Harrisburg City Council - Work Session April 2nd, 2024

31

p.m. I would like to officially call our

work session to

order Mr Parker can you please call the

rooll

yes Miss

Daniels Ms Davis

present Ms Green

present Mr Jones here M rolls

present Mr

Rodriguez Mr

Rodriguez I know that he is

on

I'm going to Mark him and move on

because I know he's here on through the

uh there we go and Miss Bowers president

thank

you just a few notes before we

begin you will hear from a few of the

Committees this evening in terms of

quarterly reporting for the

administration committee uh we will not

hear from the office of equity and

compliance this evening and for the

community and economic development

committee we will not hear uh from the

Bureau of

planning just wanted to make those notes

for anyone following along with our

agenda so we will begin with the work of

the administration committee our first

quarterly report for the first quarter

of

20124 will be shared from the Bureau of

Information Technology

good evening City Council I'm Steve

bortner IT director and I'll give the uh

update on the first quarter for the

Bureau of it uh

description of the

department um the Bureau of information

Technologies is responsible for the

administration of the city's blend of

Mainframe Network and cloud-based

computer systems and these systems are

utilized by All City departments and

bureaus uh the bureau provides technical

support and maintenance for all

computers

and other devices deployed throughout

the city which includes Network

equipment and city issued cell

phones uh the bureau also partners with

various organizations to extend and

expand the technological capabilities of

the city's operations and this includes

local state and National organizations

as well um evaluating emerging

Technologies assists with the process of

modernizing and streamlining City

systems

uh daily responsibilities include Dem

monitoring troubleshooting and

resolution of help desk tickets which

are submitted through the support portal

uh server activity antiv virus activity

cyber threats uh printer services and

software

deployments uh quarterly summary uh the

team completed 867 help desk tickets in

the first quarter which is an increase

of 155 since the fourth

quarter uh update on the operation

Municipal migration project um as you

know it's a six-phase project two of the

phases are completed three are active

and one has not yet been

started uh the active phases are human

Capital Management uh scheduled

implementation either the third or

fourth quarter of this year we have run

into some issues some processing issues

primarily around uh the filing reporting

and remittance of income taxes and we

are working through those

um as we go

forward the next active phase is tax

billing and Collections and we're

scheduled to implement that in the

second

quarter uh licenses permits and codes

enforcement uh scheduled to be

implemented probably in the July time

frame at this point and one of the

phases we completed in the last or in

this quarter is asset maintenance uh

that was completed for the vehicle

maintenance center and now that that

phase is uh in production we can add

additional departments um if the need

arises for

that on the phase that we haven't

started yet is utility billing and

collections uh we will get started on

that in this quarter um and at this

point we think that should be

implemented by the end of the

year um there are about 40 city

employees working on the project and so

far through uh last week they reported

7,073 hours to the project

project uh annual goal updates uh we

completed the implementation of the core

switch replacement um and that was to

replace some aing equipment one that we

started uh late last year and wrapped up

this quarter in the first quarter uh we

also implemented a new network

management and monitoring system which

will help to identify any unusual

traffic on the city's

network uh we also began implementation

of a multiactor

authentication solution uh some of you

may be familiar with that but eventually

that'll be rolled out to all city

employees uh we also began the

implementation of a new storage area

network which replaces one that is

expiring or going out of support later

this

year and then the last uh Big Goal that

we uh started was the implementation of

our secondary redundant data center

which will be housed at another city

location and part of the storage area

network will also be deployed to that uh

location and we still need to establish

communication lines between this

building and that location which we're

working

on a year-to-date spend uh the salary

budget um is 579,000 and through the

first quarter we've expended uh

21.85% of that uh Services the budget is

$1.42 million and we've expended or

encumbered

37.14% of that through the first

quarter uh the supplies budget is 642

th000 and we've expended or incumbered

39.5 2% of that and the capital budget

is

$879,000 um and so far we've expended 40

or encumbered

43.7% of that and and some of these

percentages may seem a little high um

but the reason for that we encumber for

the whole year on some of the items so

that's why it's uh a little bit inflated

for the first

quarter and there were no significant

deviations from the plan budget and we

don't anticipate any at this

time uh special projects and grants uh

there were no special projects that

involve grants in the first quarter and

the updates on the other ongoing major

projects were identified earlier in the

report uh Department vacancy updates uh

the good news is as of the end of the

first quarter uh there were no in

positions so we are fully staffed at

this

time and Community engagement

interaction and communication um our

deputy director Nathan grumbine he

participated in a segment of 10

questions which was filmed by the Bureau

of communications and that segment is

uh available on the city's YouTube

channel and that's the report any

questions thank you very much um I don't

have any questions of regarding your

report I will open the floor to my

colleagues they may have some I'll begin

with councilman Jones any questions yes

thank you president Bowers um just a

just a quick question um and get a

little bit uh better understanding of

the utilities and colle collections how

is that going to work and that's

throughout the Departments here so the

utility billing and collection will be

for the trash um collection that we

currently build for every month so it'll

basically replace the existing system on

the main frame today that's what I was

figuring I was hoping so so this will

help uh Mr Miller a lot more and his

Department um it should uh right now

we're still going to continue with

monthly billing until a decision is made

or a resolution passed to go to annual

billing um but the new system will allow

either one of those to be done so you're

saying if if the resolution is passed or

created and brought down for us so this

would take away the paper um it would

take away some of the paper um we would

still offer the ability to get the paper

bill but we'd also offer the ability to

get it electronically sent to you so the

current system does not allow for that

the new system will okay all right no

more questions thank you and great

report

too thank you councilman Rodriguez any

questions no questions for me Madam

president thank you thank you

councilwoman R any questions thank you

president um Bowers uh thank you for

being here today Mr borner I don't have

any questions thank you for your report

thank

you thank you vice president green any

questions thank you very much I

appreciate you being here tonight I

don't have any questions okay thank you

C councilwoman Davis any questions yes

thank you president Bowers good

evening I was wondering uh was taking a

look at the uh Information Technology

report that was in the budget book uh

the Consulting Services what uh would

those

entail the primary one is for Steve

Zimmerman who is a former city employee

who is back doing Mainframe Consulting

work to help us continue with day-to-day

operations but also help with the

migration to the new system so that's

135,000 of that the others are in there

kind of is a contingency in the event we

need to use them for other activities

and then the other question is the

contracted Services would the Consulting

fall in under that in some type of way

okay so that's separate okay thank you

thank

you thank you councilwoman Dan any

questions yes the city just uh changed

or zoning code to allow for electronic

no this um which is a significant

reduction in due process rights for our

residents what is our capacity to

actually be able to meet those

obligations uh I'm not familiar with

that at this point so I don't know the

details of it so I really can't give you

a good answer on thank you that's it

thank you thank you very

much next we will receive re the

quarterly report for the first quarter

of

2024 from the Bureau of

communications

for

good evening Council good

evening starting with a brief

description of uh the communications

Bureau for the

record uh the Bureau of communications

manages all internal and external

Communications throughout city

government operations uh it is

responsible for all Graphics vid photos

videos audio and Information Services

we're also responsible for the city's

311 system and Atrium help desk Zen desk

uh the bureau organizes all news

conference we issue uh press releases

media advisories uh we update um the

public through our social media channels

as well we also have a Weekly Newsletter

which goes out to 3,800 recipients uh

the Bureau of communications also

manages whbg Channel 20 which is our

government access cas c channel uh the

bureau manages relations with adjacent

government agencies as well to ensure

compliance with the city's cable

television franchise agreement uh

which I imagine you'll have questions on

later and uh we'll be able to hopefully

provide some clarity

there the communication bureau's main

project through the first quarter of

2024 was beginning the process to hire a

company to redesign our City's website I

formed a team which included Deputy

Information Technology director Nathan

grumbine procurement manager Hillary

green and economic development director

Jason Graves as he has experience with

web designs and other best practices

when it comes to design work we received

inquiries from more than 30 companies

and of that group we met virtually with

eight before deciding on a company

called revise they met our most

important needs of specializing in

government websites and working with the

word processing and design base on our

current website which is called

WordPress

um they put together a quote which also

came in under our $20,000 budget and

they will help redesign Harrisburg

pa.gov to make it faster more Ada

accessible and easier to navigate on

mobile

devices Channel 20 started the new year

with a brand new set and our first guest

on set was The Honorable councilman

Lamont Jones thank you sir we continue

to tape segments for our show what's the

word Harrisburg where we put a spotlight

on people and events making a difference

in the Harrisburg community in addition

to what's the word we have also started

a new segment which I spoke about

briefly in my uh quarter 4 report um

earlier this year aser Johnson and Emily

spec have been crafting their new

segment called 10 questions which allows

people to get to know City staff in a

more personal and fun way they have

produced five episodes so far with more

scheduled Channel 20 also produced a

30-minute mental health special in

conjunction with upmc's minutes matter

initiative this was a follow up to our

September special on the overdose crisis

we experienced in how to administer

Narcan we plan to do segments with UPMC

in the future focused on CPR training

and stop the bleed techniques as well

the channel 20 team produced a total of

39 videos in quarter 1 and according to

our YouTube analytics totaled 16,500

views for the past quarter which is up

11% from the fourth quarter of

23 with the help of the facilities team

as you saw when you walked in into the

Martin Luther King building this evening

when guests come in not only are they

welcomed by large television monitor

showcasing City events and content

airing on channel 20 as well as Flyers

of upcoming events that the Parks and

Recreation team are putting on but uh we

put in Shades in our bay windows which

will allow us to convert this previously

underutilized space into a home for

press events and weddings we also have

the Martin Luther King Jr museum display

cases and photos of memorabilia now in

the center of the atrium so it can be

more prominently featured the city's 311

help desk is continuing to work in the

first quarter of 24 we solved 210

tickets up from the 150 solved in the

previous quarter as of last Wednesday we

had 12 tickets pending major credit here

goes to Aisha Hernandez who oversees the

311 system and speaking of Aisha she and

Jeff Washington do incredible work

maintaining and presenting City Hall

guests with respect uh and a smiling

face when they come into the building

since the first week of February when we

started keeping track of this stat 2686

guests have come into the MLK building

that is on average 383 guests per week

similarly my Deputy communications

director Melissa Mahones Ortiz is in the

process of becoming a certified Spanish

translator with the American translation

Association she assisted residents with

100 cases in the first quarter of the

year translated 15 documents into

Spanish for the codes Bureau and health

office and 56 description briefs for the

Departments throughout city government

we continue to provide daily Outreach to

the public through our relationships

with local press and social media we

hold weekly press briefings with

Harrisburg Police Lieutenant Kyle gouch

to maintain a transparent line of

communication with our local journalists

in the first quarter of 2024 the city

posted 38 new articles and press

releases to the city's latest news

section on the website we also post all

press releases and City News to our

Facebook page which is up to nearly

20,000 followers and in the first

quarter of 2024 reached nearly 289,000

total people which is up 36% from the

fourth quarter of 23 and a total of more

than 12,900 interactions such as

reactions comments up 34% from the

fourth quarter of last year our primary

goal in 2024 just updating you on where

things stand there we've already began

the process of uh redesigning Harrisburg

pa. gomgo excuse me we selected revised

following our thorough review of more

than 30 companies including eight

virtual meetings and proposals revise is

a minority business Enterprise their

quote came in under our $20,000 budget

which showed us that they were cost

conscious we did reference checks with

other cities as well and Burrows they

work with including Carlile and

similarly sized state capitals like

Olympia Washington and De Moine Iowa

their proposal indicat Ates a 21 to 27

we development however when you factor

in time on the front end for legal to

review a contract and time on the back

end for additional training we expect

something towards the end of the year if

not the first quarter of 2025 by the

time we go live this is not something

we're going to want to rush because this

is going to be there for a long time we

have completed our first quarter One

goal of adding a new digital component

to The Atrium reorganizing the MLK

Museum and turning the underutilized

portion of the windows into a press

conference and wedding space we continue

to work towards a new franchise

agreement with Comcast the law Bureau is

leading these efforts and we are in

discussion with Comcast to hold a period

of public comment so residents can share

what they want to see out of their

public city Channel at wbg we continue

to work also with councilwomen RS to

develop a new short series which is

essentially a produced version of the

upcoming events she reads into the new

business of Council meetings uh we need

to work through some opposing schedules

but I'm confident that we can make

something work through the first quarter

of 2024 uh the communications Bureau has

spent

22.9% of its budget uh no unforeseen uh

purchases the largest chunk of that

still needs to be spent though $20,000

set aside for a redesign of the city's

website uh some Community engagement

notes to tell you about we are

constantly uh involved in the community

by virtue of us having a camera uh and

some of of the things that we have done

throughout the first quarter of the Year

include features on the city's ice and

fire Festival the bunny blast which was

held two weekends ago uh we did a

special on read Across America week uh

using City staff uh followed around

mayor Williams as she visited Rand

Academy for a Muffins with Miss and

there's a lot more all you need to go is

onto our uh YouTube channel and see the

amount of work that Asher and Emily have

uh put together uh lastly we did have a

video uh which uh went semi viral uh on

Tik Tok recently that we did with the

Dolphin County uh recycling plant and

the work that our Public Works team is

doing um to take glass there now it's

something that the recycle center wasn't

doing before our video uh that we put on

social media went semi viral not all the

way viral but enough that uh we get a

lot of uh compliments about that so that

is uh the long way of showing you a lot

of what we have been uh going on in our

Communications Bureau for the first

quarter of 2024 and I'm happy to uh

answer any

questions thank you for your report I do

have a few questions before I open the

floor to my colleagues first I wanted to

revisit the

website uh two questions regarding the

website um I learned that I guess

through um some market research or

targeted marketing campaign um that the

city receive the the city website

receives more hits from people

investigating the city over City

residents I can't comment on that

okay you share so much other data I

thought you might be aware that that's

occurring but okay um let's go to revise

you mentioned that they are a a minority

owned business where are they located

Troy Michigan Troy Michigan yes

okay and of

the more than 30 companies um that you

heard from how many were local when you

say local do you mean city of Harrisburg

or 717 Philadelphia

area 717 Harrisburg uh there was one

company that was based out of Lower

Paxton Township outside of that I

believe there was one in Center County

um there were a couple in the

Philadelphia area uh there were no

companies that reached out to us that um

were city of Harrisburg

local thank

you

uh oh I wanted to revisit the slide you

mention your deputy director you read

100 cases but that noted 80 six cases

were translated so I just wanted to

confirm what the correct number

was excuse me she assisted residents

with nearly 100 cases in the first

quarter of the year uh 15 documents I

can go back very

quickly 86 cases translated 42 of them

were in codes 17 of them were 311

questions 13 of them were zoning

questions 10 mertile four Public Works

in addition she translated 15 documents

from the codes Bureau and health office

and that's typically when she translates

full documents that are uh those are

multiple Pages worth of documents um not

necessarily just a a page here and there

uh and then description

briefs

um I can find out for you exactly what

description briefs are and uh have her

excuse me have her uh send examples to

Council on the work that she is doing

I'm curious I think that would be

helpful um since we have a strong

interest in being inclusive I I I will

say this um I'd be happy to go into

greater detail um off the Record due to

her privacy but in the first quarter of

the year she dealt with immense um

personal family issues um which took her

physically away from City Hall for an

extended period of time so uh those

numbers typically are higher um and I

think you will see that in the second

quarter of the Year oh no not

discrediting any of her work at all I

just wanted to confirm to make sure

which number was accurate um and I think

you meant Roland did I say Rand I don't

know what you said I think I believe I

said Rand pardon me Roland Academy okay

thank you I don't have any other

questions I'll open the floor to my

colleagues thank councilwoman Daniels

any questions no questions thank thank

you thank you councilwoman Davis any

questions thank you president Bowers no

questions I just wanted to um commend

you and your staff on the read Across

America week I did see that online I

thought that was a nice feature for the

community and to you know watch all

the staff here at the city read so I see

a couple of them in the audience now but

it was really entertaining thank you for

that thank you vice president green any

questions thank you president Bowers I

think my questions were already asked so

I don't have any questions thank you

thank you thank you councilwoman Ross

any questions thank you president

barison thank you for being here I'm

director Menzel um I don't have any

questions I know uh we are trying to

work something out with a segment the um

our schedules and my schedule right now

is hectic so I look forward to us doing

something but no I don't have any

questions okay councilman Rodriguez any

questions um no not correct thank you

okay thank you councilman Jones any

questions

absolutely um how you doing today sir

I'm doing well yourself good uh my

question is and I know you seem to have

uh scheduling conflict with councilman

councilwoman Ros right now but I think

you and I touched on a couple

conversations where um we would like to

see some local not just some of the uh

resources that are here in the community

that some people may not be aware of I

think we can take full advantage of

Channel 20 with some um new nonprofits

and some of the ones that have been here

previously that may offer new services

and also um you know one of the big

things that uh we as a as a body are

looking to do is trying to increase some

of the participation with some of the

local vendors um with some of these

contracts that are coming into uh our

area um be nice to try to highlight some

of those individuals and give them an

opportunity kind of put their face out

there and their names out there um for

potential any potential um rfps or any

potential businesses that can um that

can be acquired through information like

that so how how could we be able to do

something like

that having that discussion uh in this

setting I mean we that's a discussion

that will take an hour it's something

that we absolutely ABS 100% yes um the

the great thing that I've discovered

about Channel 20 is that it is very much

a blank canvas and uh while over the

course of the last two years we have

started to color it in a little bit uh

there is so much untapped uh potential

that we could use it for uh I have to be

careful just in full honesty that um I'm

not overworking Asher and Emily uh it is

a two-person team I try to help out

where I can given my uh TV background my

ability to step behind the camera uh

from time to time uh but at the same

time our schedules right now are very

full as uh councilwoman RS alluded to uh

that being said I never say no to

anything there's always a work around at

the end of the day it is the city's

Channel um and city council as a

representative of the people absolutely

should have a say and in the contents

that goes out there so I am uh 100% uh

looking forward to having those

conversations with you and other members

of Council on ways we can add additional

content to channel 20 all right I just

would cut in to say um because it kind

of answers your question with the

segment I want to do with director

maelle is to kind of boost up what we

what the community is doing for them to

come on for interviews and say what um

what's happening this weekend and if

they're having program to come on and

talk about it but also if their

businesses within the community for them

to come on and speak about their

business to show our community and

residents and business owners um some I

don't want to just say respect but being

able to publicize our El and say these

great things that are happening so that

might go a little towards what you're

saying absolutely that but that's the

segment we're trying to get worked out

that I call that turning the lights on

to the city turn yes that would be a

good name for it we're brainstorming

here here we go letting people know

what's happening here um you know there

are a lot of things and a lot of

services that people Miss from I would

say the typical way that we communicate

today um so I think this would just be a

great idea but I would think we could

have these conversations and I think

something once every other quarter or

something like that just not to bombard

you or overwork your staff um so yeah I

look forward to having those

conversations thank

you thank

you as I mentioned prior to the start of

the meeting there will be no quarterly

report for the office of equity and

compliance received this evening we will

now move to the building and housing

committee I will defer to our building

and housing committee

chair chair

Davis thank you president

Bowers director Hill is here this

evening and she will give our give our

our her report for the building and

housing committee good evening director

Hill good

evening it's

okay

for

good evening everyone uh Denise Hill

director of department of building and

Housing

Development uh

for the description again this is the a

full description of the Department of

dbhd uh just wanted to Simply highlight

that dbhd uh is the oversight and

administration of four main HUD funded

programs those are lead cdbg home

program and ESG and cdbg is Community

Development block grant and then ESG is

emergency Solutions

Grant uh next for the quarterly summary

for quarter 1 of 2024 we see uh

highlights events achievements and

change here just wanted to um highlight

for the record five programs were

appropriated under resolution 17 2024

within the last couple of weeks so that

is related to the American Rescue plan

act funds for

arpa and then also for Home Development

we have received three applications uh

these are the First new applications

that we've received probably since

2018 so um we are current we have home

development construction projects

underway but those were the 2018 2019

projects so we have three new ones that

are currently under

review and then here you'll see the

progress towards the annual goals Broad

Street Market um as everyone is aware um

is under underway and in reconstruction

after the uh tragic f fire back in July

um so just wanted to update that the

temporary structure is close to opening

to the public and then you may have seen

that there were donations that came in

to also positively impact the stone

building over the last couple of weeks

and then I definitely wanted to

highlight Capital Area Coalition on

homelessness in the winter overnight

shelter that's what ran from December

1st to March 31st recently closed and so

um closeout numbers will be forthcoming

so the organizations that ran those are

compiling the final numbers to show how

many individuals and families were

served throughout that time

period and here I cleaned up numbers

from the last quarterly report as you

know our our federal fiscal year is

different than the calendar year and

different than the city's uh fiscal year

so what you see here shows the true

year-to-date spend for January 1 to

April I'm sorry March 31st of

2024 we're on track to um to be spending

and making sure that we are um hitting

as far as benchmarks throughout the year

for for the calendar

year I just wanted to REM mention again

the blueprint communities kickoff uh we

have an event coming up April

29th um um that is a grant it's a

collaboration um to do some upgrades in

the Allison Hill section of the city and

then also choice neighborhood planning

grant that is still underway that's a

two-year project um so the early Action

project I just wanted to highlight in

that Grant of

$500,000 there is a $200,000 that is set

aside for an early Action project so

that essentially is for something um

tangible and visible that the residents

of hoer home and Hall Manor area of the

city will be able to see progress moving

forward until the implementation Grant

is applied for and the implementation

Grant is what if once applied and

awarded would be the actual construction

of the housing units so the planning

Grant is to reimagine it but the

implementation Grant would be what the

actual

construction would be and then the

coordination with the county on the home

ARP so that is different than the home

development and then uh the county

released their application yesterday and

um as you all are aware the city

received 1.75 million and that would be

going towards as recommended would be

going towards four housing Pro uh

projects that fit the criteria um to

bring those to fruition so again just

for the record that's the veterans of

Pennsylvania tiny home Village Brethren

housing Thrive housing and Harrisburg

Fair Housing

Council uh the compliment Remains the

Same as last quarter within the

department there haven't been uh any

changes as far as

Staffing so that is is

there

and then lastly this is again the ways

that uh we communicate with the with the

community at this time so we did not

participate in any major events during

this last quarter so um that's the only

change from the the last presentation I

did I'm happy to answer any

questions

thank you director Hill for your report

uh I will open up for questions and I

will start to my right with councilwoman

Daniels do you have any questions no

questions thank you thank you

councilwoman green thank you uh I don't

really have many questions um I do have

one I guess kind of question about the

choice neighborhood planning Grant sure

um if I'm correct that's supposed to

Encompass more than just like the

projects in South Harrisburg right it's

supposed to Encompass like the

surrounding communities as well yeah so

technically it is South Harrisburg so

the uh hooer homes was what actually

qualified for the actual HUD Grant but

the grant is to positively impact the

immediate adjacent Community okay um I

was just wondering what Outreach has

been done to the adjacent Community um I

know when speaking with a lot of the

residents they don't even know this is

going on so uh a lot has been so there

was a survey that was um sent out it was

voluntary to submit and give back um

there are community events that are held

just about every other month or so um

there are like family engagement nights

that are also held um and then a lot of

the communication in writing has been

within hooer and uh Hall Manor and

that's just because that's going out in

communication directly from HHA okay um

I would just suggest maybe the city

could be a little more proactive and

helping to get some of the information

out adjacent communities uh even and

like the trash billing um perhaps just

narrowing it down to like that specific

ZIP code or something like that where

we're able to get some information out

to the communities um I live in the

community it's technically touched by

this and I've heard nothing outside of

what I've gotten like what I want out to

get myself um I talked to the project

manager and he didn't really seem

to recognize that it was supposed to be

outside of just um like the projects

area um so I think it's really important

to make sure the entire Community is

part of that buyin as well because um

it's going to be a big project so thank

you thank

you thank you president Bowers

questions um are you at Liberty to share

you noted that the market temporary

structure is closed to opening to the

public is there a definite date not that

I have no okay thank you

sure thank you councilwoman Ross thank

you uh Council Davis and good evening um

director Hill thank you for being here I

just have about two questions my first

question was a um I wanted to know is

there a um unhoused residence committee

is there a committee that um speaks

about some solutions or even areas of

concern that they're having which

includes them on the committee is there

a type of

committee yes um you're looking at most

of it um no um yes so outside of you

know the capito area Coalition on

homelessness um my office in in tandem

with several others here in City Hall so

as it relates to the encampments

specifically um I have gotten tremendous

support from the community services

division uh deputy chief young the

Harrisburg Police Department as a whole

um Public Works Dave West and his team

um we are meeting every other week with

uh stakeholders from here at the city

the county the state um as well as a

shelter providers so just this week

alone I probably have three or four

different meetings about um encampments

how we can

um assist with the issue making sure

that we are doing what we can um so as

you know City Hall is responsible for

Public Safety um sanitation um and fire

so the as far as the Human Services we

work very closely with the service

providers Dolphin County Human Services

um we have great partners and we are

meeting constantly with them and it's

not just me here at City Hall um so

there are actually a couple different um

not

official committees as as you call them

but absolutely there there are a ton of

there's a lot of meetings going on now

Within These and I guess I'm looking

more at a committee standpoint I

understand the meetings but just so that

the unhoused population has a voice

within those committees are they on any

of them where they're able to speak up

on what they need or what they want or

what they're looking at from the city

yes so it uh we do have representation

of unsheltered residents on the the

board of C that is actually a part of

the bylaws um so someone on the board

with voting uh rights has to be on on

the board um as well as I have talked to

um a number of current residents of the

encampment um to try to make sure that

um I keep saying that this is the plan

that the city rolls out for encampments

and our unsheltered uh neighbors is not

something that can happen to them but we

need to make sure that we are respecting

um the different needs there isn't going

to be you know one plan that works but

making sure that we are hearing directly

from you know because my perspective of

what will work and you know other

stakeholders just is is not there's no

cookie cutter answer for it so yes long

way to answer your question right no no

that that was that was fine I just

wanted to know if their voices were

being heard or if they were at the table

because it's hard to create solutions

for a group of individuals and if you

don't hear what they have to say right

so that's why I was I just wanted to

know and it's insensitive and

counterproductive to the resolution not

get anything done yes you don't know

what they need but thank you that um

answer my question my second question

was um when you said the early Action

Project like you said it's something

that that Community can see so would it

be something like um especially within

the Hoover homes like updating their

playground system D or

putting right did you say the pool yes

so the pool is actually one that has

been talked about extensively um as well

I'm trying to do something immediate cuz

those playgrounds I mean yes I took my

daughter there the other day and I was

like oh my gosh so one of the that one

of the um challenges if you will about

the playgrounds uh specifically is that

HHA is they have to monitor upgrade you

know and maintain those so we were

actually looking at uh playgrounds

within the actual community so just

outside of not just Hoover her home and

Hall Manor um so looking at one near the

green belt so that the entire Community

can uh positively you know be impacted

by it also another suggestion that was

looked into was uh providing assistance

to the third 13 Street Corridor so there

are some businesses along there just

down from fous um so being able to do a

community garden or help with the stores

there are at least two stores that are

currently um in there um recognizing

that that area is a food desert so

possibly looking at um beefing up access

to Fresh groceries okay okay so that's

what immediate action would look like

okay um and I think that was it because

um councilwoman green asked a question I

also had was are you what does that look

like for the adjacent neighborhoods are

they getting any

communication um so okay that's it for

me thank

you thank you councilwoman Ross

councilwoman Jones any

questions oh there yeah sorry about that

councilman Rodriguez any questions for

director Hill

yes thank you madam chair um thank you

director Hill for joining us this

evening um just to kind of echo the

sentiment of councilwoman rols uh is is

it mandated by policy or ordinance where

we have to use other providers or could

we kind of get Innovative then kind of

come up with our own providers for this

specific issue of the UNH housee

population uh it's not by Pilot or by

law of which providers can be utilized

now would it be something you'd be

willing to do to have like a pro

Harrisburg type of initiative or group

where we could actually come up with

some great Solutions not saying the

groups that are currently working on it

are not doing a great job I just feel

more should be done sooner um and I know

everyone's doing the best they can but

uh just my heart goes out as I know

everyone else's does but um yeah

sometimes it just kind of strikes me I

just I don't have the answer to that

Absolutely I'll email you first thing

tomorrow morning thank you um and then

also you said the improvements on

Allison Hill you know specifically what

they may be um is it by Moulder square

is it further down on towards the South

so the the specific uh location has not

yet been identified that's actually a

part of when um the the kickoff event

occurs um so there will be the basically

establishment of a committee that will

drive what those uh upgrades will be

awesome and then you had mentioned the

home ARP it's slightly different from

the Home Improvement could could you

just explain that a little bit more for

me please sure prior to the American

Rescue plan act funds the arpa funds

there were uh CV funds or covid relief

funds so we got it for cdbg ESG and then

also home the difference between home

development and home ARP home ARP um is

specific to there are only certain

organizations that can benefit from this

money because the regulations state that

it has to be for construction or

renovation of affordable housing for

individuals that are coming straight

into Street home coming out of Street

homelessness excuse me so um it's very

different than a developer coming in and

building affordable housing and getting

the subsidy it has to be an organization

um like the four that were named who are

transitioning

previously unsheltered individuals

directly into a housing

option got you would that also

include maybe offenders returning home

from prison um does that have like the

same benefit or would you have to be

strictly like unhoused for a certain

amount of time so you do have to be

unhoused and the there can be

individuals who are in that situation

that are uh transferring into it however

typically what happens is they are

already coming through a system and

they're they're working whether it's

parole or or something like that so we

don't find that it it's so much they

have to have a home plan so there aren't

really organizations that I am aware of

that are going straight from um the

system the prison system as far as

re-entry directly into unsheltered I do

know that it it does occur um but I'm

not aware I'm not currently working with

any organizations that are trying to

bridge that Gap gotcha gotcha thank you

director Hill no further questions thank

you uh councilwoman Jones question yes

thank you councilwoman

Davis uh director Hills just something

real simple um the cdbg and

um the ESG workshops yes is there a date

yes and I just breeed right past that

I'm so sorry so uh we just nailed down

that it will be in at the end of May um

we are currently looking at tentatively

May 21st and 22nd so just because the

times have not been uh solidified

exactly for folks to um participate but

we are going to have a save the date as

soon as the exact times we typically

offer four sessions um one in the

morning and one in the afternoon on both

days to accommodate schedules of

organizations okay and the um other part

of that is just can you give a quick uh

overview so our viewers and listeners

can hear what this is sure so Community

Development black Grant or cdbg are

funds that come in um at this point go

to nonprofit organizations that um we

have to either do LMI or LMA so that is

everything HUD funded in my office LMI

is low to moderate income individual and

then LMA is low to moderate um area so

they have to be able to receive the

funds they have to be serving um one of

those two categories so that's cdbg

we're thinking um after after school

programs case management wraparound

Services um anything along those lines

so you think of the nonprofit

organizations it's a subsidies so that

they are able to continue their

operations and um serve the the

community ESG is emergency Solutions

Grant those funds are specific for

homeless shelters so it is greatly

reduced of who can actually apply for

that um so th those are the YWCA

the Shalom House the Brethren housing

they have to be an actual emergency

shelter and then funds also go to um CCU

or Christian churches United so they

oversee the coordinated entry system for

the whole entire region um but anyone

access needing to access homeless

services are able to go to the help

office or CCU and then they are able to

um then kind of refer out so because

those fun are so limited on what they

can be used for um only certain

organizations are able to apply yeah

thank you I think that's important to

try to put that out there because a lot

of people that think that the city just

is absolutely doing nothing about some

of those uh issues with the unhoused and

um just explaining with those grants who

they affect and who are uh able to apply

for them I think is uh vital for for our

community to hear and that's a great

point that you make because when when

you see the numbers on the chart that

was up you see $1.8 million of cdbg

however only about

$240,000 of that is able to go to

nonprofit organizations so the city is

not able to use the bulk of that money

to go to nonprofit organizations and

other things that it's used for are uh

the demolition with the codes office

also the section 208 Debt Service loan

um so there are number of things that

cdbg covers but you see this big large

number and then um you kind of see a a

minuscule amount of it going to

nonprofits but that's why it's actually

set up by Hud and only a certain

percentage of what your annual allotment

is allowed to go to

organizations yeah thank you I think

again that's very important for us to

know and then for sure a lot of people

also don't realize that a lot of that

money that that they're looking for to

unhoused can come from the county so

have to see your Commissioners they get

about $30 million a year uh to spend

some of that money so um it's a

collective effort and I'm glad to hear

everybody's at the table so thank

you thank you councilman Jones I have

two questions director Hill okay you

mentioned that the homeless shelter

reports would be coming in how soon or

so typically we have about uh 90 days

after the close of once or overnight

shelter to report back to HUD so it'll

be 90 days from two days ago okay and

would those reports include the CB cdbg

and ESG funding and tell us exactly what

money was spent on what for the housing

no so no money from the city goes

directly to Winter overnight shelter

this is above and beyond what the city

funds for um ESG so there aren't any

funding streams for winter overnight

shelter this literally is all of the

service providers coming to the table to

meet the need so that folks don't freeze

over the coldest months of the winter

okay and we certainly appreciate them

and then with the uh coordination with

the county referencing the home AR

application are you

aware of the tiny homes forecast in

other areas throughout the region um so

there are actually several types of uh

tiny home Villages not just all

throughout the region but there are some

that are also being proposed for the

city um but Veterans of PA is a very

specific one because it'll be about 20

or 25 homes specific for veterans so

that organization has a a tighter more

stringent um eligibility if you will of

who will be able to access those now the

other ones um the other tiny home

Villages that are proposed and and

trying to find the funding are for

unsheltered without the the veteran

designation right okay thank you sure I

don't have any other questions does

anyone else have any more questions

council members thank you very much for

your report have a great evening you too

thank you

you thank you uh as I mentioned prior to

the start of the meeting um the

community and economic development

committee there is no quarterly report

for the Bureau of planning that will be

receed this evening the final committee

business we will hear will come from the

Public Safety Committee I will defer to

our Public Safety Committee chair chair

Jones yes thank you president Bowers I

see commissioner and deputy chief

young come on up come on

down this is regarding uh resolution

20 of

2024 you want to read

it

certainly resolution 20 of

2024 a resolution ratifying the 2023

Federal Justice assistance grant

application and and authorizing the city

of Harrisburg to enter into a

subrecipient agreement for Dolphin

County to administer

$61,500 in awarded Grant

funds thank you Mr

Parker commissioner deputy chief

young good evening I'm deputy chief

young uh so this grant is a yearly grant

that we enter into with the county uh

it's basically what I was told was a

past through Grant so it's awarded to

the county and then we receive it from

them um this grant is applied is broken

down into a couple couple different

sections which cover um and this is

yearly it covers this uh would be uh

victim witness um so we pay half their

salary which is

2603 um the total of that would have

been 52 uh 603 annual so again we cover

half of that uh we cover the total

benefits uh for that which would be 44

or I'm sorry $4

4,494 all right which gives you $

30,7

96 uh the grant also covers uh our

nibras uh so as we enter into that it

tracks the uh the stats um crime stats

uh that we uh we input into our RMS or

record management system uh the money

also that's 86 8602 that goes to nbras

crie watch would be $4,800 or it's $400

a month for 12 months um for the web

portal

subscription uh the other part of this

would be $7,000 would go to uh planet or

power time and basically what that is is

a scheduling system for us with the uh

end of Life coming with Metro uh this

gives us the ability to get in there uh

Power time or planet has other features

that we'll end up using as far as um uh

checks uh Court management or subpoena

issues uh it deals with um Quarter

Master property tracking as well um the

last thing which this one was slated for

now this is a change from last year this

year it would be used for Cody Cobra um

what we're thinking after we tried to

get the police beer to use Cody Cobra so

basically Cobra Cody Cobra is a is a

platform where everybody uh so local

agencies around here with other RMS or

other reports going one system so you

would be able to access that through

Cody Cobra um which is another research

mechanism that would help us connect so

you'd be able to run whatever you were

investigating and then be able to come

up with information see if it was

connected to Lancaster or other places

uh in the area

um we would keep a couple of those

subscriptions um and mainly they would

be in our criminal investigation

division um the County right now covered

that bill uh last year I think uh E's

office decided it was too expensive to

cover it um so we were trying to they

they push that out to whoever was

willing to participate on that um so we

decided that last a couple months ago we

decided that using this money coming

from the county uh to uh to Support Cody

Cobra um was beneficial again after

after doing some checking and asking

some questions and putting it out there

our CID or criminal investigation

division uh seems to be the only section

within the bureau uh that that would use

uh Cody

cob

um so that's what it would cover uh and

that's that's what it is again it's it's

a yearly grant that we get it was the

same thing I believe last year instead

of getting Cody Cobra which the county

paid for that we were able to apply that

money towards a vehicle uh so it helped

us with that as

well so I'm open to questions yeah thank

you um just something simple for me um I

I did take time to uh look at the

exhibit um very detailed um it's a lot

of numbers in here a lot of percentages

um so I think this grant is uh worthy uh

for you guys to uh continue to get um so

one of the things is U like with the

crime watch uh website um for those that

don't have accessibility as you know

some people have the Broadband issues

right um how can some of this

information other than the website how

will it typically get to those residents

and those victims may I say so a lot of

it is posted so we'll post a lot of it

it's it's another Avenue for us to uh to

send information out um how it gets

there I can find out but for the most

part it would be like um well it's just

a platform that that we we would uh we

use it heavily it's heavily followed um

so that's we we just push the

information out whether that's wanted

people or whether that's information

that we're getting to the public or any

information that we would uh we would

use I mean um Matt is another good

source with that between crime watch and

then what the city has is how that

information gets pushed out I think this

also ties into what what what the court

system does as well cuz I think a lot of

people if you are a victim um you you

will get this information uh via

uh the male system or as you stated too

the officers that are may be dealing

with the individual that may be going

through this crisis um my other question

is and this may not be for you to answer

um but I'm looking on here and I see

that Katherine Kilgore from cjab uh was

the grant where she's the person that

administer but she's not here anymore

correct I don't know how you replace

this woman but is she replaced he is not

replaced at this point so and and don't

know how you replace her and that's a

problem that the County's working

through yeah um so that was part of this

in previous years she did a lot of the

work on this um and we just sort of kind

of you know after after pass through

Council um she was mainly we got lucky

right so um the the issue is still being

worked out through the county and then I

mean I I think that's not just one

person that's a a multiple uh say almost

a small committee right that would so

this does happen I'm only asking that

because this happens annually right

correct so hopefully they can get

somebody to U because as you can see

reading this exhibit I know the the the

community can't see it but it is very

detailed um yeah but that's all I have

no further questions I'll open it up to

uh my colleagues and I'll start to my

far right and go to the councilwoman

Daniels I have no questions thank you

councilwoman Davis I don't have any

questions thank you for your report vice

president green thank you very much for

being here tonight I don't have any

questions for you president bers good

evening I don't have any questions thank

you councilwoman Ross thank you thank

you for being here tonight um I guess

I'll break the the side I'll be the

breaker of it sorry I but I just had one

quick question to make sure I'm matching

it up right online because it is very

mey it's also called Jag is that the

okay so it's a federal J Jag Grant so

it's if we're in I'm sorry with the

acronym I said to myself you and I these

acronyms okay because in the paperwork

they say Jag a lot and I'm like I mean I

know there's a TV show that used to be

called Jag but I don't think this is it

so then I'm just making sure Justice

assistance grant that's where okay yeah

and and you'll have to forgive me I'm

probably going to continue to do that as

I come up here that's what you do to me

it's all right and I'm going to always

say that you it's a it's a Havoc so uh

yeah and you got to understand this

grant here is also shared with uhp with

teror but we get the majority of it yeah

that was messing me up too as I'm seeing

all these numbers I'm like that's not

what our number is that we don't get 84

you know but then I'm looking oh this is

other municipalities correct and the

main thing we'll get back to uh

councilman uh Jones the main thing is we

have our own in-house victim witness

person okay so if and again I had the

opportunity to look at the website um we

are listed on there as a resource where

people can come to the Harrisburg Bureau

of police uh to speak with the dedicated

um uh in-house victim witness person

okay that was my only question yeah and

they're very helpful I mean it the

information gets out again through when

we when we show up to take reports and

stuff like that that information gets

out uh through the officers all right

thank you for further explaining that

thank you that's it for me that's it

yeah they're very uh I want to say I

could say thorough um you know somebody

breaks into your car you'll get a letter

I'm like I don't need this what you mean

a victim but

it's there's there's a lot more

resources on there so which is

absolutely Council man Rodriguez you

have any

questions thank you chair Jones thank

thank you Deputy young our commissioner

Carter as always um no question just

more of a statement I think the Cobra

Cody is amazing um just to be able to

transfer that real time data and not

only just transfer it with other

intergovernmental agencies but it will

translate the language of the data as

well which I think is huge for a

multicultural um city like Harrisburg is

so kudos to you gentlemen and keep up

the great work um nothing further chair

Jones Thank you thank you all right

gentlemen thank you appreciate you have

a good evening all

right I apologize I Rec I Rec that

this that this moves forward uh to our

next legislative session thank you thank

you we will now move forward with our

agenda with public comment uh just a few

housekeeping notes before we begin

please state your name and your address

for the meeting record if you don't

don't feel comfortable sharing your

address please share the vicinity in

which you live within the city Mr Parker

will serve as our timekeeper you will

have four minutes to share your comments

I will begin to my right is there anyone

that would like to offer public

comment good evening

sorry can you please there you go that

better yes thank you so Brian keyling

Midtown uh just two of us tonight when

I'm done speaking we are going to leave

to join the rest of the Harrisburg

Palestine Coalition at a different

meeting we're currently having we have

community members who are interested in

organizing and affecting real change

here in Harrisburg but first we did want

to stop by just so we don't give the

false impression that we've forgotten

about our resolution or moved on from it

the way we see it there are really only

three possible reasons why things would

have ground to a halt with the

resolution the first is that an outside

influence most likely the mayor's office

or someone in coordination with the

mayor's office has put their thumb on

the scale behind the scenes to stop the

resolution obviously that would be

inappropriate and I'm sure I speak for

all of us when I say that we hope that's

not how our government works the second

reason is that solicit Grover has

advised you to shove it because he feels

it's either inappropriate or legally

dubious for this body to act on the

resolution if that's the case I

respectfully suggest that this is bad

legal advice as demonstrated by the fact

that over 100 other solicitors in over

100 other cities and municipalities

didn't stop those resolutions from going

forward as we all know none of those 100

plus resolutions and Counting resulted

in any legal

repercussions the third reason we see

that this resolution would be stopped is

that this council is afraid of sparking

a little controversy I personally hope

that's not the reason I think it would

be the saddest we all know it's the

right thing to do and we all know it's

popular but I've said that a thousand

times at this point so there's really no

need to get into it again other than to

say that none of you struck me as people

who are afraid of doing what's obviously

right so hopefully that isn't the

reason whichever one is the reason or if

it's some combination of the three the

fact that resolution seems to be dying

behind closed doors is a problem so I'll

close with some respectful unsolicited

advice we get the sense that this

council is not used to a large number of

people showing up week after week for

the same issue and insisting on it being

brought forward we know that usually

public comments are one-offs from

individuals and it's good and

appropriate that those people come here

but we think you all are not accustomed

to something bigger like you've seen in

the past few weeks with us and I get

that that might feel overwhelming but I

would suggest that you consider the

possibility that what's happening with

our resolution is the reason other

groups don't come to council for serious

issues that Council should hear about

there's no faith in the system there's

no faith that they'll be listened to let

alone that action will be taken and

unfortunately what's happening with our

resolution is going to confirm for them

that it's just not worth it so yes you

should pass our resolution because it's

the right thing to do because it is the

result of collaboration between a wide

variety of communities including the

Jewish and Muslim communities and

because it directly impacts Harrisburg

but you should also do it to show City

residents that Council isn't a waste of

time and that all these issues get the

public attention and acknowledgement

from Council that they

deserve so that's what I've got uh as

always if I'm wrong and need to be

corrected or if you want to get in touch

to discuss how to move it forward or

address any misconceptions about what

the resolution actually says you know

how to reach us and we certainly hope

that you do thank you you are wrong and

you need to be

corrected by all means if they want to

set up a meeting I'm not going to do

happy to but you are wrong and you need

to be corrected what you are saying is

inaccurate in New York the house

committee has drug in the people who

voted on their resolution down to house

subpoenas in DC hold the legal community

in you know up advisories that's the

beginning it's not the end so I'm saying

they say there's no legal repercussions

is is is an advocate's point of view and

I respect that you are an advocate but

there are issues that you're stating as

an advocate as opposed to as fact and

they are merely pieces of fact they are

not close to the whole story and so and

I I I respect the group that you're with

I respect the passion of your thing but

you advocate in a way that selects the

facts that you put forth to make your

point to try to get to the point you

want but the same thing has true with

the document you presented and you are

not the only point of view the city

hears from menty point of view but you

you present it each week as if these are

established facts and I'm just telling

you someone needs to just tell you the

reality is what you're saying in part is

inaccurate I need to say it publicly and

that's what I do but that's part of

council's job and that's part of your

job and you need to advise us and we

these are conversations that are you

failed to advise us on our ethical

obligations and now you're arguing with

the constituent about whether their

legal advice is right or wrong he's not

an attorney that's your job and and I

given you legal advice I'm happy to

amend my statement 100 plus resolutions

and one legal repercussion that hasn't

actually been completed by the sounds of

it like I said we're really happy to

meet with any of you about this to keep

it going forward um that's our view so

thank you very

much to meet with Grover too oh we're

happy to meet with Grover he told us he

wouldn't meet with us which is fine um

but you know where we stand so thank you

very much thank you is there anyone else

that would like to offer public

comment good

evening my name is Emanuel B Thomas I

live on the um Allison Hill district

area uh 16th from

Chestnut uh I'd like to address one and

two issues one about the programs that

need to be ran in our community in

regards to our children it's so many uh

people come up here and speak about this

money and different things that

organizations need to join in and uh

Foster a better uh life for our children

and our community as a whole uh I just

want to be able to uh understand the

legality of being able to join in them

with this money that hasn't been

allocated already with um

nonprofits uh because there's some

nonprofits that's starting up for

homeless

uh unhoused individuals as well as um

she spoke about individuals coming home

from incarceration that they're on

probation or a ro uh some max out and

they don't have any probation officer or

parole officer or anybody to help or

assist them and they're

unhoused so that's an issue that she

might not know about that needs to be

addressed um as well as just joining in

with this TV station channel 20 there so

many individuals that need to be on

there because there's too much going on

in our community that our community

don't know about

so I definitely thank council members

for producing this beautiful um stage

for all of us to be able to

speak um too many of us need to be here

and join in so I'd like to thank you all

for your

time thank you thank

you is there anyone else to my right

that would like to offer public

comment

good evening um my name is Mark Giles um

I'm the executive director of

heart-to-heart Social Development

Inc um I'm not here

to uh be long-winded about what I what I

offer I'm here to offer my services to

the city council because I want to First

commend yall for the job that yall doing

as far as the unhoused population in the

city um I'm uniquely qualified because I

was homeless for 10 years

myself I now own a construction company

and I am looking to offer my services to

the city not because I'm looking for

money I'm all right in that department

I'm looking to be able to help you guys

come up with a solution to uh provide

the housing that these people need you

know I know that when uh you talk about

uh low-income housing when these

properties are developed most most of

the property goes to the median income

and not to low income so the at the rate

that they're being produced is not

adequate enough for the people that's

still out there um I have a um a

solution for that for the shortterm and

the long term and I would like to offer

that to y'all

um I I don't know how to get in touch

with y'all uh because I'm I'm fairly new

to the city of Harrisburg but I'm not

new to this situation or this

circumstance um and I believe that it's

my duty as a man of God to stand up and

do what I can to help y'all get this

problem

solved thank you thank you if you

wouldn't mind just for the meeting

record either sharing your address or

the vicinity in which you live with I

live at 64 nor 12 Street I don't know

the part is the city iine thank you

you're good if you wouldn't mind waiting

uh just a few minutes after the meeting

to speak to our building and housing

committee chair u m Miss uh councilwoman

Davis sure sure okay thank you is there

anyone else to my right that would like

to offer public

comment seeing and hearing no one anyone

in the middle

section

good evening Council good

evening uh I'm Ronda Mays uh I live in

North Allison

Hill so first I wanted to give my

heartfelt gratitude to Council in

particular president Bowers for honoring

my mother uh uponor uh passing with the

proclamation from City Council I'm sure

she would have said whatat did I do to

deserve this because she was very humble

person but um we also recognize that her

husband had a very dangerous job as um

all police officer spouses do and he

wouldn't have been able to rise through

the ranks as the first um

African-American Captain without um My

Mother by a side keep keeping the home

stable and peaceful so they could leave

the stress in the street so um the

Proclamation was a

surprise uh I didn't expect it but it

was wonderful she would have been so

proud and so I just want to take this

time to thank you very much for that now

um briefly I want to speak as the

Director of the Fair Housing Council of

the Capitol region I address 2100 North

6th

Street uh the

council has

recently um been getting an

extraordinary number of calls about a

specific

property um named U River

trails that was previously known as lyen

Terrace uh I'm sure council is very much

aware of the issues in that particular

building

um but um I just wanted to speak about

it

briefly um and

um just ask Council to keep a specific

eye on that I don't know at this point

what the city would be able to do to

relieve some of the suffering of the

residents in that building um but I'm

sure if we all work together

and

communicate that we'll be able to find

um some sort of uh solution even if it's

temporary while the building is being

rehabilitated um at this time the

council really uh the Fair Housing

Council really has no answers to give to

the residents that call us multiple

times on a weekly basis um but I did

speak with one of the residents today

and suggest that

um similar that to what we did with uh

the meeting uh the property adjacent to

us uh Governor Square is to have a

meeting at the

council and to invite the public

officials and property management and um

codes and whomever to listen to the

residents and to

to basically um give them any

information that you may have or

possibly some

suggestions these are folks that are

lowincome they don't have big voices

within the

community but they are residents and

they deserve to live in dignity which

right now they are not you have elderly

people that cannot receive their

medication or food they mobile they

cannot get downstairs to get to doctor's

appointments they can't you know have

food delivered to them on the upper

floors um they're in wheelchairs and the

elevators

break constantly there's infestation

issues um so it's it's a a severe

problem right now so I would like to

reach out to city council within the

next week and invite to a meeting

hopefully we'll I'll be able to get

everyone together and we can decide upon

a date and um we can have that

discussion with the residents at the

office thank you for your time thank

you is there anyone else in the middle

section that would like to offer public

comment good evening um leis buts

Allison Hill um thank everybody I'm

thankful for this opportunity um but I

didn't want the communications director

to leave CU he's vital for all this

stuff to to be

translated all these committee issues

all the feelings of um our residents

communication is vital and that's what

everybody is saying so let's make it

work work I know they may not be may be

short staffed but we have to have

Alternatives we have scitech we have

some beautiful brilliant kids there's

institutions in the city of Harrisburg

that can work things out and make our

systems better it's important it's

imperative that we have skits all the

information that is is relayed that

everybody's yearning for has to be on

that channel 20 you know everything has

to be on there we can do Skits the

officers can do skits on how to reduce

situations that um reduce violence

situations we have to teach our

community how to resolve situations for

themselves before it go so far and that

the the officers are involved before get

gets that far our Citizens need to learn

how to deal with

situations all all that CBG money

everything has to be translated on

channel 20 whether it's um everybody's

acting it out but it has to be visible

and it has to be able to be digest you

know everybody's not up here but we have

to have a medium education level so

people can digest it the children the

things that they do as that channel 20

should be constantly moving there should

be no dead time

and that's what I'm going to try to help

out with because there Solutions it's

right in our right right around the

corner we just have to do it it's okay

let's just do it now you high tech are

they are brilliant them kids don't they

win Awards all year

long don't they constantly win stuff

well we have to empower them to to solve

it we don't want to have somebody from

Idaho do or whatever some you know but

these kids we got to encourage them to

look within our structure cuz they'll be

taking our

place so we have to make that bridge um

thanks thanks guys we'll talk later but

we have to build Bridges that's what

it's all about thank you so much thank

you I'm sorry go ahead Mr buts um to

your point um that's probably why I

brought some of that up but uh to your

point Channel 20 belongs to the people

you are the people so you can definitely

get in contact with Mr maelle and um try

to do some things that you see that we

need absolutely I agree with you thank

you president MERS 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 okay seeing and hearing no one the

time is 6:59 p.m. I will entertain a

motion to

adjourn motion to adjourn is there a

second I say I know thank you we stand a

Jour you want to stay

here