Harrisburg City Council Legislative Session - 09/10/2024

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e

e e

is my four minutes

starting uh I'm

here I have found in my personal

experience that the city of Harrisburg

is not following their printed

process on on their

form uh on their tenant landlord

Complaint Form this is from my personal

experience my name is Jeff Glatt and I

live

in uh ZIP code

17101

currently Harrisburg city is not issuing

citations or tickets for landlord

non-compliance to city codes the

landlord evades fines and possible

severe penalties in the case of my

single apartment the amount evaded might

be tens of thousands to 100s of

thousands of dollars the landlord gets

off with a verbal warning and his

promise to fix the

deficiency the tenant Bears whatever

risks result from non-compliance

I am one apartment in 360 apartment

complex if City

processes if City processes were filed

the potential fine penalties to the

landlord under the penalty uh Clause

could be anywhere from $18,000 to

$385,000 for my apartment apartment only

in such a large building it is virtually

impossible that only my apartment is in

non-compliance to city

codes my apartment location was in

magisterial court jurisdiction mdj1

12-24 The Honorable Sonia mcnight

however when I went to the court court

employees told me they were unaware of

any role the court played in the city's

landlord tenant complaint

process the possible dollar amounts

cited already cited can explode if other

apartments in my building had similar

code violations and similar

history the dollar amounts can be

exploded again if other magisterial

court jurisdictions in the city are

unaware of the city's tenant landlord

complaint process there is possibly a

gaping hole in the city's efforts to

hold landlords responsible for minimum

standards the landlord cited here is the

same outof state owner who operated four

elevators for six

months in the building with posted but

expired operating

certificates I have substantial

documentation

I have shared this repeatedly with the

city on many levels since November

2023 response has been virtually

non-existent I affirmed my willingness

to testify and support any effort by the

city to bring a case to court my name is

Jeff Glatt the det my details are are

below on the sheet as well as my cell

and text phone number thank you very

much thank you

you is there anyone else in the middle

section that would like to offer public

comment seeing and hearing no one anyone

to my

left seeing and hearing no one we will

move forward with our printed

agenda next we have the approval of

minutes for the legislative session that

occurred on August

27th

2024 council members are there any

revisions to those minutes

seeing and hearing none the minutes

stand approved we will now move to

reports of committees I will deliver the

first report on behalf of the

administration committee on the work

session of September 3rd

20124 on Tuesday September 3rd 2024 the

administration committee met to discuss

two bills and one resolution Bill four

of

2024 an ordinance delegating authority

to the Secretary of Transportation

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department

of Transportation to file the pen to

file with the Pennsylvania Public

Utility Commission as may be required

for and on behalf of the city of

Harrisburg an application for the

construction and reconstruction of the

17th Street Bridge crossing over

railroad property and for the

appropriation of necess necessary rights

of

way Joel ciders city engineer was

present on behalf of the administration

to answer questions council members had

regarding the bill Mr cider shared that

the bill was a part of the I 83 widening

project on and off ramps pendot has

flagged the bridge for replacement

council members asked the following

questions what is the impact on the

public where is the Bridge located and

what is the application deadline Mr

ciders responded that this is a standard

Bridge replacement he also confirmed the

location the bill is to get the process

started to begin right away negotiations

solicitor Grover shared that the city of

Harrisburg owns the bridge but the city

does not have the capacity to replace

the bridge on our

own next bill five of 2020 4 an

ordinance delegating authority to the

Secretary of Transportation Commonwealth

of Pennsylvania Department of

Transportation to file with the

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

as may be required for and on behalf of

the city of Harrisburg an application

for the construction and reconstruction

of the mlay Street Bridge crossing over

railroad property and for the

appropriation of any necessary rights of

way Joel ciders city engineer was

present on behalf of the administration

to answer questions council members had

regarding this bill Mr cider shared that

the replacement of two pendi owned

Bridges uh will occur on either side of

the city the project includes road

construction council members ask the

following questions what is the

application deadline and who is the

owner the city or the state the bill is

also to get the process started to begin

right away negotiation ations Mr Grover

confirmed that both the city and state

are

owners resolution 52 of 2024 a

resolution authorizing the city of

Harrisburg to negotiate and enter into a

Professional Services contract with

State Street strategies LLC doing

business as one plus strategies for

strategic guidance and intelligence

gathering for lobbying related

Services Blake Lynch

and Jake Corman were present to answer

questions council members had regarding

the Professional Services contract with

State Street strategies LLC or one plus

strategies Mr Lynch shared that one plus

strategies is a 16-month-old bipartisan

lobbying firm they currently have over

100 clients there are 30 individuals

employed by The Firm council members

asked the following questions clarifying

that Mr Mr Lynch will serve as the city

liaison what other municipalities does

the firm represent why now how many

firms applied is it the same team from

the RFP conflicts of interests the

biggest asset they bring to the city of

Harrisburg contract cap um the the

switch from Maverick to this firm um RFP

timeline and how long has it been since

we've had a lobbyist

according to Mr Lynch five firms applied

and three were interviewed The Firm does

not represent any other

municipalities Mr Lynch reviewed the

duties and

responsibilities there are no known

conflicts of interests Mr Lynch will

rely on relationships as the biggest

asset he brings to the city of

Harrisburg the contract cap is

$60,000 Maverick was not under contract

during this Administration the last time

the city of Harrisburg had a lobbyist

was in

2021 the contract expired in December of

2021 council members requested

additional information from the

administration clarifying the timeline

of the RFP process council members also

expressed concerns that hiring a Lobby

lobbying firm should not be a priority

given the number of Staff vacancies as a

result resolution 52 of of 2024 was

tabled and will remain in the

administration committee I recommend

that my colleagues support both Bill

four of 2024 and Bill 5 of

2024 to allow the city of Harrisburg an

opportunity to begin

negotiations this concludes the

administration committee report the next

report you will hear will be shared by

vice president green on behalf of the

budget and finance committee on the work

session of September 3rd

2024 thank you president powers during

the work session of September 3rd 2024

the budget and finance committee

discussed resolution 46 of 2024 which is

a resolution authorizing the city of

Harrisburg to participate in the Dolphin

County Bridge bundle program to replace

the bridge known as

hg19 and negotiate and enter into a

intermunicipal through call sharing

agreements and furtherance of such um we

had a presentation by the city engineer

during this presentation it was explain

that um the state would pay excuse me

the federal government will pay 80% the

state would pay 15% and the city and the

county would split the remaining 5%

which comes out to the county paying 3%

and the city paying 2% uh with a 6040

split essentially the city would pay

about

$344,000 uh if the number stayed it's

about the same and construction will be

about a year and a half to two years out

before this project was start um we

didn't have many questions from our

colleagues except where is this bridge

at Walnut and Jonestown Road uh we came

up with some sort of idea of where the

bridge was located at that uh satisfied

everyone um I would recommend that my

colleagues support resolution 46 of

2024 uh during September 3D's work

session we also discussed resolution 53

of 2024 which is a resolution approving

the fifth proposed 2024 budget

reallocation confirming and otherwise

clarifying the intended designation of

Revenue replacement funds under the

American Rescue plan act as being

attributed to Public Safety purposes

under the general fund and further

confirming the award of certain

available general fund program dollars

for two two local organizations to

provide service for bridge housing um

during this uh we had a presentation by

the budget manager Mr Brooks as well as

the accounting manager uh Mr McCutchen

and um

they explained that we would be

increasing the salary and overtime and

the fire Bureau uh increasing the

medical line and increasing the

settlement claims line along with

increasing the line for the Broad Street

Market fire loss restoration majority of

this money will be coming from unused

salaries and wages throughout this

portion of the fiscal year um it was

explained that the rest of the funds for

the salaries are allocated for the rest

of the year uh but these will be funds

that haven't been used up until this

point uh we'd also be using e EIT money

that was over the expected re revenue

for this year um as well as unused capu

project

funds um there was also questions

regarding the resolution uh for the

bridge housing portion that was in the

resolution um and we will have a

presentation by Miss Gloria Martin

Roberts tonight to explain that further

she did also email us some information

on those programs to allow us to know

where the programs would be uh where the

funds excuse being being spent with the

two organizations and that concludes my

report thank you thank you vice

president green the next report you will

hear will be shared by chair Davis on

behalf of the building and housing

committee on the work session of

September 3rd

2024 thank you president Bowers on

Tuesday September 3rd

2024 resolution 47

2 excuse me resolution 47-

2024 which is a resolution authorizing

the city of Harrisburg to negotiate and

enter into a Professional Services

agreement with civitas LLC for the

purpose of providing Professional

Services to the city's department of

building Housing and Development

including but not limited to technical

assistance and general consulting

services for General technical

assistance Consolidated plan development

analysis of fair housing choice

impediments and environmental review for

emergency

demolition resolution

47-

2024 was tabled due to the building and

housing

development director being unavailable

and civitas LLC was not in attendance

questions were withheld

until this meeting tonight and that is

the end of my report thank you thank you

chair Davis the final committee report

you will hear this evening will be

shared by chair RW on behalf of the

parks recreation and enrich enrichment

committee on the work session of

September 3rd

2024 thank you president bar and good

evening everyone here and as well online

on Tuesday September 3rd 20 4 director

Baker was present to present information

on resolution 50 and 51 of

2024 resolution 50 of

2024 is a resolution authorizing the

city of Harrisburg to negotiate and

enter into a professional service

agreement with Murphy and dit

heer um Architects to serve as the

architect engineering firm for the

restoration Rehabilitation and

reconstruction of the Broad Street

Market's red brick building director

Baker gave more information on

resolution 50 by explaining the city's

desire to restore rehabilitate and

reconstruct the red brick building of

the Broad Street Market in order to

continue the long-standing tradition of

the historic Market he further explained

that the mayor Administration desires to

do so by hiring Murphy and ditchen haer

out of York PA their job will be um the

in of architectural plans which will Aid

in the re restruct restoration of the

brick building of the Broad Street

Market a member of the firm gave more

information by expressing and outlining

in the 28 person team that brings a

wealth of experience and knowledge

council members had um questions such as

um why didn't they point out that they

do have experience within our community

um they were being humble which is why

they didn't say anything but they have

experience within our community they

also asked if uh Murphy and defener plan

on setting up opportunities were

interested high school students of the

Harrisburg School District can assist

the rep that was here explained that yes

he hopes to create opportunities in

which local high school students can

participate in the restoration of the

brick building of the Broad Street

Market and that yes they have

participated in restoration projects

within the city here in Harrisburg I

recommend that my fellow council members

um vote Yes to resolution 50 of

2024 because uh this architectural firm

is coming with a wealth of experience

with developing high quality Master

plans and and designs for building

Renovations I am also recommending a yes

vote to this res uh resolution because

an architectural design is of utmost

importance so the brick building of the

Broad Street Market can be brought back

to life the next resolution was

resolution 51 of

2024 which is a resolution authorizing

the city of Harrisburg to negotiate and

enter into a professional service

agreement with Marsh Claims Solutions

forensic accounting and claims services

to provide Insurance claim accounting

services to measure and document the

revenue and property damage loss of the

brick of the Broad Street Markets red

brick building director Baker was

present to give more

information um on this resolution

director Baker and solic Grover

explained that after the horrible fire

on July 10th

2023 the city received approximately $5

million from the insurance carrier

Liberty Mutual as an advanced payment on

its claim of loss in the fire because of

this loss the administration believed it

would be best to engage in the services

of a forensic Consulting professional

exper experience and fire uh Insurance

recoveries to better ensure the maximum

recovery of insurance proceeds March

Claim Solution would provide necessary

expertise and expertise to uh Reaper a

submission claims necessary to obtain

maximum reimbursement for the city's

loss from Liberty

Mutual oops sorry Mr Case uh the

representative Mr case provided more

information by expressing his 30-y year

of experience with forensic auditing

questions um a question asked was um how

long would it take for you to get

through the paperwork process and what

would a projected timeline be Mr Case

expressed that the process could um vary

with any amount of time and that he is

dedicated uh to get through the

paperwork and be here until the process

is done I recommend we vote Yes on uh

resolution 51 of 2024 and that concludes

the business of the parks recreation

enrichment thank you chair RS we do not

have any ordinances for first reading we

do have two ordinances for Amendment Mr

Parker could you please read bill four

of

2024 and Bill 5 of 2024 into the record

yes Bill four of

2024 an ordinance delegating authority

to the Secretary of Transportation

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department

of Transportation to file with the

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

as may be required for and and on behalf

of the city of Harrisburg an application

for the construction SL reconstruction

of the 17th Street Bridge crossing over

railroad property and for the

appropriation of necessary rights of

way Bill five of

2024 an ordinance delegating authority

to the Secretary of Transportation

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department

of Transportation to file with the

Pennsylvan Public Utility Commission as

may be required for and on behalf of the

city of Harrisburg an application for

the construction SL reconstruction of

the mlay Street Bridge crossing over

railroad property and for the

appropriation of any necessary rights of

we thank you we have two ordinances for

final passage Bill five or excuse me

Bill four of

2024 and Bill 5 of

2024 Mr prer could you please read bill

4 of 2024 into the record yes Bill four

of

2024 an ordinance delegating delegating

authority to the Secretary of

Transportation Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania Department of

Transportation to file with the

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

as may be required for and on behalf of

the city of Harrisburg an application

for the construction SL reconstruction

of the 17th Street Bridge crossing over

railroad property and for the

appropriation of necessary rights of way

thank you council members are there any

questions comments or concerns related

to Bill 4 of

2024 okay seeing and hearing none Mr

Parker could you please call the

vote M

yes M DAV

yes M green

yes Mr Jones yay M rolls yes Mr

Rodriguez yes Ms Bowers

yes Bill four of 2024 passes unanimously

with a vote of seven Ys to zero

Nays thank thank you next we have Bill

five of 2024 Mr Parker could you please

read it into the

record Bill five of

2024 an ordinance delegating authority

to the Secretary of of Transportation

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department

of Transportation to file with the

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

as may be required for and on behalf

half of the city of Harrisburg an

application for the construction SL

reconstruction of the mlay Street Bridge

crossing over railroad property and for

the appropriation of any necessary

rights of

way thank you council members are there

any questions comments or concerns

related to Bill five of

2024 okay seeing and hearing none Mr

Parker could you please call the vote

Miss Daniels yes misss Davis

yes M

green yes Mr Jones yay M rolls yes Mr

Rodriguez yes Ms Bowers yes Bill five of

2024 also passes unanimously with a vote

of seven Ys to zero Nays thank you we

will now move to resolutions the first

resolution for consideration this

evening is resolution 46 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

into the

record resolution 46 of

2024 a resolution authorizing the city

of Harrisburg to participate in the

Dolphin County Bridge bundling program

to replace the bridge known as HG hbg

sl19 and negotiate and enter into an

intermunicipal cost sharing agreement in

in furtherance of

such thank you council members are there

any questions comments or concerns

related to resolution 46 of

2024 okay seeing and hearing none Mr

Parker could you please call the

vote Ms Daniels

yes Ms

Davis yes Miss green yes Mr Jones yay Ms

rolls yes Mr Rodriguez yes Ms Bowers yes

resolution 46 of

2024 passes unanimously with a vote of

seven Ys to zero Nays thank you next we

have resolution 47 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

into the record

resolution 47 of

2024 a resolution authorizing the city

of Harrisburg to participate in the to

participate and enter into a

Professional Services agreement with

civitas

LLC for the purpose of providing

Professional Services to the city's

department of building Housing and

Development including but not limited to

technical assistance and general

consulting services for General ener

technical assistance Consolidated plan

development analysis of fair housing

choice impediments and environmental

review for emergency

demolition thank you council members I

will entertain a motion to suspend the

rules for discussion we move is there a

second second thank you I will defer to

our building and housing committee chair

uh chair Davis for uh to lead the

discussion

thank you president

Bowers is there someone present from

civitas this evening he just joined he's

joining now the zoom

meeting okay could you please state your

name and your position with this company

what the my name is my name is Spencer

chrisan I'm the director of operations

for civas

thank you thank you very much Mr

Christian nice seeing you and thank you

for being here with us this

evening can you give us a little bit of

uh background information about what

you're hoping to um the services you're

hoping to provide if there's

anything

additional um I know you've been working

with the city uh for many years and this

contract is a renewal

contract but is there anything you want

to tell the council this evening before

we open it up for

questions I'll just give a brief uh

summary of what we offer and what we've

been offering the city uh so as you know

the city receives uh various uh HUD cdbg

home and ESG funds and we are a

technical assistance provider for HUD so

we provide a range of services uh from

home underwriting to to action plan

development to the full con plan

development as well as environmental

reviews for a variety of projects that

require that level from HUD and the

federal government and we also help with

the bulk of reporting back to HUD

through the various systems so we offer

these range of services for the last

several years uh we continue to also

offer some training as a means to both

supplement the staff and eventually sort

of let them uh work on these things on

the own and maybe we're called in for

high level projects over the last year

we've done UMC I guess over the last 12

months we had a couple of bigger

projects which was the five-year

Consolidated plan as well as the fair

housing assessment and we continue to

offer uh these yearly plans that are uh

smaller than that the annual action

plans as well and finally we helped out

with the grant writing for the lead

Hazard reduction Grant with both

research and development for uh

submitting that application we

anticipate a pretty similar line of

technical assistance for the cdbg

program for the home program as well as

for the ESG on an as needed

basis thank you uh Mr

Christian and I do appreciate the fact

that you uh facilitated

the uh annual action plan Workshop

application as well

I do have one question oh by the way

thank you for your service to our

country I was reading through the

contract and I saw that you served okay

so the analysis of fair housing Choice

the impediments analysis can

you

um give me an idea not of the impediment

analysis but of the emergency

demolition what do you look for in the

environment prior to

demolition okay um so I am I am not the

subject matter expert for uh the

environmental reviews but I will give

you um uh the best answer I can and if

we need to follow up afterwards happy to

do that but regardless of um what's

going to be done when when there is a

federal funding going towards these

programs an environmental assessment uh

is is necessary now for these types of

demolition um projects it really does

depend on uh the the anticipated use

after um after the demolition has taken

place so it might be a simple um

assessment that is done and reported

back to HUD that there's no impact on

the environment but pending what will

take place after that will um certainly

certainly

um Drive the degree of the assessment

that needs to be

done okay I was thinking that the

environmental assessment um could be the

demolition in the neighborhood the

effect that it would have on the

environment or you know the community I

wasn't sure um as I was through go ahead

yeah I'm I'm sorry depending on yeah

depending on the level of of demolition

especially when you're thinking of

underground if there's uh some um you

know water pipes Su would line uh things

like that then that would likely trigger

the need to do sort of a full assessment

of the impact around that

area um I apologize for that I was and I

was sort of leaning towards the the the

use afterwards is to what might uh

substantiate a further investigation of

that okay thank

you uh let's see here also the

impediments analysis I really

appreciate uh the bulleted items that

you have listed

here do you

typically um give a report to the

housing department with each

project in terms of like impediments the

fair housing choice or the zoning and

land use policies that constrain housing

diversity like

diversity um problems issues um growing

Pro poverty rate I mean what do you what

reports do you give back to the housing

department okay yeah so for so this is

really in line with the federal

government's requirement to

affirmatively further fair housing and

the analysis of impediments to fair

housing choice is one uh current method

that is accepted by Hud in order to meet

uh the intent of that now a very quick

side comment there is talk within HUD of

updating that rule and and exactly what

that report may look like but we have

yet to receive a final word on that so

typically we conduct the AI uh which is

the fair housing assessment report um

the short name is analysis of

impediments we generally conduct that in

line with the five-year con plan uh

typically at the same time or slightly

before the con plan so that any of the

findings could also be included in some

of the goals for the con plan 5-year uh

strategic plan um so the final report is

submitted to the city and um with

generally with strategic recommendations

that are either some policy

recommendations maybe even affecting uh

some of the zoning requirements or um or

trying to find ways to improve and

streamline the uh housing

permits uh as well as general education

uh for fair housing landlord Outreach

tenant support rep so these things are

generally included in a final report

that is submitted to the city now from

there uh there is no current requirement

for the city to submit that final report

to HUD that may change in the future

where HUD May uh make it a requirement

and at times HUD reps will request a

copy of the analysis of impediments or

at least an email verifying when the

last one was done so we typically sort

of let that part of the um the process

uh go on between the city and HUD uh but

we we we do turn in a sort of a final

copy uh to the city and I believe that

was um done I'd have to look at the

exact dates uh but it was um it was last

year when we completed that

report thank you very much um for

answering that and finally for the

community can you explain what the con

plan is briefly please

yes so the city participates in the

federal government's program to promote

healthy and vibrant communities through

the uh US Department of Housing and

Urban Development or HUD via a variety

of block grants uh so these grants come

in different forms with sort of

different goals and different uh

requirements the most common is the

Community Development block grant which

we call cdbg for short uh that has a

range of eligible uses to include

Community Development to include Public

Services when you think of a lot of the

nonprofits that are out there uh

supporting uh low income households with

housing counseling or even food banks um

it can also support a variety of housing

uh maintenance Rehabilitation down

payment assistance the other program is

home which is it is it kind of sounds

like it's it's really targeted towards

the the housing um for the city so it's

got uh less um eligible uses than say

the cdbg fund does but it goes towards

uh assisting um households and people

with lower income with uh all things

housing to include tenant based uh

rental assistance uh down payment

assistance security assistance things

like that and um also um ESG emergency

Solutions Grant is targeted towards

helping people that are homeless or at

risk of homelessness and that can

include a variety of shelter operations

Outreach campaigns and the other uh the

fourth one is uh hopo which is uh for

it's a housing um uh grant for people uh

with uh AIDs that was uh set up a number

of years ago that can also help out with

a much more limited scope on the target

households there so that's a quick uh

description of the various uh grants

that are out there so HUD requires every

five years a city re-evaluate its needs

and that's across the board of housing

as well as Community Development needs

uh assess uh the program and the uh the

um the things that are in place whether

that's nonprofit agencies whether that's

the city itself to address those needs

find the gaps and create what's called a

strategic plan to help address those

gaps and address those needs that

strategic plan is the bulk of the con

plan that will sort of tee up how the

city operates for the next fiveyear

cycle and then every year there's an

annual action plan where the specific

amounts of each allocation or each grant

funding line is described and what type

of activity it will serve and that can

change every year but it must be in line

with the fiveyear goals that were laid

out in the con plan strategic plan so

this this is done every five years but

the action plan component is done every

year on a repeated basis and the the

general um amount of funding doesn't

change too much uh it it's certainly

dependent on Congress and and their

approved budget um but we typically see

about the same amount every year with a

slight increase although last year or

this this current year home went down

uh slightly for most

jurisdictions mostly because of a

one-time home American Rescue plan uh

funding line that was that was um U

promoted and given out to the various

cities does that answer your question

for the Consolidated plan yes thank you

very much and uh is director uh Gloria

Martin Roberts there also I'm

here hi thank you for being here also I

just have one final question question

for either of

you the final reports between the city

and HUD how can uh someone uh receive

one of those reports or get one of those

reports they can contact um our

department uh that's public information

so that should be accessible to anybody

that wants to have a

copy thank you very much and I will

for my colleagues at this time uh if

anyone has any questions I'll start with

Council Jones councilwoman before you

open the floor for uh questions chair

Davis uh interim director uh Martin

Roberts wanted to clarify something else

you you mentioned that this is a new

contract for civitas it is not it's

actually um we're extending the contract

we were using um cdbg 2022 funds to

cover that contract we exhausted those

funds and so now we're going to be using

2023 funds so that's why we had to bring

it back to you um for an extension their

contract officially ends December 31st

20124 we will be bringing back to you a

new contract for them that would begin

Jan January 1st 2025 through December

31st 2025 I just wanted to clarify that

for the

record thank you for clarifying that

director um because the proposal date

here in this contract said August 26 of

2023 which was a little

confusing um thank you very much the

going to change that date

I'm sorry will the law Bureau will

change that

date okay thank you and Miss Baldock is

on the line as well she's the one who's

been handling the civitas contracts

since then the dbg dbhd uh contracts for

Miss Roberts if there's questions for

her yes thank you okay I can open the

floor for questions from my colleagues

uh for uh Mr

Christian uh

or Christian excuse me or director

Roberts councilman Jones any

questions uh thank you councilwoman

Davis um no no

questions thank you councilman Rodriguez

no questions for me thank

you thank you councilwoman

Ross uh good evening um to you both

thank you for being here I don't have

any questions

thank you president Bowers I don't have

any questions thank

you vice president green any questions

thank you very much I don't have any

questions thank

you you're welcome and councilwoman

Daniels any

questions yes um when did the checks for

the organizations for the 2022

allocations go

out or this distrib the 2023 allocations

when did those checks go out are you

talking about the subrecipients yeah are

you talking about 2022 or 202 2022 money

but we made the allocations in 2023 they

um we have actually um put all of the

contracts out I think two are

pending that not they're checks they're

contracts those contracts were held up

and so um when I came on board um uh I

got those contracts on my desk and we

have processed those contracts so

everyone has received their contracts

with about two uh subrecipients and they

will probably have theirs by the end of

next

week so can you uh I guess that's say

that yes say that to me in absolute

number so how many contracts all all of

them have gone out their cont yes all

the subrecipients with the exception I

think we have two more to process and

what I mean by process they have to come

in and sign their

contracts so 11 all together that is not

all the subrecipients approved by

Council that's the ones that got past

the conflict RW that passed through yes

and how many left are left um not having

passed through yeah I'll have to I have

to give back to they were six that that

were held for permanently and then there

was a group in the middle which I

believe they work through all of them

before that we had to sit and um get

clarification but we've done that right

and they're okay there's will be process

also uh and then we had some that uh

there was a conflict of

interest okay

so so I guess what I mean this has been

an issue for for the

last where are we now what's more than a

year 17 months for 17 months 17 months

um and civitas was the entity months

before I got here I understand that yeah

um and civitas was the contract was the

service provider during that period

civas is not the service provider C

Service Prov provides us with

consultation in terms of making sure

that we are in alignment with HUD rules

and regulations okay so that's all the

civilas does so um uh I can't read the

name from here and I'm bad with names

but could the person from civas explain

like why there was a 17-month delay they

don't have anything to do with that that

has everything to do with us here at the

city cotas consults with us makes sure

that anything that we want to put into

practice Falls in line with HUD rules

and

regulations after that

it is our responsibility to formulate

whatever documents necessary they will

review those documents again just to

make sure that we're in line with again

the regulations then it falls on us it

falls on the law Bureau and the

department of building and housing to

make sure that the

contracts are uh put in place they're

written according to rules and

regulations and not only the

municipality but the

state and it falls on state staff after

that so can someone explain publicly

what happened what caused the 17-month

delay it is really difficult to tell a

bunch of

subres that we're going to renew a

contract with this entity who's supposed

to keep us in line but then for some

reason we um held them up for 17

months in the course of finalizing the

contracts which um I cannot speak to why

contracts took as long as they did uh

coming out of

different uh desks I will say but when

they came to us uh they were not

finalized our office then gathered both

the contracts and the backup materials

which we normally do not see the backup

materials revealed that um there were

conflicts that had not been addressed at

all and that those conflicts would under

state and federal law prohibit the city

from entering into those contracts and

that is not I think have to do with

subrecipients that has to do with simply

there are certain conflicts that cannot

Under Pennsylvania law uh be overcome

there's no waiver provision in the

Pennsylvania law for them and part of to

satisfy a HUD waiver uh and this City's

never really done the HUD wavers and it

needs to uh is to before you vote before

any of those things happen you advertise

the potential waiver you uh then get a

certification as a legal opinion that if

the waiver is granted by Hud it will not

violate state or local laws those

opinions are ungettable because

Pennsylvania doesn't have waivers for

certain ones Pennsylvania's a much

narrower group of people that have unw

conflicts and Huds is much broader but

they're wable as long as they're wable

at state or local levels so it was found

on the other side of this after it was

present to council after the documents

were there simply because there was

delay in processing contracts that those

those conflicts had never been worked

through uh by staff that that's simply

the reality of it and we've done

training we've done all kinds of things

we've brought civitas in for additional

training with with with staff uh you

know we have provided training with

staff we had previously tried a training

with outside Council and inhouse Council

um and we believe we now have tra uh

trained on the conflict analysis that

has to be done but uh they simply were

not addressed and and the the the my

name and my law license isn't going onto

a contract that knowingly has a

violation of the state ethics act in it

and that's what these would have had and

that's not the fault of uh the

recipients it was a processing problem

we believe we have fixed the processing

problem right but when the ordinance

came down to us right part of our

discussion here when we're looking at

the subrecipients and all of that is

their El fundamentally their eligibility

for it whether they're qualified or not

um and

that you know that didn't happen

so I I guess what I'm I'm not

understanding is why this why the

17-month

delay right if theoretically Loba did

the initial job of vetting we don't do

the initial job of vetting we do not do

that we get we get a proposed budget

ordinance after

dbhd does their processing like the 28

or whatever they're about to have for

the next round we are not involved at

that stage

we provide the

forms we help with forms to say this is

what the law says here they are

implement it just like every other

Bureau has to implement their things

that's what happened we got pulled in by

happen stance because there was a delay

coming out of the bureau in processing

what we consider fill in the blank

contracts you know and that's what

happened and so and that got us deep

into the dive of what the back documents

were because they things weren't making

sense to us but the reason the bill was

late in 20 came down in 2023 was because

it was late from 2022 because

theoretically law Bureau was the one

that held it up to begin with and that's

why it took so long I don't know what

you're talking

about you're the one who signed off on

on that on when the when the bills came

down those so in February 2023 would not

have been any significant late issue

remember there's a transition in

administrations right the these relate

to the

October budget that was passed by by

Congress and these contracts come out of

that money so it's October 1 2022

February the contracts came down to you

the prior process which changed twice I

believe in the prior Administration was

that that list and that budget of

individuals came down before you voted

in the summer

so that the contracts were concurrent

with the awards in October that process

changed in Co and then and and by not

just by us but by Hud who later and

later provided the dates of the

estimated monies that you would get so

the O so what we used to get in like

December of almost a year ahead of time

of a of a notice from HUD got pushed

first to February then to May under the

Trump Administration it kept getting

pushed back further under Co

and that cycle just changed so there's a

long administrative history that

basically changed the timetable I don't

know if HUD will have it change back at

some point but it just changed the cycle

but so the contracts they were doing

were money available October 1 2022

under a budget Congress passed I can't

remember whether that was passed on time

or not but that's what the money comes

from those contracts delve from that so

there's no long delay of those coming to

you we bring a budget down at that point

not something else a budget that's what

we

bring okay that's it for

me thank you councilwoman Daniels are

there any other questions council

members okay thank you Mr Christian for

being here this evening thank you

director Roberts you're welcome I

appreciate you also and I don't have any

further

questions thank you I would recommend

this um resolution be um Revisited at

our next legislative

meeting okay thank

you at this legislative meeting Council

correct it's it's this one may I say

something please listen we're already

behind in our payment to civitas because

we had to go through this extension now

they can certainly say to us we're no

longer going to provide you with the

service let me just say this we're

not at a time in our process of having

received

applications for the nest cycle we need

we are scheduled next week to start

reviewing those applications civitas two

of their personnel will be involved in

the review along with our staff if I

don't get this passed so that they can

be paid and we can they know they're

going to be paid they can very easily

say we're not going to provide services

until so I thought we were going to vote

on this tonight we are voting on it this

even what she said let's vote on she did

but she misspoke it's still on our

agenda I only hear what I hear there are

no further there's no further discussion

so I will entertain a motion to resume

our legisl session thank you is there a

second second thank you so before us for

consideration this evening we have

resolution 47 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

one more time

yes Miss oh I'm sorry the

resolution I'm ready to take the vote

and get this thing done I know but

for I'm Sor resolution 47 of 2024 a

resolution authorizing the city of

Harrisburg to negotiate and enter into a

Professional Services agreement with

civitas LLC for the purpose of providing

Professional Services to the city's

department of building Housing and

Development including but not limited to

technical assistance and general

consulting services for General

technical assistance Consolidated plan

development analysis of fair housing

choice impediments and environmental

review for emergency demolition thank

you council members are there any final

questions comments or concerns related

to resolution 47 of

2024 seeing and hearing none Mr Parker

could you please call the vote Miss

Daniels my code of conduct prevents me

from participating in this so I'll say

no Miss

Davis

yes Miss green yes

Mr Jones yay M rolls yes Mr Rodriguez

yes M Bowers yes resolution 47 of 2024

passes with a vote of six Ys to one nay

thank you next we have resolution 50 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

into the record yes resolution 50 of

2024 a resolution authorizing the city

of Harrisburg to negotiate and enter

into a Professional Services agreement

with Murphy and D haer Architects to

serve as the architect SL engineering

firm for the restoration Rehabilitation

and reconstruction of the Broad Street

Markets red brick building thank you uh

council members are there any questions

comments or concerns related to

resolution 50 of

2024 seeing and hearing none Mr Parker

could you please call the vote

Miss Daniels

yes Miss

Davis yes Miss green yes Mr Jones yay M

rolls yes Mr Rodriguez yes Miss Bowers

yes resolution 50 of 2024 passes

unanimously with a vote of seven y to

zero Nays thank you next we have

resolution 51 of 2024 Mr Mr Parker could

you please read it into the record yes

resolution 51 of

2024 a resolution authorizing the city

of Harrisburg to negotiate and enter

into a Professional Services agreement

with Marsh Claims Solutions forensic

accounting and claims services to

provide Insurance claim accounting

services to measure and document the

revenue and property damage loss of the

Broad Street Markets red brick building

thank you

council members are there any questions

comments or concerns related to

resolution 51 of

2024 seeing and hearing none Mr Parker

could you please call the vote Miss

Daniels

yes Miss

Davis yes M green yes Mr Jones yay M

rolls yes Mr Rodriguez yes misss Bowers

yes resolution 51 of 202 4 passes

unanimously with a vote of seven Ys to

zero Nays thank you next we have

resolution 53 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

into the

record resolution 53 of

2024 a resolution approving the fifth

proposed 2024 budget

reallocation confirming and otherwise

clarifying the intended designation of

Revenue replace M funds under the

American Rescue plan act as being

attributed to Public Safety purposes

under the general fund and further

confirming the award of certain

available general fund program dollars

to two local organizations to provide

services for bridge

housing thank you I'll entertain a

motion to suspend the rules for

discussion of the uh second portion of

the resolution caption related to the

general fund program dollars um the

referring to the awarding of general

fund program dollars to two local

organizations is there a second second

thank you um I will defer to our build

uh excuse me our budget and finance

committee chair uh to lead this

discussion I'm sorry no it's fine good

evening Miss Martin Roberts um I guess

most of our questions uh regarding this

just kind of came about um we were

trying to figure out how do we get to

these two organizations for the bridge

housing program um I know when the

previous director was here uh we had

discussed having different meetings

about the application process about

things coming back before Council and so

just to see the awards made it kind of

just struck us and we wanted to know

some more information about how we got

here um and what the programs would

entail the good questions I um know that

both these organizations are the two

most

um significant organization providing

services to the homeless population they

literally provide um a to

z uh referral into other services if

they have mental health

problems um uh

meals for those who are not not quite

homeless but could be rental

assistance um Medical

Care and I can go on and on both of

these organizations have also been uh

operating and providing these services

for many

years um so they have a um uh a stellar

background in terms of providing

services to the homeless population they

also have the capacity to expand

services and get people off the street

now um so they're not out in the winter

weather or the hot weather and so forth

but um so that they can sleep indoors uh

have a warn meals and so forth um there

are a lot of organizations as you know

that um care and um help and so forth

but they don't necessarily have the

capacity these organizations have the

capacity to expand their services to

bring the homeless population

indoors all

year and so they were chosen based on

the fact that they had the capacity to

do that when I came on board there was

nothing um nothing started in terms of

putting out an RFP or anything to get

organizations that could provide it

these starting with the fall and winter

months to house the homeless

population so we had to look at the

organizations that we know that have the

capacity to do it and the

reputation thank you um just a couple of

questions the first is did the city

reach out to these organizations or was

there something put out so that

organizations could reach out to the

city or was it just kind of like well

we've worked with them in the past and

so we're reaching out to them the city

um maintains a relationship with an

organization called Cash and that

organization represents all of the

entities that serve the homeless

population we are a member of that

organization as well and so the city is

constantly in Communications with the

organizations in the city that provide

services to the uh homeless population

these two organizations participate as

well yes um I know there are more

organizations than these two and catch

and um so my question just kind of was

did we reach out to these organizations

specifically or did we reach out to

catch and say hey this is the

opportunity we have is there anyone that

wants to reach out to us about it as far

as I

know I don't I can't answer the question

whether other organizations were contact

it all I know is when I came on board

these were the two

organizations that had um been

recommended to provide expanded Services

because they have the capacity to

provide expanded Services cash

membership knows that these two

organizations um have been asked to

provide these services and I'm certain

that if the membership there had a

problem with we would have heard

about okay so when you came on the

recommendation for these two had already

occurred so you don't know the actual

process that was before you came as far

as I know and as far as any

documentation in my office I I have seen

nothing in terms of that okay excuse me

something yes if you could just

introduce yourself for the public

sure Deborah Robinson can you please

speak into the microphone thank you can

you hear me now is it okay no I can't

hear you I don't I think it's on I think

you may need to just move it closer

thank you

better uh Deborah Robinson Special

Assistant to the

mayor uh good evening president bows

vice president green and other council

members um prior

to M Roberts coming on board uh we met

with uh Dolphin County and uh uh

catch we invited many uh people we had a

a m Microsoft teams meeting

to uh talk about what we can do for the

homeless and so one of the thing they

uh who is it

uh downtown daily

bread and churches uh Christian churches

United they attended the Microsoft teams

meeting along with the city's

Administration and Doin County and we

talked about this possibly being an

early winter and they wanted to start

taking people in in

October and but they needed the funding

in order to make this happen they did

have they did have the room and the

capacity but not the funding and that's

how we came up with granting them you

know this

money okay thank you

um I think that's all the questions I

had regarding this I will just kind of

read over what uh Miss Martin Roberts

did send to us uh just for the Public's

edification um it says the bridge

housing $1 million two wellestablished

nonprofit organizations that have been

serving the homeless population and

high-risk populations for homelessness

have been selected to provide expanded

Services downtown Daily Bread will

receive $500,000 to provide a yearr

round emergency overnight shelter for up

to 50 individuals in addition to provide

overnight accommodations and support

services for set individuals the shelter

will operate from October 20124 until

December

2026 offering a safe place to sleep meal

and access to essential services this

initiative aims to address the immediate

needs of the homeless population and

help them transition to more stable

living

conditions Christian churches United has

longevity in the Harrisburg City

Community for many years serving

lowincome homeless and other underserved

living in the city of Harrisburg for the

past excuse me for their past

performance and Stellar reputation for

serving the least of us they were

selected to excuse me selected is the

second nonprofit to receive

$500,000 and will partner with Grace

United Methodist Church at 216 State

Street Harrisburg to run an overnight

shelter for up to 25 women and

non-binary individuals with the

potential to shelter up to five

additional persons on a short-term

emergency basis the shelter will open

from 7:30 p.m. till 7:00 a.m. each night

starting November 1st 2024 CCU will hire

a program manager to run the shelter to

two full-time overnight shelter monitors

a part-time case manager/ intake

assistant and four to six part-time

shelter assistants to assure adequate

supervision at the shelter case

management will be offered to shelter

guests both through the shelter staff as

well as ccu's unsheltered service team

guests will be provided with cot to

sleep on blankets snacks and basic

hygiene

products so just in case anyone hadn't

saw that and also for the public

edification uh I'm going to see if any

of my colleagues have any questions or

comments I'm going to start to my right

this time with councilwoman Daniels no

questions thank you thank you

councilwoman Davis any questions or

comments no questions thank you vice

president green thank you president

Bowers any questions or comments no

thank you many of my questions were

asked and

answered thank you councilwoman R any

questions or comments thank you um most

questions were asked and answered it was

just one clarification I know that in

the email it also mentioned that the

hind senior C serson sorry I cannot H

Senor yes I couldn't get that out today

sorry uh they were given the two

$250,000 that was part of the arpa money

as well too was part of like a I believe

we spoke about a program they have not

been given the money yet but it's in the

works that they received $250,000

to rehab the facility which has not been

rehabed since Senator Hines uh cut the

ribbon with that Center if I may

interject we uh will discuss okay all of

the other um programs and allocations or

pending allocations next week during our

work session that way we can have a

sorry a fuller dialogue yeah no okay

sorry thank you very much that was at

then I'll get that clarified more next

time thank you councilman Rodriguez any

questions or comments um did they uh

thank you madam chair did they have to

put in any specific outline of the exact

expenditures or like how specifically

they'll spend it yeah they will and that

is that something you'll be able to

share with have to they have to bill for

for whatever the expenditures they have

for the service is it a reimbursable

amount of money okay so they'll submit

to the city the city will okay thank and

it's it will be broken out in their

budget okay thank thank you there

there'll be a contract with each but

what the essentially what tonight does

would be if it's approved would

authorize those contracts and there such

types of contracts don't exist in the

city right we're bringing you back from

scratch and then the contracts would

come back to us no the contracts would

not come back to you okay that that that

would not because it is an October one

date to start right but you would get

the contracts if they' come back to you

in a sense of this is this is how the

money is being spent only reason why I

ask is because I I uh

I just I realized that world and how

things can um go really fast I just want

to make sure that it is going to those

that really need it the most that was on

yeah thank thank you no further

questions thank you councilman Jones yes

vice president green um I got some of

the same uh questions because um I'm

very familiar with both of those uh

organizations especially uh CCU and um

it seems like all the time you know we

we have a a a housing issue in our city

um and you stay at your yourself that

and I know this happened prior to you

however you st it yourself that there

are other

organizations um I would love to see

something like this that's a large

amount of money and I know that um ddb

has just received a large amount of

money um the same people keep seeming to

get these

funds and um I know about CCU um did

someone replace uh their director

because I know he just left M Mr darl I

don't think he's gone yet I think he

just announced when he's going to be

leaving I think that's going to be at

the end of the year from what I received

okay yeah but I would just love to see

some this some of these things spread

around because there are a plethora of

organizations um if everybody that does

a little no one person or no two

entities have to do a lot so I think if

we can sprinkle some of this money

around I think those Services can be and

I know what you're talking about too

about that meeting on the zoom um there

was a lot of people that were there and

what we get in our city is people start

to feel slighted because the same

individuals rep repeatedly keep getting

the money I've seen I'm I'm watching a

lot of these organizations be award

awarded with a lot of money um and then

yet we still have these issues in

certain in these cold months we're full

we're full and nobody else has nowhere

to go and they can't use these other

organizations because they don't have

the funding to support these individuals

so I would just love love to see some of

that spread around I know again you

weren't included in the selecting

process but this is something just to

take note of and I just want to also

remind you it's not just a matter of

getting money it's whether or not these

organizations have the capacity to serve

and provide the services needed by this

homeless population and I understand

that again if if the money is put into

one

pot they can't provide I don't care how

much capacity they have if they don't if

if they're the only ones then what about

the other people that are providing the

services if they don't have anything to

offer people because all of the money's

here and and how many beds can ddb hold

how many beds can CCU CCU

hold yeah 20 uh actually 30 they can

actually uh add 30 additional

beds what where what is their capacity

now

I don't know that down I'll have to look

that up I don't have

that

but if you're talking about some other

organizations once again I'm going to

repeat I've been in this field for a

long time you still they still have to

have the capacity and it doesn't

necessarily mean that if we give them a

a a few thousand doll and they don't

have a location to be able to House

people it's still a problem I mean

they know the need is there so if

they're going to if they want to be a

part of housing homeless persons then

they have to have a facility or

someplace to put them and so I mean I

agree with you it would be great if we

could have a lot more in know

organizations being able to place people

overnight for an entire year and be able

to feed them and everything

but location finding a facility to House

people has been very very difficult so

let me be a little bit more clear then

so a lot of these organizations they may

have facilities to house these

individuals correct now what about the

ones that can't get into the facilities

and they're they're out on the street

that these smaller organizations provide

blankets coats and to food to help these

individuals that's what I'm talking

about about but if you put in the money

all here these other you know it's just

it's just tough cuz I I I've been out

there as well maybe not as as much as

you have but I've been working with

these populations as well as and it's a

very tough struggle for a lot of these

organizations because they can't find

the funding for one the city really

isn't on the hook for that that's a

county thing that's where who usually

takes care of that so I do appreciate

the gesture of being able to do

something like that but I'm just saying

again let's just think about

spreading some of this around that's all

you got something yeah only that if you

remember it was Council that proposed

adding Bridge housing to to the

expenditures and the reality is frankly

it was a gesture by the count County and

by the mayor's office because a million

dollars in reality for the number of

homeless is adding real money but it

does not solve the problem right so

right so so and Bridge housing is a very

expensive portion of of doing it wasn't

it wasn't uh supplies it wasn't it was

it was it's a bridge housing program

that was sort of just generally talked

about again I'm just saying you have

smaller organizations you have americle

for sure they give people showers they

give them clothing and you know

everybody's looking for funding and I'm

just saying

um that's all that's all I

have thank you any other comments or

questions regarding

this saying none thank you for being

here tonight um I guess we could go back

into session I'll entertain a motion to

resume our legislative session moved is

there a second second thank you so

before us we have resolution 53 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

into the

record resolution 53 of

2024 a resolution approving the fifth

proposed 2024 budget

reallocation confirming and otherwise

clarifying the intended designation of

Revenue replacement funds under the

American Rescue plan act as being

attributed to Public Safety purposes

under the general fund and further

confirming the award of certain

available general fund programs program

dollars to two local organizations to

provide services for bridge housing

thank you council members are there any

final questions comments or concerns

related to resolution 53 of

2024 seeing and hearing now Mr Parker

could you please please call the vote

Miss Daniels

no M

Davis

yes Miss green

yes Mr

Jones yay M rolls

yes Mr Rodriguez yes Ms Bowers

yes resolution 53 of 2024 passes with a

vote of six Ys

to one

nay thank you next we have resolution 54

of 2024 Mr Parker could you please read

it into the record resolution 54 of

2024 a resolution ratifying the

Professional Services agreement with

stall schaer engineering to provide

certain Engineering Services for

improvements and facility upgrades to

the city-owned stadium presently known

as FNB field thank you you resolution 54

of 2024 will move to the parks

recreation and enrichment committee next

we have resolution 55 of 2024 Mr Parker

could you please read it into the

record resolution 55 of 2024 a

resolution of the Council of the city of

Harrisburg authorizing and appointing

Joel ciders city engineer as the city of

harrisburg's design to execute any forms

doc doents contracts and reimbursement

agreements in the Pennsylvania

Department of transportations electronic

engineering and construction management

system and reimbursement Agreement

System thank you resolution 55 of 2024

will move to the public works committee

next we have resolution 56 of 2024 Mr

Parker could you please read it into the

record resolution 56 of

2024 a resolution approving the

preliminary final subdivision and land

development plan submitted by Midtown

Redevelopment LLC to consolidate and sub

subdivide the various vacant Parcels

into multiple project sites to to

develop single family and multifam

dwellings commercial space and accessory

parking along with Associated

improvements in the area bounded by

Raley Street Fulton Street saford Street

and James Street thank you resolution 56

of

2024 will move to the community and

economic development committee next we

have resolution 57 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

into the record resolution 57 of

2024 a resolution approving the

preliminary slf final subdivision plan

for 1529 South 13th Street submitted by

jeie and Jim

spagnolo to separate the existing parcel

into three individual lots for each of

the three residences on site thank you

resolution 57 of

2024 will move to the community and

economic development committee the final

resolution for consideration this

evening is resolution 58 of 20124 Mr

Parker could you please read it into the

record resolution 58 of 20 24 a

resolution ratifying the city of Harris

the city of harrisburg's acceptance of a

federal financial assistance Award of $2

million under the inflation reduction

Act made by the United States Department

of Agriculture through the US Forest

Service for the Harrisburg tree

investment project thank you resolution

58 of 2024 will move to the parks

recreation and enrichment committee is

there any old Business Council

Members seeing and hearing none new

business councilman Rodriguez thank you

madam president I just wanted to send a

reminder to the residents and business

owners in the city that this Saturday

the 14th will be the final day for this

season of hotspot Saturdays we'll be in

the Italian Lake Area cleaning up so

please feel free to reach out at R

Rodriguez at Harrisburg pa.gov um the

last two were phenomenal we had the

Cougars wrestlers out and a few other

students from other District so come on

out and play your part uh as we reach

100 tons of waste um we were at 70 tons

when we began so hopefully we we reach

that capacity so thank you everybody on

Council and I look forward to seeing

everyone Saturday thank you any other

new business I have two notes and one

comment so this week Monday September

9th 2024 through Friday September 13th

2024 is the first week of Harrisburg

Restaurant Week hosted annually by the

Harrisburg downtown improvement district

there are 10 restaurants participating

with special curated menus specifically

for Restaurant Week to learn more

information about Harrisburg Restaurant

Week please check out their website at

www.h Harrisburg restaurant

we.com the 14th annual Hispanic heritage

festival hosted by the Latino Hispanic

American Community Center will be held

on Saturday September 14th

2024 from 10 a.m. until 300 p.m. between

13th and 15th in Dairy streets the

festival includes a flag parade Domino

tournament Spanish food children's games

giveaways cultural displays and a

community art

activity um I just had one comment

before we adjourn I I wanted to note

that I was disappointed to read that the

Mayor found the seven questions we asked

to be Petty concerns we have major

concerns with the staff vacancies that

were shared during our last legislative

session the mayor mentioned that her

office is an open door but it's really

more like a revolving door in the

mayor's office alone the business

administrator role has been vacant since

June 7th

2024 the communications director role

will be vacant as of next week there is

no Finance director no director of

community relations and

engagement nor is there sustainability

coordinator these roles were all vacated

over the last month it's really ironic

that the current mayor is repeating

Behavior she once complained about as

she sat in this very seat as the

president of Harrisburg city council the

mayor is always quick to Proclaim she's

the mayor mayor she's the mayor yes

mayor you have become a jack of all

trades and a master of

none the time is 8:11 p.m. I will

entertain a motion to a journ so moved

is there a second there's a second

there's a thank you we stand a

journ thank you Seth I appreciate you

have a good night everyone thank you