Harrisburg City Council Work and Legislative Session - 05/28/24

good evening

everyone the time is 5:43 p.m. I would

like to officially call our work session

to

order Mr TR D could you please call the

role Miss

Daniels here Miss Davis present Miss

green present Mr Jones here miss rolles

present Mr Rodriguez present Miss

Bowers present thank

you as you all know we have a work

session scheduled immediately following

our work session uh we will host a

legislative

session we will begin with the work of

the administration committee we have one

resolution for discussion resolution 33

of 2024 Mr trusdale could you please

read it into the

record resolution 33 2024 a resolution

authorizing the city of Harrisburg to

participate in the 2024 cohort of the

Pennsylvania blueprint communities

program thank you um is there anyone

from the administration who will

be discussing resolution

33 no you can sit here if you wouldn't

mind speaking directly into the

microphone and pushing it toward you

that way that everyone in the room

and councilwoman Daniels can hear you

thank you

good evening uh Madam bers my name is

George Connor executive director of the

Dolphin County Economic Development

Department I'm also on the committee for

the blueprint communities um and you

guys have the resolution in front of you

for other partnership um with the with

the program that we're running in South

Allison

Hill okay if you wouldn't mind do you

mind sharing a little bit more about the

program just for those who can't see the

resolution honestly I don't know much

about it but it's committee by fire but

uh essentially uh the Pittsburgh Home

Loan Bank and the Pennsylvania Town

downtown Center uh do a program that

helps um lower income communities and uh

older communities to develop strategic

plans and also um develop Partnerships

and development roles in the community

so we'll be taking Tak a look at South

Allison Hill with these Grant funds for

a strategic

plan thank you thank

you I'll open the floor to my colleagues

to determine if they have any questions

for you um I'll begin with councilman

Jones Thank You president Bowers how you

doing Mr Connor good how are you

councilman Jones good good um I'll just

say man I read through this and um I

like what you guys are attempting to do

here and I just appreciate your service

for our community

and that's all I have thank you very

much appreciate it thank you councilman

Rodriguez um always a pleasure seeing

you Mr Conor um no questions for me

thank you thank you councilman thank you

councilwoman Ross good evening thank you

for joining us today Mr Connor um one

quick question Neil I just want to make

sure there's no um conflicts here I grew

up with Mr

Connor he's a family friend I don't not

not not a spouse or anything so no but I

always like to be clear no okay and this

this particular one is not actually

about money it's about agreeing to

participate in a in in planning down the

road okay so it's more of a an agreement

to collaborate I thought so but I wanted

you to say that well we're not going to

be on the record because it's a work

session but I want you to say that so

we're clear okay oh thank you Mr Connor

for being here I don't have any

questions I read through it too and any

grants that can help our community is

always something I look forward to

seeing happen thank you Council one

you're welcome thank you thank you vice

president green any questions thank you

president Bowers good evening Mr Connor

Thank you for being here tonight thank

you um it looks like a great opportunity

for the residents of the city and for

the city itself um South Allison Hill

and Allison Hill in general um

definitely could use the extra help the

extra hands um I would just like to

stress the importance of informing and

working with the community letting them

know what's going on um so I understand

may have been a little caught off guard

today but to not be able to just

articulate a little about about

what's going on when we've got all these

people sitting here and listening um I I

definitely think that uh we might need

to revisit that um and make sure we're

getting information out there whether

it's door too whether it's coming to a

city council um legislative session and

just having a conversation or

presentation about what the opportunity

is I think it's really important because

anytime we go into someone's Community

um our community uh it's important to

get their Buy in because at the end of

the day you go home and they stay there

so I think that's really important so um

I look forward to working with you and I

look forward to this opportunity thank

you so much we provide updates to you

not not a problem thank you thank you

councilwoman Davis any questions thank

you president Bowers good evening Mr

Connor good seeing you again thank you

for your service no no questions

appreciate it thank

you thank you councilwoman Daniels any

questions yes so I just want to be clear

on exactly what it is we're being asked

to do because it it seems like the the

program is run through the the bank it

doesn't look like this is asking us to

authorize anything or allocate anything

or Grant any particular

authorities so is this just more of a

declaration of support than anything

else I guess just asking the mayor

to ask someone to participate yeah it's

just support um for the program I think

it's under the program regulations that

the municipalities that the program is

incorporated in basically have a

resolution tying them into to the

partnership for the for the planning

purposes of the

grant okay you we are essentially

authorizing a seat at the table uh for a

designate of the mayor that's it's a

very early stages of the

process okay okay and Council this is

the first I'm sorry excuse me I'm sorry

this is the first grant that was ever um

granted to a a haris b or Dolphin County

communities this is never it's never

happened before so that's why I'm not

familiar with it I've been with the

county for 21 years not familiar with

the program really but sitting on the

the committee to assist uh my Economic

Development capacity but that being said

um like I said you know not really sure

how it's going to work but we'll provide

you with updates how and when it plays

out um in the future for the for the

program okay and that's it for me thank

you thank you thank you thank you very

much for joining us this evening I don't

have any other questions for you thank

you so much thank

you that concludes the work of the

administration committee um I recommend

that we add resolution 33 of 2024 to our

legislative session agenda for a vote

the next committee business you will

hear this evening will come from the

budget and finance committee I will

defer to our budget and finance

committee chair vice president green

thank you president Bowers uh the budget

and finance committee will start with

discussing resolution 30 of 2024 it is a

resolution approving the fourth proposed

2024 budget reallocation is there anyone

from the city and the administration

here to discuss this

I'm

good evening thank you all for being

here tonight if you could just give a

brief introduction and then um go over

whatever synopsis you have for this

thank you okay thank you chair green

thank you uh Madame President um we will

be presenting the fourth um budget

reallocation um this evening and we will

also be discussing the uh contract with

um our auditor um Mr Brooks will lead

the com conversation our budget manager

on the reallocation and Mr McCutchen

will lead the discussion on um the um

the audit uh resolution with my abusal

okay so Mr

Brooks good evening Council and Timothy

Brooks the budget manager here aside me

is Alex burin he's our financial analyst

uh for the city um I'll go ahead and go

over the first exhibit so here today

with the fourth proposed budget

reallocation exhibit a alludes to a

$10,000 transfer from the the legal line

and within city council to the temporary

line this had to come down in front of

council because the temporary line is a

Personnel line therefore um we needed to

bring that in front of you guys uh for

the accommodation of the request for

this uh request for a senior and Junior

advisor request for a senior and Junior

advisor's position for the Youth

commission is there any

questions yes I believe councilwoman Ro

want to share a little

more yes thank you so much um vice

president green I just wanted to share a

few more things with the public as well

as my council members about the Junior

and senior advisor so I wanted to revive

the um youth Commission that we have

here in the city that a lot of residents

may not know we have but we do and it is

an extension of our government but on

the youth side so it gives our youth an

opportunity to participate in our local

government to craft bills or resolutions

that would help our city uh but to also

put on programs and really get into

their community and help it out and I

was and um president Bowers and I were

in tried our best to be in charge with

it um last year but we saw that we could

not give it enough dedic

which was unfair to the four young women

who were in our youth commission uh so

we decided and from their feedback they

wanted more meetings they want more more

opportunities to do things so we were

like okay let's make this a position

where we can get community members

teachers other residents who um would

like to apply to be able to really um go

one-on-one with our youth and get them

active in our community because that's

where it starts with them and how we

start building a community that we all

um can live in and enjoy but also making

sure that our youth understand what is

important about politics and them

getting into the political realm because

they are the next um leaders to step up

so that's why um I got together with our

um clerk our city our assistant Clerk

and we work together and we um try to

make sure we created these positions so

this would be a great opportunity for

not only for someone to do their passion

but get paid while they doing it um so I

would really like to the city to be able

to take this on and make it big just

that it just as it is in other cities

and municipalities so that's just a

little background on

it thank you uh definitely sounds like a

a great opportunity um I guess I just

have a couple of questions about it

since I'm just hearing of it um I know

we kind of discussed one and expand the

youth commission uh so I guess is it a

job description already developed what's

the rate of pay is it just for the

summer you know just a little more

information I guess just kind of

catching me off guard a little bit yeah

no worries so it is um a paid position

um like I said and it is

part-time um it's no more than about

like eight hours a week and the pay is I

don't want to get the numbers

wrong so give me one

minute so the pay is going to be um

excuse me 4 hours a week for 43 weeks so

it's kind of like a seasonal position

position which will go from August um to

May and so it's like the length of the

school year senior advisor is $29 an

hour and the junior advisor is $17 an

hour and our hopes is if we are able to

get both positions filled even though

it's seasonal those soon people come

back that next year so it's not

revamping the system over and over but

they're staying on and building on to

it okay um you said four hours a week

for 43 weeks yes the length of the

square yes

okay what's I guess um why are we

bringing it down now at the beginning of

the summer because we were un we didn't

have the right pieces together to bring

it in during the beginning of our budget

or during the beginning of the summer so

we wanted to make sure when we rolled it

out we rolled it out with perfection

with no empty things left with no Stones

left unturned but everything was in

order so we really worked on it and um

so then we can roll it out coming up

this summer and start interviews and

then they'll be ready to roll when

August comes

up

okay all right I don't have any more

questions at the moment I guess we can

can discuss this a little more um I I

definitely would like to know more about

it so it's a school year position not a

summer position no and it's temporary

but it's for majority of the Year yes

but that's how it had to be um

positioned with the person now right

because it's not a position in the

budget so we can't just insert another

position so we call it temporary yes

because it's a full year position that

doesn't exist yes those are the

legalities of it and we would suggest

the the way that it's written now the

council will have the option to either

make it Personnel or make it a contract

yes you know and administratively the

contract is frankly much easier for four

hours a week than the input that comes

for it um but that option is going to be

on the council's table yes we do want

that option to come up uh the next time

we're allowed to to make it resolution

so it is a contract this was just what

we had to do at the

moment okay but it's it's also it's not

really time sensitive because it's not

looking to start till August well it's

time sensitive just in the sense of

wanting to make sure we start interviews

so we have somebody in that position so

just um making sure we have the

allocation so we can interview for it I

am not wanting to say you will get this

money but now you're

not okay all right that's all I have I

don't if anybody else has any questions

on on this particular part before we

move on to the next part if anyone has

any questions or comments feel

free I don't have a question just a

comment um I'd like to thank

councilwoman RW and the city clerk staff

for their assistance I think that um

these two individuals whomever they are

will be helpful to the youth commission

and I think they will be helpful in our

learn in engaging our young people in a

different way uh than Council woman raw

and I could last year I think we were

successful and uh the students that

participated found the youth commission

to be

um uh I guess an exciting part of their

month we met on a monthly basis and I do

think they got something out of the

program but in at the end of the day I

think um two separate um senior and

Junior advisers would be helpful um for

the program as a

whole thank you for that president

hours I think that's it if we could we

could go on the the next exhibit I

suppose

okay moving right along to exhibit

B exhibit B alludes to in fund

transfer um to accommodate the needs for

uh completing the bestos abatement

treatments to the uh public safety

building as well as electrical

contracting work um also uh done within

the um

public safety building building during

this renovation we have going on

currently uh if you look down um says be

Year we're we're going to be

transferring the amount of 200 no

$213,400

uh for the bestest abatement and

$8,495 um for the uh electrical contract

work um and with a increase to revenue

or increase to Expedition uh uh excuse

me expenditures you also have to

increase revenues um therefore you'll

see the um Grant well I'm sorry excuse

me the transfer in from the general fund

public um from the general fund Public

Works of

4,875

$41,800 Roads project for 400,000

$41,800

[Music]

you'll see the increase of

$439,000 uh from an expenditure account

and then the also increase for uh

$439,500 from a revenue account uh Grant

proceeds are there any questions

about exhibit

B I don't think we have any questions

now excellent moving along to Exhibit

C and let me scoll roll just so we can

get capture

everything um the proposed amendment is

to accommodate the production of the

July uh concert series or music series

in Reservoir Park um this year we'll

just be utilizing the 15,000 from the

reservoir park um fund and the michelan

contractor

services and moving down to footnote e

uh We've excuse me I'm sorry we've we're

requesting a reallocation for the

received Capital blue program uh

contribution in which we'd like to

utilize the $30,000 for that

contribution towards the city island

playgrounds and pool

supplies that will conclude Exhibit

C thank you are there any questions on

this proposed budget

reallocation starting with councilman

Jones no

count great job as always very clear to

understand thank you councilman

Rodriguez no questions for me thank you

Council one R good evening again but no

questions for me thank you for your

great explanation on what the

reallocations are

for president Bowers I don't have any

questions thank you and councilwoman

Davis no questions at this time and

councilwoman Daniels no questions thank

you very much

I don't have any questions regarding

this for you guys um I think everything

in here makes sense um I would like to

see the job description and stuff for

the Junior and senior advisers uh just

so that we could have a little more

information at least I could have a

little more information on it um I think

it's a a great idea um I do think that I

don't know it was kind of out of the

blue I guess a little heads up or

something would have been nice uh just

to say Hey you know this is something

that we're looking to do putting us in

the proposed budget reallocation uh just

so it wasn't just caught off guard and

like what is this um so I will actually

um ask

that this is put on the next legislative

session uh but I may be making a

proposed amendment until we get the

information about the Junior and senior

advisors uh that we remove that line

obviously you could just email it to me

now but um I I just would like the the

information before I make the decision I

understand it's not a lot of money um

but just obviously for the for the

overall information and um I mean we

might even need more money if this is

something really want to do um but

that's just I just like to learn more

information about it so I apologize for

you um all of council not having that

information um I will make sure you all

get um both job descriptions cuz there

are job descriptions for both positions

so I will look in here and make sure I

email that to all of you but I'll

definitely hold myself accountable for

that part of not for you not having that

information so thank you and I don't

take it personal I just kind of take it

as you know it's exciting it's new you

you know trying to get it down here and

get it started so I don't take it

personal in any way just um holding us

all to the same standard that we hold

the administration we always ask for job

description so just kind of same thing

so Madam chair if I could inquire are

you looking to hold the whole resolution

to the June 11th meeting is that what

you mean I said I will be moving this

resolution 30 to the next legislative

session which is following this meeting

but I may be making a proposal to amend

it to remove that line

understood I might not have said it

clear enough I was kind of rambling a

little bit so thank

you uh I guess we will be moving to

resolution 31 of 2024 uh which is a

resolution authorizing the city of

Harrisburg to enter into a professional

service agreement with Meer dusu PC for

the purpose of providing audit

preparation services to the city of

Harrisburg and uh it's open for you okay

very good that's my Q good evening

everyone city council members uh Brian

McCutchen accounting manager uh thank

you president Bowers thank you vice

president

green this engagement letter pertains to

the 2023 audit uh requesting similar

consistent audit preparation services

from from Myer duel um the main items on

this

include uh the neighborhood services

fund the uh reconciliation and and

calculation of utility trash receivables

and related Revenue as of the end of uh

prior year

23 uh the compensated absences liability

calculation that uh is determined based

on leave history

reports uh the OPB liability that's

other post-employment

benefits liability which is an allocated

allocated uh calculation which includes

deferred inflows and

outflows um the the pension assets and

liabilities of the city's pension plans

police fire and non-uniform all three

also includes uh deferred inflows and

outflows in in the allocation

schedules and the other big item uh

significant item is the interf fund uh

accounts between the city and capital

region water it's a legacy due to Due

from account balances that uh we the

city continues to to carry

[Music]

forward um I've been more involved with

that actually in in in recent years and

coming up with uh the related adjusting

entries there's not as much work that

that pertains to for the for the audit

prep

assistance and just as a reminder Myer

do so again they they do the audit

preparation assist our they're not our

Auditors it's uh our our our Auditors

are from The Firm of Boyer and Ritter so

we're requesting Myer doel to help us

get ready for for Boyer and Ritter for

later this

year uh and the timing of this would be

in um late late late August uh to

midt and what we what we would like to

do accomplish as we're getting closer to

the end of the 2022 Financial audit uh

I'm about 80% 80 to 85% through that

looking to get uh the finalized

adjustments uh before the end June so we

can produce a report an audit report in

July of this year and that'll we we want

to have a seamless transition which is

why we'd like to request Meer doel to

continue the audit prep work they've

done historically for the

city that's my summary on

that all right thank you very much and

just to be clear I believe the it's

build at a regular hourly rate not to

exceed $220,500 just so the public knows

yes that's correct thank you I don't

have any questions um pretty

straightforward to me I will open up to

my colleagues I'll start to my immediate

or no my far right with councilwoman

Daniels I don't have any questions thank

you thank you councilwoman Davis no

questions for me president Bowers I

don't have any questions thank you

councilwoman RS thank you I don't have

any questions councilman Rodriguez um

thank you all for being here this

evening no questions thank you and

councilman Jones no questions mine was

answered um the price tag 20,5 that's

it thank you very much for being here

tonight thank you for your presentations

um great job as always I appreciate your

hard work I would like to thank you as

the finance team would like to thank M

Madam chair and Madam president for your

time and your energies we're grateful to

you and thank you so much thank

you I believe that concludes the

business for the budget and finance

committee

what is your preference for resolution

31 of 2024 I would like to move it to

the next legislative agenda immediately

following this meeting thank

you next committee business we have this

evening comes from the community and

economic development committee I will

defer to our community and economic

development committee chair councilwoman

Daniels um thank you um Mr trisel do you

mind reading resolution 34 hyphen 2024

into the record please resolution 34

2024 a resolution approving the

preliminary slf final land development

plan for 174 North 15 Street submitted

by St John CME Church to consolidate two

parcels and construct a new 2400 ft

Church 17 space accessory parking lot

and Associated site and access

improvements thank you and is there

someone from the administration and

someone from representing the applicant

who could um give us a brief overview we

can start with the

administration uh yes uh thank you

council member um Daniels uh the

application here before city council

tonight uh is for 174 North 15 Street uh

proposal consolidating the parcels um

and developing a um new church on site

as well as a 17 space parking lot and

Subs site and access improvements um

City Council may be aware that up until

about 2020 there was a historic church

building existing on uh this property uh

it was demolished around that time um

due to um deteriorating and becoming a

um public safety hazard uh and so what

this project is seeking to do is to

reestablish that use on site um and uh

to again develop uh the rest of the site

uh to accommodate uh the needs of the

parishioners on site and to ensure that

it can be folded into the other

development that's happening along these

few blocks of North 15 Street uh where

we're seeing 50 units uh coming online

in a separate project um in a multif

family dwelling and row house uh

development uh so with that being said

um the Planning Commission recommended

that city council uh approve the request

with the following conditions uh the

applicant will ensure that sidewalks

along North 15 Street uh and Sh Street

are constructed to the full width of The

Pedestrian RightWay

reflecting the configuration of the site

prior to the demolition of the former

structure on site and the Reconstruction

of the sidewalks on adjacent blocks as

part of an unrelated development project

uh the applicant will ensure that

bicycle parking is provided as required

per section 7-

327.5 of the zoning code uh and the

planning Bureau is recommending uh that

such parking be located near the main

entrance and uh sheltered if possible as

part of the uh building uh design and

finally the applicant will redesign the

vehicular egress onto sh street at the

northern edge of the site to feature a

driveway curb cut as opposed to the

current Street curb cut design uh in

discussions with the applicant and

testimony at the Planning Commission

meeting uh the applicant has uh agreed

to um all of those conditions uh the

city coun uh Planning Commission

recommends the city council approve the

request for the following reasons uh the

applicant has received approval of the

requisite zoning relief request from the

zoning hearing board uh the project will

reestablish a place of worship use that

was previously on site and which to the

planning bureau's knowledge create no

adverse impacts for the surrounding

neighborhood and finally if the

conditions outlined in the planning

bureau's case report are adopted the

project will extend the public space

redesign of the corridor initiated by

the residential development project on

the blocks to the east and

south thank you um and just for my

clarification right now those two lots

are empty right or am I that is correct

I seeing the landscape wrong uh y that

is correct they are both uh vacant um

just have some um demolition debris and

some overgrown

vegetation okay and then with the

parking lot component of it like um have

there been discussions about storm water

management uh yes uh the storm water

management um and other uh utility

aspects of the project uh were submitted

as part of this um law consolidation

Land Development plan um and I believe

uh crw um has reviewed uh the projects

and um is coordinating with the

applicant on Final Design

Elements okay thank you um so if to the

applicant I apologize I can't see you um

but if you don't mind introducing

yourself and giving us a brief

description of your project and you know

what your goal is for this proposal um

sure my name is Reverend Dr Green dicki

I am the pastor of St John CME Church um

we originally was established over 75

years ago as a part of the Harrisburg

Community um our church was the old

Lutheran Church that has been a historic

um building um and due to uh many of you

remember the storm of 2017 we s saying

Su uh sustained significant damage and

had a fight with our insurance company

that damage led to um to the as you can

see the demolishment of the building um

we had have um recently settled with our

insurance company um and so that allows

us the funds to rebuild that church uh

we are looking forward to coming back to

the Allison Hill Community where we have

served um this church has um been

significant in providing back school

backpacks um computers to the community

we are looking forward to coming back

and being an instrumental part of the

rebuilding of Allison Hill

um we're looking to build right now it

would be a uh a one-story structure um

basically to seat 50 but it is going to

be a uh what we call a multi-purpose in

the sense of what we're looking for to

do is to have that along with a kitchen

um and um be able to have access for the

usage for our community we are um like

we stated before we have been a part of

Hill for over 75 years and are looking

forward to coming back with a Vigor to

help our community succeed thank

you thank you so much um I'm now going

to open up to my colleagues I will start

um to the far left uh councilman

Jones thank you have councilwoman

Daniels no just more so of a comment um

I grew up in that area I used to go to

the boxing gym on Sho Street very

familiar with it and it has been eyes

sore for some time and I'm glad that you

guys are looking to come back and um

Lord knows we need prayer in Allison

Hill so thank

you okay and uh councilman

Rodriguez thank you chair Daniels um

were you a part of the St John CM me

that was uh what was the location where

the roof I believe caved in yes I was

uh I think we had our third annual

Christmas event at your church yep so

thank you for all the work you've done

and I look forward to seeing St John's

back up and running thank you y

absolutely okay uh councilman RS yeah

thank you well thank you for being here

tonight and thank you for coming back to

the community and wanting to rebuild um

so I look forward to seeing what you all

build thank you you're

welcome uh president Bowers thank you I

don't have any questions thank you for

your presence this evening I'm glad to

hear that you've recently settled with

your insurance company so praise God for

that um and not only do we need prayer

in Allison Hill but we need prayer in

this entire city so we look forward to

uh your church being revitalized and

coming back with Vigor and the impact

that you will um continue to make in the

Allison Hill Community thank you thank

you thank you uh vice president

president green thank you councilman

Daniels I don't have any questions for

you um I I definitely support this

project um I thank you and and your

organization and your church for wanting

to rebuild in Allison Hill right for not

taking the insurance money and running

like so many people do so thank you for

being invested in our community

wholeheartedly and being willing to come

back through the storm and continue to

build and invest in our city and our

kids so we appreciate that thank you

thank

you councilwoman Davis thank you

councilwoman

Daniels and thank you for being here and

for being willing to invest in the

community again and into the children we

need more than prayer we need action in

this city I know and we're looking

forward to do that action thank you very

much and thank you for your

service does anyone have any other

questions

okay um so I would go ahead and

recommend that we add resolution 34 hyen

2024 to the next legislative session and

um Mr trisal do you mind reading

resolution 35 H 2024 into the record

resolution 35 2024 a resolution

approving the preliminary slf final land

development plan for 1719 Market Street

submitted by Capitol City Church of the

Assemblies of God Incorporated to

consolidate two existing parcels and to

establish an accessory parking lot for

the church located at 1710 Chestnut

Street along with Associated

improvements thank you and if um uh

someone from the administration could

give us a brief overview and if an

applicant is present that also if they

could make themselves available to

answer questions as well uh yep uh so uh

the application uh before city council

here um is a proposal consolidating uh

two existing Lots along the southern of

Market Street at 1719 Market Street and

19 South 17 Street um and to construct

an accessory parking lot uh for the

church uh that is located just uh across

zarker street to the south at 1710 uh

Chestnut Street uh so this project had

actually come um before the city um

zoning hearing board and city council I

believe back in 2020 uh and uh due to

some changes in the design and elapsing

of the um zoning relief uh the

applicants came back through the process

more recently uh and did get the um

zoning her board approval uh and so they

are now coming back before uh the city

council for the land development plan

aspects of this project um as uh City

Council Members may know uh the project

uh the properties are currently uh

essentially a gravel parking lot um a

little bit of overgrown vegetation uh

it's got a chain link fence around it uh

but it's not really used for anything

over the at the moment uh the um congre

ation has previously used it informally

as surface parking so what this project

will do um is we'll formalize uh the use

of the property uh we'll also um bring

the property into conformance with

various aspects of the zoning code

related to the uh planting of trees

screening of the parking lot and

incorporation of on-site storm water

management um and so uh we feel that

this will be um a significant benefit uh

to the corridor um and uh to the

congregation uh and the congregation has

also um worked with local

organizations uh to um allow their use

of the parking lot for or the parking

lot that they currently have for the

property uh you may be aware that

recycle bicycle is located right next

door to them so they've allowed them to

use their parking lot to uh teach kids

how to ride bicycles and stuff too so

the um applicants are definitely an

integral part of uh this community and

so um we're happy to support uh this

proposal uh with that being said uh the

Planning Commission recommends that the

city council approve the request uh for

the following with the following

conditions uh the applicant will meet

all the conditions of the zoning hearing

board decision from the November 2023

meeting uh lipl bre recommends that the

applicant coordinate with the City

Arborist regarding required landscaping

and trees on site and consider

installing native plants and pollinator

plants in landscaped areas around the

perimeter of the site generally and more

specifically around the proposed storm

water detention Basin uh the applicant

will coordinate with the city Engineers

office on removal of the curb cut and

driveway onto Market Street and

reconstruction of the sidewalk along Dem

Market Street Frontage in accordance

with the city's sidewalk ordinance and

Ada regulations uh and council members

may be familiar that there's an old curb

cut there that provided access to the

site but being that they've had fencing

up there for decades uh that uh curb cut

is no longer necessary so they'll be

getting rid of that and reconstructing

the sidewalk there uh the applicant will

ensure that development is conformance

with any crw requirements regarding

on-site storm water management approval

of a building permit for the work will

not be granted until formal approval

from crw has been received um and I

believe they're in the final stages of

doing so uh and finally the applicant

will be permitted to lease spaces to

surrounding residents and or businesses

during times in which it is not normally

used for church church congregants and

the reason that last condition was added

was because um in the past there have

been several properties uh along this um

stretch of Market Street uh that have

been looking for uh viable reuses and

they have not been able to make it

through the zoning heing board processed

due to a lack of off street parking um

and so we wanted to make uh to allow the

applicant to uh lease spaces here uh

essentially functioning kind of as a de

facto commercial parking lot um for lack

of a better word uh to any of those uh

Property Owners or businesses in order

to help uh Revitalize this Corridor uh

so that they're able to do that without

having to come back and get zy relief in

the future um the city the Planning

Commission recommends the city council

approve the request for the following

reasons the applicant previously

received approval of the requested

zoning relief for the proposed

development on site in September 2020

and more recently in November 2023 as

the applicant notes in their narrative

the property had previously operated as

an informal parking lot as such the

proposal will formalize this

configuration and ensure the property is

designed to be in accordance with the

current regulations of the zoning code

and finally The Proposal will redevelop

a currently vacant site into something

with more utility for the applicant and

potentially the community as well as a

more attractive design with Landscaping

that will contribute to the aesthetic

Improvement of the Market Street

corridor

okay uh thank you uh for your

presentation um if the applicant is

present and would be willing to just

introduce yourself and tell us a little

bit about where you are in the

project uh yes ma'am uh my name is Tony

tro I am with melum Associates the

designers for the project

um as discussed Mr Knight discussed this

project was approved several years ago

but the method of storm water management

was proved to be

financially

undoable um so what we primarily done is

is R Done the method of storm water

management um it's now originally it was

a large uh recharge bed beneath the

parking lot it's now an open storm water

basin uh which is much more

affordable

okay yeah thank you um you know with

both of these bills coming down and

having extensive parking lot like I was

wondering about for both of them I'm you

know seriously thinking about the storm

water management aspect of of these

plans but um yeah you both answered all

of my questions so I'm going to open up

to my fellow council members and I'll

start to my far left councilman Jones do

you have any questions uh thank you no

um again neighborhood needed thank

you uh councilman

Rodriguez uh yes thank you um chair

Daniels um will there be any additional

security added once the parking lot's up

and run in for that

area uh no no more additional security

the site is now fenced it will continue

to be fenced like the same fence by a

recycle bicycle was it the metal one or

like a wooden what fence are you

speaking about well no the only wood

fence I believe there's a wood fence

around a dumpster area but I think

that's that's it everything else will be

metal fence metal fence so what kind of

access would you need to get to the

parking lot I'm sorry sir what kind of

access will you need to gain access to

the lot uh the access will be off of

zarker Street uh there was an old access

I'm sorry just a a key card what kind of

access or can anyone just drive into the

lot right now the fence is open anybody

can drive into the lot that's why the

security but my understanding is that

the fence during the week unless prior

arrangements have been made with another

party who wants to use it that the fence

will be closed okay y i just encourage

if it does go through and there's other

parties you know using the lot with you

I encourag up in the security um in the

area just so everyone remains safe yeah

they would have to pre-arrange that with

the church but I I think the church is

aable to that what area do you live in

Harrisburg are you from the area I am

from the the general haris I'm not a

member I don't live in the city L all

right thank

you uh councilman councilwoman RS thank

you good evening thank you for joining

us tonight thank you um director um

night for your presentation um my

question has already been answered it

was about if um general public would be

able to lease spaces or have access to

these spaces just because we know

parking is an issue in the city and do

as though there would be a new parking

lot I just wondered if um residents

would be able to leas spaces but you

answered that so thank

you um president Bowers I don't have any

questions thank you vice president green

I don't have any questions for you uh

thank you both for being here

tonight um councilman Davis no questions

for me thank you

again thank you all um I'll I would

recommend that we place resolution 35 HP

in 2024 onto the next legislative

session's agenda um and next we'll

proceed to resolution 36 hyen 2024 Mr

trisol do you mind reading that into the

record resolution

36224 a resolution approving the

preliminary slf final land development

plan for 2701 Industrial Road submitted

by nav n Zer zaver to construct a 143

stall commercial parking lot to serve as

overflow parking for the farm show

complex and adjacent properties along

the along with Associated

improvements uh thank you and um for

this one uh let's hear from the

administration as well as the applicant

um but first if the solicitor's office

um just making sure that there's no part

of this land that's within Standard

Parking jurisdiction

this is correct this is not within

Standard Parking

jurisdiction okay thank you um so go

ahead uh Mr Knight and give us a brief

description of the project process uh so

uh similar to uh the uh previous uh

project uh this uh parking lot proposal

was also uh before uh both the zoning

hearing board and city council a few

years ago uh at the time the proposal

was for a gravel parking lot about

similarly similar layout uh with a bit

less um of the landscape screening uh

but um I believe at the time uh the

proposal had been was denied by city

council uh and so the applicants um

resigned the parking lot and came back

uh through the both processes zoning

relief and Land Development uh and did

get um all the necessary zoning

approvals and so the um final uh step in

the project for the applicants is to get

city council approval for this

development um if uh the uh council

members are kind of aware of where this

site is it's uh right adjacent to the

stbridge Suites across Paxton Creek from

where the farm show complex is located

um similar to the last case uh it was

informly used for parking for several of

the bigger um events that the farm show

has every year um and so what'll happen

as part of this project is uh they'll be

fully Paving this so it'll be asphalt

paving uh it'll be 143 space lot uh

fully landscaped uh with lighting um and

it will be connected both to um

Industrial Road as well as to the State

Bridge Suites um accessory parking lot

there uh the um applicant I believe is

part owner of the State Bridge Suites so

I'm sure they'll have some sort of um

negotiation on access and uh potentially

any overflow parking uh onto uh this

project site but it's primary purpose is

to serve um the larger uh farm show

events uh that occur uh providing a kind

of more closer accessory parking

location than some of the other areas

like in the state hospital for example

where people are parked and shuttled

down um to the farm show um and so uh

you know as a generally speaking uh this

is kind of really uh set up set back

from most of development in the city

it's kind of unique in that scenario

where it's got um Industrial Road and

then the railroad uh to the west and

then statebridge Suites right there so

there's no real other trip generators

around it or anything like that uh so it

should be a relatively low impact

development um the one I think uh major

consideration and this shows up in the

conditions is uh how people will uh get

to the entrance to the farm show um if

you ever been along there there's no

real sidewalk along the across the

bridge across Paxton Street or Paxton

Creek um so you know before there were

some people that might stay at

Staybridge Suites that would walk across

there now we're going to have 143 space

lot that's specifically for pedestrians

um accessing the farm show so uh that

shows up in the uh conditions of the

case report um and the applicants have

previously been working on um on their

own on a potential uh Crossing of Paxton

Creek behind the State Bridge Suite so

not exactly sure how that'll um play out

but just wanted to kind of make a note

of that um that that is a consideration

um in the final uh design of this

project uh with that being being said uh

the Planning Commission has recommended

uh that city council approve the request

with the following conditions uh the

planning Bureau recommends the applicant

coordinate with the City Arborist

regarding Landscaping on site and

consider installing native plants and

pollinator plants in landscaped areas

around the perimeter of the site and uh

the applicant should install a

pedestrian walkway in the Eastern corner

of the parking lot connecting the

sidewalk along Industrial Road nearest

to the existing entrance to the hotel

parking lot uh this will separate

pedestrians from vehicles and improve

safety for both users uh and right now

or in the original um uh design of the

site plan uh there was no um pedestrian

connection to the sidewalk along

Industrial Road so would have forced um

anybody walking out of the site to uh go

through the vehicular entrance um and

the applicants have agreed to uh include

that and then finally the applicant

should also work with the city Engineers

office to get a dedicated separate and

ADA Compliant path installed across the

bridge over Paxton Creek as no such

route exists currently uh as noted the

applicant also testified during the plan

commission meeting that they were

looking at a separate um connection um

on their own so in whichever way that

occurs we just want to make sure that um

we're directing you know individuals to

walk along uh to walk from this parking

lot to the farm show that they have a

safe way to do so um the Planning

Commission recommends that Harrisburg

city council approve the request for the

following reasons proposed project will

develop a property with relatively

limited utility given the lack of

connections to the surrounding City and

the lack of nearby trip generators

during times in which the property is

not used for its primary purpose it will

be able to provide overflow parking for

the adjacent statebridge Suites and uh

finally the property will feature a

permitted use and and will be developed

in accordance with the applicable zoning

regulations related to development

standards parking lot screening and

required tree

plannings could you repeat that last

part uh yes uh the property will feature

a permitted use and will be developed in

accordance with the applicable zoning

regulations related to development

standards parking lot screening and

required tree plant

okay thank you um so just for my

clarification because it's been a while

um so this is the

basically that little piece of land

that's basically between

mlay and um the road I think it's

Arsenal maybe um or the road that

statebridge hotel is on right that's

correct uh it's kind of Wildwood Parkway

and it transitions into Industrial yeah

yep okay okay um and then um so will

there be like a sidewalk along

Industrial Road as well uh there will

yes okay okay um and then what about the

kind of the proposals for the actual

parking lot in terms of the materials

like are those okay uh yeah they'll be

they're proposing to use um asphalt with

uh lined uh parking spaces and and uh

We've confirmed that the parking spaces

and driveway aisles are in conformance

with our

regulations okay and and then um I don't

know how you calculate this Jeff but you

know looking like right now there's a

lot of greenery in

that

area um so obviously any parking lot

kind of

really uh increases the storm water and

that's an area where there's a lot of

flooding on mlay

um so how does the storm water

calculation like work in terms of

the the amount of that lot that needs to

be dedicated to managing storm water uh

yeah so I mean the um I guess formal

calculations are really uh best left to

CW's Engineers um but uh the applicants

have um included a um Subterranean um

storm water detention Basin uh so it's a

little different from the previous

proposal which had a separate dedicated

surface uh detention Basin this will be

uh under uh the parking lot itself um

and of course uh the um the rates of

capture and release uh and the volume of

storm water detained would have to be in

coordination uh conformance with any of

CW's regulations to get their approval

uh on the

design okay so this isn't going to be

your like a typical straightforward

where you're just kind of looking at the

surface material and whatever because

this there's the underwat underground

component to it that's correct okay

thank you so much and if the applicant

is present um could you give us a brief

uh description of the project and kind

of your timeline for completing the the

project um sure my name again is Tony

tro I'm with melum Associates um this is

a uh proposed to be a commercial parking

lot um but it is only to be used for six

or seven of the larger events at the

farm show building the remainder of the

time this parking lot will largely be

vacant and empty um it will be used for

overflow parking for the dising uh State

Bridge

Suites um we do have proposed for storm

water management um a detention Basin

which will discharge directly to Paxton

Creek um the water that isn't required

to be retained or infiltrated will be

discharged directly to the creek um

uh we are working as Mr Knight had

indicated we are working on a pedestrian

bridge across Paxton Creek to get people

functionally from this parking lot and

from the State Bridge Street uh Suites

uh to the uh the farm show uh parking

lot

um uh that's pretty much as I this is a

little bit different than the last one

as this is a commercial parking lot um

it has been used as a parking lot for

15 years um but it's in a it's a grassed

parking lot and actually the director of

The Forum show uh requested that uh Mr

xer make this a mud-free surface form

show in January it's and the notorious

weather it gets messy so this is just to

in response to the request of the

director of The Farm Show

okay thank you so much um so you've all

answered my questions um the I'll open

up to my fellow council members I'll

start again on the far left councilman

Jones Thank You councilwoman Daniels no

questions uh councilman uh Rodriguez

thank you chair Daniels um what uh firm

did you say you were with one more time

uh it's melhem Associates what's your

relation to both projects what is your

relation to both projects because I

don't see that entity listing no I'm

just the the designer I'm the

professional responsible for the two

projects okay thank you no further

questions councilman RS thank you I

don't have any questions both of mine

been answered which was how we pedest

pedestrians going to get from that

parking lot to the farm show safely but

also I just did want to know the need

for this parking lot um and you answered

that I I see there it's been used

already there's been an overflow and so

now they want to just fill it in um

correctly to make sure when people are

parking it's not muddy or the gravel

isn't there so uh thank

you um president Bowers I don't have any

questions I do remember this uh from a

few years ago so thank you for your work

um and thanks for your question uh chair

Daniels regarding the

timeline thank you and um

vice president green thank you chair

Daniels I don't have any questions thank

you for being here

tonight and uh councilwoman um Davis

thank you councilwoman Daniels I don't

have any questions they have all been

answered thank you for being

here thank you um and I just that if I

would recommend that we um add

resolution 3624 to the next legislative

agenda um and this concludes the

business of the community and economic

development

committee thank you thank you uh the

final committee business we will receive

this evening will come from the parks

recreation and enrichment committee I

will defer to our parks recreation and

enrichment committee chair councilwoman

Ross thank you very much uh good evening

again everybody um Mr trell can you

please read resolution 32 of

2024 resolution 32 2024 a resolution

authorizing the city of har harisburg to

negotiate and enter into a landowner

grantee agreement with the Capital Area

greenbo Association in furtherance of

construction and restoration of the

paang parkway Creek and Trail thank you

very much Mr trell is there anybody here

from the administration who can give um

the public as well as Council more

information on resolution 32 of 2024

good evening city council my name is

David Baker um I am the facilities

director for the city of Harrisburg uh

tonight before you we are seeing uh a

land owner agreement resolution uh

that's allowing the kaga group to

receive a fun well they've already

received re the funding from d in the

amount of

$288,000 to continue or ongo continue

the ongoing work for the pan Parkway

restoration work um and here tonight

before you we have uh Mr Scott sheppler

who is speaking on behalf of kaga who

can answer any and all questions you may

have in regards to this uh

proposal thank you take us away we're

here to listen to you uh this continues

the restoration of the creek that's NE

necessary to restore the

trail um we uh this Project's been

phased and I think this is probably the

fifth or sixth time that we've been to

council to get S these kind of

agreements uh

approved it's necessary for us to be

able to use the money that we've been

awarded by

d uh to have this agreement in

place with the city

okay does anybody want to add anything

else before I move on for questions with

from Council Madam chair I'll just note

that because this is the fourth or fifth

time we've added one of the condition to

this resolution that if they need any

more of these that this approves those

two oh okay so um just don't dly noted

yes okay just to make make myself clear

just so there's no confusion this is not

uh to actually allow kaga to receive the

the EPA Grant this is just a landowner

agreement they've already actually

received the grant to say we're allowing

them to do it's almost giving them

partial ownership per se but saying that

they're allowed to do the work I mean

without saying it but they're allowed to

go on there and do the work and we know

that they are absolutely okay thank you

so much all right I'll move on I'll move

to my far left with um councilman Jones

no questions all right councilman

Rodriguez no questions Madam chair thank

you

and I have no questions so president

Bowers no questions we're in phase four

and this covers all future phases Rec

construction and restoration just wanted

to clarify that but thank you for your

presence tonight I'm going to put that

in my

notes um vice president green I don't

have any questions thank you for being

here

tonight um councilwoman Davis thank you

councilwoman Ross do we know and thank

you for being here first of all do we

know how how long the entire Project's

going to take any idea um the uh well

it's gets very complicated the the

stream aspect of it um could and the

trail aspect maybe the uh the end of

26 okay I noticed that the the bike

trail going back on the green belt and

going across uh Cameron Street over up

to Paxson that's all blocked off so can

I tell my uh well friends and and other

residents who have asked me to find out

try to find out how long this is going

to be closed um that but they should

find another

trail that is a different section than

than what we're talking about we're

talking about the pakin parkway between

market and

dairy uh the area in South harrisb is

under

development and the association

continues to work with the new land

owners to try to get an agreement that

we can pass through there oh okay but

for right now there's a detour and that

detour takes you over this the Sycamore

Street

Bridge uh and down Cameron Street to uh

shoi

Street and fortunately that section of

Cameron Street is had does have

sidewalk I know we're not supposed to

ride on the sidewalk on with bicycles

but I'm not riding on Cameron Street I

wouldn't either okay thank you very much

sure all right councilwoman um Daniels

do you have any questions no questions

okay thank you I am recommending that

resolution 32 of 2024 goes on our next

legislative agenda I I have so sorry

that's one that's okay I I've been asked

uh by the Association if I have an

opportunity to speak that I uh remind

everybody that our tour to Belt our

major fundraiser of the year is going to

be this

Sunday okay what

time uh it kicks off around 9:00 but it

takes a long time last year we had

almost a thousand Riders oh wow and

where do you all meet up at just in case

it changed I want to make sure I have

all the details at hack at hack

okay okay I'll make sure to say that

thank you for the reminder all right

that's it okay and that concludes the

business of parks recreation and

enrichment

committee thank you very much uh we will

now move to public comment just a few

housekeeping notes before we begin

public comment um just to note we are

still in our work session so any

comments received um during this portion

of our meeting will not formally be

added to our meeting record if you would

like your comments added to the meeting

record I would suggest staying for our

legislative session and providing your

comments then but if you're interested

in providing any commentary now you will

have four minutes to share your comment

Mr trusdale will serve as our

timekeeper um 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 I will begin to my right

is there anyone that would like to offer

public

comment okay seeing and hearing no one

oh there's one person

okay good evening uh Daniel Stern in

Rudy Road for 40 years I'm assuming

we're talking about the farm show now is

that right excuse me the Farmers Market

is that the subject no not the subject

no but you're free to speak about it

it's not but you're welcome to speak on

it you have four minutes I'm sorry if

we're not if that was the subject I

thought we were addressing so I will let

sit

down at the next meeting that way your

comments will be on the meeting record

if you should choose it'll begin in a

few minutes thank you you're welcome so

is there anyone else to my right that

would like to offer public comment

okay greetings to all uh honorable

Harford city council members uh my name

is Calon Rashid I'm an advocate for the

homeless Community activist and I reside

in the 2400 block of North 6 Street here

in

Harrisburg and I've come here today to

address several issues I think are of

great community

concerned first I want to draw attention

to the fact that there are hundreds of

construction

workers um they are now here performing

a multitude of jobs none of which appear

to be part of any local union we have

here in our city since the new federal

courthouse was built our community was

forced to sit and watch Outsiders come

in and build without any of her own

qualified and skilled laborers and we

staged several protests at the six and

Raleigh Courthouse site and now we have

a City full of contractors who are

specialists in all areas of

construction tonight a vote will be made

on Alexander construction company to be

or not to be the company who rebuilds

the Broad Street Market for Broad Street

Market

Alliance in this case an issue of

prevailing wage exists but at the same

time there's no mention of hiring any of

our own local laborers from temp

agencies at all during this Construction

season from anyone out there working on

our city streets yet it's our tax

dollars foot in the bill and we deserve

representation the job market needs to

be opened up to uh let us in about 20

years ago I ran a jackhammer inside the

Broad Street Market for Mr fiser I

hauled heavy bricks in a wheelbarrow all

day long and helped install a now

replaced heating system so I don't want

to hear that local laborers can't be a

part of this history

now as far as the homeless Community is

concerned it just can't be business as

usual

um it's time for a city ordinance to

clearly defines a homeless Bill of

Rights and I want everyone to be aware

of what what's actually causing an

increase in violent crime and murder

people are losing their sense of

self-worth and dignity over a

maladaptive system that has almost the

entire city on warrants parole probation

in debt and

bankruptcy the time has come to start

making some real significant changes

before the Next Generation goes into a

Revolt there's already a revolution

against so many things as even our own

city does its best to keep up with the

changes and thank you and that's all

let's try to put our our people back to

work thank you for letting me share

thank

you than you thank

you is there anyone in the middle

section that would like to offer public

comment okay seeing and hearing no one

anyone to my

left okay seeing and hearing no one the

time is 6:53 p.m. I will entertain a

motion to adjourn so moov is there a

second second thank you our work session

is

adjourned okay we're going to move right

into our legislative session we'll begin

our legislative caucus and that just

means we're reviewing our agenda before

we officially uh begin the

meeting so we'll call call the meeting

to order next Mr

trusdale will lead our roll call the

invocation this evening will be led by

councilwoman Daniels I will lead the

Pledge of

Allegiance we do not have any

Communications this evening next we will

move to Courtesy of the floor now this

is another opportunity to share your

public comments and this is where your

comments will be included in the meeting

record next we have approval of minutes

this would be the approval of minutes

for the legislative session that

occurred on May 14th

2024 then we will move to reports of

committees the first report you will

hear this evening I will deliver on

behalf of the administration committee

on the work session that just occurred

on May 28th

2024 next you will hear from chair green

on behalf of the budget and finance

committee on the work session of May

28th

2024 then you will hear from chair

Daniels on behalf of the community and

economic development committee on the

work session of May 28th

2024 and the final committee report you

will hear will be shared from chair RWS

on behalf of the parks recreation and

enrichment committee on the work session

of May 28th

20124 there are no ordinances for first

reading there are no ordinances for me

Amendment there are no ordinances for

final passage we will move to

resolutions the first resolution will be

resolution 30 of

2024 which we will vote upon I believe

there may be an

amendment next resolution 31 of 2024 we

will vote upon resolution 33 or excuse

me 32 of 2024 we will vote upon

resolution 33 of

2024 we will vote upon

resolution 34 of 2024 we will vote upon

resolution 35 of 2024 we will vote upon

and resolution 36 of 2024 we will vote

upon resolution 37 of 2024 will move to

the parks recreation and enrichment

committee and resolution 39 of 2024 will

move to the building and housing

committee is there any old business

Business Council

Members okay any new

business okay well seeing as though

there's no old business or new business

then we will adjourn

so the time is 6:57 p.m. I will call our

legislative session to

order Mr trale could you please call the

role Miss

Daniels

here Miss Davis

present Miss green

present Mr Jones here Miss Rose present

Mr Rodriguez present Miss Bowers

present thank you the invocation this

evening will be led by councilwoman

Daniels thank you if we could all have a

moment of silence and um making and

making sure that we're advancing peace

locally as well as

globally thank

you thank you councilwoman Daniels if

everybody could please rise and join me

in the Pledge of Allegiance

unit States

americe thank

you as I mentioned earlier we do not

have any Communications this evening we

will move directly to Courtesy of the

floor so again uh you have four minutes

to share share your comments Mr trale

will serve as our timekeeper 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 I'll begin to my right is there

anyone that would like to offer public

comment

well let me say I hadn't moved that

quickly

earlier except when I saw the last

doughnut being sold at the market that

was burned down so again I'm I'm Daniel

SAR and I live in Rudy Road and I'm here

to address the issue as I understand the

issue of council's willingness to

reconsider the uh selection of the

project manager for the Reconstruction

of the market am I on the right

issue yes so first I want to thank

Council for being open to reconsidering

a decision it's not often in this day

and age that people are willing to

re-evaluate a decision they've already

made let alone elected officials so I

commend all of you frankly for the

opportunity to readdress this because I

think it's of critical importance to the

city the there were just maybe four

points I'd like to make with respect to

the absolute necessity of moving forward

as promptly as we can with the

Reconstruction of the burn the building

that was destroyed about 10 months ago

by fire you're all familiar with

that I can't speak to the specifics of

the economic harm that's been caused by

that

loss um I'm hoping that in the

evaluation that you've already done and

that you will do

henceforth you'll have heard from V

there uh businesses in the neighborhood

and so forth who have lost money I don't

know how one has Quantified that I don't

know if you have data on that if you

don't uh have that data I'd suggest it

would be a very important consideration

to have it because the delay undoubtedly

will cause greater economic harm to the

people who made their livings and homeor

part through those businesses and

through the associated

businesses the second issue I see is

that the market provided

really good healthy food in an

area Farm food produce Meats vegetables

in an area that is historically

underserved by that commod those

Commodities it's hard to find that in

Harrisburg with or without a car and the

farmers market did it in season and it

might have been if not the only

opportunity the best opportunity for

ordinary people to shop on the days of

the market was open help their own

health and help the health of their

families the third factor that I think

impels really prompt action on this

issue action to rebuild is that the

market is a social magnet in Harrisburg

I go there all the time when it's open

well I mean if it's open two days I'm

usually there both days it's open three

days I might be open there two or the

three days you will find in that market

and I'm sure you will experienced it the

real mix of Harrisburg in sort of a

representation of what we hope

Harrisburg would be which is a raci we

mixed community of different people from

different walks of life different ages

all ages really infant to old men

hanging out on the corner listening to

the music and watching the P people go

by sometimes I'm one of those old men so

I can I can address this it's a

wonderful place and it is a uh

historically significant place and

historically significant building but

it's exactly the kind of interaction

that as Citizens we need to see we need

to participate in we need to see it we

need to know it exists and when you

delay that there's a social cost people

don't you know they people still go you

go there you'll see and I I've been to

the new tent I'm glad that's up but it

ain't the same folks you need that

building not just the historic

preservation aspect and the economic

aspect the social aspects of that place

I don't know how you evaluate that I

can't put a price on that but I would

say essentially those social aspects of

prices the last thing is the image of

Harrisburg this may be a cliche but we

all know when thank you for your comment

your four minutes has expired if the if

the governor can get I95 up in two weeks

we should be able to get a building back

in less than a year it's going to be

more than a year thank

you thank

you going to be a while for running

long hi good evening uh my name is Eric

Hagerty I live at 605 shower Street here

in Harrisburg uh I'm the former

Secretary of Education for governor wolf

and now uh serving as volunteer chair of

the Broad Street Market Alliance um I

had the chance to say this to many of

you privately but I also wanted to

express it publicly which is that I

wanted to apologize for the tone of my

initial comments following the vote two

weeks ago I think it's really important

that we all model uh the ability to

disagree without being disagreeable and

I didn't live up to that expectation for

myself so I I wanted to express that

publicly as well um I know there are a

lot of supporters of the market here

tonight and I would encourage folks uh

additionally to um be respectful and uh

respect the Democratic process um I've

had the chance to speak with many of you

uh and I uh believe in my heart that you

all want what's best for the market and

uh that the concerns you shared are um

you know deeply held and valid I think

we all want to see the city um improve

its procurement processes and build a

stronger pipeline of diverse contractors

um improve transparency and invest

public dollars in minority-owned and

women-owned businesses uh that's

especially important to us at the market

given that well over half of our uh

businesses that operate in the market

are minority-owned and women-owned

businesses um I I believe in this case U

the goal of rebuilding the market and

strengthening our diverse uh contractors

and and strengthening our procurement

process do not have to be mutually

exclusive um I I think many on Council

acknowledged two weeks ago that you felt

that Alexander was the most qualified

company to bid um my understanding is

that they have committed to at least 30%

of the subcontractors and contractors

they work with to be minority-owned

firms they have partnered with uh local

labor unions is my understanding um so I

would encourage uh Council um tonight in

reconsidering this vote um you know I

think true Mark of a leader as gentleman

before me indicated is the ability to

change your mind when presented with new

information and I think U my my

understanding is that Council one Davis

and council member Rodriguez have

already publicly indicated a willingness

to reconsider and I think uh anyone who

does so deserves tremendous credit it's

not easy to set up there and um you know

take public pressure um so I don't envy

the position you're in but I think um we

have the opportunity here to finally

move this project forward when after 10

months not a brick has been laid yet to

rebuild this vital Community Asset where

so many people depend on for their food

and their livelihoods as business owners

so uh very much appreciate your

willingness to potentially reconsider

tonight and thank you so

much thank

you hello my name is Stephen Brown I

live at 701 North Front Street

Harrisburg Pennsylvania I'm originally

from Milwaukee Wisconsin and I'm with

everything that's Pro Union the union

raised me I had probably a thousand or

so father figures in the union I started

I started out at the neighborhood

Improvement program where I worked

alongside journeyman Carpenters why I

made minimum wage and they showed me

their check stubs so I told so I knew

this where the stay to work at and I

heard y'all talking earlier about a

program for kids that

you know work on construction and get

jobs and it' be a good idea if the union

was involved and they got their

leadership and guide guidance from

journeyman carpenters and with me being

a part of the Union since

1996 I'm able to travel across the

country wherever a union is so that was

how I was able to come to Harrisburg

where I was originally conceived at but

my mother moved away when a seven months

pregnant her her family did so with me

being in the union I was able to

transfer my job to Harrisburg so I can

get to know my father's side of the

family and become a part of this

community so if any kind of program you

got going on I think the union should be

a part of

it that's all I have for now cuz I could

go on for an hour easy if you don't

believe me I'll keep talking and he just

have to be you know no y' y'all don't

believe me okay

1997 my so-call friends my so-called

friends they put Vine in my drink I had

a chemical involment so the union

allowed me to continue to go to work my

family wanted me to get on SSI the union

said no it's nothing wrong with me it's

something wrong with my friends they

allowed me to go to work take my

medicine 9:30 I get sleepy get to go on

the um superintendent trailer take a nap

and get paid for 8

hours and a lot of people didn't like

that but that's just how it was you know

what I'm saying so then I took a year

and a half off my apprenti ship came

back and then you know was promoted to

scaold foring on with be tail which is

the largest properly owned construction

company in the world it was 1,500 people

on the job and only 10 of them tell me

what to do and it wasn't from Wisconsin

so I I experienced a whole lot of

everything with the help of the Union so

I'll leave it at that thank you thank

you hello I'm Michelle resident of

Midtown and I just wanted to express

that um I believe that the proper

historic preservation of the the Broad

Street Market is very it should be a top

priority I'm really hoping that um a

contractor whomever you choose really

has had experience preserving and not

just construction but actually properly

restoring everything I'm concerned about

the clear story windows and all the

windows in general that they are

properly restored as in kind as they

were exactly I don't want any I I prefer

that no um you know shortcuts be be

taken for that and also the brick work

as well so thanks so

much thank you

good evening city council uh my name is

Brian pommeroy I am a council

representative for the Carpenters Union

I'm also here tonight as the secretary

treasurer for the Central PA Building

Trades um we have hundreds and hundreds

of man hours that our members put into

the temporary tent Bill reconstructing

the walls the SE the the the the framing

the roof over the markets uh cooking and

prep area in the back we had iron

workers come and put the sheet metal

over the roof in the back to

weatherproof it in um all of this done

collectively with our brothers and

sisters and it was because it was the

right thing to do uh collectively we

constructed the metal uh duck work and

the Fume hoods in the kitchen area the

sheet metal workers Local 19 gentlemen

volunteered their time after a long day

of working in the field they came in and

why they volunteer to do it because it

was the right thing to do

um all the crafts that make up the

Central PA Building Trades have what's

called a Class A apprenticeship which

means we graduate apprentices you know

it's just not a name for an

apprenticeship fund it's we graduate

apprentices at the end of four or five

years and the great thing about these

programs it doesn't cost the apprentices

anything they come out of the you know

end of the four to five years debt free

they don't owe College debts or nothing

um these apprenticeship programs are

where the future men and women of the

construction

industry are getting

trained the trades are actively

searching candidates for all aspects of

the crafts in Central PA Harrisburg City

Harrisburg region projects like the

ballpark here on City Island are

extremely important for the training for

the next Generations of trade workers in

the Harrisburg City what a better place

to start an apprenticeship than working

with a project in your city where you

can earn as you learn you're not paying

for something you're earning as you're

learning where the Youth of today can

become the workforce of tomorrow uh the

Central PA Building Trades collectively

ask that City counil vote in favor

approving Alexander building

construction because once again it's the

right thing to do um with that said

thank you for your time excuse me I have

a question for you excuse me I have a

question you you shared some great

information about the unions can you

tell me how are you guys promoting have

you are you in Harrisburg School

District introducing these trades to

Harrisburg School District not currently

we've been in there I believe one of my

counterparts had been in there probably

two years ago he was at a function at

Dolphin County votch and met uh I

believe the superintendent of Harrisburg

School District or one of the board

members so City Schools not currently

we've been in Dolphin County votch

talking to all the students students

that come out of the city and go to the

VCH from say Susana Harrisburg I myself

I'm a graduate of Central Dolphin East

even though I live up up in Dolphin

currently I lived in Harrisburg for nine

years when I was in my younger years um

it's a good way to earn a living and

it's um I actually got the uh tour local

143 yes and and I saw you know that they

do have a great program they do offer a

lot but I also um you know encourage

them to also reach out to the Harrisburg

School District to help try to introduce

some of these things and can you explain

to us how hard is it to get into a union

some of the yellow tapee well I'll speak

with I'm from the carpenter so

collectively you know I can't speak to

all the different aspect for for us

ourselves how we do it is I think

actually next Wednesday we do something

called a virtual information session

it's basically appr apprenticeship

information session it's about an hour

and 45 minutes you go to uh KML CTF I

believe it is and you go to the Lebanon

Training Center you put your information

in the system you get an email basically

giving you the authorization codes you

need to get on

to uh the virtual platform and once

you're logged in you attend a session we

basically go

into depth as far as what carpent

carpentry is anything from concrete

floors con carpet ceilings walls it's

very inclusive so you know we go into

depth as far as all the carpentry crafts

we go into depth about how the

apprenticeship works like how the the

pace scale goes how many weeks a year

you go to training you know you go our

training school is you go five weeks a

year for a fouryear period down our

training centers in Lebanon um and

basically that's the synopsis of the

online part of it and it it kind of gets

to the meat and potatoes are the

uh subject because not everybody wants

to get into construction Madam president

a point of order I just want to see if

we could stay on topic for the sake of

time with how many residents need to

speak if I encourage maybe the

councilman to bring you in for later

Communications but yeah just for the

sake of time if that's

respectful thank you for your comments

we're going to move forward councilman

Jones if you had any other questions

perhaps we can follow up after

okay is there anyone else to my right

that would like to offer public comment

hello my name is uh Matthew kic I reside

two blocks north of the uh Broad Street

Market uh here to speak in favor of um

approving Alexander as the contractor to

reconstruct the Broad Street Market

building uh I think at this point with

how essential the Broad Street Market is

both because this region is a food

desert and because it's a Central

Community point it's really important

and almost kind of irresponsible at this

point to delay that process any much

longer and uh I wanted to show up here

today uh the local 431 covers a pretty

broad region and I know everyone has

concerns about we want to make sure that

we're employing folks from Harrisburg

and that we're tied into the community

well I live in Harrisburg uh I've been a

carpenter for six years the the

apprenticeship program allowed me to

earn good wage and I purchased the home

in Harrisburg that wage allows me to pay

my mortgage so yeah and uh just like the

other councilman said I I agree we

should get in have a person at

Harrisburg High School bringing these

kids into the Union because we need a

lot more labor and a lot of our guys are

going to age out soon so we need to

incre increase those ties with the local

uh local city infrastructure and stuff

but yep all have to say thank you thank

you uh Paul Marts I live at basically

the corner of hail and Chestnut streets

um I don't know how

I'm I don't know looking at everything

that's going on I don't know what the

right decision is right for you guys

whether to reverse the decision what

happened or to continue but I do know

that the city needs that Broad Street

Market the brick building rebuilt

expeditiously right and so I expect that

if uh the current decision is maintained

that that the mayor's Administration and

Council work together to make sure that

the contract is leted out

expeditiously and I want you to know for

most of you all here oh you elected

officials including you Mrs mayor this

is a voting issue for me right if you

guys screw this up and we don't get it

done until

September almost all you are not going

to get my vote ever

again okay that's how strongly I feel

about this

okay

what

okay okay I don't care who it is I just

wanted to get done okay anyway thank you

very much I have a question yeah

sure I'm sorry I'm Sor actually I got a

little nervous I do expect it to be done

I just yeah I understand man okay I

expect to be done correctly I do expect

that um uh people who live in the city

get hired to work on this project and

that there be a diverse contract Force

thank you for your honesty extremely

important to me that it gets done okay

thank you for your honesty thank

you uh good afternoon or good evening

now uh my name is kareim Mattis I am a

carpenter out of Carpenters Local

431 I recently just bought a home on on

the 1200 block of Market Street uh Short

history of myself I grew up pretty much

uh on olison

Hill got into the wrong crowd early I

ended up going to prison uh three and a

half years for

marijuana and while I was in prison I

was presented with an opportunity to

either you know just hang around a bunch

of convicts or learn about a trade

carpentry it was a yearlong process and

I went there every single day and I

learned carpentry every day and uh when

I came home I had a uh certificate for

carpentry and I took that certificate to

the carpenters union and they allowed me

to apprenti

ship now I say all that to say this if

it weren't for that opportunity you know

that I took advantage of in federal

prison and for the Carpenters Union for

giving me the opportunity to put it

those skills to work I probably would

have died in the streets you know like I

have a graveyard tattooed on my back

with dead homies that's gone you know so

uh I just think

that I just think the Carpenters you

know I think the Carpenters and that's

all I have to say thank you thank you

is there anyone else to my right that

would like to offer a public comment yes

my name is Shane Fox and I live at the

1500 Block of Green Street and I'm here

to ask you folks to please respectfully

to please uh reconsider your vote from

two weeks ago the Broad Street Market is

really important not only to my

neighborhood but to the whole city and I

think as the first gentleman who spoke

said that it's not just where we get our

groceries but it's also a Social Hub

it's where we go and we meet people

there's people that I used to see all

the time and I haven't seen since last

summer since the market burned down and

maybe they still go and I go sometimes

but nobody goes as much is it it's not

the same and I just feel like we need to

do whatever we can to get the market

project moving and I don't have any

strong feeling about who is the contract

the construction manager manager um if

Alexander is qualified that's fine with

me if there's another qualified company

that's fine too but we need to do it as

fast as we can we need to get started

thank

you thank

you is there anyone else to my right

that would like to offer public

comment okay seeing and hearing no one

anyone in the middle section

good evening I'm David Morrison I'm

executive director of the historic

Harrisburg Association 1230 North Third

Street right across the street from the

Broad Street Market historic Harrisburg

Association got the Broad Street Market

listed on the national register of

historic places in 1974 it was one of

the first things our organization did uh

after it was founded in

1973 a couple of years later the city

and historic Harrisburg worked to

include the Broad Street Market in the

Midtown Municipal historic district both

of those things are very important tools

for historic preservation for preserving

old buildings and they'll be very

helpful when we preserve and restore the

the Broad Street Market brick Market

house I don't like to hear things like

it was destroyed it was burned down it

wasn't destroyed and it wasn't burned

down it was heav damaged I don't like to

hear terms like rebuild or

reconstruction because that isn't

necessary restoration is is necessary I

give you the example of the notredam

cathedral in Paris had the same kind of

fire the roof burned and it was very

heavily damaged by a fire but the stone

walls a thousand years old are still

there they're rebuilding and restoring

the the the the cathedral uh using as as

much of the original Fabric and and

appearance as possible and if they can

do that to notredam they can do it to

the Broad Street Market so I hope we are

looking at as as authentic a a historic

preservation project as possible because

if you don't do that notredam would look

like a a Southern California mega church

it wouldn't look like a cathedral

anymore from the Middle Ages and the

Broad Street Market if that's rebuilt

from the ground up that's going to look

like a strip mall and you don't want

that the Beauty and the and the charm of

that building is in in the the 150y old

brick walls they're completely intact

and uh and they they can be they can be

restored many of the windows haven't

even been damaged a lot of them have so

I I really am hoping that this will be a

properly carried out uh historic

preservation project thank

you thank you

hi good evening City Council Members my

name is Michael Rodriguez and I am uh I

live off of the 1600 block of green and

in Munich or near Green and Munich um

I've been a resident of the city of

Harrisburg for five years now and I've

had the opportunity and the honor of

experienced the Broad Street Market and

what it means to the community its

residents the new ones like me and its

visitors I moved here from Austin Texas

where I was born and raised so I can

understand what it means to love a city

and to love a home

as I reflected on my time here I can

confidently say that Harrisburg and the

community I have that I've become a part

of has taught me three things and I'll

be brief there is opportunity for growth

here the meaning of community lives here

and love for the city can be found here

I a small business open owner who

happens to be a minority and a disabled

veteran I've seen firsthand the

opportunity this city provides through

the Broad Street Market to individuals

like myself I've also experienced

that if I work hard at my craft the

community will support my my work and

will earn the respect and The Business

of those that reside here I've

experienced the welcoming and the

acceptance of the community at the Broad

Street Market and how it has breathed

life into that those that serve and Shop

there I even welcomed it has even

welcomed my family all the way from

Texas and I am very grateful for that I

found love for this city with all the I

Found Love For This City with all the

cities that I've been stationed at and

lived and served in I never thought I

would find another city that I could

fall in love with outside of Austin to

be honest I love this city I will work

within the community and I will be and I

will grow my business here and help keep

this city beautiful my belief in ask is

simple if the business won the award

legally and if the organization uh was

awarded it legally um and it has a

reputation to provide the work and the

construction through its and the

Reconstruction through its historic

historical work then I believe that they

should be awarded and continue to work

for that project I appreciate that what

you guys have done and I know it's

probably a really hard job that you guys

are doing and a lot of voices come at

you from time to time and I get

it um but please consider the community

that is obviously in need of this Market

to be brought up as quickly and as

firmly as possible thank

you thank

you good evening my name is Anthony

Bernett I'm currently living in the

Uptown area I'm a homeowner and a

taxpayer um I can go as far back as the

Jackson Lake

Apartments I remember when I was a

little kid they took me over to the

market my mother and for my birthday she

bought me those little chicklings

remember those chicklings with the

incubator and they they hash the egg and

they come out either pink yellow green

and um that's how far back it go you

know um with the market so I I'm just

really um askon please make a decision

that overall uh give strength to our

community I said overall not just for

the market but for the community in

itself okay the market has been around

for many years we know that but so has

people in our community been around for

many years I've been around for many

years okay I was given the second chance

too as well you know for many people who

are saying that they were incarcerating

those things and um you know how well

they did successfully because they they

had loving supporting people who would

push them I was one of those guys you

know where somebody helped me become a

better person and I'm asking you to make

a better decision not only for the

market but for our community thank you

God bless

you thank

you would you let me know when I'm 30

seconds okay would you please do this

thank you say

something um the beauty of this is that

the memorial day was but

Monday this country allows for us to

have this kind of

just disagreement discussion Etc that's

the beauty of this country and because

I'm going to an African church dealing

with them a lot of immigrants I'm more

sensitive than ever before how great

this country is despite its many

flaws and my predecessor who just spoke

spoke to

it

balancing you have a difficult task we

thank you for being here and spending

your time you don't get paid enough to

spend all these hours here we just

appreciate the fact that you're doing

this each one of you whatever decision

you happen to make

but as my predecessor

said look at this city as a whole 93% of

the contract go to

Whit that's what your disparity study

shows 40.5% of the contracts go outside

the county in a city where 42% of the

land is owned by the state and not

taxable and another 10% is owned by

nonprofits so you need to keep more of

the money where here and if you're going

to build a community 73% of black and

brown where do we fit in to this

process Harrisburg School District 98%

of the contracts go to

whites Harrisburg Housing Authority

similar situation

County the beauty of this is that you

can make a

decision

to because you raised the issue

finally it's you stood up and you sayl

it's not just about who gets the

contracts but also we want to build a

community and we're part of this

community and we believe that the

administration also wants a part of that

the economic disparity study says why

hasn't that been implemented why isn't

that a part of this process why can't

you say fine we're going to go with the

lowest responsible bidder and I don't

know if this is lowest responsible bder

however you desine responsible but you

can say look let's do 30% on the

construction management not just on the

subcontract but on the Alexander

contract on that contract and every

other

contract we need to be included I thank

you for standing up and bra raising this

issue is so vitally important God bless

each of

you excuse me Reverend Harris Reverend

Harris you failed to state your name and

your address address or the vicinity in

which you live I apologize I live at 103

South 21st Street um my name is pastor

of Harris and I forgot one other

item when you build rebuilding the the

building think about the people who are

disabled you know I'm able but at some

point in time any of us can become

disabled and you may not be able to get

into the Broad Street Market if it's

built in accord with how it was built

with at the time think about the

disabled people please thank you thank

you thank

you is there anyone else in the middle

section that would like to offer public

comment okay seeing and hearing no one

anyone to my left

good evening Cate Council my name is

John

Palmer I lived at 173 Jackson

Lake I lived at 1500 Wallace Street 1600

Wallace Street 2200 block of Green

Street 2100 block of Green Street and

now I reside at 518 Ry Street

Harrisburg so I've been around here

since the

60s as a child going to the Broad Street

Market I went to Ben Franklin Elementary

School okay so I walked at lunchtime

when we used to go home for lunch and go

to the market and get something to eat I

remember when they had the UT potatoes

what they used to make them fresh in the

Broad Street Market I'm tired of all

this about race and everything else I I

don't care about race and everything

else all I want to know is what's taking

so long we had insurance on the market

what happened to all that wise and not

being rebuilt I want to know get a get a

confident construction person in there

let's get this thing done let's stop

making excuses let's stop being held up

by red tape and get it done 10 months is

too

long my mom bought fresh food from the

market she didn't shop in the shopping

stores cuz the fresh food came in we've

been with these vendors since I was a

little kid like this with fresh meat

fresh vegetables you can't go to these

stores cuz back when I was a kid some of

these stores used to get us sick cuz

they weren bringing them fresh food we

got fresh food from the market so I'm

tired like I said I'm tired of all these

excuses about why it's not being done

let's stop the excuses let's get it done

that's I don't need for

me thank

you hi I'm Andrea Grove I live at 115

North Street um apartment 709 and I'm

the owner of Elementary Coffee

Company um Elementary Coffee Company

would not exist if it were not for the

Broad Street Market this goes for many

other small and divers startups and

micro businesses in Harrisburg that we

all know and love it goes without saying

that the market has brought many of us

together but it also has made dreams

come true it can be argued that many of

us who would not have had the ability to

pursue our small businesses without the

market us being women people of color

folks who English isn't their first

language young people old folks queer

folks the market with its low overhead

and diverse representation makes a lot

possible it it opens doors it brings us

together it creates a necessary food

Haven it's the best of Harrisburg in one

place and it's beyond necessary for the

future of Harrisburg and the future of

small diverse businesses within the city

such as Elementary for it to continue to

be a place of opportunity social

Gatherings of safety and good

food I do believe the future of

Harrisburg depends on it and Harrisburg

deserv deserve nice things it also

deserves to have nice things not be such

a struggle to obtain or hold on to this

city council has the ability to make the

rebuilding of the market easier it has

the ability to create a comprehensive

plan that could bring stability to the

market and stability to Harrisburg it

has the resources empowered to open

doors and make sure the market is on an

urgent reasonable and publicly supported

track for the market to continue to

exist for the community and for so many

of us small businesses the need for the

Market's continued existence in the city