Harrisburg City Council Work Session - 01/21/2025

the time is 5:32 p.m. I would like to

call our work session to

order Mr trusdale would you please call

the

role Miss

Daniels

here Miss Davis presentent Miss green

present Mr Jones here Miss Rose present

Mr Rodriguez present Miss Bowers present

thank you we do not have a long agenda

so everybody please pay attention and

we'll try to get through this quite

expeditiously so I'll begin with the

administration committee we have one

resolu ution for discussion that's

resolution three of 2025 Mr trusdale

could you please read it into the record

resolution 3 2025 a resolution

authorizing the city of Harrisburg to

negotiate and enter into a Professional

Services agreement with haon

interpreting Services LLC to provide

sign language interpreting

Services thank you uh this is a

resolution that city council requested

to be redrafted for the new year um I

did want to share some of the the

statistics from last year with houseon

interpreting Services LLC uh Who

provided sign language interpretation

for 15 legislative session meetings for

a total of 32 hours and a total of $

5,744

181 there is one additional invoice from

November 26th

2024 that we have not yet received but

we are expecting it um in the contract

just to note uh we pay mileage for the

interpreters to come to um the site and

meetings two hours and over require two

interpreters so you you generally see

two interpreters

um going back and forth and present

during our legislative session meetings

so that's generally how it's been going

are there any questions related to this

resolution council

members okay seeing and hearing none I

move to add resolution three of 2025 to

our next legislative session for a

vote the next committee business you

will hear this evening will come from

the budget and finance committee I will

defer to our budget and finance

committee chair vice president green to

lead disc discussion thank you president

Bowers uh we will be discussing

resolution 2 of 2025 uh if the budget

and finance committee or bu budget and

finance uh Department could come to the

table please uh the resolution is a

resolution authorizing the city of

Harrisburg to negotiate and enter into a

Professional Services agreement with

Boer and Ritter LLC to perform the city

of harrisburg's annual audit and

financial report for the year ending

December 31st 2023 in an addendum to the

Professional Services agreement related

to the 2022 annual

audit thank

you when you're ready if you could just

introduce yourself and give us a brief

overview uh yes uh good evening everyone

uh thank you president Bowers thank you

chair green um Brian McCutchen

accounting manager for the city and as

mentioned the

resolution uh before you tonight

2-202 there's two parts to it and the

way it's laid out in in your packet I

believe is the first part is the the

audit Enga proposed audit engagement

letter for the city's Financial audit uh

of

2023 um and well before before I start

with that I just want to mention to

joining us tonight uh with me uh here

for their presence the city uh recently

uh filled the banking position of

finance director so it's uh Mr Robert

kenck Is Here uh for for the city's

Finance team uh newly arrived and then

also from our audit firm of Boyer and

Ritter uh we have uh Matthew wierson uh

CPA he's the principal lead Auditor in

charge uh working with with me and our

finance team and he oversees the um uh

the the progress of the audit and and of

course supervises his staff that

communicate with

me so again for

20123 uh the engagement letter is before

you and it's it's it's detailed in

length as to uh what it breaks out

primarily what the city's

responsibilities are and what the

auditor's responsibilities are when it

comes to performing the annual Financial

audit

um and the um as far as the uh bring it

for before you tonight relates to it's

you know a contract and it needs to be

reviewed and uh uh V voted upon by city

council um on page seven of the uh

engagement letter includes the fees and

costs associated with conducting the

audit and for the 2023 audit uh the the

annual fee proposed is

$119,800 for for that fiscal

year

um I think uh as far as continuing an

approach on discussion here chair green

if if you uh wanted to comment or review

on any uh any of the content or or or

ask any questions related to the content

I can I can pause right

now um right now I don't have many

questions I guess uh you already went

over the amount that it would be this

would be for just for the year 2023

correct uh correct um I see here the

supplement you gave us also shows a

proposed amount for 2024 but we don't

have anything for that yet right uh not

not as part of this resolution uh uh uh

Mr wierson did provide uh very recently

an engagement letter for the 2024 audit

but for now we're we're we're working

with 2023 and also uh you know

completing the 22 audit which is nearing

uh its conclusion

right okay and um just for my

edification we've been with Boer and

Ritter since about 2019 start that yes

starting with the 2019 audit is when

they uh began their services with the

city okay and how often do we usually

review over uh our audit uh contracts um

I know like every so many years it's

like good practice to look at different

Auditors put out of RFP so where are we

with that that process as well um for an

extended period we we utilize The Firm

of Meer duel that did the annual audit

for several years beginning with the

2019 audit we we did what you just

described uh a three-year RFP process

was uh initiated by the city's audit

committee and they uh recommended Boer

and Ritter for the 2019 2020 and 2021

audits uh within that um RF P was the to

give the city uh the option of extending

that RFP uh for two years two one-year

extensions which which we have done uh

for the

2020 uh 2022 year and also what's before

you tonight for

2023 okay thank you that's all the

questions I have at this moment and

Madam chair just there is the exhibit

other exhibits of this document is an

addendum to the 2022 audit for

additional expenses so there is uh which

is new which is new you have the prior

agreement in front of you as one of the

exhibits an addendum because of the

increased work that had to occur over

time and then the proposal for the new

one okay thank you for clearing that up

um and so the addendum is a $28,000

modification yes okay um and so looking

at looking at that and then looking at

the proposed amount for 2023 are we

confident that we don't that we won't

need that extra modification as well in

the future if so is that something we've

reviewed over um to make sure we don't

find oursel in the same situation yeah

yeah that's that's the intent um the um

and this is the second part of course of

of tonight's resolution uh the handout

that that Jared distributed for me uh

reflects a summarized history of audit

fees and and and again it's it's laid

out back when at the starting point of

where where Myer Myer doel left off

and for

2022 you can see the

$145,000 almost

$146,000 includes the the $28,000

request proposed modification fee um and

to to answer your question that the

following year the 2023 it's it's it's a

lower fee but that is yes in

anticipation of being more efficient in

conducting and Performing uh in

preparation for what the Auditors need

to to review uh one thing I'd like to do

is involve uh the city's uh financial

analyst that we have on staff certainly

more uh to to assist with the audit

preparation um the reasoning behind the

the the ask for the

$28,000 increase and again that's that's

based on um uh Matt's review and his his

team's uh adjustment based on the the

availability of the work that we

provided as far as being prepared for

the audit you start the audit and you

want to get them all of the files and

all of the necessary documentation so

they can timely uh expedite the

performance of the audit efficiently

without any without too many stops and

starts along the way um with with that

in mind um there there were numerous

reasons and and it's not it's not coming

from the the auditor's independent side

it's more it's coming from from my

office's side or or or or me in

particular um you the three main things

that occurred that created the stops and

the starts and what what that does is it

impedes um the auditor scheduling

because again Matt supervises his staff

he coordinates that as to their

availability and we we tell him oh we

can get or we can upload all our

documentation by a certain date in

anticipation of them being unveil aable

to to complete their their

procedures uh 2023 in particular was the

onset of the new Financial system the uh

the munus system the

Erp which created its own stops and

starts along the way for for for myself

and various staff within the city coming

to to grips uh W with the new functions

and processes of that

system uh also during that time and

still currently as you know we the the

the main main frame system is still in

effect and the coding is is different as

far as what we utilize in in munus we we

were required or we we had to change

coding on some of our funds just because

of the functionality of the system so

there still is that ongoing process of

recording information from the Treasury

System which is utilizing the the old

mainframe system coding wise we have to

remember that for example the general

fund in the main frame is fund 01

whereas in munus it's it's fund 10 that

sounds very simple but when you apply it

to the various budget units it's it's

just an ongoing tracking

process um also during late 23 and early

2024 uh I I I was tasked with doing more

Finance director like task on on a

reporting on an oversight reporting

basis three main things uh uh budget

reporting overseen by uh by by city

council uh more more input into that

process more responsibility for

reporting to our oversight board the the

I the intergo intergovernmental

cooperation Authority and The Five-Year

Plan to develop

that and then also recently uh the

finalization of working out the received

uh American Rescue plan act funds and

how we manage that and then also the on

going reporting process that's required

for federal

compliance and then of course as you

know during 2024 the city was without

two key managerial positions in finance

namely uh the the business administrator

and then uh the fats director um so it

did slow me in in in that terms to be

able to provide borer and Ritter what

they needed to avoid them from stopping

and starting and then having to go back

and and reassess oh what

um you know to pick up where we left off

and and and where we are where we were

and how much was completed at certain

points in

time so that that's my uh my thoughts or

explanation on that leads up to this uh

requested additional fee increase for

the 20120 uh to audit which by the way

it's it's not finalized but the the the

statements are in draft form and we're

working this week to schedule an audit

committee meeting before to occur before

the end of this month to finalize the

concurrence and review of of of that

Financial audit and then of course we we

will be moving right into our 2023 audit

preparation to uh uh make make good

Headway leading up to that particular

audit thank you thank you very much um I

don't have any further questions at this

time I'm going to open it up to my

colleagues I'll start to my far right

with councilwoman Daniels

no questions for me thank you thank you

councilwoman Davis good evening no

questions for me thank you for your work

y thank

you thank you president Bowers I don't

have any questions thank you thank you

councilwoman Ross thank you and good

evening I don't have any questions but

thank

you thank you councilman Rodriguez thank

you madam chair thank you director

McCutchen for joining us always

informative thank you for that um I have

no questions right thank you much thank

you and councilman Jones any questions

uh yeah I think I'll break the monotony

simple question how are you today uh

doing well doing well yes no further

question thank

you I'm much better than I was say five

minutes ago no further questions thank

you for your work and Madam chair Ju

Just Just for the public consumption um

the audit committee is one of the rare

ones that is a committee of the city

council you have the appointments um and

their ultimate answer is to you um the

uh and the city ordinance does have a

recommendation in it that every at least

every five years the committee evaluate

the ordinance uh and the process by

which we bring in uh an auditor um so

we're on that cusp right now uh and I

would encourage the budget chair to go

to the next audit committee meeting if

you can um because I think that they

have very clear points of view uh on

what the process should be

thank you very much Mr

Grover um I don't think we have any

further questions I'm going to recommend

this be on our next legislative agenda

thank you very good uh thank you all

appreciate it thank

you the next committee excuse me the

next committee business comes from the

building and housing committee I would

defer to our building and housing

committee chair councilwoman Davis to

lead the

discussion thank you president Bowers is

there someone here okay here we go good

evening good evening the building and

housing resolution for this evening is

resolution

1-22 a resolution allocating the

remaining emergency solution grants

program funds from the United States

Department of Housing and Urban

Development for fiscal year 2021 and

authorizing EXP expend of such funds

ratifying the expenditure of Grant

Administration cost and extending the

subrecipient agreements until March 31st

2025 could you introduce yourself see

yes uh Sam sakoski business

administrator thank you Mr Sosi and good

evening good evening to you okay I had

an opportunity to review this um

resolution and I did have one a couple

of questions so the ESG funds for fiscal

years 2020

2021 initiated with a balance of

$334,800

in which

$167,600 was allocated for 2021

and then the other

$167,100 was allocated for

2020

2021 okay so remaining we have

[Music]

$5,595 55,57

but when I did the calculation I came up

with

5,539 so I'll let you take a look at

that and are you on page uh one of the

resolution

um let's

see I am on

line

six so let me see if I can open it up

here my

computer okay um I'm sorry what was

that okay look at line 60 please line

six or 60 I did note in my notes Here

line

60 Mr

SMI so I believe the remaining is 5

55,000 539 instead of

55529

okay I didn't do the mass so you could

be right um but the basic premise of

this is that there was money

appropriated in March of

2021 um for or and uh I think the total

appropriation was in the neighborhood of

$112,000 there was

55,500 something dollars still left over

that was

unappropriated so what this resolution

does is it finally appropriates that

money for four

things okay they appropriate

appropriating $1,461

uh for administrative fees or

administrative

cost that administrative cost is

actually from 2019 that was never

appropriated so we're catching up 2019

with with with a Hut appropriation in

this Grant from

2021 how much is it Mr s Fe

10,461 01 is what's being administ is is

being appropriated for administrative

cost okay that goes to towards

offsetting um salaries right okay okay I

have to pull this up on my phone now I

didn't realize I couldn't see

it

okay the other three

Appropriations goes to in the amounts of

15,000 well in the resolution says

$22.67 goes to

CCU 15,22

66 cents goes to the

YWCA CCU Christian churches United

yeah Christian churches United

that's and Mr sski I did see the

allocations but one question I had is

out of the

allocations um the capitol area

Coalition of homelessness was not

included this time and I'm just

wondering well they're warning to

three recipients from prior monies so

these are already

three um recipients they're just adding

to those

Appropriations right and they were uh

allocated money the first time and I was

just wondering why they weren't

allocated any of this why they weren't

allocated at that time no this

time so well I think they just now

became aware that there was was was not

appropriated in 2019 the 10,

4611 and in

20121 the other the other

monies were not appropriated I mean part

of the 164 167 was appropriated but not

the entire amount and Madam chair we can

get you an answer to this I think she's

saying it's a fourth organization that

received money before that isn't in this

they receive this other subot because

they're the de designated whatever

there's there's an acronym for it um and

part of our money is simply a pass

through and that's what catches they

don't even have to apply for it there's

a pot within the federal funds that they

get for coordinating homeless uh things

and and you a chart a a charart what is

I can't remember the acronym for it but

but it's a but but there's a certain

organization designated like the

equivalent yeah I just can't get the

name off the top of but but we can get

you the clarification but they would not

have been a subrecipient where they

apply

they're we are simply a pass through to

them because they're the only qualified

entity for the money they got as the

original part so this is the money that

was left over for subrecipients as

opposed to that pass through portion of

the money okay so that explains why the

Capital Area Coalition of homelessness

received money an allocation the first

round right and but out of a out of a

particular part of the pot that's

they're the only ones who can have it I

understand now thank you for that

clarification okay so currently CCU

Shalom House and the

YCA is included in the ratification of

this next set of funds okay thank you

the other question I have before I open

questioning up to my colleagues is do

the organizations have the same uh have

to meet the same

qualifications each round of funding do

they have to meet the same

qualifications

um so that's a fairly that's a depends

answer and that they meant the

qualifications when they applied and I

don't know that anyone went back and

said because it's for that same fiscal

year that's when they had to be eligible

um if there's information there's

something different about the

organization now that's I'm unaware of

that I'm not saying that's not possible

but but each time they come in for a new

fiscal year they have to meet the app

Meet the uh the conditions at that time

so this is an older fiscal year where

they were already qualified and

pre-qualified and all they're trying to

do is divide up the remaining money so

they don't have to give it back to the

federal government that's what they're

trying to trying to do okay so so when

they come back around to try to um

distribute the remaining money do they

have to again show that they have

insurances I would say that to be

requalified to what was it re-qualify to

re-qualify so in other words do they

have to provide so if in other words if

you're going to 2023 or 20124 they'd

have to reapply and be reconsidered okay

so currently they don't have to supply

any type of documentation they can just

considered to well they awarded the

money in

2021 so they were the three places that

got awarded money so we just

reappropriated at that time which was

the 55,000

right right giv each one of them one

third of that money okay so it wasn't

allocated at that time right so they're

just coming back to to allocate the

money to them and they don't have to

re-qualify or anything okay provide any

documentation or anything they just no

they provided the documentation at that

at that time at the beginning so when

you guys voted on in March of 22 they

were fully qualified at that time and

went through that process okay okay and

in between March 22 and now they would

have been providing the documentation of

how they're using the money that was

previously awarded to them so there's

like an ongoing working relationship

between dbhd and the recipient so they

have so that would that's how they got

to the three entities to do it because

they're still working with them on the

prior money so so I I missed that so

you're saying that they don't have to

reapply for this money this this is not

this is the same thing but they have an

ongoing working relationship basically

the city got down to and I can't tell

you what the thinking was when they did

the appropriation because they could

have awarded it then to the

subrecipients uh that in order not to

send the money back to the federal

government you have till March there's

three contracts that exist which you can

addend with three qualified entities

that have an ongoing relationship

because they're they report on the money

we already gave them on an ongoing basis

so is this part of the and I don't mean

to jump in but I'm just trying to follow

along here with um this is some of the

money where they had some of the

conflict at right no money not that I

know these are not the three that I know

of different

year so we had so that was 22 and 23

that's is 21 okay all right I'm just

trying to make sure yeah yeah it is a

who's on first kind of thing so it just

is and that's what I'm saying though

because if if it's being uh reissued or

or or allocated to them and and you're

saying that they don't have to to so so

the difference is that for the 22 23

when the issue came up there people that

had the issues they they ended up not

getting a contract there's already a

contract with each of these entities to

serve out of this pot of money for that

fiscal year so yeah I'll wait to ask I

think she made it okay thank you so okay

so does do the organizations have to

match again with this Al new allocation

so for example CCU is now getting um

15,000 do they need to come up with a

match I think that was one of the

qualifications the first time the with

the first allocation do they need to

come up with a

match this time around uh I don't know

the answer to that question I can get

you to answer to that

question yeah I'm just trying to

understand sure what that's a that's a

very it's a very good question I just I

don't know the answer sitting here to to

that question do you Mr Sakowski I

didn't realize

I no I didn't ask that question so I

don't have an answer to it either and

you have my document so I can't read it

so okay at this time I'll open up for

questions I'll start with to my right um

councilwoman Daniels do you have any

questions yes so my understanding is

that we have a limited period to spend

down

uh different funds so is this out of the

period because these are 2021 funds we

have until um

March 31st of

2025 to spend

them so there so it is it is under time

constraint yeah can you give me like the

statute or the regulations that allows

for such a long period because my

understanding was the maximum was two

years

that was provided to the workout plan

submitted by um yeah I yeah I would like

the regulation that says that we can

extend that that this use is permissible

that that the funds that were're we're

allowed to use the funds outside of a

two-year period I mean the regulation

might say that we could use the funds

within a fiveyear period or six I would

just like to see the regulation that

says that I'll have to defer that to the

law Bureau yeah that would be great so I

there's a regulation but then I think on

top of that there is an an extension

letter which HUD issued which is what

set the March 31st date but I I can get

you both of those things yes please sure

and I think that's it for me thank

you thank you councilwoman Daniels vice

president green

questions um not not really many

questions just um any idea why why it

took so long I guess you know like why

it took so long for us to get to this

point um I think it was just discovered

that that was not the 55,000 was not

appropriated so I don't think it I think

it was just a recent discovery to tell

you the truth okay all right well that's

interesting that's the only question I

have right now thank

you thank you president

Bowers thank you uh many of my questions

have been asked and answered but I just

have two so it was just discovered who

made this disc Discovery and who is able

to answer these questions would that be

the interim director of building and

housing or someone

else

um I don't think she's the one that

actually found it I think was one her

one of her assistants in her office that

did so I'll have to and when did she

just make this discovery if there were

no if we don't know the regulations that

councilwoman Daniel at Daniel's

requested to see and then we don't know

when the letter was issue the extension

letter so the regulation is a two-year

window the question is from when to when

and then there was I know there were

applications made to HUD we don't

participate in those out of our office

but and that HUD gave answers to them

that response is what triggered a

request our office to to create

addendums to the contract okay which we

then advise had to come back to the

council under the plan La language or

the prior resolution which said addendum

so any any additional allocation has to

come back to the council so there is

there is a trail I just don't sitting

here I don't have the trail with me okay

so okay well I think if we could please

share the trail or the timeline and

identify the dates when the discovery

was made who made the discovery

and the additional

HUD timeline yeah we'll coordinate with

the business administration and dbhd to

get the council what it needs okay thank

you I don't have any other questions

thank

you councilwoman R thank you um

councilwoman Davis um I have the same

questions especially since the money was

just um discovered just kind of what is

the

regulation um where's the extension

letter just to make sure we're um

following all the correct procedures

when it comes to um allocating this

money my second question

um was I was just kind of just a little

bit confused on um why there wasn't

maybe uh another application process for

maybe other entities to request this

money or why I did hear um solicitor

Grover explain that these um certain

entities receive the money because they

already have a working relationship um

with the city and receiving the money

and I do understand that but then once

new money was discovered

I was just wondering why maybe there

wasn't a way to um kind of spread the

wealth you would say and see if other um

company I don't want to say companies

but resources in the city who may also

need the same type of money who help the

same um individuals or population could

also apply for that money so that would

do you have that answer I just don't

think you actually have the time to do

that because if you have to spend it

down in six weeks

how you going go through a process to to

screen anybody to award it that's going

to take longer you're just going to have

to turn the money back over because

you're not going to have time to go

through a process like that so the the

quickest way to to comply with this was

to award it to already people are

already cleared of that process okay and

these are the only individuals that are

cleared those are the three that for

that particular year that were cleared

okay thank you no you're welcome okay

I'm done

thank you councilman Rodriguez thank you

madam chair um thank you for joining us

this evening you're welcome uh do we

know if the entities had entered their

annual action plan um previous to August

16th of

21 I don't know that answer because I

didn't ask that question okay I just I'm

just reading from the uh resolution

itself where whereas the 2021 act annual

action plan has been completed made

available for public comment and was

submitted and approved by city council

for Harrisburg and so is consideration

therefore the council does now make an

ordain the following enactment um but it

also does say actual plan is approved

strive to meet

the pretty much um stating if they

didn't have that plan in they would

pretty much lose the allocation but then

line 62 of uh the same documents says

use of any unallocated funding in will

requ require a separate allocation and

Council approval so that's why perhaps

this body was thinking there would be a

separate uh procedure or process to

allocate this specific unallocated

funding this is the separate for

entities though because because of the

clock okay the action plan is the city's

action plan which the council did vote

on and that's that you get the fiveyear

plan and the one-year plan okay and so

then you have to meet the goals that are

stated in the five year plan and show in

each one-year plan you're doing it so

these entities were identified then in

this process as being able to satisfy

Our obligation Under The Five-Year Plan

and the annual plan okay so these

entities would be in compliance they

were and this again goes to the 2021

money and the standard or what they get

what measured against is not now but

when the money was awarded by the

federal government okay okay and I mean

to your point of it'd be difficult to

put together a procedure within the 4

to6 we agree and these are some things

we've echoed time and time again when we

were given something that was done in a

four-week two week three we process so

we similarly Echo your statements as

well um but I have no further questions

Madam chair thank

you thank you councilman Jones yes um my

question is uh I don't even know if it's

for you um some of the question that

were asked by my colleagues you you

pretty much couldn't answer like when

was this uh money rediscovered

uh so to speak it was recent I just

don't know the exact date right so what

I mean is there a reason why the

director in that department is not

here is there a reason for that I mean

because we have questions and I think we

owe um our residents a clear and concise

understanding of where because there

were a lot of complaints about this cdbg

money so I think that someone has to

answer these questions and um versus

emails and stuff like that I think these

are sessions for us to share with our

public U what's going on so hopefully at

some point the director will come in

front of council um this we've been

requesting the director to come several

times to no avail um but we do need

these questions answers for our public

so I really won't bombard you with many

because I know you don't really have uh

the answers to some of the things that

we are seeking but hopefully we can get

the director down here at some point and

I have no further questions Madam chair

may I I just have one yes go ahead um

would you be able to just give a brief

overhaul on what would go into the grant

Administration fees because that fee

alone at 104 is pretty much as much as a

grant at 15 or

1522 um what would all go into those

fees my understanding is it's

predominant

salaries okay so the salary for the

grant writer or for the employees in

that department okay

okay interesting that portion is a

ratification if you know if you look at

the language of this one it's a

ratification because in they had

underestimated as I understand that the

the amount of administrative Cost U

there's a percentage they allow and and

we were under but they actually then

have to report the time and work that

they do on the HUD reporting and so they

had not put enough in the original

budget so the money was being spent

administratively that's why that part's

back as a ratification that was sort of

discovering and cleaning this up I will

note it's pretty unusual and I don't

know why that it all isn't allocated the

first time out right that's part I don't

I don't have an answer for you what the

thinking was I just have no clue but I

just want to make a correction for the

record that um I said director and I

meant to say inum so just make make sure

we got that

on the thing that got me though is that

you appropriated the the the money in

2019 but you put it 100% towards

programs and nothing towards

administrators so this is a attempt in

the 21 in the unallocated 55,000 to

recapture the money from 2019 that

should have been allocated to

Administration which was

not now why the 55,000 in 2021 wasn't

allocated that was u a mayor ago and

that was probably two businessman

business administrators ago too so why

they did it I have no idea so these

funds were primarily just sitting in a

pot

not drawn down yet not drawn down right

yeah they weren't drawn down no further

questions Madam chair thank you okay

thank you are there any other questions

from any council

members okay well thank you for being

here this evening I would submit that uh

we would um come back for another work

session when all of the documentation

can be provided okay thank you I I would

suggest to you that that that's going to

make meeting the March 31 dead line that

much more

difficult no I would ask that if well

I'm I'm again this is what this is why

we should have U you know the inum

director here because we keep getting

put at the last hour we got to make

these decisions and and it's just not

fair what I would suggest which we've

done before the council's done before is

to at the next meeting schedule a

back-to-back legislative exe that

doesn't guarantee that she will show up

yeah but if you have that first

that work session ahead of it right then

you'll know whether you have enough

information to vote at the legislative

session which I mean you you can do that

to satisfy or you can suspend the rules

at the legislative session and if you do

not have enough information to vote um

you know but that's at the end of the

day this money goes to to taking care of

homeless people in Harrisburg absolutely

but just just exactly what the business

manager was saying it's difficult to

come up with a process and to execute

within like a six to 8 week period that

would take us primarily about eight

weeks out Mar you know March 31st we're

going into February 1 soon so I just I

get what you're saying trust me I do and

it's just a difficult it's just a

difficult position to be in I I I don't

I'm not disputing it's a difficult

position I'm just I I I just I think

everyone knows we have a homeless

problem that is is insurmountable

unhoused I would like say

so if I might say one last thing um I

did send out an email some time ago

saying if you had specific questions for

the director that those could be

submitted in writing we shouldn't have

to keep communicating through email

again the public the public it's not

like they didn't respond they it's not

like she refused to answer the questions

so can I ask you again why hasn't she

come that's up to the mayor that's not

it's not to me that's up to the mayor

she has an answer to me gotcha actually

is there any way we could have

representatives from these entities here

um this way we could just because

primarily when we awarded 500,000 to two

separate entities earlier in the year or

last year um we were told you know beds

would open things would happen I'm still

trying to assist families getting into

those doors and it's just not true so I

don't know if that's taken care of their

administrative causes and their salaries

but we do have an oath to the resident

so if it's not opening up more services

you talking about the homeless shelters

or what absolutely my understand I heard

today that this work this is the work I

actually do for a living and I walk

families to these entities and they're

saying we have no beds we have no

openings and this is a consistent basis

I heard today from the fire department

that there are beds available they wen't

being utilized we can fill this room up

with families that need Sheltering right

now in the Subzero freezing I just left

two this morning CC was a recipient of

$500,000 just last year right but I was

also told this afternoon by the fire

department that there were beds

available that not being utilized thank

you everyone can we wrap this up heard

that's all Mr we have we have questions

yeah we we definitely do have question

we have questions and we're doing our

work for the people allow us to do that

please anyone have any other questions

it would be good to see the directors of

these entities come in and answer some

questions because if we can be

guaranteed their services would open and

this additional Etc would allow more

services to take place that would be pie

in the sky but if we're just covering

administrative costs and Etc then what

service are we really doing what good

are we we really do but going back to

the solicitor's comment I think the

answers that you asked there was what

three or four of them I think we can get

those to you in writing within the next

week or so thank you sir so um actually

I would encourage since there is a Time

U crunch of May March 31st that delaying

the decision would

be difficult i' be willing to go to any

meeting needed or you know have Madam

chair lead the lead the SP had the task

but I just would like to find out some

more information cuz we've kind of been

down this road before so so the one

thing I would encourage is is because of

your request which I think is a fair

request is it's just going to take a

little coordination that everyone's in

agreement when the meeting's happening

so we have these people invited if from

the organizations um you've certainly

invited members of the organizations

before to to speak to this Council so I

think you have to coordinate with your

council president with the clerk's

office um and then with dbh has to name

the individuals they're talking about

and that's that could all happen quickly

but it's just going to take some

coordination just for the record it's

not to make any statements about the

Integrity or you know uh parameters of

these entities is just to ensure we're

double-checking Crossing every T and do

and every on our behalf that's all and

and I don't want to put words in your

mouth but I think what I heard you say

is if this money is awarded and all it

does is pay for further Administration

by the entities getting it what then

what then is that helping any homeless

people I get I I think that was your

point so and I think think that's a fair

public question to ask anybody what are

your spending your tax dollars on

Absolut well I mean yeah ours as well

but the res that absolutely thank

you thank you everyone and I'll turn it

back over to you president

Bowers okay so I just want to be clear

what your pleasure is shair Davis on how

you like to proceed I know you don't

want this resolution added to the next

legislative session agenda but how would

you like to proceed for uh the responses

that we're waiting for from the

administration I just want to make sure

I'm clear okay thank you I think you

said within a week you could have all of

the

documentation that can all be here for

next Tuesday the question is do you want

to proceed with this next Tuesday I

think part of that's up to the council

president if she wants to schedule it or

have a suspension of the rules but as

the chair of the who oversees this

committee uh you could put it on the

legislative agenda and then withdraw it

if you're not satisfied and table it um

but if you if you move it now then the

next legislative session is

February second week of February before

we'd have have a have another vote if

that's the February 11th yeah so and uh

and I don't I don't know what the the

cut off date of impossibility is right I

just I I don't know how much time it

takes to to to get through the process

um you know they're simply going to be

doing as I understand the work they've

already been doing was the General pit

pitch that came through our office um so

uh but I don't know what the cut off

date where it becomes impossible to

accomplish it so okay I'm satisfied with

that we can go ahead and move it to I

would submit to move this to the next

legislative session and president Bowers

will have the opportunity to decide from

there thank you okay thank

you our final committee business this

evening comes from the community and

economic development committee I will

defer to our community and economic

development committee chair chair

Daniels to lead the

discussion thank you Mr Trel could you

read the the the regulation record

resolution 81 2024 a resolution

approving the preliminary final law

consolidation and land development plan

submitted by Amber belli representing

Latino connection Foundation to

consolidate three Parcels uh one 1 North

18 Street 1800 Bo Street in an

unaddressed parcel and develop a

four-story 48 unit residential building

with Associated site in Access

improvements thank you um could someone

from the city um give us a little bit of

the procedural history of this request

uh yes uh good evening Council Jeffrey

Knight planning director with the city

of Harrisburg um so uh as Mr trusdale

read uh this project is proposing

uh to consolidate three separate Parcels

that make up the site of the Old

Woodward School uh building which has

been vacant since its demolition I think

somewhere around 2011 um and uh as some

members of council may remember that

we've had a couple of development

proposals come through uh for this

project in the P or this property uh in

the past um none of them have obviously

gone um through to completion uh so this

is um another one that we are kind of

hoping will be uh the final proposal uh

that uh the council sees so that we're

um able to see some affordable housing

going up on site here uh the project uh

proposes uh the construction of a 3unit

uh or three story 48 unit affordable

housing project uh with onsite um site

and access improvements including the

construction of I believe a 47 uh space

accessory parking lot uh that's

accessible from boa Street uh in

addition uh there will be a small dog

park in the northeastern corner of the

site um that uh at least for now uh will

be limited to uh residents uh of the

property and project um The Proposal

required uh the filing of various um

zoning relief requests uh which were

filed in November of 2023 uh and

approved that same month uh and the uh

current proposal was submitted uh I

believe in October

uh 3rd of 2024 uh and reviewed and

approved by the Planning Commission uh

the following month at their November

6th 20124 meeting um as a part of the

project um the applicants will be doing

various site improvements around uh the

project site including uh reconstructing

sidewalks along 18th Bois and H Street

uh and 88 ramps uh they've been in a

pretty close coordination with the city

Engineers office to ensure that those

aspects of the project are developed

correctly um and in conformance with our

various

regulations and uh with that all being

said uh the Planning Commission has

recommended that city council approve

the request with the following

conditions uh the applicant is required

to receive a certificate of

qualification pursuant to chapter 12101

of title 12 the affordable housing

certification prior to recording the

loot consolidation and land development

plan with the Dolphin County recorder of

deeds uh and that is because the um

applicant is uh seeking to have this be

a 100% affordable project um and has uh

secured uh some of the zoning bonuses

that were that are afforded to those

types of projects um prior to city

council review of the project uh the

applicant must be provide information

regarding the economic development

impact of the project such as

construction value effect on taxes and

jobs generated allow the council members

to fully understand the impact of the

project uh the planning Bureau

recommends that the applicant coordinate

with the city engineer on the

prohibition of on street parking along

the north side of boa Street between

Long Street and North 18th Street to

allow for easier and safer access to the

accessory parking lot um and this is

because the um council members May uh be

aware that B Street is two directions uh

this location um and while it is two

directions the street is fairly narrow

uh and uh there's no parking on the

south side of the street um but on the

north side of the street there's still

is parking so in order to uh provide

safer um vehicular circulation to and

through the site um it is our

recommendation to remove I believe

approx approximately three spaces along

Bo Street there to uh enable uh people

uh residents and visitors uh to get into

the surface parking lot there um the

applicant must construct the reconstruct

the north 18 Street sidewalk to match

the full width of the existing sidewalk

between the property line in the curb uh

the planning Bureau recommends that Bo

Street sidewalk also be fully

reconstructed although acknowledges this

would represent an expansion of the

existing sidewalk um and this references

the fact that um there's probably like a

8ot wide concrete sidewalk along North

18th Street but between that sidewalk

and the back of the curb face um that

was paved with asphalt as far back as

when the the uh school was there uh so

we want to make sure that that full

width of that sidewalk along the

frontage of the property is

reconstructed uh the applicant should

consider a vertically differentiated

facade treatment and materials to

reflect the architectural design and

elements of the surrounding neighborhood

um and Council may remember we've made

this recommendation in a couple other

cases where you're building a multif

family dwelling uh in a what's otherwise

a row home uh community and so to just

help the project blend in a little bit

better so it doesn't look so

aesthetically singular and kind of

Blocky uh this would help um kind of

match the existing architectural

aesthetic um in the neighborhood uh and

finally the applicant should coordinate

with the city urst on the use of native

tree species and pollinator plants

uh the Planning Commission recommended

that the city council approve the

request with the for the following

reasons uh the applicant receiv receives

approve received approval of the zoning

relief requests necessary to effectuate

the project as proposed at the November

20 2023 zhb meeting the Planning

Commission and Zoning hearing board

previously approved a proposal for a

similar development in September of 2020

although that approval was automatically

revoked per section 7-

323.50 of the zoning code after a land

development plan was not filed

and the project design has been modified

to be less intensive than that previous

proposal the project spite project site

is in a conspicuous location on a state

route and the applicant has incorporated

design elements that maximize the

potential of the site including the

provision of sufficient all street

parking and incorporation of amenities

such as a dog park and finally approval

of the project will proposal will

enhance the character of the

neighborhood and improve the streetcape

of the corridor by developing prominent

and long-standing vacant Lots with new

infill Housing Development and site

improvements providing affordable

housing and demand throughout the

city thank you so right now we just have

the locked um consolidation

right um could could you uh the lot

consolidation would be a component of

this um application and

approval okay um so um if the applicant

wouldn't mind uh coming to the

microphone introducing yourselves and

just as as briefly as possible share

with us um the project timelines um and

yeah that's it I'm Dr Amber burelli I'm

the interm executive director for lcf or

Latino connection foundation and the

developer on this project and I'll pass

it over to Matt from

Eustace at wits with Eustace engineering

we were the site civil engineer did the

site work design on this this

project I can give you a a very quick

one minute tour of our plan that we have

up here just to get you oriented if

you'd

like as Mr Knight pointed out this is at

the corner of her Street and 18th Street

so on my plan here 18th Street is at the

bottom of the plan her Street's on the

leth hand side and boas is on the right

hand side it is a big vacant open grass

lot now consists of three uh Parcels

that we are consolidating as part of

this the same application for the Land

Development uh Latino connection would

like to propose or is proposing a

four-story multif family building uh for

senior affordable housing it'll have 48

uh individual units there'll be walkup

units so there'll be elevators inside

couple of entrances on the outside could

be a secure building as well for the

residents with the building we're going

to put a 47 space parking lot in behind

the building um it was 48 initially

we've gotten some feedback back from DFA

they wanted us to increase the Ada uh

parking spaces I think we have eight or

nine accessible units they wanted a

minimum of eight accessible spaces so we

reduce the parking by one still in

compliance with uh all the zoning

regulations and um parking counts and

everything else uh we'll have new sewer

water uh to the site uh new fire the

whole thing will be

sprinklered um there is a new storm

water basin going in underneath this

building this kind of this dashed

outline or underneath the uh the parking

lot excuse me

um that'll run out to boas underground

to there's a a combined sewer in in boas

and that's going to help with uh the

storm water runoff we have to take

everything back to uh the way it is now

after we build the building and the

parking lot um Mr I mentioned a small

dog park uh area it's going to be a

fenced in area for the residents to use

to take their dogs out to walk we are

going to allow um the residents to have

smaller dogs I think there's a cut off

for size or weight limit and things like

that uh and then we'll have um off

Street uh trash uh and recycling uh in

an enclosure uh in the back off of Long

Street which is an alley with Kung

Street as

well um we are going to leave an area

open for uh potential gardening area for

the residents as well try to give them

some space of their own if they want to

do some sort of like small garden pots

something of that

nature thank

you um so I think what I'll do is um

I'll just open up to my colleagues to

ask questions since you're all in a

better position to visualize what's

happening so I'll start to my far left

with with Mr Jones Thank You

councilwoman Daniels hello how are

you good sure come on man chip her up a

little bit we're great we're warm it's

cool it's warm inside here you know all

right um

yes Dr burelli so I will um just give

you a couple questions uh one of the

things that I want to make sure of again

uh per our conversation um just making

sure that our residents are

in concurrence with this project uh I

know before there has been I watched a

planning uh zoning I mean the Planning

Commission hearings and some of the

people in the area of Bo Street were not

happy with with this um so can you just

share with myself the colleagues and the

public um some of your uh meetings and

how some of those went absolutely so uh

we began talking to the community in

2023 uh about this project um George

Fernandes is the owner of the land and

that's when the initial kind of idea to

do affordable housing on this parcel

started uh in July of 2023 we had a

community conversation at Harris am Zion

Church where we received a lot of

feedback I think I probably have like

four pages of type notes from different

things of feedback that we we received

uh Mr Fernandez and I took that feedback

and reviewed um and went through um some

of the things that really were of

concern to the neighbors there was a lot

of things that were concerning to the

neighbors that were brought up and

things that I also have concerns about

you know the crime in the area the lack

of lighting the issues with the trees

needing trimmed the issues with parking

and boas being two ways but and access

by fire company and things like that

there's all of those concerns and we we

really comb through those concerns and

identified some things that we could do

in the design of this project to allay

some of those concerns so initially in

the July meeting in 2023 so that was two

years ago now um in July of 2023 in that

initial design we had um commercial

space in the first floor we asked a

daycare and a potential Pharmacy in that

area um two things that aren't

necessarily within walking distance of

this community from the community

feedback the concern was that that would

cause increased traffic um different

people coming in that don't necessarily

live in the neighborhood to go to the

pharmacy to drop kids off at the daycare

uh so we went back to our um our

designers and asked them to remove that

and um from the design we removed that

we went out on um July 31st after that

July 6th meeting we got um some

neighbors who would be interested in

additional conversations July 31st we

met here at City Hall with several of

those neighbors who were interested in

continuing that conversation and

presented that um the updated design

several of the neighbors were very happy

with that there were one or two that

still were not that that was not what

they were interested in seeing on this

parcel um in August at the end of August

of 2023 we also went to one of the

neighbors homes and they invited several

other neighbors over and we again talked

about the different design and the

things that we had done and the things

we heard um and ways that we could

potentially partner with the community

to bring some of the things that they

need in their Community um after that on

October 10th of 2023 before we came here

for planning board hearing we went out

um and knocked on doors and left door

hangers on several residents around the

property just saying we're going to City

Hall we're going to you know the land

the planning board do you have any

questions what things you know to try to

catch some of those people who maybe

didn't come to the community meeting and

weren't available um for those follow-up

meetings we came to the planning board

again in November 1st

2023 and one neighbor was in attendance

at that that planning hearing and was in

support of the project um

then we didn't do very well we did a

whole lot behind the scenes not very

much in the community's eyes but we

applied for a low-income housing tax

credits for the property we were awarded

the low-income housing tax credits as

well as Innovation and design and

construction for the project from phfa

so we came back here on November 6 of

2024 um to present this land development

plan because now we're at that point um

and there were three neighbors who

showed up that were not in support of

the project they want the lot to remain

open as an open area um and those three

neighbors were here um after that

meeting um you know we had the holidays

and everything in between there but just

last Friday we hosted a community

meeting again at Bethesda Mission and I

had sent um all the me or yeah I sent

Council all of the the invitation I

apologize again for that my goal was get

everything out to the community and

completely forgot to invite everyone

else so I do apologize for that but um

at that meeting that we had on the 17th

we had one individual show up who grew

up in that neighborhood and um stated

that he was in support of that project

after our was or wasn't was is yes and

that gentleman's here today so um I'll

let him speak for himself on that um

since our conversation today and since

really just getting ready for this I

reached out to one of the neighbors and

just asked her if I could use her name

and and if she still is in support of

the project she is in fact still in

support of the project and she's okay

with me saying that her name is Nicole

and she was at the initial meeting and

she is still in support of the project

she is a stakeholder in that Community

yes and and you know what she's been a

she's been an asset to me in that she'll

call me and let me know if there's

things in that lot that need cleaned up

she's I mean you can't ask for a better

neighbor somebody who keeps an eye out

on your property you know so I I really

appreciate apprciate that she's she is

that Vigilant in her community and I

commend her for that so um she still is

in she still is in agreement with the

project and um had said that it was okay

for me to use her name today so that's

kind of what we've been doing with the

community I I intend to continue to keep

updating the community and to keep a

running list of anybody who wants

updates on the project um because I feel

like sometimes I'm like constantly say

okay you know sending out mailers and

and and feelers I just you know I don't

want to give anybody information they

don't want or that irritates them so um

you know definitely open to keeping the

conversation open and how we can be a

good neighbor in that Community yeah um

and I think that's um essential um in

situations like this um that

neighborhood as I told you I don't live

far from the proximity I also grew up in

that neighborhood also went to Woodward

was a W Woodward Busy B uh um but uh I

just want to make sure that we're we're

keeping that open line of communication

with the community because there were

several attempts to bring businesses and

things of that nature inside of that

community and they will stand up and say

hey we do not want this which is

appreciative um and our verses their

voices are the loudest for me as I

shareed with you that's who I work for

so I want to make sure that we are

representing them in the most uh proper

way that we can um because some of of

the things as we discussed just to share

some of my sentiments of what this looks

like in in in our communities so many

times we hear low in lowincome housing

and affordable housing we just want to

make sure that we're defining that in a

proper manner uh cuz some of the things

that we have are building where there's

a lot of reconstruction our construction

going on in in our communities and we

just don't want another Governor Square

to happen on on our watch we want to

make sure that these these places are

being taken care of so some of the

things inside of this resolution um that

maybe haven't specifically been

addressed I'm looking at um I know we're

not there yet building but making sure

that there are um good SEC uh security

cameras um great lighting um U making

sure with the aberus that you you know

the proper trees are being planted so

there is still visibility in that

neighborhood um and just um to to to

speed this up a little bit just show

some of the the positives that will

incur that will happen in this community

um of course this getting back on the

tax road for our city is always a good

thing um because we definitely need it

uh um and also um beautifying that

neighborhood um the the parking as you

mentioned is very minimal there um

hopefully at some point we can do some

traffic studies in that whole area I

would love to see one way going down

boats one way going up Briggs another

way so hopefully at some point we can

get to that to to minimize some of the

traffic there um of the confusion

uh with the traffic anyway and the the

economic value that it will bring I

think you said this is like a218 million

project yes sir it's an $18 million

project 13 million of that is towards

construction and I'm working very

closely with our our construction

company to make sure that we are not

only advertising bids in the city for

City residents who are trades people but

going above and beyond to ensure that

we're making sure that City trades folks

know that that they should be applying

when this bid comes out and to please

let me know if there's any barriers to

that because it's important that this

investment not only goes into the

building but goes into the City and

that's that's what we're looking for and

I'm glad you guys are saying this uh

because we you know we we're not

twisting arms here but you know um one

of my passions to ensure that our uh

local contractors are Harrisburg based

contractors let me stay away from that

word Harrisburg based cont contractors

are being included in the economic

growth of our city so I think this will

be uh beneficial to uh people and if you

do need any assistance with some of

those vendors plumbers electricians

painters roofers or anything like that

outside of the list that you may have um

I actually also know some of those

contractors and will be great to share

that information with you so that

everyone at least has an opportunity to

uh apply so um for me again just can you

talk about the e ecomic impact and

that'll be my last

question yeah so the economic impact we

talked about it being over $18 million

um the whole development budget for this

project is over $18 million uh we

currently only have a

$400,000 gap which seems huge but when

you look at 18 million it's really not

gigantic so uh we did put in a $100,000

request for local share funding through

the county which is gaming dollars we

will not be coming to the city to ask

for home funds we are Max out through

State home funds however I will be

coming to the city to talk about

potential joint applications for a local

share on the state side as well as any

other potential grant opportunities or

funding opportunities we have to fill

that gap of

400,000 um the there is a 12 or 13

million doll um construction budget and

again we're looking to hopefully fill

that with as many local trade folks that

can put in a bid now putting in a bid

you have to all kinds of paperwork and

insurances and things like that but a

lot of these local trades people already

know how to do that or if not they've

been in contact with um some of our

folks in the city who help trades folks

to be able to do that um additionally

we'll be creating I can't remember how

many

jobs 45 I think

it's four to five permanent positions

with maintenance property management and

supportive services and then 40 plus

trades jobs on the site so um that's our

overall economic impact and then my hope

is that we'll be able to not only

sustain the property in the condition

that it's built in but continue to

enhance you know the offerings from this

property and continue to work with our

neighbors at in the Woodward area to be

able to increase the economic impact

across thank you um no further questions

thank you uh councilwoman

Daniels thank you

councilman thank you madam chair uh

thank you Dr berelli and team for being

here this evening um what's the

completion date for the project so we

anticipate closing with phfa in June or

July of this year 25 um and beginning

construction August September maybe

October 2025 and this is if everything

goes as I planed which never happens um

and then we anticipate about 12 to 18

months of construction I'm hoping closer

to 12 we're using um blueprint Robotics

and a mass Timber design so that means

basically a lot of the project would be

assembled in a factory and then the

parcels are like shipped to us and then

put up by local trades um so hopefully

that will speed up our process a little

bit but so I would anticipate 20 end of

2026 being able to begin occupancy if

not early 20 awesome thank you and then

the Latino connection Foundation is that

separate from just Latino connection is

that the 501c3 it is so we have thank

you for asking that uh we have started

George invested in um Latino connection

Foundation we call it lcf just to keep

confusion and people from being confused

um but Latino connection Foundation or

ltf is a completely independent uh 501c3

Georgia's initial investment started the

pro the foundation but we are now um in

an effective March 1st will be

completely um independent with our own

operating funds and we do um a lot of

the work that Latino connection did that

was really Grant funded or really meant

as like Community Based type of thing

we've taken over some of that uh we also

do some Early Education informational

things for parents just getting

information out there on things you can

do with your kids to get them ready for

kindergarten and um some different types

of Health outreaches um and we are we

current have an application into phfa to

begin doing bilingual housing counseling

so of Spanish speaking housing

counselers so this would be the first

project under that uh this is the the

this project and Sycamore homes okay is

part we're we're partnering with FES

realy affordable homes to bring Sycamore

homes um as the nonprofit on that on

that um project qualify the phfa so we

qualify for the home funding yes and

that's what really got us started and

then I mean really being able to

separate it out has helped us to um keep

the lcf very Mission J you speak you

spoke on the siore homes and if you're

not at Liberty to speak on it I

completely understand what was the

holdup or what is the holdup on that

specific project so syamore hommes

should be completed in February March of

this year okay we have had a lot of

delays we have had a lot of delay in

funding receiving the funding for the

project we've had a lot of delays in

construction um um I think we are at the

end of a lot of that um we received um

home funding from the county we have not

received any funds from the city which

is really the cdbg funding I believe was

held up and I know you have some

Champions here on Council that wants to

see that move forward so I'm pretty sure

I speak for the body any help we could

offer please let us know um yeah we

definitely I mean we still have a

funding Gap George has eaten a lot of

the fing Gap spoke with Mr Fernandez he

has eaten a lot of the funding gap for

Sycamore homes so those 23 units we can

really thank him for yes otherwise that

project would not have come to the point

that it's at okay um so we anticipate

again opening end of February beginning

of March I would have said February if

not for two weeks ago I was told

Shindler elevator has some some work

issues Manpower issues but it's close to

completion but we are very close please

reach out if you'd like to tour it

before completion love to give you a

tour of it 23 single occupancy units

really excited because those are really

going to help with some of our homeless

population who are taking up some of

that space in shelter or transitional

housing because they can't find anything

affordable outside of there absolutely

this will help to bridge that Gap now um

I fortunately was on some of the walks

in the neighborhood with Mr Fernandez

and spoke with some of the residents and

assisted with some of the tree Cuts one

of the things that the residents in that

area agreed on with Mr Fernandez was a

substation in the building is that still

in the plan somehow some way we still

have space yep cuz I know that was like

one of the main priorities out there

whenever they want to be absolutely I

know Harrisburg Police Department agreed

on it I think we were waiting on the

actual developers which would be your

team is that something you guys would

still consider putting in there for

safety because I think that was one of

the main draws for the residents so that

would be amazing to see Y and regardless

we have the space designated for them if

they use it great if not then we just

have an extra room with and I'm pretty

sure our chair of Public Safety we could

uh connect with him and make sure work

guard you definitely come in and use

that office space if you'd like but I I

just think you know we can send people a

Giants I know we can send people you

know to this development and ensure that

Community safe just like on 13th Street

near Double D's with that substation sit

so 15th you know right off of 15th and

then um one thing I wanted to and I'm

pretty sure you're privy to the

information when we dealing with the

senior population a lot of them have

service animals yeah some of their

service animals have different state

requirements than just normal dogs um so

someone has a staffshire or American

Pitbull Terrier has a service dog that

may be a different legal kind of you

know murky water there so I just wanted

to give you a heads up for that because

I know service dogs don't require like

City registration and things of that

nature so that may if

if yeah yeah but if a service dog would

be different legally so would they be

allowed to have their service animal if

it's done professionally if it's an

actual service animal and not the

emotional support animal then abs

absolutely that's never an issue and and

should never be and if it ever is an

issue I mean everyone has my cell phone

number just call me okay I just wanted

to make sure because I've come across

that a few times and try service animal

now the emotional support animals are

kind of a little bit of different story

um we just want to make sure that if

it's a service animal that's of a large

size that that animal is trained trained

you of course you don't want the

facility getting beat up or Tor up and I

don't want anybody I don't want to get

you know so just making sure that the

service animals me along the lines of

everything being done correctly would

that be respected and tolerated okay

absolutely not only respected it I mean

that's a right per the disability has

awesome we will never you know okay

thank you Dr brell um I have no further

questions Madam chair thank you uh

councilwoman Ross thank you councilwoman

Daniels and thank you both for being

here this evening um you gave a a great

explanation on the project um I really

appreciate you reaching out to the

community not once twice but multiple

times um they are very vocal um within

that Community I do remember our first

meeting and they had even asked about

why not having um house houses that we

could purchase our row homes and we went

through the whole process and got to

where we are now with the model you're

showing us and the updates and

improvements that you made uh with the

community's input so I just really had

that comment of just saying you know

thank you for doing your diligence on

that part and continue to um speak with

them and also uh make the changes that

they recommended so coming together with

a compromise so I just wanted to say

thank you thank

you that's it for me president pow thank

you um I I have some comments I guess

and then some questions so I'm I'm glad

to hear about the community outreach

because I did attend the July 2023

meeting at Harris am zign Church um so I

heard um the neighbors and other

community members that were present um

some of the things that they were

looking for um in this

project

um

I still have some concerns about

lighting I know um there is a Landscape

and Lighting plan but um I've received

numerous phone calls from these same

neighbors um related to the lack of

lighting in the area so I just wanted to

know um how do you intend to address

this issue and not just spill over

lighting as it's noted here

um there will be no light spill over

onto the properties to the Northwest and

east of the project

site so I just wanted to to inquire

about that

and then my second question is if you

could please move this rendering onto

the easel so that everyone can see it I

I vaguely remember um the rendering for

Sycamore but is will this look similar I

think Sycamore is built up but can you

share the description or the difference

between the two

renderings Woodward Woodward first

condition

no I'm clear on the first rendition I'm

well aware of that but Sycamore and

Woodward just for if anybody cannot see

this you want us to describe the picture

or the difference so the difference is

the difference is I thought I was clear

the differences between the two

renderings it's been a while since we've

seen Sycamore it's not completed yet and

now we're just seeing what this could be

so can you please describe the

differences or similarities if there are

any thank absolutely the difference is

between this is very different from

syamore syamore is only 2 units it's

very single OCC um and that one was

designed by

um it was designed by a different

architect group um this is designed by K

it is uh the mass Timber we also have uh

the brick front a little bit of brick

and the vinyl on the front as well as

some big windows we also have a patio on

the fourth floor um overview it has a

community room um and it has one and two

bedroom units not just single

that's uh we're also working with a

different general contractor Sycamore

homes was uh affordable housing but it

wasn't a low-income housing tax credit

project so it was very different in

regards to the process to come from

design when we were working with

Warehouse

with the name I knew it was in there

somewhere when we were working with

Warehouse it was very different design

process than the design process that

goes in for the low income housing tax

property so um it's it's a lot of um

what you see here is really what we

intend to build it's not going to differ

very much from the drawing uh once it's

built where Sycamore kind of differed a

little bit sche a little bit in the type

of materials that were used on the

outside as part of our value

engineering um that occurred even before

I was brought on Foundation brought

on

Fernand so that is some of the

differences I don't know if that

helps that's sufficient thank you I

apologize okay now how about the

lighting as far as the lighting is

concerned

uh the lighting's been designed I'm

switch mics the lighting has been

designed to meet um General Industry

standards for minimum and maximum

lighting for a parking lot for

residential use um I don't have a copy

of the lighting plan with me but we're

going to use a combination of typical

LED pole lights um to to light up the

back parking lot um there will be

lighting incorporated into the building

as far as maybe some architectural

accent lighting but nothing there to

highlight or um um we'll say add like

additional Street lighting along 18th

boas or her street we've also um spend

some time to look at what our U our

dumpster enclosure looks like because

that'll be enclosed by a white privacy

fence the whole way around and then

Gates out front so there's some concerns

about security there so we do have a

separate pull light it'll match what's

going on in the parking lot back there

and then inside the dog park area we've

used a smaller it's a 10 foot high

pedestrian style light to light the dog

Park up but the goal being and you

referenced spillover the zoning

ordinance is very clear about what we

can and can't do with lighting uh spill

over onto the neighboring property so

the lighting has to be set up not only

to light up our parking lot very well

but also not spill over and create what

they call light trespass for the

residents next door and we have met that

requirement no I understand that but I

was speaking to Lighting on the adjacent

streets but that but if you could share

the plan I'm just just curious outside

of the pole and whatever lighting for

the dog park or for um

your um dumpster receptacle if you could

share it I would like to review it CU

that that is a concern I'm not sure that

the building design is at that point yet

with with that and we haven't been and

have not coordinated with City on

upgrades standing the street lighting

either that hasn't been asked of us up

until this convers now right

okay okay well thank I don't have any

other questions certainly something we'd

be happy to consider with some input and

feedback from from the city please thank

you okay thank you um vice president

green thank you councilman Daniels um I

don't have many questions for you most

of mine have uh kind of already been

discussed at this point um I do

appreciate you guys reaching out to the

neighbors continuously uh I do know this

is a very active Community uh some of

other projects um I was on Planning

Commission when it came before uh and

the community was very very involved and

wanted to be part of the process so I

would ask even as you move forward if

that does happen um that you continue to

involve the community and not just like

get that approval and say well we've got

what we need you know no need in

continuing in talking to you um which

unfortunately does happen sometimes so I

look forward to you continuing to work

with the community to make sure this is

actually integrated into the

neighborhood and not just a project that

sits there um and is not a part of the

community itself

that's all I

have thank you um Davis thank you

councilwoman Daniels okay so sounds like

there's been some ongoing history here I

haven't attended any of those meetings I

actually live on the other side of uh

State Street but did I hear you say this

is a senior affordable housing or so is

there an age limit for the residents

that can 62 plus okay and there going to

be 48

units will there be 48 parking spaces or

there's 47 parking 47 okay there were 48

Park that of our of

okay i' like to see that area developed

I mean just to block up the street

there's a gas station that's being

revitalized right now so that would also

look nice um there with that whole

project um yeah I'd like to see

it up and running here 48 units of

senior housing as long as it's safe it's

well lit and again that the

community is continuously

engaged yeah I like it thank thank you I

have any

questions I think that does anyone have

any last minute

questions

no thank you um so let's just go ahead

and add this to the next legislative

session thank you to um the

administrative staff and to the

applicants and that's that concludes the

business for tonight's community and

economic development committee thank you

thank you thank you we will now move

forward with our meeting agenda um next

we have public comment just a few

housekeeping notes before we begin

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 you'll have four minutes

to share your comments Mr trusdale will

serve as our timekeeper and I'll begin

to my right is is there anyone that

would like to offer public

comment okay seeing and hearing no one

anyone in the middle

section good

evening hello my name is chery Hughes

I've been a resident of the city for 53

years

my reasons for being here tonight I

thought my meeting was going to be part

of with the

mayor which uh I have a lot of issues

right now because she promised me some

things while my son was alive that never

took place she asked me to come to her

with a plan first I want to say my son

sh my son is Hugh

but um my baby boy isar

Hughes I had numerous conversations well

not numerous of conversations because

she only responded to one I had uh

meetings with the

mayor in

2022 when the incident first happened

with them shoo at my baby boy she asked

me to come to her with a

plan I

present one second I do

apologies but she asked me to come to

her with a plan

she will help

me so much going on Miss Hugh just for

your time so you don't run out of time

if you wanted to get out like the

premise and then okay she asked me to

come to her with a

plan I came to her with this

plan she told me she was going help and

I came back to her with a plan

she said she wasn't

there so the plan was for me to find a

relocation Mr Trel can pass it out while

you continue speaking and as you

see this was the plan this was the

situation why she told me to come with

the plan

because

uh it was

like my was being threatened on the

internet and I presented the two threats

to her it's part of the

plan so come to her with a

plan

so she can help me which I came to her

with my

plan when I came to her with my plan Co

head wasn't nobody in the

building then the building was under

construction

she was working from

home then it

was I want to say Memorial's Day that's

the first holiday right for the summer

Memorial's Day it's like two or three

days before aar's birthday because his

birthday is made

28 so I come to her when she got the

food vending trucks out there out front

of

here wave me off

man I forget the officer's name he said

he was going to take my number what she

has my

number and they was going to get back to

me it's

2025 my son is dead

now she promised

me she promised

us to help me I presented the

plan she tried Miss Tiffany her

secretary there I have left numerous of

messages Miss Hughes thank you for your

time at the end of the meeting maybe you

can meet with a council member to

discuss a can I get five more minutes

please because I need this to be on

record

please Miss

Tiffany I have calls I have text I have

it all in my phone no respond her other

secretary can tell you how many times

I've been in that building the seat of

Mayor how many times I have called how

many times am I recorded on the camera

coming in this building how many

times now my son's dead still no answer

from the mayor I had one meeting with

the mayor since my son's been deceased

and that was July the 5th or the 6th I

can't remember right now but mind y'all

she got ran over Fourth of July 9th the

same night my son got killed now once

did she make a news conference about my

son it was all about her

was all about her my son is dead on the

streets she does she did nothing for me

where's my help I still need this help

where she at cuz my my life ain't safe

here my grandson's being threatened now

it's just a lot still going on and they

noce about me that I went for as the

governor

Josh Patty Kim came

out listen

to thank

you thank you

is there anybody else in the middle

section that would like to offer a

public

comment yes I'm s

okay also I would like y'all to know

that Mr Rodriguez and Miss Amber is

working on a petition for my son as we

speak and I appreciate

y'all and if I could get

y'all signature on it I will greatly

appreciate it because this ain't my

first son

get to these streets I got one in Hall

Manor de I got one on 14th in Swat now I

got one in Midtown I got no answers

three dead sons and three death

certificates no

answers as a mother for real where's my

answers like I told y'all before they

got answers for theirs which is their

Ken folks these are my

babies as a mother

what I'm supposed to do I done been

everywhere ain't nobody listening to me

but detective Richard aini you hear me

working all three of my son cases right

now because I got no justice and I've

been doing this every since

91314 they killed my oldest son

91314 they killed my second son Mother's

Day May 1015 that's what I deserve as a

mother now they just killed my baby on

four July I don't got no more Sons no

more what I'm supposed to do as a mother

she promised me something the mayor Miss

Wanda Williams and I'm still waiting for

that promise now how do we resolve this

or how do I get in the meeting and get

my answers please and thank you I'm

hurting as a mother I don't have no more

baby

boys and I still owe on my son's body I

still owe on my son's body

who's B this who's helping

me son had a future he had a future just

graduated forgot one thing forgot one

thing I need y to

see just one thing I need yall to see my

son didn't get to walk that

stage I to do that y'all hear me y'all

see what it

say you did it baby fly

high do y know me as a mother I have to

go understand I want y to feel yall

understand me as a mother this lady

promised me something our

mayor promised me something my son will

be alive if she would came through for

me

through I would still have my son don't

nobody understand that like for real I

would still have my baby if she would

have came through on her promise she

told me to come to with a plan I came

with that plan and my son is dead

now as a

mother as a mother y'all

mothers I'm quite sure y got kids as a

mother I bury all three of my sons with

no an to these up streets out

here so supposed to

do I keep crying out what I'm supposed

to

do what am I supposed to do please tell

me Miss if you wouldn't mind waiting

we're almost finished and hopefully we

can get you someone to speak with I

don't know if the business administrator

would be available to speak or not but

if you could just wait a couple minutes

thank you thank you is there anyone to

my left that would like to offer public

comment seeing and hearing no one the

time is 711 p.m. I will entertain a

motion to adjourn so moveed is there a

second second thank you we stand a

journ for