Harrisburg City Council Legislative Session 04/17/2024

we're going to lead our legislative

caucus before we formally call the

special legislative session to order so

I'll call it to order following this

caucus Mr trusdale will lead us in roll

call the invocation this evening will be

led by vice president green followed by

the Pledge of Allegiance which will be

led by councilman Jones we do not have

any

Communications for tonight we will then

open the floor for Courtesy of the floor

follow by the approval of minutes for

the legislative session that occurred on

April 9th

2024 then we will have reports of

committees you will hear the following

reports uh I will deliver the report on

behalf of the administration committee

on the work session that occurred on

April 16th

2024 then vice president green will

share a report on behalf of the budget

and finance committee on the work

session of April 16

2024

then chair Jones will share a report on

behalf of the Public Safety Committee on

the work session of April 16 2024

chair Ros will share a report on behalf

of the parks recreation and enrichment

committee on the work session of April

16th

2024 and councilman Rodriguez is absent

this evening we do not have any

ordinances for first reading ordinances

for Amendment or ordinances for final

passage we will then move to resolutions

the first resolution for consideration

is resolution 21 of 2024

which we will vote

upon resolution 22 of

2024 which we will vote

upon resolution 23 of

2024 which we will vote

upon resolution 24 of

2024 which we will vote

upon resol resolution 25 of

2024 we are going to table that

resolution uh the request was made by

councilwoman Daniels our community and

economic development committee chair to

add this resolution to our May

14th legislative session

agenda resolution 26 of

2024 we will suspend the rules for

discussion and then we will vote upon

this

resolution is there any old

business okay any new

business okay and then we will

adjourn I'm sorry I do have some some

new business yes sorry I was looking at

something I would like to just speak

about some things happening in

Harrisburg this weekend

any other new

business

okay

e e

evening again the time is 6:07 p.m. I

would like to call our special

legislative session to

order Mr trusdale could you please call

the

[Music]

role Miss

Daniels Miss Davis

present Miss green present Mr Jones here

Miss Rose present Mr

Rodriguez Miss Bowers present please

note for the meeting record that both

councilwoman Daniels and councilman

Rodriguez are excused this evening the

invocation will be led by vice president

green thank you president Bowers if we

could take a moment to keep the family

of Miss Becky Beamer Hicks in our

thoughts and prayers as well as all

those in the city of Harrisburg who has

lost someone and if we could also pay

our respects to the Fallen K9 Officer

Zeke thank

you thank you councilman Jones The

Pledge of Allegiance will be led by

councilman

Jones to the flag of the United States

of America to the Republic for it stands

one nation

indivisible thank you vice president

green and councilman Jones we do not

have any Communications this evening we

will move to Courtesy of the floor 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 will have four

minutes to share your comments Mr

trusdale will serve as our timekeeper I

will begin to my right is there anyone

that would like to offer public

comment good evening Council uh Brian

keyling Midtown I didn't intend to come

here tonight but I come in peace and in

good faith to bring something to your

attention that mutually impacts the her

harisburg Palestine Coalition and you

the Harrisburg city council as a body

you may or may not be aware that

yesterday afternoon David Cohen

president and CEO of the Jewish

Federation of Greater Harrisburg sent

out an email in which he addressed a

wide range of pro Palestine activities

that are taking place in Harrisburg and

the surrounding communities setting

aside the overarching dishonesty and

racism of his email there are some

things he said that you should be made

aware of as they directly affect you and

the work you do first Mr Cohen's email

claims that he is quote in active

conversation with the city and city

solicitor unquote regarding efforts to

prevent the Harrisburg Palestine

Coalition from engaging in legal

permitted activities in violation of our

first amendment rights as you are surely

aware the city is already currently

being sued by the ACU over first and

14th Amendment violations on another

matter if what Mr Cohen suggest is true

and the city solicitor or other

officials are engaged in activities that

will further violate the constitutional

rights of Harrisburg residents this

Council should be made aware of that as

you have a duty to intervene to protect

the rights of your residents and protect

our city from opening itself up to

additional costly lawsuits I don't want

my hard-earned tax dollars to be wasted

on lawsuits where my own rights were

violated I'd rather my rights not be

violated and my tax dollars go to

addressing the very real problems our

city faces

second Mr Cohen's email contains a

section that specifically pertains to

the ceasefire resolution HPC presented

to this Council and in it Mr Cohen takes

it upon himself to speak on your behalf

stating what council does or does not

support and what council will or will

not do to my knowledge Mr Cohen is not

the designated spokesman of the

Harrisburg city council especially given

that this Council has never made a

public statement regarding your

intentions to bring this resolution

forward or not Mr Cohen's email is a

Brazen admission of his own efforts to

have our resolution killed behind the

scenes

undemocratically I don't think I need to

explain how this looks to members of the

public the CEO of an organization

confidently assuring his stakeholders of

his influence over local politics sends

an alarming message to our Harrisburg

Community because to be clear that is

what he's doing it should never have

needed to be said but since he lived in

Boston less than a year ago and is new

here Mr Cohen may not be aware that the

Jewish community in Central PA is

significantly more diverse than just the

Jewish

Federation and the proud active Jewish

contingent of the Harrisburg Palestine

Coalition rejects any suggestion that he

speaks for us he is not our community

leader he is the president and CEO of

one organization an organization that

has alienated much of the Jewish

community over this very issue so he

doesn't speak for me but he also seems

to think that he speaks for you and

without the transparency on a resolution

that HBC has been asking for we won't

really be able to know for sure if he

does we have other Council initiatives

that would be of value to this city but

we need to know if we're actually

working with this Council or if we're

really going up against the mayor

solicitor and Mr Cohen operating behind

the facade of

council so that's all I'm not going to

ask you for anything tonight uh or take

more of your time I know the long night

you had last night and I don't intend to

drag this out for you any longer for a

second night in a row I do want to

respect your time but I'm here to

protect HPC because Mr Cohen's actions

are an escalation that uh directly

targets us and puts our community safety

at risk and I'm also here in the

interest of protecting you because

however HPC and council's relationship

May sometimes appear the Harrisburg

Palestine Coalition cares deeply about

the city of Harrisburg and our

Collective Community thank you thank you

thank you is there anyone else my right

that would like to offer public

comment seeing and hearing no one anyone

in the middle

section seeing and hearing no one anyone

to my left seeing and hearing no one

we'll move forward with the agenda as

printed next we have approval of minutes

for the legislative session that

occurred on April 9th

2024 council members are there any

revisions to those meeting minutes

okay seeing and hearing none the minutes

stand approved we will now move to

reports of committee I will deliver the

first report on behalf of the

administration committee on the work

session of April 16th

2024 on Tuesday April 16th 2024 the

administration committee met to receive

one quarterly report and one resolution

Mr Carl Singleton director of The Office

of equity and compliance was present to

share the first quarter report for

2024 highlights included the following

the mayor's Equity Roundtable small work

group is preparing to deliver policy

language to be considered by mayor

Williams and Harrisburg city council by

the end of

April um Mr Singleton participated in

the visit Hershey Harrisburg Dei

listening session 2024 annual goals were

discussed

monthly uh data showing new business

applications from the mertile and tax

office have been

shared council members ask questions

regarding local participation timeline

for legislation meeting attendance on

current projects Master format language

educational opportunities for small and

minority owned businesses and dbe

certification clarification

resolution 21 of 2024 is 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 Mr Matt mael

communications director Miss Hillary

green procurement services and Mr Nathan

grumbine deputy director of The Bureau

of Information

Technology were present on behalf of the

administration Mr maelle noted that Mr

Jason Graves uh the alerted

administrator Business Development

worked diligently on the work group but

was unable to participate in the meeting

Mr mael shared that exploration for a

website redesign began in August of

2023 due to slow update speeds and a

lack of accessibility the focus of the

website read design is to create a Sleek

design with mobile accessibility there

were a total of 32 businesses that

responded to the RFP 15 moved on to the

second round seven moved to an interview

process revised software systems was

unanimously supported by the group

council members ask questions clarifying

revises location technical support

timeline clarification web design and

hosting capab abilities security issues

and breaches current website design and

cost security redesign approval and

website efficiency Thomas Jean owner

rise Software System shared those

various uh that there are various

approvals needed for the redesign

there's a 50% chance um that the

redesign will be completed by September

completion of the redesign is more

likely or more realistic to occur during

the fourth quarter of the Year Mr

grumbine shared that the design and

coding will be handled by Revis security

standards meet the city's capabilities

and are of no concern the current

website was designed by Gavin a lanster

based company and the cost is unknown

the last website redesign occurred in

2018 I encourage my colleagues to

support resolution 21 of 2024 to improve

the assess ability and userfriendly

nature of the city's website for

residents and members of the public this

concludes the administration committee

report next you will hear uh from vice

president green on behalf of the budget

and finance committee on the work

session of April 16th

2024 vice president

green thank you president Bowers during

the work session of April 16th of 2024

uh the budget and finance committee

discussed resolution 24 of 2024 which is

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 during

this discussion um the main focus was

about the the pools in the city um there

was a request for $2 million excuse me

$1,945 th000 to be spent to Wards the

South Harrisburg pool uh in order to um

start phase one of the project which uh

consists of groundwork demo um soil

testing to see if it was an adequate

site as well as design development for

the project uh 55,000 was to be

allocated towards the Jackson lck pool

for pool repairs to ensure the pool

could open up for this year and then um

there was 6 million that would be air

marked into a special fund to ensure

that was available for the South

Harrisburg pool project uh in the

discussion council members um

asked questions about what would be done

with the the Jackson Lake pool um how it

we make it available for this year what

the repairs consisted of um and the

administration kind of went over it what

it would include Expansion Joints to

make for sure that there were no leaks

in the pool uh reox the bottom of the

pool repainting some of the gutters uh

redoing the pool bath houses to ensure

that they were adequate for our

residents uh and possibly redoing the

concession facilities um in the

discussion I think council members made

it clear that although we support uh

Jackson Lake pool opening for this year

so that our residents could have a pool

and our kids could have a pool uh inside

the city they could go to uh we were

interested in looking for other funding

sources so that we didn't start pulling

from money that was allocated towards

the South Harrisburg pool especially

given that um the funds that are there

already might not be adequate enough um

I did have a discussion with the

administration um the mayor did come to

the meeting at the end of the meeting

yesterday uh and she expressed her

thoughts on the project itself uh and

the need for the pool to open up uh I

did meet with the administration

including the mayor uh the business

administrator and um members of parks

and recreations today uh just trying to

figure out where we could come up with

some of the other funds from and I think

we have come up with a solution in order

to uh pull funds from the Capo project

line for a capo project for um road work

that won't be completed this year

because some things need to be done with

pined out beforehand so hopefully that's

a resol um a concession we can agree to

together uh in order to pull the 55,000

from a line item that's not going to be

utilized this year rather than pulling

it from arpa funds that we look to air

mark so that the South Harrisburg pool

can be completed um that's an amendment

I will bring forth when it's time for

resolution 24 of 2024 to be discussed

and um we'll be able to discuss it more

during that time and I would ask for my

council member support thank

you thank you vice president green the

next report you will hear will be

delivered by chair Jones the chair of

our Public Safety Committee on the work

session of April 16th

2024 thank you president Bowers uh so

first I will start with my um report of

uh the Harrisburg BAU

police on on April 16 2024 the Public

Safety Committee work session was held

um we discussed the quarterly reports of

the Harrisburg BAU of police um the

summary of the session was uh the

reports goals in the year-to DAT spend

of the C CSD in the

upd present to discuss uh was Captain uh

Thomas McGarity of the technical

services division commissioner Thomas

Carter uh Captain Russell Winder Mr

Angelo Craig and deputy chief young they

discussed the vice um the vice

statistics noting that 49 cases were

assigned seizing 60 um

60.25 ounces of cocaine

78.75 ounces of crack cocaine

21550 in US currency um they also served

uh 16 search warrants um 13 arrests were

made also there were 151 juvenile cases

assigned um the community service

division responded

to7 calls and issue eight

citations also discussed with the csa's

um they handled 172 calls for service

all in the first quarter uh they

attended eight community events uh The

Bu of police were able to take uh 51

ghost guns off the street and 41 and 43

manufactured guns off the street the TSD

division had the bur had a bur wide

training on use of forth use of force

tow vehicles and defense tactics the

uniform police uh division took in

18,893 calls for service and recovered

27

Firearms uh questions asked by Council

um I asked for an update on uh sidewalk

parking enforcement I asked uh of the

7,765 tickets that were issued on the

side which were which of them were

sidewalk parking for sidewalk parking at

the time there is no way that they can

break that number down noting that all

tickets written are violations not just

sidewalk violations Council also asks

about the status of the gvi Grant in

response more resources are being

gathered more Partners all working

toward the first initial Callin

commissioner Carter made Council aware

that um he plans to have a gun buyback

initiative with Mr Elby he also stated

that his officers were able to Ser save

four lives using

Narcan and that will end the report for

the Bureau of

police I will go on to the buau of

codes on April 16

2024 the Public Safety Committee work

session was held with the Bureau of

codes on their query reports the summary

of the session was the reports of their

goals and their year to date spend in

the first quarter of

2024 present to discuss the reports were

director Anne Montgomery she discussed

the scope of work for codes also

reported that there were nine prop non

properties lifted out of condemnation

via the progress Progressive expe

inspections there were 501 permits

issued 375 public complaints and 284

violations submitted 330 citations

issued and 84 hours of Court hearings

that were logged all in the first

quarter she also shared that the goal in

2024 uh was to demo 30 properties and

six of them were done in the first

quarter also out of the

67,5 appropriated uh for their budget in

the first quarter their year-to dat

spend is $

7,223 28 which leads a balance of $

58,5 26

72 questions that were asked I asked um

codes could they assist in the parking

uh violation happening with the vehicles

parked completely on the parcels in

response to uh in response director

Montgomery responded Yes and that two

call officers were assigned to North

17th Street uh where the officers will

be placed will be placing door hangers

notifications to remove the cars within

2 days after that citation will be

written um and an additional code

officer will inspect the North 18th

Street area in Holly Street um it was

further com um communicated that if Cole

seeds any cars on the sidewalk they will

notify police officer Justin

Wells and um there were no questions

asked by my

colleagues I mean there were no further

questions asked by my colleagues and

that ends a report of the burough codes

I we'll move on to the of fire on April

26 I mean April 16th 2024 the Public

Safety Committee work session was held

we discussed the quarterly reports from

the buau of fire the summary of the

session was the first quarter reports

and goals in year to spend year to date

spin present to discuss was Chief Brian

Interline Chief Interline shared a

breakdown of the major incident types

sharing that there was

16.41% good intent calls 25

87% false alarm and false cost

6.23 uh per of fires and 28.8 6 resulted

I mean of rescue and emergency calls in

the month from January there were 301

incidents 252 in February and 282 in

March as for the year today spend with a

budget of

7,274 7834

cents uh the year-to DAT

spend uh is

1,847

[Music]

15238 which would leave a balance of

5,427

6315 which equals

25.4% use of that budget we also spoke

about the three firefighters that

retired also informed Council that the

first quarter that there was one loss of

Life Council had no questions for chief

Interline and that concludes my report

for the Bureau of

fire now I will conclude with uh Public

Health Report on April 16th 2024 the

Public Safety Committee work session was

held on the quarterly reports of the of

the health department summary of this

session the reports were on the goals

and vacancies and Community engagement

present to discuss was director NVA

Wright we discussed the training

opportunities that are being identified

for 2024 the health office was invited

to present at the trans transitional

research Cancer Center um Consortium in

March also reported was there was 27

General inspections five new business

inspections eight Progressive

inspections and five public complaint

inspections and 10 special event

inspections all in the first quarter

there is a onep part-time uh inspector

position open as of April 5th of 2024

nine applicants applied and five

interviews are scheduled there's also an

updated Health license application now

available in Spanish there were also no

questions from my Council uh members and

that also concludes the report of Public

Health thank you the next report you

will here will be delivered by chair RS

on behalf of the parks recreation and

enrichment committee on the work session

of April 16th

2024 chair RS thank you president BS and

good evening every um body here in

person and online on April 16th 2024 the

Parks and Recreation and enrichment

committee convened to address resolution

22 of 2024 which is 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 greencap Park to be

known as the SWAT Street

Park Mr Kevin Saunders the Parks and

Recreation manager shared a

comprehensive overview of the proposed

project project Partners sh Alex Rea and

George Payne elaborated on the park

green SC

space initiative planned for swader

Street in the AL in the South Allison

Hill

Neighborhood the partners presented a

two-phase project covering 10 Parcels

with phase one dedicated to eight

Parcels in phase two to the remaining

two Parcels they showcased visual

representations comparing the projects

envisioned outcome to the current state

of the parcels key benefits highlighted

included natural stress reducing

environments children's amenities solar

lighting security features like a police

substation and a focus on creating green

spaces and familyfriendly activities

driven by Community

preferences discussions involved post

completion responsibilities for the city

residents and project Partners including

maintenance supported by a dcnr grant

for 5 years responsibilities such as

creating at least one Ada accessible

curb cut and assuming maintenance duties

after the initial 5-year period were

allotted to the City community members

from groups like The South Allison Hill

homeowners association committee wildart

Ministry and other residents agreed to

share upkeep duties on a rotating basis

Council inquiries revolved around parcel

coverage the rational behind the

Project's location change con concerns

regarding gentrification and the

preference for aou over a contract

members of the Allison Hill Community

came out and strongly advocated for the

Green Space Project emphasizing its

positive influence on providing

recreational op options for harrisburg's

youth with robust Community backing and

acknowledgement of the Project's merits

the recommendation is for council

members to support resolution 22 of 2024

to Advance this community's initiative

in Harrisburg this summarizes the

proceedings of the park recreation and

enrichment committee thank

you thank you um as I mentioned earlier

chair Rodriguez is absent this evening

but I'll just provide a brief uh summary

report uh on the work session on behalf

of the Public Works committee that

occurred on April 16th

2024 on April 16th 2024 the public

Public Works committee met to consider

one resolution resolution 23 of

2024 which is 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 to

execute any forms documents contracts

and reimbursement agreements in the

Pennsylvania Department of

transportations electronic engineering

and construction management system and

reimbursement Agreement System um Mr

Griffin was present last night and he

shared that um due to the

um absence of Mr Daniel snow our city

engineer uh this would provide and

ensure that the Department of Public

Works had access uh to pend Do's

electronic engineering and construction

management system and would be helpful

um as they peruse um different projects

to determine the status um so that

concludes the brief report for the

public works committee we do not have

any ordinances first for first reading

ordinances for Amendment or ordinances

for final passage we will move to

resolutions the first resolution for

consideration is resolution 21 of 2024

Mr trusdale could you please read it

into the record resolution 21 2024 a

resolution authorizing the city of

Harrisburg to negotiate and enter into a

Professional Services agreement with

Revis software systems for the purpose

of redesigning upgrading and hosting the

website for the city of

Harrisburg thank you council members are

there any questions comments or concerns

related to resolution 21 of

2024 seeing and hearing none Mr trusdale

could you please call the vote Miss

Davis

yes Miss green yes Mr Jones yay Miss

roll yes Miss

Bowers yes resolution 21 2024 passes by

a vote of 5 to

Zer thank you next we have resolution 22

of

2024 Mr trell could you please read it

into the

record resolution 22 2024 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 skate park to be known

as the satera street park thank you

council members are there any questions

comments or concerns related to

resolution 22 of

[Music]

2024 seeing and hearing none Mr trale

could you please call the vote Miss

Davis no

Miss

green

yes Mr

Jones

yay Miss

Rose

yes Miss Bowers yes resolution 22 2024

passes by a vote of 4 to

one thank you next we have resolution 23

of

2024 Mr trusdale could you please please

read it into the

record resolution 23 2024 a resolution

of the Council of the city of Harrisburg

authorizing and appointing Austin

Griffin deputy director of Public Works

has the city of harrisburg's designate

to execute any forms documents contracts

and reimbursement agreements in the

Pennsylvania Department of

transportations electronic engineering

and construction management system and

reimbursement Agreement

System thank you council members are

there any questions comments or concerns

related to resolution 23 of

2024 seeing and hearing none Mr trusdale

could you please call the vote Miss

Davis

yes Miss green yes Mr Jones yay Miss

rolls yes Miss Bowers yes resolution 23

2024 passes by vote of 5 to zer thank

you next we have resolution 24 of

2024 Mr trale could you please read it

into the

record oh that's

right impeccable timing so this is

resolution 24 of

2024 am as amended okay 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 specific projects thank

you uh at this time I will entertain a

motion to suspend the rules for

discussion so move is there a second I

second that motion thank you I will

defer to our budget and finance

committee chair vice president green

thank you president Powers um I guess um

I kind of went over in my report that I

would be making a um a motion to amend

this resolution uh so that the money for

the Jackson L prepars would come out of

a general fund reallocation um coming

out of a line item for um road project

that will not be completed this year

because the project is at a stand still

until pendot does the pre-work they need

to do so um I guess it looks look like

we have the finance team here that maybe

can go over the numbers a little better

kind of to to show um where the funds

are coming from and the back of the

amended resolution um there is a

Schedule D that was added or exhibit D

excuse me that was added that shows

which line items the funds will be

coming from and um how it will impact

things whenever you're ready if you

could use the microphone please thank

you thank you madam chair president

powers I will have um our accounting

manager go into the uh accounting and

budgetary details so that uh you know

we'll be hon do and explained to you

clearly if you have any questions from

he and I when he's complete please let

us know thank

you uh yes good evening get situated

here everyone uh hope you're all doing

well uh thank you president Bowers uh

president green vice president green

um I uh the city solicitor distributed

early the uh amended proposed third

budget reallocation it's been amended I

believe for the second time now my the

main focus there as you've gone over uh

a good summary ahead of me is exhibit

D and we became aware of the of a

lessening of the need to

fund uh streets and Roads project

projects in the capital projects fund so

the move to enhance the general fund and

to enable it to um address the $555,000

for Jackson lick is just a simple budget

uh Amendment adjustment moving from

transfers out to capital projects and

funding up the particular account uh P

pool improvements also in the general

fund in the Parks Recreation and

enrichment budget unit

so that's the $55,000 plus up because

it's interfund originally it was

appropriated for transfer to the capital

projects fund we have to mirror the

adjustment in the capital projects fund

by reducing both revenue and expense

because that $55,000 has determined to

not be needed in in cap projects so

that's why you're seeing the

corresponding uh two additional lines

for the capital projects

fund and again that's exhibit the

and it's footnoted footnoted a with the

uh brief

description thank you very much are

there any questions regarding this I'll

start my far left with councilman Jones

sorry thank you uh vice president green

just only one question you you said that

these funds aren't needed anymore um and

if they are uh what's going to replace

this

55 um it at the present time it's been

determined that there's just a lessening

of uh a particular streets and RADS

project uh there are several U but it's

been determined that the the the outlays

for 2024 won't be at the level that was

represents the original

appropriation okay but if if you

indicate if the possibility does develop

later in the year that there's uh a turn

of events or a need we can accordingly

come back and and readdress that okay no

further

questions thank you uh councilwoman R

any questions uh I don't have any

questions I just want to First just say

you know thank you for um vice president

green for um looking into this

diligently today and asking them to do

so but also thank you Miss Kelly and

Brian for looking into this and I'm

trying to find a way to work this out so

that we didn't set a precedent that we

are taking money from um projects such

as as um the pool that would be going

out the sou or um any other projects

that we know are are very necessary but

actually trying to find it coming out of

other Appropriations that as you said we

don't um need have a need for at the

moment and don't see one in the near

future so I just want to thank you both

for working on that

today yes well three of you everybody I

want say you both I was but but um all

three of you working together I know

last night was a little SP spicy at the

end but I think it proved to show that

we can we we can um act as adults and um

figure things out um even when um at

first there's there a b turmoil so just

um thank you for all of us coming

together and doing that y thank you no

you're welcome yeah and it it was a

collective effort with the team

including uh budget manager input from

the mayor and also the uh business

administrator well I hope they're watch

I say than you to all of them as well so

I always worry about the numbers but I I

appreciate Neil's office being able to

handle the intricate legislation

adjustments that go along with something

like this so it was big big team effort

it was well thank you team anybody miss

I'm so sorry but yes thank you everybody

and I'm sorry for not recognizing the

mayor and Mr Brooks I to do that earlier

sorry oh that's so oh it was your idea

okay it was his thank you councilman

Jones

that's it for me thank you president

Bowers thank you um I don't have any

questions as long as we're confident

that uh the funds won't be needed for

our streets and Roads um and if that's

clear I'm fine with moving forward um

thank you for the collaboration uh and

communication uh I think that um both

are very much needed particularly in

instances like this one um and I'm glad

glad that we were able to come to some

level of a compromise so thank you thank

you thank you councilwoman Davis thank

you vice president

green I just like to say that I'm glad

that everything has worked out um it is

good to see our teams work together and

come to a positive solution for our

residents

so thank you that's it thank you very

much um I want to say thank you to all

of my council members um just for having

the conversation last night and um

ensuring that we did do our job and we

were diligent with uh looking over

everything uh and keeping our priorities

first um thank you to the mayor and the

administration for being willing to have

the conversation today um so that we

could come to this point and work

together um I will say I am confident in

our finances at this point um and there

were several other places we could have

pulled the money from we chose this

because we're confident we won't be

needing this money this year for this

project uh but there were other places

we could have pulled it from we could

have patched it together so um I do feel

confident that if the need would arise

to do a road project uh we would be able

to to come up with the money so thank

you very much for everybody um and I

think that's all that I have when it

comes time for the actual amendments I

will need help from our solicitor

though all

right okay so

so any further comments questions on

resolution 24 of

2024 before we return to our legislative

session okay seeing and hearing none

I'll entertain a motion to return to the

legislative session so moved is there a

second second thank you so before us we

have resolution 24 of

2024 Mr trusel could you please read it

into the record one more time

resolution 24 2024 a resolution

approving the third proposed 2024 budget

replacement or reallocation in order to

appropriate certain monies locally

designated as residue replacement

funding through an award under the

American Rescue plan act to provide for

specified projects as amended as amended

as amended thank you thank you uh

council members I'll defer to vice

president green for her amendment I

would like to propose an amendment with

the assistance of the solicitor because

this is not an ordinance but a

resolution it's just very simply the

count a motion to adopt the

uh third budget reallocation as amended

as of April the 17th

2024 okay I would like to make a

resolution to adopt the resolution 2024

of 2024 as amended as of April 17 2024

is there a second I second that thank

you council members any questions

comments or concerns related to the

amendment seeing and hearing none Mr

trale could you please call the

vote Miss

Davis

yes Miss green yes Mr Jones yay Miss

Rose yes Miss Bowers

yes the amendment passes by a vote of 5

to

[Music]

zero

okay so we're good to go we don't have

to have another vote because it's a

resolution as amended thank you um

resolution 25 of

2024 as we noted during our caucus has

been tabled and will be included on our

May 14th legislative session agenda our

final resolution this even is resolution

26 of

2024 Mr trale could you please read it

into the record resolution 26 2024 a

resolution authorizing the city of

Harrisburg to negotiate and enter into a

Professional Services agreement with

Alexander boding construction company to

serve as the construction manager for

the reservation Rehabilitation and

reconstruction of the Broad Street

Markets red brick

building thank you council members I

will entertain a motion to suspend the

rules for for discussion soon moved is

there a second second thank you I will

defer to our parks recreation and

enrichment committee chair to lead the

discussion chair

Ros thank you very much

um so is there anybody here from the

administration to talk about resolution

26 of

2024 and if so please join us up here at

the front

we'll be right with you we're grabbing a

computer real quick

for yeah they get a computer

this

[Music]

to be up with

this what you got Pres

um please excuse our brief submission

right now we're just trying to get a few

things um up and running with the

computer Compu so give us a moment if

you are joining us online and uh we'll

get started shortly thank you for your

patience

m for

I USB the HDMI

[Music]

do it

under good experience thank you yeah

okay all right uh let me know when you

guys are ready I we're ready when you

are okay all right good evening city

council um I'd like to I'd like everyone

to introduce himself to the table here

real quick and then we can start the

slideshow if we can start from my right

and then work our way over to the left

um please go ahead and introduce

yourself good evening nice to see you

guys again I'm Terrell Davis with

Alexander building construction project

manager good evening everyone Steve Wilt

project executive with Alexander

building

construction good evening Debbie reart

project manager with the Department of

facilities and special

projects all right good evening Senate

council my name is David Baker I'm the

facilities director for the city of

Harrisburg uh tonight we'd like to bring

to you uh what what I foresee as one of

uh many approvals um for the Broad

Street Market brick building uh this is

a um basically a break down of our uh

scoring process for the uh Broad Street

Market construction manager portion of

this project um in front of you you see

a uh breakdown of the scoring uh for the

construction manager uh portion of the

project um as you can see at the bottom

the totals on the scoring you see the

individuals uh Daniel Hartman our City's

business administrator was one of the

individuals Scott Miller who is a

project manager for the facilities

Department who has um 25 years of

experience in the field and Deborah

reart who has over 25 years of

experience in project management um in

this field as well um in the two

paragraphs below you can see some of the

some of the many key features uh that

kind of separated the um Alexander group

as far as the construction management

firm goes um and uh I think some of the

ones that I noticed were uh their um you

know their deep understanding and um you

know years of work in the fire

restoration field and also doing period

specific rebuilds uh before you some of

the pictures of a few of the different

projects that they've completed and on

that note I'm going to hand this one

over to Alexander to kind of give you a

synopsis on what it is that they're

going to be bringing to the table for

the city and what their role is in the

project um or in the um construction

manager uh role that they'll be playing

thank

you again I'd like to start off by

telling you a little bit about Alexander

Alexander lives works and plays in the

city we've been in business since 1928

over on vaugh Street same location and

have done a lot of the work in the city

over the

years we're a construction management

firm we do a lot of interaction with

different um communities within the uh

Harrisburg Area um and we looking

forward to bringing our fire uh water

wind and Restoration company to the

table to assist in this uh historical

and and unique

building it's been a long time coming to

actually do some work uh on this

building I remember as a young child my

grandmother would take me here to to buy

her products and everything uh and it

has been just a just a beautiful

beautiful building back in the day and

we want to take it back to that Glory we

will be uh bringing in a superintendent

the superintendent will be uh working as

a eyes and ears of of you an extension

of your services since we work directly

for you and give advice and direction to

the prime contractors that are brought

on board we will direct them through the

coordination and communication with the

city we are looking forward to um

engaging the community we know there's a

lot of uh PR around this project and we

are looking forward to making sure

people are understanding what's going on

um the way that you want it distributed

and sent out to the

community um as far as the uh the job

that we're going to be doing we will

assist with the hiring of the architect

and the and the um Engineers we'll make

sure that uh it's vetted properly

working through hand in hand with the uh

buildings and grounds folks and making

sure that we uh are able to lay out the

best team for the project taking a look

at our staff uh when we looked at this

project we were adamant about putting on

the right team to this project it's a

unique job so we made sure that we have

our restoration advisors we have a

project manager that has has done this

type of work before and other team

members that are really dedicated to

filling the team team out properly in

order for us to make sure that we can

perform the best for you on this

project quality control is a key issue

for us uh we're going to make sure that

it's a quality job that everybody can be

proud of we'll make sure that when we're

bringing on contractors they're local to

the community we Engage The the wbe MBE

and disadvantaged

businesses we have a large database and

we've worked in concert with many

uh folks in the area that will really

help us work towards a common

goal and I think that's pretty much

where I'm at with the the overall

construction there's many other elements

in our proposal but one thing I would

would highlight and I don't know that um

it's been talked about much but there's

Insurance monies that are dealt with

this project our our fire restoration

folks they deal with insurance carriers

all the time and and there are other

processes that they're familiar with

with the estimating software with the

with the understanding what U unforeseen

items can be actually going back to the

insurance company so it's not a cost to

the city so we're going to take every

step we can to make sure that you're

getting as much as you possibly can for

our

services right on that note uh do any

members of council have any questions

for us oh thank you um I'm sure we've um

a few of us do have some questions I

know the Broad Street Market is a um a

huge undertaking and a loss to the city

right now so we are definitely looking

forward to it being rebuilt um not just

back to um what it was but even better

um I think um we're definitely looking

forward to that so I thank you all for

coming out tonight and speaking to the

to us about this about the project

um thank you also for um uh director

Baker for putting up how the scoring

system went who was on the team I know

that is something I'm always looking for

uh with the bed process and so are the

residents to see how um construction

companies are being picked um I did have

a few questions for you and then also

for Alexandra and Co and then I will um

pass it to my council members um my

first question um for you uh director

Baker was um I had noticed that when the

bid process went out one of the

qualifications was you were looking for

the lowest bid now I didn't see up there

what the bids were but then I did notice

that um when the bids were finished

Alexander and Cole were the highest bid

so I was just wondering um even though

your you were your qualifications were

the lowest bid why did you all decide

and was there a score my first question

was would be were was there a score for

um the the money bid was there a scoring

process for that and if so uh what did

each bidder get for that score and uh

when did you change your qualifications

for um wanting the lowest

bid all right so um to that question

with this process this RFP process we

the city doesn't actually have to go

with the lowest bid the lowest cost for

the bid we try and go with the most

responsible bidder to get the most U

bank for our buck as far as what cont

contractors we go with what Consultants

that we go with um and and in this

process you know after the scoring was

all said and done uh that was what the

individuals doing the scoring felt is

that with this uh particular firm that

we would get the most benefit out of out

of these individuals for the money that

we'd be paying um and Alexander was not

the highest uh I think they were second

the highest no they were the highest

they were second I thought they were the

highest oh so so that's confusing there

were actually two Alexanders um that

were being scored so okay I'm sorry my

eyes could have went really quick you

know once I saw the 984 th000 I could

have wandered a little bit right so that

yeah hope hopefully that answers the

does that um well yes and partial I know

but

um I think my confusion comes with if

and I would be confused if I was put in

a bid if the qualification says we're

looking for the lowest bid but then that

kind of comes off the table when you end

up picking a company you didn't really

pick the company that did that had the

lowest bid because maybe as you're going

through figures you're trying to get it

as low as possible but then you actually

aren't looking for that when everything

is said and done so I think

that as we're putting out bids making

sure we stick to what we asked for and

our scoring process reflects that

because that wasn't part of a score was

it like you know how much the bid came

in

as that was I didn't see the fee was

part of it okay that was that's my

question I didn't can you go back to

that

slide and Madam chair to be a lawyer for

a second please do um a request for

proposal is different than a bid okay

okay and so request for proposal is a

proposal which has many factors into

qualification numbers what the plan is

there's um and it's just it's not the

same rules you're talking about the

submission of The Proposal no the whole

thing there is it starts it starts as a

as a request for proposed RFP whereas a

bid has a different legal structure to

it right okay even a bid is not required

in Pennsylvania to be the lowest bid

it's the lowest responsible bid based on

the bid package put out you know and so

and so you look at the you look if you

say and we'll take it out of this thing

like let's say you're you're you're

doing a road work and part of it is um

we we are uh we are a new road company

we've never done any road work or we

don't have a bond that has to come with

it I mean there's a lot of little things

that come in it and I didn't do this one

I'm just I'm but there is a lot of

nuance when you're doing these and

there's some of them are check boxes

right you got to have this like remember

the incinerator there was no bond you

got to have you got to have your

performance bond you got to have your

payment Bond different things come into

these but there's also other in most of

these you have a list of things you have

to have in terms of conditions and some

of them are the qualifications of of the

different Professionals in it some of

them are um the uh sticking with the

categories that were there some are

having experience doing certain things I

mean but so everyone is sort of unique

to our project and that's just not

Harrisburg you take the project and you

and and they try to write up something

that covers the actual project that's

trying to get done but they are

different and so that there that's and

so they to drill into what you really

drill into the whole RFP packet like not

just the one piece it's a it's a pretty

thick packet that that went out the door

yeah I I do understand what you're

saying I just want to make sure we're

clearing what we ask um companies or

what we're saying the qualifications are

because that is how they I would would

think create their proposal round this

is what they're looking

for that's all I'm saying just I just

want to say be clear and and be concise

and then keep that same requirement as

you go through the process cuz that

would only be fair that's that's my only

point in that that um if I'm not

clearing what I'm saying please let me

know but I just wanted to make I was

just saying it felt like we switched it

up once the bids came in or the rfps

came in as I if we switched it I'm

unaware of that

okay

um it just it just seemed that way to me

like I thought it was saying you know

we're kind of looking for the the lowest

bid but or the lowest RFP but that's not

really what it

was that's what well if it was a bid

would still it's still responsible bid

it's not lowest we we we have

responsible to do the project as

proposed like you know there is some

knowledge when you put the bid package

together it's going to require this much

time this many people and if if if a

number doesn't hit that number we've had

that for example with lawn cutting like

where someone comes in and their bid

couldn't cover the gallon of gas for

each lawn they were cutting you know so

how are you going to do this you know um

but it's it's a it's initially comes up

a lot in procurement okay all right

thank you um also I

um I think my other thing my other

question was going towards a wbe

participation I know that I think on

your application you said you don't

participate

and we always participate okay always we

actually have a mentor prot program very

active active um on all our jobs not you

know a requirement or you know a set a

set amount we don't we don't go by that

we go by going out to all our our

contractors and and just saturating the

market I that's what we do so

um we have a lot of we have a lot of

people in our database um that it's just

a good it's a good process that we've

always had and we we will get you know a

lot of participation we always do

it Tyrell didn't seem too impressed with

that answer no he was like no I'm going

to move on I have other questions but

I'm goingon to let my council members go

I don't like to be greedy um uh so I

want them to ask some questions too so

I'm going to start on my uh farle with

councilman uh

Jones thank you uh councilwoman Ross

how how are you guys today my question

is going to start out with you Mr Baker

so these numbers up here what do they

mean so we have uh multiple categories

that everything is graded off of there's

there's a a slew of different categories

the whole packet that the the grading

team will go through so um each

different category they'll go across and

they'll grade from that specific

category for every single r RP that they

read so let's say you get a 30 page RFP

they read every page of the RFP they go

through on these you know every single

line on the scoring sheet and then they

score each individual RFP on every

single line and then all those lines

they add up you they get in a room

together they all go over their

different um scoring numbers and then

these are the end results for all the

scoring that's done for every single RFP

that comes in and they read and go

over okay so this is like the the end

result the tabulation after all the math

problems have been done and this is the

end result for that that tabulation okay

what do they

mean um so each category and I mean we

could I don't know just give me an

example because I'm just all I'm seeing

is like numbers I'm just seeing numbers

I don't know what these numbers mean

some numbers are high some numbers are

low I don't know what they mean right um

so what we did is we set up a scoring

Matrix and

there several categories that we score

on I can't hear you ma'am yes sorry um

several categories that we score on so

for example the first one is plan

purpose objectives and challenges so

what what we're looking for is the

proposal the contractor's proposal of

how well they understand what we're

looking for that's one we score on that

um another criteria is the team

qualifications and experience do they

have the correct experience right people

assigned to the team

um and we read proposals on that um we

also had a criteria this particular one

because we wanted to make sure that the

uh construction manager had his staff or

their staff excuse me on site every day

to make sure that things are going way

they should be so we scored on that if

they if they address that in the

proposal then they got a certain amount

of points yeah I would you know uh again

Mr Baker what I would love to do for me

to to let me have a butter

understanding how you're selecting these

individuals and no disrespect to your

company you guys seem to been around for

a very long time but this is like for me

is my second time seeing you guys in

front of me and is that based on is that

is those any of these numbers represent

the level of their experience or how

many years they've been in business does

any of these numbers up here represent

that yes we one of the criteria is it a

main factor let me ask it that way so

every single one of these factors are

weighted in in their own regard and one

of the factors is how much uh experience

they have in this specific type of

restoration project and that that that's

a big determination on on who we move

forward with so that is one of the the

grading criteria that we look for is the

this exact type of restoration work and

how much experience they have and the

ability they have to do what we need

them to do in our specific case okay so

I'm going say

this I'm going to look at Jem right

right is that 22 points

off and the bid was maybe $400,000

cheaper why weren't they

selected so we always just gone by the

point system on here as far as and I

shouldn't just say that it's the point

system is a huge Factor but also you

expect to see a certain amount of money

for the services rendered and if the

number is completely out of the park

either above or below what you're

expecting to see what industry standards

are that is a factor that you take into

account whenever you're doing the

grading as well so you're saying that

there's a concern if it doesn't meet the

threshold that you think that the amount

of money that it would take for to get

this project done what about the the

level of experience because if we're

just now what I'm asking for is is

specifically the numbers I said they're

400,000 short than what their bid

was right right okay so if you're

looking at that that number that lower

number doesn't have anything to do with

their experience maybe they may have

know how to do this work that they SC so

let me just say this this is what I

would like to see before I vote on this

I would like to see the rfps that were

out there and then I want to sit with

you and show me how you grade this

that's that's what I would like to see

we can do that all right no further

questions thank you councilman Jones um

president Bowers do you have any

questions I did thank you m um my first

question is I wanted to know how the

team was assembled that review the rfps

that were received uh so we try and keep

an odd number of individuals on the

grading sheet so we don't have any sort

of you know ties or anything and in this

case we took individuals that all had

institutional knowledge in the area that

we'd be grading in

it

seems this has been a recurring question

with Mr Singleton the director of equity

and compliance his involvement in uh

Broad Street Market meetings generally

um but it seems like in this instance um

he should have been

included in some iteration of the odd

number

of individuals assembled for this

[Music]

team

um was a pre-proposal meeting held yes

can you please speak into the microphone

yes when was it held um I don't remember

the day it's generally about three weeks

after the

well do you know how many people or how

many companies were

present

four it's a required walkth

through I would like more clarification

on the scoring rubric and what's

included I think that you you you

mentioned maybe three areas is but I I

didn't hear

seven and what is the scale for the

rubric two 100 points

total you us to read each

individual I would like to know or see

it or something because I can also okay

thank you read that yes okay um plan

Purp goals objectives and challenges the

first criteria that was allotted 10

points team qualifications or experience

was allotted 15

points uh firm will indicates

willingness to have staff on site daily

was allotted Five

Points firm prior experience with

restoration of historical structures was

lotted 10

points the proposed construction manager

back background education Knowledge and

Skills was a lotted 10

points project schedule um just ensuring

that it's detailed and comprehensive and

reasonable that's 15

points project budget was allotted 10

points the fee was allotted 20

points say fee that much the Fe that

they were would be charging

okay and the quality of The Proposal

response was

fiveth seems like a few people

drops so

only go ahead go ahead I I was still

writing go ahead all right I think the

only way that we can actually see how

this I mean I can hear all of those

things now we have to see the well again

I would love to see the rfps and then

compare them if council members want to

sit down and walk through all of them I

mean I don't think I'm not how many of

them were submitted no yeah I want to no

I think I talked with the mayor's office

they have no issue of setting up a time

and taking people and walking through

the whole thing absolutely and so and I

and I think that's a fair way to people

to look at it it's it is a detail

oriented thing it's a lot of data a lot

of information um and you can see the

whole flow of it like I mean I'm

familiar what rfps look like but I'm

saying understanding this scaling and

this grading system I mean for Council

when when you bring these projects or

these uh um yeah projects to to to

council all we see is this we don't

really get to see right so so we're

really concerned about this goes back to

where I started earlier the difference

when there's bids you don't ever you

never see the bid because the bid abut

because the bid is picked by by the way

the law works so rfps come back to you

because there's this other component to

them right but I would suggest if

council members want to do that the most

efficient may have like two people at a

time if you want to do it because you CU

scheduling everybody one at a time will

take a lot of hours however we got to do

it now we want to see it but that well I

talked to the mayor today I talked to Mr

Hartman and that was with the what I got

coming out of that meeting

okay thank you did anybody determine

when the pre-proposal meeting was held

March the 12th thank you

I don't have any other questions just a

comment I just I'm not sure how

Equitable this process was so I don't

know if us

reviewing the rfps at this point if

there's a process issue um I don't have

any further comments thank you thank you

president bar would agree with

that what you just said

so um vice president green do you have

any

questions uh I I think kind of some of

the comments that I I would have had

were already stated so it's no need for

me to go into it further thank you MH

and um councilwoman Davis do you have

any questions thank you councilwoman

Ross I think I'll uh re I'll reserve my

questions until after we get a chance to

review the project um so thank you

you're welcome um yes if we could

set up some time to uh review the

project I know this is what council is

asking for I believe they might have

asked for a few things to be emailed um

if I forgot what that may be does

anybody want to reiterate so I don't

miss it I thought somebody well you

wanted the I think president bers you

were but you read um Miss Reinhardt read

off the rubric did you want that emailed

yes I would like to see okay thank you I

think my just small reservation I first

of all Alexander and Co I think that

you're a great company I know you're

going to be doing the senator

Stadium um so it's not that we feel like

you do not do uh quality work I think

some reservations are that um and you

may not know of this but uh when the

federal building went up when the new

courthouse went up uh residents had

some concerns feelings and

concerns because we weren't a part of it

um no con no rfps or bids however we

want to say the words that went out

included anybody in our community um no

disadvantage business businesses were

included we were left out but it's in

our

community so we can't allow that to

happen again we saw how it felt we saw

the aftermath so what we want to make

sure is that the Broad Street Market

that we've all went to grew up

with we have a seat at the table and

that any company that comes

in and whoever is going to restore that

and preserve it does it with us hand in

hand so I think that's where our

reservation comes from and um it it just

kind of was you know you you already

have the senator Stadium now the Broad

Street Market so you know how does that

work that's two really large projects

where we're not a part of so uh yeah if

we could just get some information I

will not be putting this on the

legislative agenda for the next meeting

uh although I I know we want the Broad

Street Market done we're ready for it to

up and go but I I think that we have to

make sure we're doing this the right way

um I have one last question though um

and nil you may be able to answer answer

this in a legal way when uh or you made

to Mr Baker the team that is

formed uh to go over the the scorings or

go over the interviews and do the

scoring system is it allowed to be um

anyone do they have to be a city

employee and I asked that because the

vendors who were affected in that in the

brown the The Brownstone of the BR

Street Market the brick building would

they be allowed to be on the team since

CU I know you said Mr Baker you put

people on a team who have direct

knowledge of whatever the project is

which they would have direct knowledge

they were affected they know what they

need they know what kind of company

they're looking for is that would that

be allowed so every one of these is

unique but there's not a Prohibition to

have non- city employees on there you

have to as the responsible person with

having Insurance have our people there

they have to be part of it um but at the

end of the today those appointments are

simply an executive function it's up to

a mayor in in this form of government to

to assign people to take care of these

things whether they she ask them or

requests them it's much easier to assign

someone who works for you than assign

someone who

doesn't pragmatic piece that's all right

right but if you but also if you're

trying to make I'm you know and this

isn't towards you or anyone really

directly but just to say I just wanted

to see you know if you're able to have

non City absolutely have on some things

so it just it just depended on the

project I can't you know I think you

know there's a lot on the plate right

now that's large and and I think that's

part of why when it's large you just go

with what who's here right right so okay

thank you I hope moving forward we can

change up our the teams that uh do do

the scoring system I think they've been

the same for the past couple of projects

and I think also making sure uh we're

we're placing people on there that it

also directly affects I have a question

though what was the process prior to

this scoring

system when you how did you select the

people that that bid or this scoring

system was always in place the very

similar scoring system has been around

for years I mean there's a little

variation whether it's a road project or

something else but for harisburg I mean

you you're seeing back toback two of the

largest projects we've had in a dozen

years right they're just aren't a lot of

giant multi-million dollar projects here

um which one are you referring to the

stadium and the Broad Street Market I

mean there just aren't multi there

aren't big projects like that coming

through well I'm I'm speaking to I'm

following up with the sentiments that

Council woman RW had $396 million

project in the heart of Harrisburg

Pennsylvania not one local vendor not

even a gopher got a job

here 300 yeah $396 million project not

one person and we had to March around

this building still didn't get a job so

the concern is like you know again no

disrespect to your company when you keep

seeing the same people getting these

projects I got to start thinking about

why are they the only ones getting

them and our job is to stand in Vanguard

for this community and sure is something

that I completely ran on to make sure

that uh local vendors and businesses are

included in economic growth of the city

of Harrisburg so that's that's just my

concern of just seeing this process how

it actually works so that we know that

there really

isn't I would just call it

favoritism all right I'm going to speak

now speak up I I think listen to what

you guys are concerned I Shar the

sentiment

100% okay um being as a minority myself

in the construction industry majority

time that's not another person that

looks like me all right I've been in

Industry going on for 10 years all right

and only I've only met one other black

project manager and that was in the city

of Philadelphia and that's working here

in the state of PA so I understand your

sentiment um but what I would ask add to

that is that you guys are 100% right

that's a process and that's a procedure

that is incorrect and a lot of it comes

down to educational um what you guys are

asking or expecting is for people to

have the opportunity to say at the table

but there many of us lack the education

I'm going to say us because I'm one of

those individuals there as the person

who has owned a business who has worked

in the construction industry here I

don't necessarily have the opportunity

to bid on the project this large give me

a road home oh I can do it give me a fit

out a million dollars sure I could do it

but we're talking about something that

is you know8 10 15 20 I don't know what

the dollar value of this project would

be but that requires a different level

of education and experience that a lot

of us just don't have and so

while we want this to happen I think we

got to go back okay how can we start

educating the community far few in

advance so when opportunities like this

show up here like this is something just

like a year two three years in the works

it takes time to do um I'm right through

with you guys I I I understand I

understand it and it hurts to even hear

a $250 million project so

396 I don't care if it's over a million

dollars like the fact that no one had

the opportunity to sit at the table and

there's plenty of contractors here like

I feel that I feel that um that

particular job was was awarded to a firm

in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh and they

brought their own team and they B their

own team and we were just as frustrated

about that because literally we could

have walked to that site from our office

and we had a plan that was all

inclusive and again we didn't get a

crack at it and it upset us but

and and I and and so if you if you can

feel that sentiment right how do you

think some of these

other uh companies would feel too that

they didn't really get a opportunity and

and and again you guys were just before

us think I would say I would say that

they got an opportunity we all had to go

to the pre bid we all had the same

requirements in the RFP which I so

that's why I want to learn the system so

so we I need to learn that we got the

RFP

I brought I brought it all tonight we we

brought an the RFP that was sent there

were certain guidelines that had to go

by the RFP to make sure you were

responsive bidder we put together a so

you you were a part of the grading no no

no I was part of of of providing a

proposal and we put together a proposal

did you see the other proposals no so

this has really be the first time they'd

be available to someone outside that's

how that works like you know so so say

to me I I hear you Neil but what he's

saying to me is that this is you feel as

though that you were the best qualified

pretty much is what you're saying right

I I think we offered more than other how

if you haven't seen the other ones

because I know I know a lot of these

firms are I know Jonathan B that doesn't

mean anything so so you brought Jonathan

bers he's in the building right now this

man has just been awarded three times in

one year for the work he's done he's

done plenty of work in the city of

Harrisburg

absolutely so the 185 no no no I I know

Jonathan bers I you asked me how I I

know Jonathan bers he doesn't have a

restor a fire restoration group and and

and doesn't do a lot of that type of

historical work same with so you can't I

see has he can sub can

he I'm just saying I have two questions

I wanted to know

um how do we Define most responsible

bidder Mr Baker that's what you referred

to this company as the most responsible

bidder and that we would get the most

bang for our buck is there a definition

for most responsible

bidder I would say the definition I

would use would be a bidder that meets

the qualifications that we're looking

for in the certain criteria that we're

asking so whenever we put that RFP out

and we say we're looking for all these

different criteria we want to see you

know X Y and Z we we look for specific

items and then when we get those

proposals back that's how we grade off

of the proposals and that's how we

decide who the most responsible bidder

is Miss rard I see you shaking your head

are you confirming that there is a

actual definition for most responsible

bidder or you're just affirming what Mr

Baker is saying that his hypothetical

definition I I just to CL that would be

my definition I know it's your

definition that's why I'm asking if no

not Webster's Dictionary something in

the rubric something in what is Define

what is

how is a the most responsible bitter

defined so I don't know if there's a

very specific legal definition but the

way that we defined it for this team the

scoring team was how well the proposals

met the criteria that were listed in the

RFP okay and then I had a comment for Mr

Davis

um I found some of your commentary a

little offensive let's not assume that

everyone lacks education in this

instance it's a lack of opportunity it's

not the education so I just wanted to

clarify that thank

you does any other council members have

any other questions my mic's not on any

questions or

concerns okay well does does anybody

else have anything else to say from the

administration or Alexander and

Cole thank you for the opportunity to

yeah you're welcome thank you for coming

thank you all for coming that concludes

the business of the Parks and Recreation

enrichment committee thank you um I will

entertain a motion to resume the

legislative

session motion moved is there a second

thank you so we returned to the session

uh before us we had resolution 26 of

2024 but I believe chair Ross noted she

would like the resolution to remain in

committee at this time

um I you know I did but you

know what's the process if it remains in

committee it just comes back to another

work session you can bring it out

anytime so some things remain in

committee a year and a half depending on

the complexity right all right I I would

do that because I feel like my my uh

council members need some time to look

at some documents and then I'll converse

with them and have it brought back in

and if and Tiffany from my office

participated in the legal side of these

okay so if you need her available to

walk people through things she can do

that okay you too right okay all right

thank you I assigned her this contract

I'm bouncing off but she's in the weeds

okay right that has to more more to do

with language

right on the documents I our office is

working on the language of the document

right that's what we're trying to get to

I got you

yep thank you is there any old Business

Council Members yes thank you president

Bowers I'd like to make a motion to

revisit resolution

22224 it's it's reconsidered reconsider

uh resolution 22

d224 is there a

second

second the motion on the floor is to

reconsider resolution 22 of 202 four um

council members is there any

discussion yes oh no I don't have okay I

just misread the resolution and want to

yes re vote cash your vote over please

okay so we have resolution 22 of 2024 Mr

trale could you read it just to refresh

everybody's

memory resolution 22 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 greencape park to be known as

the Tera Street Park thank you assuming

there's no further questions comments or

concerns Mr chel can you please call the

vote on the motion to reconsider which

is not motion to

reconsider yeah on the motion to

reconsider

yes oh okay

Miss

Davis

yes Miss green yes Mr Jones yay Miss

rolls yes Miss Bowers yes resolution 22

2024 passes by a vote of no the motion

to reconsider has passed oh the motion

to reconsider is passed now we can call

it for a formal vote got resolution 22

of 20 24 Mr chel can you please call the

vote Miss Davis yes Miss green yes Mr

Jones yay Miss Rose yes Miss Bowers yes

resolution 22 2024 passes by vote of 5

to zero thank you thank you any new

business council members yes Sor I

was typing away yes very quickly I would

like to go over um some things happen in

Harrisburg this weekend

or Thursday to Sunday and on um so

what's happening in harrisburger family

singles and couples Earth Day Festival

Saturday April the 20th from 12:00 p.m.

to 2:00 p.m. at Reservoir Park

Brownstone there will be info tables

educational sessions beekeepers and

crafts so please come out and join us on

Saturday April the 20th also don't

forget that um The Parks and Recreation

is still holding watercolor painting

class and that ends April 25th and that

is at the reservoir park Brownstone from

Wednesday um on Wednesdays from 11:00

a.m. to 20 to 12:00 p.m. so please don't

miss

out also extreme hip hop Thursdays is

still happening it started April 11th

and it ends May 9th and it will be at

the Reser Park pavilion from 6:00 to 7

p.m. so please don't miss out on all the

great activities that are happening

right now in the city if you would like

more information you can visit

harrisburg.pa doov um for the Flyers and

for any more information that you may

need thank you thank you any other new

business okay seeing and hearing none

the time is 7:39 p.m. I will entertain a

motion to adjourn motion to adjourn is

there a second second thank you we stand

adjourn