Harrisburg City Council Legislative Session 4-9-2024

okay good evening

everyone it is 5:55 I just wanted to

host our legislative caucus before we

start our legislative session at

6 uh so I will formally call our

legislative session to order at 6: PM Mr

Parker will lead us in roll call I will

lead the invocation this evening the

Pledge of Allegiance will be led by

councilman Jones for communications uh

we will'll hear a presentation by the

management team of Tri County Community

Action Commission on the 12th annual

great Harrisburg litter cleanup followed

by courtesy of the floor then approval

of the minutes for the legislative

session that occurred on March 26th

2024 uh we will hear the following

committee reports I will share a report

on behalf of the administration

committee on the work session of April

2nd

2024 chair Davis will share a report on

behalf of the building and housing

committee on the work session of April

2nd

2024 and chair Jones will share a report

on behalf of the Public Safety Committee

on the work session that occurred on

April 2nd

2024 we do not have any ordinances for

first reading ordinances for Amendment

or ordinances for final passage we will

move to resolutions we have resolution

20 of

2024 which we will vote

upon next we have resolution 21 of

2024 which will move to the

administration

committee resolution 22 of

2024 will move to the parks recreation

and enrichment committee

resolution 23 of 2024 will move to the

public works

committee resolution 24 of 2024 will

move to the budget and finance committee

and resolution 25 of 2024 will move to

the community and economic development

committee is there any old

business okay any new business yes I

would just like to give um a talk about

things that are happening this weekend

in

Harrisburg any other new business yes

madame president just want to send out a

reminder for house by Saturdays and a

few other initiatives we're working on

okay thank you and then we will adjourn

so we will formally call the meeting to

order in 2 minutes at 6 p.m. thank

you

e

e e

one 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

here Miss Davis

present Miss

green Mr Jones here M RS present Mr

Rodriguez present Miss Bowers present

thank

you I will lead the invocation this

evening I would like to ask if we could

all please keep the following bereaved

families and our thought thoughts and

prayers in the coming days weeks months

ahead the Jones

family the Ross family the Richardson

family and the spiral

family if we could please please join me

in a moment of

silence thank you

the Pledge of Allegiance will be led by

councilman Jones Thank You president

Bowers United States of

America one nation under God indivisible

with liberty justice for

all thank thank you councilman

[Music]

Jones for communications this evening we

will hear a

presentation uh from the management team

of Tri County Community Action

Commission on the 12th annual great

Harrisburg litter

cleanup you can come here and if you

wouldn't mind turning on the microphone

and

moving it close to you so that those

listening online are able to hear you

clearly is this on we good all right

thank you awesome I am with Serena

Asom and we are very excited to um just

share about the 12th annual Harrisburg

litter cleanup which started in

partnership with the city to address

illegal dumping and Street trash

annually it has over 400 volunteers and

last year we had four tons of trash

removed it's going to be on Earth Day on

420 from 8 to 12 in three different

locations I just want to thank um mayor

Williams for her support I want to thank

uh uh director west of Public Works for

all the work that he's done and the work

behind the scenes um I want to thank

councilman Ro Rodriguez and I really see

what we're doing with this as in

partnership with the hotspots and

couldn't be more thrilled just to team

up collaborate and work together for the

good of the city and for the cleanliness

of the city and safety of the

city um if you have any questions I'd

like to direct people to Liz Evans skull

foro who is really quarterbacking this

project with our team she's done a

fantastic job

her number is 717

32431 n if you'd like to get in touch

with her about participating with

us and how can uh interested parties

sign up to participate yeah if you go on

to our

website CAC TRC county.org

um you can sign up right there on the

website okay thank you very much

yep any other questions or

comments just thank you very much yeah

and good evening thank you for being

here and sharing that with the community

yeah absolutely we're thrilled I

actually I brought a t-shirt that I

wanted to share with you absolutely oh

nice

one got seven of

us thanks awesome that's ni

awesome thank you sir thank you thank

you for the work abut likewise nice

thank

you we will now move to Courtesy of the

floor just a few housekeeping notes

before we begin if you could please

state your name and your address for the

meeting record if you don't feel

comfortable sharing your address please

please share the vicinity in which you

live within the city um if you are here

on behalf of a group we ask that you

please designate a spokesperson you will

have four minutes to share your comments

Mr Parker will serve as our timekeeper I

will begin to my right is there anyone

that would like to offer public comment

is it on there it is good evening

Council Pam Parson 18th and Holly um the

last time I spoke to you all I created

um an

unintended uh

Firestorm and I'd like to do my best to

try to um make amends for that um I also

like to say that when I come up here and

speak to you I don't say the things I do

without receipts without having done my

research uh without having done my

homework uh first of all I would like to

say that it is a joy to

see councilman Jones here it is a joy to

see him because he

represents the ability to

overcome that he had um he shows us that

Redemption is possible that uh re-entry

when done right works and he has

overcome a lot of struggles to be here

and he has been transparent and

accountable in his getting to this spot

I would also like to thank him for the

work that he has done thus far in these

few months for Allison hill and in

particular in addressing the issues

of sidewalk obstruction and more than

that I appreciate the way he is doing it

by providing

education and um warnings so that people

have the ability to self-correct I will

always air on allowing people to correct

themselves first and to do what is right

before we find them throw them in jail

remove them whatever it is

and this is so important for me to say

that because the colleague to his right

told me repeatedly over a period of

years that there was nothing that could

be done about the sidewalk obstruction

that it was not um we didn't have it in

statute it wasn't enforceable all of

those things so I appreciate you

councilman Jones president Bowers I

appreciate that you took the time after

the last meeting that I was here to

remind me that our translation services

are paid for out of Council budget and

that they are paid for out of council

thank you all of

council because the administration chose

not to make that a priority I also

appreciate knowing that more people have

joined our viewership as a result of

that and that's the sort of thing that

we want to happen and while you told me

that

privately I wish you would have made

that public as well

um I do not expect any of you to be

perfect and I'm sorry if I gave you that

impression in fact I expect you to be

fully human because that that is really

what we are all about and human beings

make mistakes and so what I expect when

a mistake is made is that you are

accountable and that you are transparent

and that you will hold not only each

other accountable but the

administration and anything else in your

purview and finally I would like to say

that transparency and account ability

are very important to democracy and that

when we don't have them we take a step

towards authoritarianism thank

you thank

you thank you is there anyone else to my

right one moment is there anyone else to

my right that would like to offer public

comment okay seeing and hearing no one

anyone in the middle section

thank you for this opportunity my name

is Char mcaro I live uh in Enola on

mcaro road but have always had a

business here in Harrisburg I'm here to

uh briefly speak about the Swatara

Street Park in South Allison Hill we're

seeking uh to uh have a grant we are um

we submitted a grant through the city to

have that Park built on um the area 10

on a 10 lot area eight of them will be

phase one which we're going for the

present grant for it is going to be a

very heavily planted uh city park for

the people of South Allison Hill it

won't be like any other Park and it's

designed that way so that um it is very

Lush and um it'll serve two purposes as

a climate

change um um action and environmental

justice because it will um once it's

fully grown in about 3 to 5 years um the

community can go within this Lush space

and have a place to communicate to it

will lower their uh stress level it's

been proven that to be in nature lowers

your stress level how this was found

these Lots were found was in conjunction

with Tri County Community Action there

was a fiveyear study I believe it was a

five-year study where um over 700 people

in South Allison Hill participated and

they wanted parks in South Allison Hill

and this just happened to be the 10 lots

that I found through their study that

they wanted a park um The Proposal is

that the city will adopt these Lots when

they're finished and that um I will

spearhead and have already

formulated um the um maintenance planned

for 5 years and then the city will take

over maintenance we have raised and uh

my friends here will tell you about the

money we've raised it will not cost us C

anything um we're looking for a match

and right now we do have enough money

that we have raised and also we can put

in these lots that a Harrisburg Housing

Authority is going to donate and one

which we have uh contracted to purchase

to do phase one and in phase two it will

be consist mostly of G just Green Space

and a half basketball court I met with

the community they're excited um they

can't believe we're going to make their

neighborhood beautiful um so there's

input there it will be lit with um solar

lighting and also the uh sub police

station is going to monitor with um with

cameras um there are a group of four

volunteers who are going to watch over

it they're taking one week a out of the

month to um watch over it keep it clean

to report to me so I believe all of the

rocks have everything has been turned

and looked at and well planned so thank

you and I hope that you can pass the

resolution we are under a deadline so

thank

you um Al Reber uh business owner and

property owner at 701 North 2 Street

here in Harrisburg um I would also like

to speak in favor of resolution 22

2024 um we have raised over $70,000

privately to help assist with the

construction of this park we did get a

uh County gaming Grant of 72,000 and I'm

on the board of the Redevelopment

Authority who has been supporting this

we own most of the Lots right now and

are very excited for this use um so the

two things that we need to do are you

know get this resolution passed um and

have your support and we want to let you

know that we're here to answer any

questions you have any time so please

find us ask questions happy to answer

any of those and then the other piece is

we need a memorandum of understanding um

that the legal office is working on with

the city as well um and we need to have

that wrapped up hopefully by the end of

this month and then we'll be in good

stad with dcnr to get this money and so

thank you so much for all that you do

and reach out with any

questions hi I'm Mark Santana I live on

the 200 block of Liberty Street and I

come here as two parts that as a city

resident I would like for you to support

resolution 222 of

2024 um and also I am the treasur of the

Harrisburg parks foundation with the

fiduciary for this project we brought

together a bunch of different um

stakeholders and we feel this is uh a

need much needed part for Park in

Allison Hill that doesn't really have

any parks in that area so I again um I

would hope and humbly ask that you

support resolution

2224 thank

you

okay okay good evening everyone I'm

Daniel D Graham 217 North Second Street

here in Harrisburg

PA

and

again we need more railroad

Amtrak longdistance passenger trains

running on present Rail

lines here in Pennsylvania and all all

across the

nation and more

manufacturing jobs here in Harrisburg

and the surrounding

towns and

uh in the latest issue of passenger

train Journal

magazine President Joe Biden has laid

out a long list of Passenger rail

restoration

projects uh in many States including

here in Pennsylvania and all across the

nation uh what I will

just me I will I will mention just a

couple uh one passenger Rail Project

is about

to increasing the frequency of the M

Trak Cardinal longdistance passenger

train which runs from New York City Penn

Station and make stops in Philadelphia

and uh Wilmington Baltimore and

Washington DC and then goes all the way

across to

the then goes all the way then goes all

the way across the state of Virginia on

on that beautiful Virginia Road and then

through West Virginia then runs

overnight to Indi Indianapolis Indiana

then daylight Indianapolis to Chicago

and I rode that and again

I again I went on

beautiful see again last summer in July

I rode that Amtrak Cardinal pass

train first a after I rode the Keystone

train from Harrisburg to Philadelphia

then I rode the Amtrak Cardinal

passenger train from Philadelphia all

the way to Chicago and going on that

beautiful Virginia route

and uh

amre and President Biden and other

people have urged am track to increase

the frequency of the Cardinal passenger

train from 3 days a week to Everyday

operation and I am for that

also and also Amtrak is planning to

restore more trained cars to service

which had had been

sidelined and they are doing repair work

on on more Am track P passenger train

cars and they expect to have all the

train cars re uh I read they expect to

have I read that they expect to have all

the passenger train cars which needed

repairs they expect to have re repaired

and back in service on the train that's

good thank

God and when I rode the train that

Cardinal train last summer in July 20123

we had a full load of passengers on the

train EV every seat was

occupied and any seats that were open

were already reserved for passengers so

again we need more more passenger trains

we need these

uh we need more train cars on the Amtrak

Cardinal passenger

train

and we need to have

that Cardinal passenger train

restored

from increased from three days a week to

Everyday

operation also

another passenger Rail Project that New

Jersey Transit and Amtrak is working on

Resto restoring passenger train service

on the Lac of railroad going from New

York Penn Station and or from Hoboken to

run running all the way across New

Jersey and then across the Pocono

Mountains region here in Pennsylvania as

far west as Granton and uh I read that

President

Biden supports that and many other

passenger rail

projects

and and uh also I

propose a street car rail system to

improve our transit system here in

Harrisburg and vicinity

I propose a a good street car rail

system covering Harrisburg and the

nearby suburbs and I I

I'm here's a casing point in New Orleans

Louisiana they have a beautiful street

car

rail excuse me in New Orleans Louisiana

they have a beautiful street car rail

system going all all the way across the

city and which I rode that those street

car from one end of the line to the

other all the way across the city it's

beautiful and many people ride those

street car street cars in New Orleans

they have they have great success with

their street car rail system

and it's Ser uh the street car rail

system serves the City of New Orleans

very well they have frequent service

that it's a beautiful smooth ride and

beautiful fun

ride and the street car rail system is a

beautiful fun way to travel there in New

Orleans and really see the city and I

rode that street car rail system in New

Orleans in uh June of

20122 yeah beautiful thrilling trip

there on the street car rail system and

I propos the same thing for Harrisburg I

think it would work if it operated right

and managed

right

I I think it would be a success here in

Harrisburg

also

and also more local bus services on the

streets and Roads also here in

Harrisburg and in suburbs too thank you

Mr thank you very much God bless have a

good night thank you thank

you is there anyone else in the middle

section that would like to offer public

comment

seeing and hearing no one anyone to my

left good evening Brian keyling

Midtown so last week was interesting to

say the least uh while not everything

that was said needs to be dignified with

a response a few things came up that

should be addressed first solicitor

Grover told me quote you are not the

only point of view the city hears from

many points of view now that's

interesting because if you go back and

watch two months of recordings of these

Council meetings you only hear one point

of view week after week people have come

before you and urged you to bring this

resolution forward and pass it there's

not been one single dissenting voice so

I would like to thank solicitor Grover

for confirming what my comment suggested

last week about what we already

suspected there are people attempting to

kill this resolution behind the scenes

in the dark

undemocratically and by all indications

it looks like they're being allowed to

get away with that undermining the

voices of the public who not even

overwhelmingly but unanimously told you

that this is what we

support and the fact that this is the

third week in a row of me saying no one

has come forward to publicly object and

no one still has that no one who is

against this feels the need to say so

publicly before getting it killed speaks

volumes about how our local government

really works but it doesn't have to work

that way we can have

transparency second last week I repeated

the point that over 100 in counting

cities and municipalities have passed

ceasefire resolutions without legal

repercussions a point that I reemphasize

again tonight solicitor Grover responded

by telling me that I'm wrong citing an

example of of a congressional committee

issuing a subpoena in response to a

ceasefire resolution that was passed in

New York it is ironic that solicitor

Grover accused us of being selective

with the facts because we looked into

that resolution it has absolutely

nothing to do with a city council

municipality or any other local

government passing anything it is in

fact a resolution that was

democratically passed by a labor union

and when that subpoena went out the ACLU

immediately issued a legal response

because it was a flagrant violation of

those Union Members First Amendment

right to pass that resolution so that

subpoena is immaterial to what we are

trying to accomplish here and as is an

added layer of irony the labor union in

New York that democratically passed that

resolution is a union of

lawyers but the fact of the matter is

all of this is stuff we should be

discussing during a work session panel

once our resolution is on the agenda not

in public comments in response to a

misleading Point made last week by the

city solicitor if solicitor Grover wants

to run for Council and Grill us on the

substance and context ofour resolution

during a work session panel there's an

election next year otherwise he should

focus on his job and let you the elected

officials do your job and bring this

forward so that you can make your

decision not his or the mayor's or

anyone else's decision but yours a

decision which ideally would reflect the

unanimous support you've heard from the

people sadly it's too late for

Harrisburg to be on the Leading Edge of

this issue not after well over a hundred

others beat us to to it but it doesn't

mean we're too late to do it at all you

can still do the right

thing and and I'm going off script but

but when I walked here tonight I passed

the all you can van I saw the picture of

those kids on that van and just for me

personally I got to tell you I am I am

beyond my capacity for the images of

dead children that I have seen in the

last six months it is too much this is

this is maybe largely symbolic although

we believe there are tangible benefits

to passing this for Harrisburg

but but I it's it's too much this is

this is a world

historical travesty so that's all I've

got thank

you is there anyone else to my left that

would like to offer public

[Music]

comment good evening city council Amanda

Arbor Allison Hill

I am going to be reading the content of

this resolution so that it is on the

public record and that the people of

Harrisburg know what it

says a resolution calling for a

ceasefire in Gaza Palestine whereas on

June 3rd 2020 the Harrisburg city

council issued an official statement

affirming its solidarity with the city

of Harrisburg and surrounding

communities against systemic racism and

hatred whereas between October 7th 2023

and March 1st 2024 War milit Israeli

military action against the people of

Gaza killed over 30,000 civilians More

than 70% of which are women and children

whereas in the same time period over 1.9

million gazin many of whom were already

refugees descendants of refugees are

otherwise displaced by Decades of

Israeli military action have been

further displaced by Israeli bombing and

its ground invasion of Gaza whereas the

overwhelming consensus of the

International Community human rights

groups and international bodies is that

nowhere in Gaza is safe due to isra

Israel's military actions whereas

through both their constant bombardment

of G Gaza and their withholding of

access to electricity drinking water

food fuel medical supplies and

humanitarian Aid Israel is engaging in

Collective punishment of the civilian

population of Gaza by definition a war

crime under international law whereas

Gaza is on the brink of famine as a

direct result of Israel's Collective

punishment

whereas the remainder of gaza's

population of 2.3 million people face an

immediate risk of death as long as

Israel's military actions continue

whereas Holocaust and genocide Scholars

human rights groups and legal experts

have stated that acting that Israel is

acting toward the Palestinian people

with clear genocidal intent whereas the

international court of justice the

highest judicial body in the world ruled

that Israel is plausibly committing

genocide against the Palestinian people

and Order Israel to follow provisional

measures that legal experts State

effectively amount to a ceasefire

whereas the city of Harrisburg condemns

all forms of systemic racism Prejudice

and violence and strives to put this

commitment to social justice into

practice whereas as a direct result of

Israel's military action against Gaza

the United States has seen a massive

increase in anti-muslim anti Palestinian

and anti-semitic hate speech whereas

This Racist violence was also committed

in Harrisburg where a gun was point Ed

at Palestinians exercising their rights

to free speech and protest whereas

Harrisburg City council's invocation CA

calls for peace in the Harrisburg

Community whereas members of

harrisburg's Palestinian Community as

well as all residents of conscience are

unable to be at peace physically

emotionally and spiritually while

Palestine remains under military assault

whereas the city of Harrisburg

recognizes the overwhelming

International consensus that the current

humanitarian crisis in Gaza is part of a

much longer History of Violence and forc

displacement and affirms that the root

causes of this violence must be

addressed in order for there to be a

lasting peace whereas the city of

Harrisburg recognizes the overwhelming

International consensus the current

humanitarian crisis in Gaza is part of a

much longer History of Violence and

forced displacement and affirms that the

root causes of this violence must be

addressed in order for there to be a

lasting peace whereas the city of

Harrisburg further recognizes and

affirms its support for the

internationally held principles of

decolonization and the right of

self-determination for all people

whereas in its work for systemic or in

its work to dismantle systemic racism

Harrisburg city council necessarily

takes its direction from black

indigenous and other people of color

bipo whereas bipo Scholars Educators

teachers and act activists from across

the United States and around the world

Define Israel's treatment of

Palestinians as a clear example of

systemic racism in both its design des

and outcome whereas International

organizations such as the Doctors

Without Borders Amnesty International

the United Nations World Health

Organization and US agency for

International Development International

Rescue committee and many many others

have called for an immediate and

permanent ceasefire in order to prevent

the further loss of civilian life and to

be in accordance with international law

thank

[Applause]

you thank you is there anyone else to I

left good evening everyone uh thank you

for serving the city Harrisburg a city

that I came to after 911 everybody

remember that um I came here um to

Harrisburg to support my ex I hate to

interrupt could you please state your

name and my name is naen

Rodriguez um my brother brother

Valentine Rodriguez was a resident of

Harrisburg uh now lives in Virginia

um I served Harrisburg as a transition

coordinator at William pen High School

everybody remember that alternative Ed

CTA it was closed down um that change

took me to Boston for the last 10 years

and so now I'm back in a grandparent

role um I have a a grandson and daughter

um I am back and hearing everybody share

and what Harrisburg um continues to

struggle with um I've seen firsthand

because I'm a resident of the area of

Cumberland and sasas so drugs alcohol

still prevalent in the city you know

affecting our families our children I

also teach um now at pH steam Academy

downtown um so very emotional very

connected to the area I was the cpool

you know basketball mom for many years

both my daughters went to Harrisburg

School District um graduated um they

college graduates now in their careers

um so I'm back I think there's a purpose

you know there's a reason I'm back here

there's a reason I was here today to

hear what you all are doing in

Harrisburg um and I'm hoping to connect

with uh Tri County um I'm also

indigenous um

I'm Dino uh I'm connected to wak people

of mash Cape um and so there's so much I

think Harrisburg has great potential um

I think we need people that are in city

council and judges that are really truly

invested in Harrisburg I think we need

to see more young people that graduated

from Harrisburg um here and and to help

the city um move forward and progress I

feel like there's a heel on Harrisburg

and I still it's I still see it um crack

was a huge

um it made a huge impact on our city now

we're dealing with opiate you know with

Heroin

addiction the women's shelters still you

know flooded with um

families uh there's so much uh so I will

be back to City Council meetings um I

think this is just the F very first

um I think there's going to be a lot

that I'm going to come back and share my

problem I feel like it's trivial

compared to everything else that's going

on

um BEC in in moving to uh Cumberland

Street uh I've collected a lot of

tickets parking is horrible um this in

in returning to Harrisburg I was dealing

with my mother having Alzheimer's and

Dementia and she was in York

Pennsylvania so a lot of times I

commuted

um to return back no parking at 8:00

7:00 6:00 in the evening you can't get a

judge in their offices during the week

or even in the evenings when you can

attend a meeting and I come from a city

of New York where there's millions of

people and judges meet you when they

they're available all day all day and

evening you know they accommodate you 4

5 6 in the evening after work so you

don't have to miss a day of work um so

I'm I'm here for that reason um I want

to speak to someone regarding that I

know for me my area it's judge Panka so

I'm calling on them Administration

whoever can help with this problem um it

has to be addressed they eliminated in

The restoration of downtown they

eliminated parkings yet they're building

dwellings like the one for Salvation

Army that's going to create more traffic

and more parking issues so I need to

speak to someone or if you can just

direct me to who I need to bring my

situation to I would appreciate it um so

invest I'm ready to invest in Harrisburg

ready to be here you know and make a

difference

um and that's it thank you again if you

wouldn't mind saying just a few minutes

after the meeting to talk to our Public

Safety chair councilman Jones okay

awesome thank you thank

you is there anyone else to my

left hello uh Gabriel gavara I live in

Midtown on Penn Street um picking up in

the ceasefire resolution where Amanda

left

off whereas leaders across all major

faiths including Islam Judaism

Christianity and many more have likewise

called for an immediate ceasefire in

Gaza as have National and Global

organizations representing adherence of

these religions and others whereas

Israel's occupation of Palestinian land

and its military aggression against the

Palestinian people is made possible

through the enormous financial and

Military Support provided to Israel by

the United States support which at the

same time deprive Americans and

disproportionately bipac Americans of

resources that could otherwise be used

to meet their urgent needs whereas

polling consistently shows that a

majority of Americans across all Races

religions and major political party

affiliations support a ceasefire and

want to see the United States leverage

its diplomatic relationships to prevent

further violence and civilian deaths

whereas the United States possesses

immense diplomatic and economic leverage

with which it could put an end to

Israel's military aggression now

therefore be it and it he it is hereby

resolved by the Council of the city of

Harrisburg that it decrees systemic

racism and acts to the full extent of

its cap capacity to dismantle systemic

racism not only within its own

boundaries but wherever it may have

influence be it further resolved the

city of Harrisburg calls for an

immediate and permanent ceasefire be it

further resolved the city of Harrisburg

jours joins over 70 other US cities and

calling for the unrestricted the

unrestricted entry of humanitarian Aid

into Gaza the restoration of electricity

food water fuel and medical supplies to

Gaza the respect of an adherence to

international law by all parties the

safe return of all hostages and

prisoners held in Gaza and Israel a just

solution that upholds the principles of

decol

decolonization and

self-determination the secession of all

Israeli activity that deprives the

Palestinian people of Dignity Health and

the means to life be it further resolved

the city of Harrisburg affirms its

status as a welcoming Community for

people of all faiths and and of no

religious faith of all Races ethnicities

and backgrounds and encourages

Harrisburg residents to continuously

learn about and combat systemic racism

and prejudices be it further resolved

the city of Harrisburg commits to stop

enabling Israel's war on Palestinians by

no longer purchasing products or

services from companies with proven

records of complicity and Israel's

treatment of the Palestinian people and

by encouraging the resident of

Harrisburg to do the same be it further

resolved the city of Harrisburg calls on

our Senators and representatives the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the

federal government to uphold the will of

the people and call for the same as

above and be it finally resolved the

city of Harrisburg will send a copy of

this resolution to city councils in the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to those of

other cities and to the tribal nations

with which the Harrisburg Council has a

pre-ex existing relationship and to the

offices of our Dolphin County

Commissioners our governor our US

senators and representatives and our US

president and vice president thank

[Applause]

you thank you is there anyone else to my

left that would like to offer public

comment okay seeing and hearing no one

we will move forward with our meeting

agenda next we have the approval of

minutes for the legislative session that

occurred on March 26th 2024 council

members are there any revisions to those

minutes seeing and hearing none the

minutes stand approved we will now move

to reports of committees I will deliver

the first report on behalf of the

administration committee on the work

session of April 2nd

2024 on Tuesday April 2nd 2024 the

administration committee met to receive

the first orderly reports of

2024 from the Bureau of Information

Technology and the Bureau of

communications Mr Steve bortner director

of the Bureau of Information Technology

was present to share the quarterly

report his presentation began with a

description of the bureau highlights

included the following

867 help Des tickets were completed

operation Municipal migration project

updates were shared there are 40

employees who are actively working on

the project and they have spent a total

of

7,073 hours working on it the bureau has

begun to work on their annual goals

there were no significant deviations

from the planned budget in reference to

the year-to-date spend there were no

special projects or grants no open

positions uh Nathan grumbine deputy

director participated in a segment of 10

questions produced by the Bureau of

communications council members asked

questions related to to the operation

Municipal migration phases consulting

services in the city's capacity to

address a recent zoning code Amendment

related to electronic notices Mr Matt

mael director of the Bureau of

communications was present to share the

quarterly report he began his

presentation with a description of the

bureau

highlights included the following 39

videos were produced totaling

16,500 views the city's 311 help desk

helped solve 210

tickets um they reviewed annual goals uh

a company based in Troy Michigan named

revised has been hired to redesign the

city's website the communications Bureau

has spent 22.9 % of its budget to date

The Bureau has begun to work on uh their

annual goals as I mentioned there are no

vacancies Mr mael shared a number of

events the bureau has assisted with

during the first quarter council members

asked questions related to the company

that was chosen uh for the city's

website redesign Channel 20 programming

and updates on the Comcast agreement

this concludes the report rep of the

administration committee the next

committee report you will hear will be

shared uh by chair Davis on behalf of

the building and housing committee on

the work session of April 2nd

2024 chair Davis thank you president

Bowers during the work session on April

2nd

2024 director Denise Hill shared the

quarterly report for the Bureau of

Business Development for the building

and housing department

director Hill reviewed the

description of the Department of

dbhd oversight of four main funded

programs the lead cdbg the ESG and the

home program director Hill discussed the

quarterly summary and some achievements

number one there were three applications

that have been receed for the home

program also five programs were

appropriated under resolution 7

-224 for the arpa funds some annual

goals were also discussed highlighted is

the temporary structure for the Broad

Street Market is underway and should be

opening soon to the public also

donations have been coming in to support

the stone building the Capital Area

Coalition on homelessness winter

overnight shelter will be forthcoming

with its numbers to show how many

individuals and families were served the

year to date spend for January 1st to

March 31st 2024 was reviewed with

Council and director Hill reminded

council members about special projects

and grants noted and noted the grant for

the blueprint communities is to

collaborate about upgrades in the AL

Allison Hill Community also the choice

neighborhood planning Grant the early

action

project which is a $500,000 Grant the

implementation Grant was also discussed

the coordination with the county home

ARP application was also discussed and

reviewed no Staffing changes took place

over the last quarter and council

members were given ample opportunity to

ask questions this concludes my report

for the building and housing committee

thank you thank you the final committee

report you will hear this evening will

be shared by chair Jones on behalf of

the Public Safety Committee on the work

session of April 2nd

2024 chair Jones Thank You president

Bowers um this is very short got a short

one

today on April 2nd 2000 um April 2nd

2024 the Public Safety Committee work

session was held where we discussed

resolution 20 of

2024 resolution 20 of

2024 uh reads as follows a resolution

ratifying the 2023 Federal Justice

assistance grants application and

authorizing the city of Harrisburg to

enter into a subsequent agreement for

Dolphin County to administer 6159420189

resolution 20 of

2024 uh my colleague my colleagues had

no questions I did ask uh DC Young was

there a was this a recurring Grant um he

stated that it was um I also asked was

there a current replacement for uh

Katherine Katherine Kilgore of the

criminal justice Advisory Board

administrator uh she was she has

currently resigned and was a major part

of the grant writing process to date um

no one has currently filled her position

however they are currently looking for

someone to fill it um that ends

no yes that that doesn't end my

report I would like I would like to ask

that uh resolution 2024 be moved to our

next legis legislative session and I'll

also ask my colleagues to vote yay on

this resolution for it would continue to

fund the victim uh witness assistance

program advocates to better serve the

residents of all local M municipalities

wherever needed um and that ends my

report thank you very

much um we do not have any ordinances

for first reading ordinances for

Amendment or ordinances for final

passage we will move to resolutions the

first resolution for consideration is

resolution 20 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

into the record yes resolution 20 of

2024 a resolution ratifying the 2023

Federal Justice assistance grant

application 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 council members are

there any questions comments or concerns

related to resolution 20 of 20

24 seeing and hearing none Mr Parker

could you please call the

vote Miss

Daniels loser Miss

Davis

yes Miss

green Mr Jones

yay M RS

yes Mr Rodriguez yes

and misss Bowers

yes resolution 20 of 2024 passes with a

vote of five Ys to zero Nays including

two

absences thank you next we have

resolution 21 of 2024 Mr Parker could

you please read it into the record

yes resolution 21 of

2024 a resolution authorizing the city

of Harrisburg to negotiate and enter

into a Professional Services agreement

with revised software systems for the

purpose of redesigning upgrading and

hosting the website for the city of

Harrisburg thank you resolution 21 of

2024 will move to the administration

committee next we have resolution 22 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

into the record yes resolution 22 of

2024 a resolution ratifying the

submission of a Grant application to the

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation

and natural resources for the purpose of

developing a natural Green Spa uh

greencape Park to be known as the

Swatara Street Park thank you resolution

22 of 2024 will move to the parks

recreation and enrichment committee next

we have resolu resolution 23 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

into the record yes resolution 23 of

2024 a resolution of the Council of the

city of Harrisburg authorizing and

appointing Austin Griffin deputy

director of Public Works as the city of

harrisburg's design need to execute any

forms documents contracts and

reimbursement agreements in the

Pennsylvania Department of

Transportation

electronic engineering and construction

management system and reimbursement

Agreement System thank you resolution 23

of 2024 will move to the public works

committee next resolution 24 of

2024 Mr Parker could you please read it

into the record yes resolution 24 of

2024 a resolution approving 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 thank you

resolution 24 of 20124 will move to the

budget and finance committee our last

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 SL 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

improvements thank you resolution 25 of

2024 will move to the community and

economic development committee is there

any old Business Council

Members seeing and hearing none new

business councilwoman

RS thank you president BS and good

evening to our guest in person and

online I just want to give you some

updates on what's happening in the Berg

this week and weekend to start off um

extreme Hip Hop uh starts Thursdays and

will go from April 11th to May 9th it

will be at Reservoir Park pavilion from

6: to 7 p.m. you can register

registration is

required um at the Harrisburg doel help

des.com um excuse me

the flyer for excuse me also um don't

forget that there is watercolor painting

class going on um presented by The Parks

and Recreation Department of Harrisburg

um that is on Wednesdays from 11:00 a.m.

to 12:00 p.m. it started March 6 and

it's still going on until April 25th and

once again you can find more information

about that on the Harrisburg um website

under Parks and Recreation there is a

flyer for you to view um there will be a

five a free registration for a 5K run

and walk which is a fundraiser for Gaza

um it is on it's starting at City Island

it is Saturday April 13th from 12:30 to

3:30 p.m. you can find more information

about this event at Harrisburg Palestine

Coalition on

Instagram also um some other things

going on don't forget you can buy

tickets to see Charlie in the Chocolate

Factory

the play runs from Thursday April 11th

to Sunday April 14th and the play and

the play will take place at at stage

which is at 25 North Court Street um and

you can purchase tickets at PA

onstage. there are also a few events

happening at the Harrisburg Midtown Arts

Center also known as hmac this weekend

such as performances by struggle

Jennings and bro mapine I do not know

either one of them but I'd be interested

Ed to know who those performers are

thank you and that's it for me thank you

councilman

Rodriguez thank you madam president just

as a reminder Hotpot Saturdays is making

its return this Saturday April 13th we

are focusing on the camp curtain section

of the city this Saturday we can meet up

um for whoever's interested they can

meet up at the uh North 6 in Camp Street

section that Corridor is right near the

YMCA and we will depart from 10: to

12:00 doing a cleanup in that area to

mitigate illegal dumping um that will

take place all the way through September

so if you're interested in any of the

cleanups feel free to reach out to R

Rodriguez at Harrisburg pa.gov or

71755

72045 and also as a reminder April 27

from 10: to 12 at the farm show arena

complex and Forum we will have a Civics

and me engagement just to have a more

aware uh citizens Forum where we'll have

one um individual from each part of our

government just going over where to file

your grievances what their office does

and how they could offer more assistance

to our residents and finally uh just

another reminder that May 22nd we will

return with the parent task force um

that is right here at Harrisburg city

council chambers that usually starts at

5:30 and uh concludes around 700 p.m.

that is in Partnership and collaboration

with the Harrisburg School District so

many great things to get involved with

so get in touch with any of your council

members and see how you to can play Your

Role thank you madam president thank you

is there any other new

business okay seeing and hearing none

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

motion to

adjourn so moved is there a second I

second that thank you we stand a journ