevant to

insurance recovery. So, we we anticipate

a larger piece of of insurance proceeds

to occur this year based on that.

Um

based on

again, what we've received so far and

based on the costs that are happening

right now and what we project will be

for the remainder of of the project.

Yeah. So, I mean, maybe this is just

con- context and clarity. When the

council approved the budget last year,

it had the contingency in it. It was

about 23 million dollar budget. There

wasn't about 20 million was under

contract by the end of the year. So,

there the 3 million didn't roll forward.

Um so, we're almost back to where it was

last September.

Um but the 3 million dollar increase in

the insurance projection is because the

3 million dollars in change orders,

right? Those weren't considered as the

budget was being formed because those

weren't what the contract was at the

time. So, the intention of the city is

to then submit that additional work in

our claim

for loss related to the fire. Um and we

were just on a call today. There's a

call every month with Liberty and our

broker about the claim

about keeping up with what paperwork is.

The initial filings had to

uh

of expenditures had to show and catch up

with the initial money. So, we didn't

have a 4 million dollar expenditure.

We're just now moving past the time

where we've now spent more money than

they originally gave us and getting into

the process of the claim being submitted

and reimbursements coming. We're we're

just there now and it's sort of taking

off as as construction's fully underway.

And what I think would help me wrap my

mind around it is is the policy is

basically for

like the replacement cost of the market

and not necessarily

like like a cash value or saying, "Hey,

we we're going to award you

20 million dollars for the loss." And

and we're now saying, "Okay, we're at

23." So, it's a it's a bit of a

complicated policy.

It's got different components to it.

It had a very small professional

services component. It has a thing

called code compliance which is like a

capped number about a million dollars.

It's a very large number because we had

bundled every building the city owned

into one fire insurance policy.

So, but of course the insurance company

wants to show that it's restoring

something that was there. So, things

like HVAC being added isn't covered by

fire insurance because there was no HVAC

at the time. Um things like sprinklers,

you know, we're not part of it. That's

you know, part of the discussion of

whether that's the code compliance money

or not, right?

Um and so, you know, we have to meet

some modern requirements from an 1860s

building. Uh and and you know, we're

fighting to make sure as much of the

fire loss money is is collected that we

are due. There's there's more than

sufficient coverage for it. The question

is getting to

agreement that is part of fire loss and

not improvement to what the facility

was. And that's and that's a delicate

discussion.

Thank you. That that actually helps me

wrap my head around it when I see the

the changing numbers and and just making

sure that yes, we have the ability to to

go after that with the insurance company

as opposed to that falling on and I and

it sounds like some of it will fall on

the city where it wasn't part of the

original structure and if it's not a

code complaint like the HVAC and and the

like of that, but sprinklers

I would argue they probably should take

care of that because that's protecting

their asset as well as far as preventing

future fires.

>> Well well not shockingly they're not our

insurance company anymore.

They they dropped us yes.

All right.

>> [laughter]

>> Well then there's that.

But thank you. That that's that that

helps me really get my head around it.

Thank you.

All right. If anyone else have any

questions?

No, okay. Well this will thank you

ladies gentlemen. This will conclude the

work session of the budget and finance

committee.

And

you have something?

No. Oh

you look like you was ready to I I thank

Debbie for being my lifeline on on

Mulberry Street Market this evening. So

thank you Debbie.

Yeah and I would move to add resolution

40 of 2026 to our next legislative

session and then I would ask my

colleagues to support it. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Our final committee business lies with

the public works committee. I will defer

to our public works committee chair

Councilman Rodriguez to lead discussion.

Thank you President Hill.

Mr. Truesdale can you please read

resolution 33 of 2026 into the record?

Resolution 33 of 2026 a resolution

authorizing the city of Harrisburg to

submit and enter into a sidewalk and

mural maintenance and roadway lighting

agreement with the Pennsylvania

Department of Transportation in relation

to the improvements to the McClay Street

Bridge and authorizing the designation

of the city engineer as the sole

signatory

of the agreement. Thank you for that and

speaking of our city engineer Mr. Siders

great to see you as always.

Can you please give an overall of

resolution 33 of 2026 [clears throat]

for everyone please?

>> Sure. Good evening.

This resolution comes in preparation of

PennDOT replacing or planning to replace

both bridges on McClay Street from

between 7th and Cameron Street. There is

a multi-span bridge over the railroad

and then a smaller single-span bridge

over Paxton Creek. After these are

complete

the city will then be in Well,

part of this maintenance agreement would

then

be that the city takes some maintenance

responsibilities of these bridges.

There'll be three parts to this

maintenance agreement.

The first part would be the the sidewalk

maintenance. So we would be required by

PennDOT to keep the sidewalks open and

clear at all time. Basically that means

snow removal

and any trash and debris that

accumulates we would remove and then

also keep it accessible which means we

also then salt it in the wintertime.

The second portion [clears throat] would

be a lighting agreement. So with the

large span of the bridge over the

railroad tracks there's not enough

street lighting. So they have to attach

the lights to the bridge itself. Part of

this agreement would be then

at no cost to the city PennDOT installs

these bridges as part of their project

and then at the end of the project

turnover ownership and operation and

maintenance to the city.

And then the third task is that there is

a planned mural

for this uh

the longer span bridge over the railroad

track. It's going to span

it's going to be on the inside face of

both barriers

for the full length and

part of the maintenance agreement would

be that the city maintains that for a

25-year period. And that includes

an inspection every 5 years and

basically it's removing any graffiti

dirt grime if we had to

touch up a few spots here and there.

And that's pretty much the extent of the

maintenance agreement.

Awesome. Thank you for that. I remember

when there were murals on the inside

going down to the train the railroad

tracks on the Mulberry Street Bridge.

There was a beautiful mural there.

Years ago maybe over a decade ago and

then I believe we kind of painted over

it.

What would be the process to perhaps get

artists to do the work?

So PennDOT is currently I I don't want

to speak for PennDOT, but I believe they

are contracting with Sprocket Mural

Works to to do the mural. Got you. All

right.

>> And I believe part of their outreach

would be public

outreach to

locals in the area to get ideas on how

the

how the mural should look.

>> It would be PennDOT's procedure though

correct? And then once it's completed by

way of lights murals takes over hands

over to the city we have to maintain it

for at least a 25-year period.

Absolutely. Anything else you would like

to add before I pass it to my

colleagues? Just a brief timeline. So

this project is ready

to be advertised in June it will be let

in July

which means that the contractor probably

have notice to proceed by the end of

this year and they're projecting

completion to be fall of 2030.

Fall of 2030. Okay.

All right. Awesome. I'll open it up to

my colleagues starting on my far end and

Councilman Lawson.

All right. Thank you Chair Rodriguez and

and you answered my question. I was

wondering I was trying to figure out

where this mural was on the McClay

Street Bridge and and seeing that it's

coming that's that's that's

going to be interesting.

I don't have any any questions, but just

glad to see that um

we'll be working

side by side with PennDOT as far as

making sure that the bridge stays

clean open operational and as

uh

Vice President Jones and I have been

harassing the city make sure that the

lights stay on the bridge.

We appreciate you. Thank you.

Thank you for that. Councilwoman Green.

Thank you very much. I don't have any

questions for you. Thank you. Vice

President Jones. No questions was aware

that this project was coming. So no

questions. President Hill.

I don't have any questions. Thank you.

Councilwoman Ross. Good evening. I don't

have any questions. And Councilwoman

Davis. Good evening Mr. Siders. No

questions for me. Thank you. Anything

else you would like to add? No, that's

it. Thank you. Thank you and that

concludes the work for the public works

committee. I'd like to move to add this

to our next legislative session. Thank

you.

Excellent. Thank you.

We will now open the floor for public

comment. Just a few housekeeping notes

before we begin. If you're interested in

offering any public comments, 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 4 minutes to share your comments.

Mr. Truesdale has added a timer to the

screen for your reference and I will

begin.

Madam President and council members. My

name is Gary Lenker. I'm the executive

director of Tri County Housing.

Appreciate the opportunity to be before

you and update you

on a number of our organization's

activities. It has been some time that

I've been before this body. In fact

there are a number

new faces on council since I've been

last here.

I asked Jared to hand out a packet of

information

that you can take with you and see a

number of the activities the depth and

the breadth of what our nonprofit

affordable housing organization is

accomplishing. I did want to give you a

personal invitation

to a unveiling and ribbon cutting that

we will have next Wednesday the 13th of

May

for our North 4th Street homeownership

project.

It includes the completion of five

townhouses for sale to low to moderate

income buyers

and does have a preference for veterans

on some of the uh

funding that we received. In fact

there's a lot of first with this

project. Some of you may not know this,

but last year was Tri County's

celebration of its 35th year of serving

as a nonprofit in the community housing

development organization here in the

city.

For full disclosure I have not been here

all that time. I am in August it will be

my 12th year leading the organization as

its executive director. But our history

and footprint has historically been in

the South Allison Hill neighborhood of

the city.

This particular project is the first

outside of that neighborhood and I will

share with you that that was at the

request of Mayor Williams when we met

with her

when she first came into office she

indicated that she would like to see

affordable housing throughout the city

and we were fortunate to be able to work

with the

Brian Davis in the city redevelopment

authority acquiring that site and

building that project.

The other first for that project is

we received a Federal Home Loan Bank of

Pittsburgh Affordable Housing Program

in the amount of $750,000

that was issued to us in December of

2024. It was the only

grant given in the city of Harrisburg

and the surrounding Tri County area. So

we were very proud of that.

In addition to that we are now

neighbors of yours. Our office does

reside at 201 North Front Street next to

the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.

In June it will be 4 years

that we relocated from 1514 Derry

Street, the office of the Community

Action Commission. And another first,

this Saturday, we will conclude our

fourth year of serving as a

HUD-certified homebuyer counseling

agency. We've been providing that

service

one Saturday a month, 8-hour class,

and uh we have had great response to

that. We have had typically between 15

and 30 attendees every month of that. Uh

we do get support from Pennsylvania

Housing Finance Agency and the Dolphin

County Commissioners to provide that

service. So, uh there's a lot of great

information in that packet uh for you to

to look at if you have My card is there

with my cell number.

If you have any questions, uh

I'd be happy to entertain them now, but

thank you for letting me be for be

before you.

Thank you.

Is there anyone to my right that would

like to offer public comment?

Oh, you're good.

Okay. Thank you. Mhm.

Oh, Lordy.

Good evening. My name is Darian. They

call me Mr. D. I'm not going to give a

presentation like he did, but I had

other concerns

that I want to speak about, but this

don't look like the right place to do

it. So, if by chance I can get some of

your information

concerning the package that you passed

out. And

I guess I just want to talk about one

thing.

There's a lot of

destruction going on in the

city of Harrisburg.

I live downtown, and it seems like it's

deliberate. Buildings are being hit by

vehicles.

Uh

those

I don't know what you call them the the

chains that they're being knocked down.

They're being hit. It doesn't take

a human to do this. Takes a truck or

something. And

the Crown Hotel was hit by a car. So, my

question is,

when this happens and you see it and you

can almost report it, I mean,

unfortunately, calling the police,

they're so busy. You just can't do that.

They're so busy. Who can you report this

information to?

That's one of the questions I have.

Another question is about

property that you rent, and once you get

in there, the management is very

disrespectful.

And when you have no choices, then you

have to be under their

privy. They tell you, "If you don't pay

your rent on time, you got 15 days to

get out." There's no place

for a person that doesn't know the

information to protect themselves from

these property managers that are just

raising the rent three, four times a

week. That's what it seems like.

My question is, maybe I need to get more

informed to come more to these city

meetings

and get a little bit more background

information. So, with that said, I'm not

going to hold you up, but I will be

coming to your meetings and reporting

directly

to you, because right now,

unfortunately,

I had two items stolen. They're worth

over $5,000.

I can't report it to my insurance

company, because the police can't give

me a report. I went down there to make

the report,

and I don't speak Spanish.

So,

I was stuck. They gave me a piece of

paper and told me to go online and get

out of my office. This is the police

station of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

So, what I'm saying is there's there's a

lot of things that seem to me is not

working here.

So, I'm going to be the first one to

report it, but I'm going to report it

politely, because

I'm not taking it.

Like I said, my name is Mr. D, and you

will see me. Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anyone to my left that would

like to offer public comment?

Butts, Lewis Butts, president, council.

Good evening.

Um

Oh, in 1930 Since 1930, there's been

over 34 deaths of people going over the

Dock Street Dam.

Um and it's an issue,

and it's always been an issue.

And I think there's a federal case right

now with the city

based on

not making it safe enough.

And the the deaths are regular,

and we haven't come up with a solution

to saving those lives.

And this is a serious thing.

And I have a solution.

And it it kills two birds with the the

Don't

But it it solves two problems. It solves

the energy problem, and it solves a

death problem.

Cuz people are dying.

Now, um either we let the people die

over the Dock Street Dam, or we retrofit

the Dock Street Dam with these turbines,

and which brings in revenue.

We can still We can solve two things.

There will be nobody killed anymore. And

we'll have so much money.

The Susquehanna is 340 million years

old. That's before the dinosaurs.

It's time for us to link up and make

something that's going to last forever,

or for beyond our lives.

Or we're going to or people are going to

still

>> [clears throat]

>> fall over the Dock Street Dam and die.

And there's always a There's already a

lawsuit, so it ain't just me whistling

Dixie.

It's coming with a solution, you know.

We're here in this age,

and people have to Men have to come up

with solutions to the problems that we

have that we're faced with every day.

And we ain't surprised. I'm not

surprised.

We say

Stop it.

And it's still going over the bridge

over the dam.

I think it seems kind of funny that

nobody's thinking about it.

And there's lawsuits to the brilliant

the smart ones. There's a lawsuit.

There's a federal There's a case

about we ain't got the brains to figure

that one out, and it happens regularly,

almost by clock.

I'll come I got I got I'm going to work

with the engineers

to try to stop the deaths.

We still ain't figured out how to the

trucks are going to

going over

Front Street and hit going into the the

bridge at the hospital.

I mean, we can set our clock to

these things. It ain't me. I ain't going

to the Dock Street Dam.

But I'm going to show up and try to save

the lives that I know it's going I can

predict it. I can I can predict it.

So, let's put some numbers together.

Let's draw some lines,

squares, and triangles, and and get a

solution for for something.

Okay?

You got it? You got it?

We got it together? Same page?

I love you.

And like D, I'm coming back. All right.

All right?

Thank you.

Thank you.

>> Enjoy Enjoy the river.

But don't You know what I'm saying?

Thank you. Can you state your address or

the vicinity in which you live?

>> Uh Midtown. Thank you. Thank you. Thank

you. Enjoy the Enjoy your night.

I don't believe there's anyone else, but

I will just ask, is there anyone else

that would like to offer public comment?

Okay, seeing hearing no one, the time is

6:56 p.m. I will entertain a motion to

adjourn.

So moved. Is there a second?

Second. Thank you. We stand adjourned.