Harrisburg City Council Legislative Session 5/14/2024

good evening again everyone the time is

6: p.m. I would like to officially call

our legislative session to

order Mr Parker could you please call

the role yes

Miss

Daniels misss Davis

present Miss green

present Mr Jones

here M rolls

present Mr Rodriguez present Miss

Bowers present thank you the invocation

this evening will be led by vice

president green

thank you president Bowers if we could

all take a moment of silence to keep the

family of Miss Taisha Miller and her

unborn child in your thoughts and

prayers as they tragically lost their

lives this Monday here in the city of

Harrisburg thank

you thank you vice president green the

Pledge of Allegiance will be led by

councilman Jones

Al to of the United States of America to

The Republic stand Nation God

indivisible liy justice for

all thank you councilman Jones for

communications this evening we are

joined uh by Miss Charlotte Katen moer

CEO of Capitol region water who will

share a presentation

I believe this is

on thank

you good evening thank you counselors

for the opportunity to address you and

community members this evening my name

is Charlotte katsen Moyer and I am the

CEO of capital region water I am here

this evening to talk about a problem

that we have in the in the city of

Harrisburg that problem is the raw

sewage that we contribute to the Paxton

Creek and the sesana river when our

combined sewer system is

overwhelmed a combined sewer system is

one that is designed to allow both

sewage from buildings and the Plumbing

Systems and rainwater from rooftops

parking lots and streets to enter the

same sewer Network that cap region water

maintains the combined sewer system

covers about 60% % of the city the other

40% of the city is served by a separate

storm sewer system meaning the rainwater

is conveyed to Paxton Creek and sesana

River without being polluted by raw

sewage now back to the problem with our

combined sewer system on a day with

little to no precipitation our

underground pipes and pump stations can

safely convey the combined sewage to our

treatment plant on Cameron Street and

safely treat all Wastewater and storm

water before it is released to the SES

River so this concoction of rain water

and storm water gets full treatment at

the advanced Wastewater Plant however on

wet or soggy days like we had last week

when too much storm water from rain

Andor snow melt overwhelms our combined

sewer Wastewater and storm water system

this polluted mixture

overflows untreated into the Paxton

Creek and Squan River but on a day like

today there was not enough rain at one

time to overwhelm the system

and the combined sewage was completely

treated at the plant with no overflow

events today I will discuss Capital

Region Waters plan to fix this 100-year

old problem the raw sewage releases or

combined sewer overflows are not an

operational choice in fact like 800

other communities around the around the

country it is a permitted activity our

infrastructure is undersized and

overwhelmed by the added storm water

that runs off of buildings and streets

as the city has been built out over the

over the decades since the sewer was

first designed in the early

1900s on average capital region water

captures and treats 90% of all combined

sewage and storm water the 10% that goes

untreated is primarily due to the result

of heavy rains overwhelming harrisburg's

aging and undersized

infrastructure this is the problem

capital region water is committed to

solving since Capital Region Waters

Inception in 2013 we have been been

investing in our infrastructure to

reduce these combined sewer overflows

and improve water quality public health

and the fabric of our community in fact

over $200 million has been invested we

are approaching yet another milestone in

our path to clean water Capitol region

water is now updating its long-term

control plan to manage storm water in

the city of Harrisburg better known as

the city beautiful H2O program

plan the development of this plan is is

required under a federal consent agree

or negotiated agreement that cap region

water has entered into with the US

Department of Justice us Environmental

Protection a protection agency and the

Pennsylvania Department of envir

Environmental Protection under this

agreement capital region water has

specific deliverables and timelines that

must be met to remedy this decades long

issue an updated long-term control plan

is required by the end of this year most

recently kler region water submitted its

analysis of various approaches or

Alternatives that would control combined

sewer

overflows this Alternatives analysis

report is a critical component of the

larger City beautiful H2O program plan

an Associated financial report was also

recently submitted this report known as

a financial capability assessment

identifies the economic harm or risk

that would result if Capital Rion water

were required to implement our

recommended plan over a 20-year period

to meet the Clean Water Act

compliance it considers a variety of

poverty in indicators in the city of

Harrisburg together these two documents

the Alternatives analysis and the

financial capability assessment provide

the technical and economic foundation

for an updated recommended

plan with that background in mind I'd

like to mention a few details of the

recommended plan and share opportunities

for public

input the recommended plan's objectives

are to control combined sewer overflow

discharges to the Susana River and

Paxton Creek reduce backups onto streets

and into basements improve the health of

local waterways protect public health

and safety and comply with the Clean

Water

Act combined sewer overflows known as

csos are a significant pollution problem

for the cesana river and Paxton Creek

during Heavy Rain events CSO discharge

csos discharge untreated sewage and

storm water into the Waterway

leading to the contamination of the

water and degradation for aquatic

habitats this pollution not only harms

the health of wildlife but also

threatens the health of people who use

the rivers for drinking swimming and

Recreation Capital Region Waters work

over the last 10 years and this

recommended plan aims to reduce those

harmful overflows prevent localized

flooding events and improve water

quality creating a safer and healthy

environment for

all to analyze a range of Alternatives

and demonstrate how water quality

requirements will be met capital region

water developed models of our sewer

system and receiving Waters again the

cesen river and Paxton Creek these

models help us helped us to understand

how various projects or Solutions can

better manage storm water and reduce

water quality impacts we are already

observing how Investments made to date

including some of our projects completed

over the last decade are resulting in

measurable improvements

recent capital projects such as the

upgrade to the Front Street Pump Station

in the shipoke neighborhood green

infrastructure projects throughout the

city and modifications to the Overflow

locations or structures at at the at the

streams have resulted in a decrease of

overflow volume of nearly 10 million

gallons

annually the recommended plan consists

of a combination of proposed Solutions

including a retention treatment Basin

similar to a many treatment facility

enhanced convey conveyance capacity

imagine bigger pipes where possible

brainstorm water infrastructure or

natural elements to capture and store

rainwater where it falls and before is

contaminated by domestic sewage and

Sewer separation taking the one pipe

that carries both storm water and

domestic sewage and separating it into

two pipes like 40% of the city already

has the recommended plan is estimated to

cost $450 million

our analysis indicates that we need as

much as 40 years to make these

Investments compared to the standard 20

years that most other cities get and

aims to minimize Financial strain on our

community especially low-income

households the plan prioritizes both

environmental stewardship and fiscal

responsibility making it the ideal

choice to advance Capital Region Waters

objectives effectively and

efficiently the timeline of how long the

usepa will allow us to implement the

recommended plan will be negoti over the

next several

months public engagement is a CR crucial

component of the plan and stakeholders

will have the opportunity to influence

revisions and updates to the plan the

plan was developed using a multifaceted

strategy and several alter Alternatives

were evaluated based on their ability to

meet current water quality standards

feasibility ease of operation and

maintenance and cost

Effectiveness after a thorough

evaluation of all Alternatives Capital

Region Waters preferred Solutions

include a retention treatment Basin that

I mentioned before near our plant on

Cameron Street adding storage facilities

where open space allows to capture and

hold combined sewage until after the

storm has passed when capacity is freed

up at the treatment plant on Cameron

Street adding 200 Acres of impervious

area being managed by storm water green

storm water infrastructure sewer

separation projects and enhancements to

our major trunk sewers and upgraded pump

stations

the recommended plan is is projected to

reduce CSO discharges along the sesan

River from appr approximately 90

overflow events each year to 10 and

reduce Paxton Creek overflow events from

95 to 16 and these meet water quality

standards and make considerable

improvements to local

waterways furthermore systemwide

combined sewer overflow volume is

reduced from an average of 794 million

gallons to 131 million gallons annually

under the recommended

plan the recommended plan is technically

feasible cost effective resilient and

sustainable all of Capital Region Waters

core values in one plan we invite any

questions or comments and our report is

available on our website we are

committed to keeping this information

accessible over the next few months

capital region water will hold several

educa education sessions to discuss our

recommended plan and allow for public

dialogue and comment I know that $450

million sounds like a lot of money um

but we are committed to ensuring that

our customer assistance program is

expanded to help those uh that can leas

afford the rate increases that we will

in that we will definitely need to

implement thank you for your time this

evening and we look forward to continued

collaboration as we build a better safer

cleaner Harrisburg together thank

you thank you very much just one

question before we move on um can you

please share how residents and members

of the public can learn exactly when the

education sessions will occur sure we we

have on our website um those

opportunities uh we also um we'll we'll

post those we're also doing Outreach on

social media um as those events come up

uh to be able to provide um those

opportunities to the

public thank you very much

there any other questions councilman

Jones yes thank you madam president um

when you say that

uh you know this will help especially

lwi income families but then you also

said that there will be an increase can

you explain how that's going to help

some of the low income people so our

customer assistance program currently um

is

$300 looking at $300 a year um for

low-income

residents they don't need to provide

income eligibility they don't need to

provide any kind of income eligibility

except for if they're already on an

assistance program like Snap or lihe

that automatically makes them eligible

for our customers customer assistance

program all they need to provide is

documentation that they're part of one

of those other programs um that $300 we

realize as rate increases happen that

$300 is not going to be enough um so

we're committed to increasing that $300

amount um for those low-income residents

okay so when um you again when you look

at the increases with what what would

that entail would it be the ready to

serve or the actual water bill itself it

would be the total bill okay um and um I

I think uh Madame President and I are

scheduled to tour the facilities um I

can't wait to do that but one of the

questions I will ask about you know even

with the meter changing all of that um

is this a part of what you guys are

intending to do here so that's on the

drinking water side of our business this

is on on the waste water side okay so

now in the drinking water just one

question is is there any fluoride in her

water and if so how

much I don't know the current I don't

have that expert behind me um

yeah our our consumer confidence report

will be out shortly okay you'll receive

that in the mail it has that information

in there but yes we do add for it okay

and it and it's at the minimum it's at

the recommended minimum level that's the

EPA requires okay suggest all right

thank

you councilman Rodriguez any questions

no questions for me thank you thank you

councilwoman RS any questions thank you

and uh good evening thank you for being

here this evening I just had two quick

questions one was and I'm so mad I can't

find the email but there was an email

sent out for um an invitation to visit a

water basin I believe I'm getting I

don't want the reservoir thank you is

that part of the education of the

pollution um I'm not sure that we will

specifically address the recommended

plan during the deart day yes deart day

thank you but that that is to tour our

drinking water reservoir okay um so I

mean if you have any questions there

will be um staff there that could that

could answer questions on this as well

okay it's mostly on the drinking water

side of okay thank you and would you be

able to say how much do you think the

bills may increase within the next 5 to

10 years if you're able to possibly

answer that I don't have that

information but we'll certainly provide

that during the public education

sessions okay thank you that's it for

me thank you vice president green any

questions thank you president Bowers and

thank you for being here tonight and for

your presentation I don't have any

questions for

you thank you councilwoman Davis any

questions thank you president Bowers and

thank you for being here I don't have

any questions at this time thank you

thank you councilwoman Daniels any

questions okay thank you very much for

being here this evening thank you we

will now move forward with our meeting

agenda we will open the floor for

Courtesy of the floor just a few

housekeeping notes before we begin uh

please state your name and your address

for the meeting record if you don't feel

comfortable sharing your address please

share the vicinity in which you live

within the city uh you will have four

minutes to share your comments Mr Parker

will serve as our timekeeper and I will

begin to my right is there anyone that

would like to offer public comment okay

please come to the microphone

this one right here

oh oh well good evening um city council

members and city council family and

friends I should say um my name is

Shannon green and I uh reside in the

Governor's Square which is located here

in Harrisburg I'm very concerned about

our neighborhood from it being uh trashy

looking also the crime as well as um

you know the

children that I see in my neighborhood

riding their bicycles and stop signs you

know cars are flying through certain

areas that need stop signs and it is a

real thing I said it on a porch and um

just a lot of you know hanging around

and areas where the children are located

and the abandoned areas it's really a

concern for me because it's easy access

for uh the children to be AB it or you

know a lot of fighting in the area and

we do know I lost a good friend

yesterday and her mother you know I'm

aware of the people and their violence

and I'm just coming to the council to

see if if we can come up with an action

plan for the community to make it look

better maybe if it looks better people

act better that's all I have to

say thank

you sure councilman Jones um Miss green

uh no you good you're good I mean if you

yeah you could come on come on

welcome I don't know how this go sorry

that's all right so um as you seen this

week we were up there uh we will be back

up um Sunday and Monday and one of the

things that I uh plan to do just coming

together with some of the other

nonprofit organizations um and from the

city side of it you know that's F

federally regulated so there are some

restrictions far as what we're able to

do at this moment however um just being

a part of this community I'm taking an

initiative to come out there and uh try

to clean up some of that area but so I

just was thinking yesterday that I

absolutely I seen you too and I was I

was so I was so grateful you know I got

tears in my eyes and like there is some

kind of Hope because if we don't do

something soon it's going to be a rough

summer in our area where I live and I

have children so you know not only

concerned about my own children other

children around us it takes a village

you know so I'm one that is willing

to yeah be yeah so try to change just

stay in contact with me um one of the

things I want to be want to do is again

get some of those other local

organizations and um I was as I was

working yesterday I was like you know

we're cutting this now and cleaning this

now um but this is going to grow

back right so uh the idea is to um try

to bring some of the youth in that area

try to um teach them how to earn an

honest living yes um and and keep that

area as clean as possible as much as we

can so um stay in touch with me and U

I'm willing to work with you sure thank

you I appreciate it coun thank you 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 okay

[Music]

good evening uh president Bowers vice

president green members of council my

name is Eric Hagerty I live at 605

shower Street here in Harrisburg uh I am

the new chair of the Broad Street Market

Alliance and wanted to uh share a couple

updates um first I'm thrilled to report

that next week the tent will open um and

we're just so excited for folks to have

the chance to get products from vendors

that it's been almost a year that they

haven't been able to get their produce

and dog treats and so much more so we're

really excited about that next week um

I'm also thrilled the share that I

Believe by the end of next month uh the

market will have finished paying off

nearly $50,000 in past du bills that it

had accured since the fire uh and we are

very close to being on a a uh Financial

uh trajectory that is much healthier

than it had been uh and we're of course

fortunate to have President Bowers on

our board as well so thank you for all

of your support um I understand uh later

this evening uh there's an opportunity

uh for Council to approve the next step

in this lasting recovery for the market

and select a construction manager um and

so I I just wanted to encourage the

support for um moving forward in that

process um my my understanding is that

once a construction manager is selected

the brick building uh will be complete

and open for business within two years

so I'm thrilled that we have the chance

now to take this next step um and really

appreciate everyone's consideration

thanks so

much 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 we

will move forward with our meeting

agenda

we do not have any reports of committees

this evening we do not have any

ordinances for first reading nor do we

have any ordinances for Amendment and we

do not have any ordinances for final

passage we will move to resolutions the

first resolution for consideration this

evening is resolution 25 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

into the

record

yes resolution 25 of

2024 a resolution approving the

preliminary slf final land development

plan for 1610 North 4th Street submitted

by Midtown Redevelopment LLC to

consolidate 19 vacant parcels and

construct a four story 36 unit senior

apartment building with first floor

commercial space along with associated

impr

improvements thank you council members

are there any questions comments or

concerns related to resolution 25 of

2024 is anybody here representing that

no not for that one no why I wait

for okay

any further questions comments

clarification okay seeing and hearing

them Mr Parker could you please call the

vote

Yes Miss Daniels

yes M Davis yes Miss green yes Mr Jones

yay Ms rolls yes Mr Rodriguez yes Ms

Bowers yes resolution 25 of

2024 passes unanimously with a vote of

seven y to zero

Nays thank you next we have

resolution 26 of 2024 Mr Parker could

you please read it into the record yes

resolution 26 of

2024 a resolution authorizing the city

of Harrisburg to negotiate and enter

into a Professional Services agreement

with Alexander building construction

company to serve as construction manager

for the restoration Rehabilitation and

reconstruction of the Broad Street

Markets red brick

building thank you council members I

will entertain a motion to suspend the

rules for discussion so move is there a

second second thank

you I will defer to our parks recreation

and enrichment committee

chair councilwoman RW to lead discussion

thank you president Bowers um I see

there is someone from Administration

here to um answer a few more questions I

think Council had on resolution 26 of

2024 can you both introduce yourselves

and um say your positions here at the

city good evening Council my name is

David Baker I the facilities director

for the city of harisburg

good evening my name is Debbie reart I'm

project manager thank you both for being

here this evening and coming again I

know this our second time on this so we

really appreciate you coming to clarify

any questions we may have um because we

all know how important um the brick

building the Broad Street Market is and

how important is that we want it to um

be completed and um so do you all want

to start off by saying

anything

or um I mean we're here to clarify any

questions you may have about the the

process or about the the Consultants

that we're proposing to move forward

with so it's you know we're here for you

guys okay thank you well um since I have

the mic I'll start off I just

um I just have really one quick question

and I want to P pass it to my council

members I don't want

to hog the time um when I was looking

through the scoring rubric um the one

question I had for you miss Reinhardt is

that I had noticed that um for company

you said they didn't have a budget um

and you scored them as such however when

you got to the gym group you said they

didn't have a budget but you gave them

10 points so I was just wondering um did

they have a budget or did they not I

just needed some clarification on

that but I'll give you a moment to look

don't rush look and see and let me know

oh no so the um

sorry they got a zero as well they did

not provide a budget the 10 was for the

number of allotted points for that

particular

Criterion

uh okay but it says a lotted points 10

and then it says score

10 where I'm looking it says um and it

does say no budget provided but it then

it says a lotted points 10 score points

10 so wouldn't that mean you gave them a

score of a 10 yes but what I'm looking

at I have a zero there do you want to

pass this to her so she can see

mine I I thought I think it is it went

it was with her sheet that they printed

off for

me I know I I agree it could have been

mixed up but I did see that's how it was

given to me and printed to me in the

administration

office can you please speak into the

microphone you noted that she's right it

does say 10 and 10 um but there was no

budget provided okay so um my second

question would be um

real quick could we possibly get a copy

or we can scan over real quick to make

sure you want get a copy of this whole

thing I have here yes okay I'll pass

this why get it

back that back

okay thank you save legs

okay um my final question was I I saw in

the RFP they asked for a fee schedule

but then we were grading on a

budget so that kind of confused me

because when I was looking through the

the rubrics I was looking for or I was

looking through the company's um

proposals they sent in I was looking for

a budget CU I was like well it's on the

rubric where are their budgets and I

also didn't see any budgets except from

two companies it looked like they had a

very they looked like they had a budget

um and then other companies had a fee

schedule so then were we looking for a

fee schedule or a budget or they the

same cuz then I got confused myself

right so no they are not the same okay

um and the initial statement of work in

the um initial RFP included a budget and

so a budget would be what they think the

project is going to cost right and a fee

is how much they're going to charge to

do the work like per month or some per

se it's much smaller right okay but the

budget's much larger more scope and

sequence to it okay so when uh so just

to clarify when when we were looking

through um the bids put in were we

looking for a budget or fee schedule so

we were looking for both okay so

companies had to have both right okay

thank you that clarifies it because I

did see some companies only had a fee

schedule right um and some companies

actually had a budget but they got zero

points for their budget you said they

didn't have a budget but from what I

what it looked like they looked like

they had a

budget can you give me a specific so uh

it could have been Alexandra Perry cuz I

know there was two

alexandras they look like they had a a

budget let me find it

here that's not

them I I apologize here oh there this is

and sorry there's a lot of paper so

I'mma okay here we go well there's it's

called a fee schedule but it looks much

more chunkier than or has more details

than the other companies did

so sorry I'm still trying to get my no

that's okay would you like me to send

this one down

and I'm guessing they put fee schedule

at the top because they asked for a fee

schedule but I don't it looks like a

budget to

me so you're specifically talking about

Alexander Perry yes all right

um I don't think I have a copy of that

I'm not sure why I pr them all out I do

have

mine no it's all

right I appreciate you giving me

clarification yeah sorry I don't have

copy it's all right but okay that

was a concern of mine I just didn't

understand what the difference was

between a i well in my mind I thought

maybe it was a fee schedule was much

smaller in a budget was much larger in

capacity had more details where a fee

schedule was just broken into months but

like you said that is what it is and

that you all were looking for both yes

okay so um that ends my questions I'll

move on and see if other council members

do have any questions but thank you so

much for answering those um Mr Jones do

you have any councilman Jones yes okay

thank you you're welcome councilwoman

Ross um I don't know if you guys can

answer my questions I'll let you

continue doing what you're

doing go ahead I'm sorry we're just

trying to clarify for councilman r

this one

right councilman Ral did you what

happened to uh is the fee structure paid

that you were talking about is that in

this uh pile of paper or is that oh no

you mean the one for Alexander and Perry

no I have it here

inside for Jim oh oh their Fe oh no it's

not I have it here if you want me to

find it yeah I just I want to clarify

that the copy that we gave you is the

identical copy of what we currently have

in our possession their their fee

schedule or their the the first question

you had about the rubric the rubric

grading I gave you the I gave you my

rubric yes that is um Miss reinhardt's

rubric

yes

think yeah they have it no that's my

we're missing missing her page that says

the Fe

Mr Parker do you have the uh paper that

has the fee schedule on it for the gem

group I do not

okay you mean the you mean the rubric

where you graded it I gave it to you all

I gave all the paper I gave her whole um

and it might be in this stack somewhere

I just didn't want to go through

everything because I'm seeing other

individuals yes there's other names but

hers was together with

it Madam president uh can I put a motion

in to have a recess for five minutes for

them to get it

together okay we'll give you five

minutes I guess to review any paperwork

and so you're prepared to continue to

answer any questions council members may

have um the time is 6:37 p.m. we will

recess for five minutes and then resume

thank you thank

you

e

e

e

e

e e

um we had one more minute but I

understand you're ready to resume

questioning okay chair

R all right thank you

um councilman Jan do you have a question

or uh yes did did you get yours answered

though yes my paper does say 10 but I I

don't know where the mixup came um okay

I think I have additional one but not

right now I have to my question will be

for Alexander company

so you

guys if you don't mind introduce you

yourself Steve Wilt with Alexander

building construction company project

executive Terrell Davis Alexander

building project manager

all right thank you guys for showing

back up um at first I didn't think you

guys were

here uh anyway I I just want to ask um a

couple questions like you know uh for

one I know that this project means a lot

to this community right um as expressed

before my job is to make sure that this

is a fair process um make sure there's

um some type of I mean there is some

inclusivity in um local participation

all of those things um this is what I am

here to do and I I believe this body is

here to do so one of the questions that

I have for you um not to try to hold

this project up but this is of

importance for

me you have FNB right now correct yes

all right so in that within that um

resolution you guys you guys said that

you will have 30% at least 30%

participation

correct yes so where are you at now with

with that um with that process how uh

any contracts have been given or I I

want to know

that we're actually still under the

design process here so there no

contracts have been awarded or even

negotiated at this particular time here

and that is a actual pin bid live

project so it's going to become a public

bid project but right now we're still in

the initial design phase okay cuz for me

I would you know if if if you guys had

that what what's the timeline for

that just the design process or yeah

well for you to get to the contractual

process like getting to through all of

that what what when would you say that

you would have a list of of vendors and

people that you have the contracts for

so right now we're still working on

actal design portion of it here we're

projecting somewhere the end of July

okay um because that's what for me

that's what I would like to see um and

then see if once you do have have that

list see what companies those were and

how much you have you know contracted

out to them that's of importance for me

to see um and again not to hold this

project up but this is the language that

you guys had and the resolution so it's

something that I don't want to just see

words on the paper I really want to see

the action of that so for me that's what

I I can't say that I I'm going to hold

it up but that's what I would like to

see um no further questions for me

hey thank you councilman Jones and um

welcome again Alexander and Co thank you

for being here to answer um clarifying

questions um councilman Rodriguez do you

have any question um thank you madam

chair no actual questions at this time

it's just more in the thought of just

ensuring the process is Equitable and

fair for everyone um just that everyone

gets a fair shot and when things arise

when there's already slight questions

not saying there was anything um funny

being done but then when numbers don't

match and it's like I hate how that get

on there it it's you know you got to

consider our role and what we were

elected to do as officials so um it just

you know I definitely respect what you

guys do and love the experience that you

guys bring to it it's just more of the

processes and how we go about coming to

the conclusion um thank you thank you

for that councilman Rodriguez president

Bowers do you have any

questions thank you yes I I have one

question related uh to the timeline of

events

so I'm not sure if Mr Baker or Miss

Reinhardt if you could please share the

timeline between uh the RFP when it went

out um to when the committee was

assembled for review and then when your

final selections were made

I would say you need the actual

dates I would like the dates I'm I'm

just I want to ensure that I have a

clear understanding of the

timeline so if you want actual dates we

can Abol Supply those to all of council

we can send them to Mr Parker the exact

days of each process that happened when

it was completed and who was completed

by is that satisfactory for you

president

Bowers uh not really but okay in in

the

RFP that we received under exhibiting

the scope of services there's a table

with activity and estimated dates so

maybe some of these will jog your memory

The Proposal due date was March 19th

2023 the RFP solicitation release

occurred on March 5th of

2024 contractor selection the estimated

dates are March and April of

2024 intent to award or notice the

estimated date was April of

2024 and then the contract commences in

May of

2024 Madam president just looking at an

email chain for procurement sent out the

results had come in on March the 27th in

the afternoon to Mr Baker Mr Hartman Mr

masel Mrs Robinson Miss Kelly and then

the recommendations came back on an

email on April the 10th after the

scoring was

done okay do you all remember when the

committee was

assembled for review

was during the sorry was during the

process when the RFP was out for

bid I don't remember the exact date but

it was during that

period after the RFP was released

okay and do you remember how long you

had to review the rfps that were

received the propos the proposals that

were received we had was about a week

okay thank you I don't have any other

questions you're welcome all right

thank oh sorry thank you president bars

vice president green do you have any

questions thank you councilwoman Ros um

thank you all for being here this

evening I have a couple of questions

I'll just start with the one that I I

kind of discussed with with you guys a

little bit last week um after the

meeting is can you just go over what

happens next like what was the purpose

what's the purpose of a construction

manager what do they do once the

construction manager is chosen what's

the next step like what are they going

to help the city with what's their role

because I think somehow it's not

explained the best so if you guys could

just go over what is the role of the

construction manager and what will be

the next steps once this is awarded to

whoever it's awarded

to I can go ahead and jump in it if You'

like um a construction manager in a CM

agency type role is an extension of your

services so we're acting in your behalf

making decisions and recommendations to

you that uh is in the best interest of

of the city um our services would

include managing the process and in the

RFP it stated that we would help with

the selection process and write the RFP

for or assistant writing the RP for the

Professional Services the architect

engineers and that type of stuff and be

part of that process to help that move

along as well we'll also have on-site

supervision engineering and project

management to manage the contractors

once they're brought on board this is

still a public bid so when we get into

the public bid process we'll send the

notices out which there's three notices

that go out and then we'll go right into

um bidding the bidding process we'll

tabulate the bids and make

recommendations for for the uh

contractors to be reviewed by the city

to to select at that point in time all

right um that's what I that's what I

thought it was um but I kind of kept

getting different answers from different

people so I just want to um make for

sure I understand the process itself

better so essentially um you guys would

help with to build the bid packages

themselves the city would then review

over what was built correct it's not

just them making the decisions right

we're not just handing all the power

over this is more to the administration

make those decisions our our job is to

make recommendations and have approval

by the city understand no offense I was

asking the administration

so yes that that is the point of of what

they'll be doing for us that they

basically oversee or they will um give

us recommendations as far as each step

goes um and they do have the

Professionals in place as far as um

engineering side and and all that that

work in the industry uh to give us the

the best guidance possible just as like

a quick example um as Council stated we

are working with them currently on the

FNB field project and um we are still in

the design phase who are coming in over

budget already and part of what

Alexander is doing is helping us reduce

that that budgetary amount before we get

started

so right now yeah and in the design

phase um we it's been designed over

budget already so you know you go to an

architect and and they are going to make

it beautiful and they're going to make

it look as nice as possible their names

on so is there a change order attached

to that no because we're not there yet

we're we're still we're still drawing

you know getting thect pictures out and

working the the uh traffic flows and

egress plans and you know workability of

everything and the the

materials all of that and so Alexander

is helping us use commercial materials

that are still um appropriate to their

function but that are at a lesser cost

that are still going to Workforce in the

long run because their goal is to get us

what we need when we say we need this

but we need it at a lesser cost that's

their goal and their working with the

architect uh who is you know having to

reduce the scale or reduce the cost and

they know exactly what to do and what

not to do you know where can you cut and

where can you not cut uh to get us where

we need to be as far as the budget goes

for that project just as as an example

and hopefully that's helpful all right

um so back into this process moving

forward right so now they're helping to

build the bid packages um bids go out

how does the bid process work is it just

lowest bidder or is it lowest

responsible bidder is it still a scoring

rubric yes all right lowest responsible

bidder all right so we're back to lowest

response we better we're back to scoring

rubrics we're back to a panel um that

gets us back to this process that I

think we kind of have some some

questions about here um and one way that

I can suggest is that um no matter who

that gets this contract that we start

assembling that panel now um that we

make sure we have inclusion in that

panel obviously um I would recommend

commend that we have Mr Singleton as

part of that panel because we have that

office for a reason to make sure we have

diversity and inclusion um looked at as

we're creating these bid packages um as

well as as we're doing the scoring uh so

I think that's an important process that

I think we need to start looking at now

no matter who gets this contract um but

now back to scoring rubrics come in

right who's scoring them we've got the

panel is Alexander scoring are they part

of the scoring

process no I I so the business administ

rator would decide who would be on that

that scoring group um but I would assume

Alexander would give their two cents on

what they thought about each individual

but I don't believe and I could be wrong

because it's up to the ba um on who

exactly would be sitting on the panel

most likely be individuals who

understood the project and who knew the

guidelines or or knew what parameters we

need to stay within as far as the

individual bids that are coming in okay

so at the end of the day it's the city

that will be choosing who gets the

contracts for architect engineer

whatever other contracts come and play

when it comes to constructing this

that's correct it's not Alexander and

Company I I don't want to call it

Alexander and

Company there not Alexander building

construction that's making the choice

for the city the city is making the

choice right okay councilman green can

i' just like to add one thing you know

when when you're looking at the the

awarding of of contracts it's all

recommendations from us as I said before

before but the most important thing that

we're going to do is make sure that they

have the scope of work because that that

equates to if they don't have the scope

of work that equates to having a change

order and we don't want change order so

we want to make sure that the scope of

work is complete and that they're going

to do exactly what we want to be done in

that building so we're not asking for

more money to to do that so that's our

one of our main focuses to make sure

that the scope of work is 100% all right

thank you um and I will say a big part

of that is also part of building the the

B bid package itself to make sure

everything's explained properly so that

when they submit it it's really easy to

read sorry Mr Grover no I just wanted to

point out there's really two different

things that are going to happen here the

professional service contracts are

different than the construction

contracts they're they're scored

different they're they they're different

requirements and just so you know what

happens like in FNB field is influenced

by the source of funding which is an R

cap and wav certain requirements we

don't have those waivers for Broad

Street Market so we have to do what's

called separate the separations act

requires different bids for different

elements of the of it so the compliance

on both of them are just different and

so the lowest responsible bid is a term

of Art in bidding for construction

contracts where you know there just

there I'm just point there is a

difference of the two um and and that's

something everyone has to monitor along

the way okay and Alexander building and

construction would uh be the ones Who

oversee all of that the construction and

the Professional Services or is that

somebody else I'm just trying to figure

out like who all the players might be in

the end so we would still have a general

contractor that would oversee but

Alexander you can kind of look at as a

second set of eyes looking from a

different point of view uh so the

general contractor is going to be there

to get the job done and he's going to

make sure that individuals are doing

what they're supposed to but uh bottom

line they want to get it done you know

they they got to get this this job

finished so they get on to the next one

and Alexander really will be sitting

there um 100% from the city side it's

not their number one priority to make

sure we get done quick it's their number

one priority to make sure that what

we're paying for we're actually

receiving I I I'm just again

uh please help me understand this you

guys are there to make the selection

process um the kind of oversee how

everything is moving forward right yes

so why does that cost $914,000

you know we looked at the services that

we're providing and um the time frame

that's what it equated to there it is so

the services what are that what what are

those Services it's it's uh the

preparing to bid packages it's providing

supervision and uh schedu and

involvement it's reviewing our um

request for for proposals and and all

those things when people you know shop

drawing review the whole there's a whole

series of construction type tasks that

have to be done that we'll weigh in on

we don't want to um have a a a

contractor general contractor come out

and start uh doing something that

doesn't meet the quality of the job and

using wrong materials and that type of

stuff so we're involved in every step of

the process with our superintendent on

site with our with our folks there

making sure that it's in the best

interest of the city there's a there's a

lot there's a lot of activities that

happen and I can give you a complete

list if you'd like it I mean I can I can

put that together no I'm just listen I I

want to be clear too I'm not questioning

your ability to do work understand at

all um um like I said I think you guys

are qualified um I did look at the work

but again it's this process of how we

got here is a concern for me but uh when

we look at this the bidding part of that

um and the laws responsible bidder and

all of that so to do what they're doing

you saying that you can't find any

cheaper price to get that done what

they're doing this is for you

guys it's not necessarily the lowest

B that's what I said the the lowest

responsible B I'm saying for the

services that they're providing no one

else is can be qualified to do that at

at a cheaper price I'm

asking I'm sure there is are other

people who can do that okay that's all I

think the thing to remember is with the

individuals that supplied the

information that they did um from that

group this was the uh most I guess would

be the yeah it' be the best qualified

for the dollar so the problem is and

again this is

not to detriment of your expertise right

um this is uh again if you're nobody

will be a ever be able to compete with

them because of the years of experience

that they have no one will be able to to

be able to be on the same playing field

so if we're looking for

inclusion and other people are applying

for this and not to say that they you

shouldn't be allowed because you know

it's like no one will be able ever to

beat their expertise in in a lot of

these areas so we'll probably be seeing

them every time and I know we haven't

had large projects like this but I just

think that the it just seems like it's a

uneven playing field and that's just my

concern um again I think our our fear at

least my fear would be if we don't have

the best qualified group uh supporting

us you know we could have upwards of $20

million misappropriated or misused or we

have to go back and change a whole bunch

of things or we're liable for any sort

of issues that might happen and I think

that's really what we're we're shooting

for is not to have any of that happen so

we're trying to get the absolute best

that we can for what we can afford to do

or for the value of what we're getting

and that's where we ended up as as far

as a rubric goes um and and coming up

with this because I think when people

are doing the grading they they're not

like ah this is the winner before they

do it we have to sit in the room and

they're tabulating the numbers and no

one no one can know what the winner is

going to be because even if you get give

one company the best for you can

possibly give them you have other

individuals in in that room that have

graded a little bit differently than you

have and maybe they didn't do that so

when all those numbers are tabulated

that's when that that individual says

all right this is the the company that

we've chosen that has the most value for

the dollars that they're they're telling

us it's going to cost I got you so let

me be clear what what what so happens in

the city of

Harrisburg there's cronyism that happens

that take place in our city which leaves

out the little guys and the people that

are looking to um scale their businesses

and get on the level of a Alexander

company you know that happens so then

when they when you give them this

portion and then they get to influence

who's going on moving forward you may

not like this person you may not like

this person and and they get to decide

that that's an issue not just for them

I'm just saying how we do business in

the city of Harrisburg we are known to

be called a rooll all over City and I am

looking to change that uh uh the way

people look at the city of Harrisburg

someone needs to stand up and speak up

about a few things that are happening

and that's where I'm going with

that that's

it thank you councilman uh Jones uh

councilwoman uh Dan excuse me Davis do

you have anything thank you Council

woman Ross um thank you for being here

again I think that

um I am prepared to um make a decision

but also the um question of

how you know bias could possibly be you

know intoduced into the whole process is

is just a concern and um and a valid

concern on behalf of the residents of

the city of Harrisburg but um I don't

have any questions right

now okay thank you councilwoman Davis uh

councilwoman Daniels do you have any

questions no I don't okay thank you does

anybody else have any other

questions okay um so I know this is

coming up for a vote so I just uh before

it does I did want to um read something

um yes that's fine yep we'll go back in

like to entertain a motion to resume our

legislative session so moveed is there a

second a second thank you at 7:04 PM we

are resuming our legislative session

chair RS you have the floor thank you um

before we vote on uh resolution 26 of

2024 I just wanted to say that um

tonight council members as committee

chair of the parks and wreck and

enrichment committee I urge you to vote

against resolution 26 of 2024 this is

not a reflection of Alexandra's

capabilities please understand that not

at all but rather due to the concerns

regarding the selection process and how

it was done my concerns are as follows

the team lacked diversity and

perspective companies were scored on

criteria that were not requested or did

not receive points for fulfilling

requirements the city's equity and

compliance director was not involved in

the process but most importantly

consideration of company's willingness

to work with local vendors or DB

participants was not taken into account

the restoration of the brick building of

the Broad Street Market is crucial to

counsel to the administration and to our

community it must be carried out with

the community residents and local

vendors in mind the city of Harrisburg

and impact Harrisburg commissioned a

disparity report that revealed that

local Harrisburg vendors have been

excluded in the past projects let us not

repeat history thank

you thank you um Mr Parker could you

please read resolution 26 of

20124 back into the record again yes

resolution 26 of

2024 a resolution authorizing the city

of Harrisburg to negotiate and enter

into a Professional Services agreement

with Alexander building construction

company to serve as construction manager

for the restoration Rehabilitation and

reconstruction of the Broad Street

Markets red brick

building thank you council members are

there any further comments questions or

clarification needed prior to voting on

resolution 26 of

2024 is does anyone any Clarity on what

the CM firm actually does as far as they

they don't hire construction workers

they don't like it's more engineers and

design and point of order Madam

president I believe we would need to

suspend the rules to go back into

discussion we can ask questions during

this time so if there are any other

questions yeah what what were you saying

Mr Baker I I just wanted to make it

clear just so Council understood that

this portion is they don't hire like

like the as far as local participation

it's much harder for a um construction

management firm to hire local

participation just because of what they

actually do it's more uh we have

industry experts that have been doing

this for years that are overseeing the

actual um labor force like they they

don't oversee as far as they don't hire

them they don't have anything to do with

them other than they give us

recommendations on who would be you know

proper general contractor who then will

hire additional subs or we have other

Generals in different trades of the

separations act would apply for this so

they would be the ones that would be

hiring lots of our local participation

um to do the work in here this this

particular and and any um right any

contractor of this caliber uh wouldn't

be Outsourcing their work they would do

we would hope they do the majority of

all the work inous with their existing

staff yes and I know you guys are

Harrisburg locally based as well um

that's a plus as well but again this

isn't about their ability of how to work

where looking at the process and that's

it just like the the grading process

that's yes okay and how the team was

selected it it wasn't diverse our equity

and compliance director we have a

department here he was not a part of the

process and I think I asked probably

every meeting and there were different

answers uh so it's not about the company

that you chose it was the process in

which you got to that

decision are there any further comments

questions I do have a comment um I will

be voting no on this resolution um I

Echo the sentiments of chair RS I find

discrepancy within the process it was

not Equitable at all um all of the

committee assembled to review the

proposals received um is viewing them

from the same lens and perspective

and

it's it's an issue right um it seems

there was question whether the expertise

of the individuals that participated

within the committee their expertise and

um in various areas um however I don't

believe one of them um shared the same

expertise I think it was just a

directive of the mayor

um there seems to be some gaps in the

timeline um between March 27th of 2024

and April 10th of

2024 Easter weekend occurred and it's

our understanding that some of the

review in an expedited manner occurred

during the Easter weekend

holiday so there are just a number of

things that literally and quite

figuratively are not adding up such that

the information you shared um had

different scoring numbers than what you

were presenting this evening so I'm not

really sure I mean our information has

all the same numbers I I think

councilwoman RS might have gotten

outdated copy from someone I but we

received it from you that's my point

yeah I got it from the meeting I was at

when I came right I so do we have any

other members of council that have did

they get we all received the same

information

again miscommunication so there are just

a number of issues here and it's um I as

a result I just cannot support this

resolution I'm hopeful that in the

future uh when review committees are

assembled that there will be much more

thought and concern considered uh for

the diversity within our city whether

that's our residents whether that's the

Workforce of the city government um

there is a director of equity and

compliance why isn't he participating

and councilwoman RW chair RW is correct

she's asked

repeatedly since March or before where

is Mr Singleton in these

conversations um and even if he can only

participate from an advisory perspective

perhaps he cannot participate um in his

role under his compliance umbrella but

perhaps he could participate in an

advisory capacity in reviewing the

proposals that are received and provide

recommendation to the committee

members his voice is

needed and it was just absent from from

this

conversation so I don't have any further

commentary Mr Parker could you please

call the

vote Miss

Daniels yes

Miss

Davis no and it's because of the scoring

discrepancies only just concerned about

that so I'm going to say no thank you

Miss green

yes Mr Jones nay M rolls no Mr Rodriguez

no Ms Bower

no resolution 26 of

2024 fails with a vote of five Nays to

two

Ys thank you thank you next we have

resolution 28 of 2024 Mr Parker could

you please read it into the record

resolution 28 of

2024 a resolution appointing Gloria

Martin Roberts to serve on the board of

directors of the Harrisburg Housing

Authority thank you resolution 28 of

2024 will move to the administration

committee next we have resolution 29 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

into the record resolution 29 of

2024 a resolution appointing Zachary D

Jackson Senior to serve on the board of

directors of the Harrisburg Housing

Authority thank you resolution 29 of

2024 will move to the administration

committee resolution 30 of 2024 Mr

Parker could you please read it into the

record resolution 30 of 2024 a

resolution approving the fourth proposed

2024 budget

reallocation thank you resolution 30 of

2024 will move to the budget and finance

committee

next resolution 31 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

into the record resolution 31 of

2024 a resolution authorizing the city

of Harrisburg to enter into a

Professional Services agreement with

mayor duel PC for the purpose of

providing audit preparation services to

the city of Harrisburg thank you

resolution 31 of 2024 will move to the

the budget and finance committee next

resolution 32 of 2024 Mr Parker could

you please read it into the record

resolution 32 of

2024 a resolution authorizing the city

of Harrisburg to negotiate and enter

into a landowner grantee agreement with

the capitol area Green Belt Association

in furtherance of construction and

restoration of the Pax Tang Parkway

Creek and Trail thank thank you

resolution 32 of 20 2024 will move to

the parks recreation and enrichment

committee next resolution 33 of 2024 Mr

Parker could you please read it into the

record resolution 33 of 2024 a

resolution authorizing the city of

Harrisburg to participate in the 2024

cohort of the Pennsylvania blueprint

communities program thank you resolution

33 of 2024 will move to the

administration committee next we have

resolution 34 of 2024 Mr Parker could

you please read it into the record

resolution 34 of

2024 a resolution approving the

preliminary slf final land development

plan for

174 North 15th Street submitted by St

John's CME Church to consolidate two

parcels and construct a new new

2400 square foot Church 17 space

necessary parking lot and Associated

site and access

improvements thank you resolution 34 of

2024 will move to the community and

economic development committee next we

have resolution 35 of 2024 Mr Parker

could you please read it into the record

resolution 35 of

2024 a resolution approving the pr May

I'm sorry the preliminary slf final land

development plan for 1719 Market Street

submitted by Capitol City Church of the

Assemblies of God Incorporated to

consolidate two existing parcels and to

establish an accessory parking lot for

the church located at 1710 Chestnut

Street along with Associated

improvements thank you resolution 35 of

2024 will move to the community and

economic development committee our final

resolution for consideration this

evening is resolution 36 of 2024 Mr

Parker could you please read it into the

record resolution 36 of

2024 a resolution approving the

preliminary slf final land development

plan for

2701 Industrial Road submitted by nav

need law Zer to construct a 143 stall

commercial parking lot to serve as

overflow parking for the farm show

complex and adjacent properties along

with Associated

improvements thank you resolution 36 of

2024 will move to the community and

economic development committee is there

any old business for discussion council

members yes uh Mr Mr Grover can you give

us an update on the status of the cdbg

dispersement

which um there has not been dispersement

yet there is a issue with um the process

that occurred um when a final opinion is

available to you uh at that point there

will be a partial dispersement I can

tell you that much but there is a

process issue uh which we will have to

discuss in an executive session and how

soon will that opinion be it's it's it's

fairly close um it's just it's a

complicated one because of the issues in

the process okay because right now we're

about a year behind I'm painfully aware

yeah

and yeah okay frankly we had to find a

way to let any of it go through that

became the issue with the

process I just have one note of old

business before moving to new business

um before we conclude our meeting this

evening I would like to address one

matter that residents have called text

and sent me direct messages about the

American Rescue plan act or arpa funding

I wanted to take an opportunity to

remind residents and members of the

public that Harrisburg city council has

taken action to appropriate the American

Rescue plan act funding the first action

occurred on July 5th

2023 when Harrisburg city council voted

on an ordinance that was Bill five of

2023 which appropriated American Rescue

plan act funding from the United States

Department of Treasury for Revenue

replacement and authorizing and

directing certain expenditures of such

funds the second action occurred on

April 9th 2024 when Harrisburg city

council voted on a resolution resolution

24 of

2024 which approved the third proposed

2024 budget reallocation in order to

appropriate certain monies locally

designated as Revenue replacement

funding through an award under the

American Rescue plan act to provide for

specified Projects please note

Harrisburg city council has done our

legislative Duty in approving the

appropriation of funds we are not

responsible for the implementation of

the specified pro project

the implementation of the spe specified

projects and other programming is the

responsibility of the mayor and her

Administration I would recommend calling

the mayor's office with any further

inquiries thank you is there any new

business councilman Rodriguez thank you

madam president just want to send out a

reminder to anyone that is um calling or

inquiring about our hotspot Saturday's

cleanups the next one will be this

Saturday we take care of the Allison

Hill area we'll meet at the love the

Hill Mansion at 10:00 a.m. and we'll go

out into the community from 10: to 12:

so anyone interested feel free to

contact the clerk's office or email me

directly at R Rodriguez at Harrisburg

pa.gov thank you madam president thank

you any other new business council

members just one note in terms of

scheduling I wanted to note that on

Tuesday May 7th

2024 Harrisburg city council hosted an

executive session to discuss personnel

and legal matters um Harrisburg city

council will not meet next Tuesday May

21st

2024 the council will host a work

session on Tuesday May 28th

2024 followed by a legislative session

the time is

7:22 p.m. I will entertain a motion to

adjourn so move is there a second second

thank you we stand adjourn