Harrisburg City Council Work Session - 03/03/2026

like to officially call our work session

to order.

>> Mr. Trudeau, could you please call the

role?

>> Miss Davis,

>> present.

>> Miss Green.

>> Mr. Jones,

>> here.

>> Mr. Lson,

>> here. Miss Rose

>> present.

>> Mr. Rodriguez

>> present.

>> Miss Hill

>> present.

Um for committee business this evening

we you will hear the work of two

committees. The administration committee

and the public works committee. Um we

will begin with uh the public works

committee just for the interest of time

and the benefit. Um, so I will defer to

our public works committee chair,

Councilman Rodriguez, to lead

discussion.

>> Thank you, Madame President. Um, on our

agenda today, public works committee

will be discussing three, well, two

resolutions in a bill. Um, uh, Mr.

Truder, would you mind reading bill 4 of

2026 into the record, please?

Bill 4, 2026, an ordinance amending

chapter 9-301 of title 9 of the

Harrisburg City Code regarding the

municipal waste recycling and composting

composting to authorize the

identification and designation of

business establishments for the

placement of the city designated litter

receptacles, hotspot cans outside public

exits consistent with the findings of

the Pennsylvania Litter Action Plan

2021.

>> Thank you for that. And um I just wanted

to make it known that this is in

collaboration with the Pennsylvania

litter control plan as well as the

Harrisburg comprehensive plan. So the

Harrisburg comprehensive plan HBG 2020

is a long range policy document guided

land loose transportation economic

development housing utilities public

service and natural cultural resources.

It sets priorities for future growth and

development ensuring decisions are based

on analysis of current and projected

conditions. While it does not directly

address the litter cleanup, it supports

environmental stewardship by shaping

policies that can influence waste

management, public space design, and

community engagement. My hope is moving

forward, we can integrate and amend this

living document known as the

comprehensive plan to reflect this here

litter mitigation, greener and cleaner

city neighborhoods in collaboration with

environmental friendly entities and

organizations. Um, under the

comprehensive plan under park, open and

civic space, it does refer to pollution

remediation and ecological stewardship,

which this legislation aligns with

perfectly. Um, for this, the roll out is

looking for late spring, early summer,

and the goal is to have the hotspots

cans located at the now defined

convenience stores and bodeas that are

now defined by this legislation as

hotspots. The intention is to work with

Mr. cues to help identify those entities

that we can supply the respective

receptacles at these locations. Um it

was just something I was not only myself

but a lot of community members for as

long as I've been on council have spoke

about corner store ordinances and the

cleanliness of our neighborhoods. So,

just to attach this to Hotspot

Saturdays, um we had a great

comprehensive meeting with the mayor's

office, uh legal as well as public

works, and we took maybe a few months to

fine-tune it and get it where it needed

to be in the code, but I'm very proud

that we now have the actual definition

of what a convenience store and bodega

uh is and are, which we have not

previously. So, very appreciative of the

work from our law offices. Um so, thank

you, Mr. Grover, and your team. Thank

you, Mr. West, and your team. and of

course the mayor's office and my

colleagues on council and thank you for

the long champions of this bill. Um

people like Rafika Muhammed, Mr. Leela

Nelson, people from the EAC and previous

and eons before that spoke about this

and fought for this and for some reason

whether or not we couldn't just pull the

trigger on it. So I'm really happy to be

able to bring Bill 4 of 2026 in front of

council tonight for consideration. Um I

see Mr. West is with us. I didn't know

if you wanted to add anything. Maybe

talk about the outdated cobblestone

receptacles and why it's important to

get these in front of the stores

if council

just in case they may have questions.

>> Yes, please.

>> If council's not aware, um there used to

be old like cobblestone heavy heavy

trash receptacles around the city. Very

outdated. Um they've they've stopped

being uh really used for a while. So, if

we put these in the designated now uh

defined corner stores and bodega spaces

when patrons come out and throw away

trash, they will have somewhere

specific, not the typical everyday black

cans that the the customers or

businesses pay to have their trash

thrown out. These are designated litter

remediation cans that they'll have. This

way, we can kind of keep the city

beautified and uh have a specific place

for them to throw their waste. Uh Mr.

West, did you want to touch briefly on

maybe the outdated cobblestone cans and

why it's important um to actually use

the ones we were speaking about with the

holes in them?

>> Yes. Uh good evening, council.

>> Good evening,

>> council members. Yes. Uh for a long

period of time, we did have these round

cobblestone. They were very outdated uh

cans. They Well, they held the cans and

we had to purchase these uh metal cans

to place inside of them. And they were

being stolen by the people who were

collecting scrap and we had to continue

to replace them over and over again. Uh

so we wanted to start the initiative. We

did we started at a couple of stores on

the hill where we took uh we bought some

lids that had a hole in the top and they

were orange color orange color lids with

the black cans. So we start using them

a couple of the stores on the hill and

it act the program actually worked. You

know, it was a pilot and uh there were

people walking up and down the street,

they were using the can because a can

was there. At one time when we took the

cans away and we didn't have any cans

there, people were just throwing the

trash in the street, which made it worse

for not even for for the city looking

bad. also with um our sweepers to clean

the streets like they would throw

bottles and things like that and the

equipment was not made to pick up things

that heavy. So you either had to have

someone walking the streets and cleaning

up throughout the streets and asking the

vendors, you know, to clean up the

outside of the curb. They would throw

things in the street and the vendors

would say that's a city issue. It's not

my property.

So, uh, the cans with the hole in them

would work well. It would at least have

an attraction for individuals to see

that there's somewhere to throw their

trash.

>> And our team will know um when to

dispose of them.

>> When our team, the public works team,

they'll Yes. Yes.

>> Oh, yes. We we'll dump them accordingly.

And what what we do is we'll place them

out and and we'll continue as as they're

sitting there, people will continue to

start to use them and we can um dump

them actually every day if needed. Y

>> you know, because we have someone in

areas five days a week,

>> you know, we have our luxury of having a

small sanitation packer to go through

areas that we need. once we see the

volume that's placed there as they

continue to use and we'll make the

necessary adjustments.

>> Awesome. Thank you for that. I have

nothing further, but I'd like to open it

up to council. Um, start on the far

right with Councilman Lawson.

>> Thank you, uh, Councilman Rodriguez. And

I I I uh and thank you, Mr. West, for

for coming to to present and and help us

answer some questions. what I don't

remember seeing and and I I may not have

put enough search into this, but is

there any penalty for um said uh

establishment for not providing or

maintaining these cans?

>> Yeah, so that there's actually a penalty

already in the ordinance. Maybe

solicitor Grover can speak to that.

>> They added this provision to the

municipal

um what do we call it?

the municipal waste code is what we call

it. And so that's a fairly lengthy code

which has its own penalty provisions.

And so um we've added that and there's a

there's a separate penalty in in the

health code for litter. So in this

provision, the last section that we put

in says, uh if a violation would be a

violation of either the litter provision

in health or this, it's the penalties in

this provision that will apply in the

waste code which are higher and it has

It has stages where it can go up for a

violation. So, um, first offense is less

than the second offense, and it's it

could be a major offense or a minor

offense. It's a fairly complicated

process. It's not the kind of thing

where I think we're trying to penalize

the store owners. We're just trying to

get them to assist in in knocking litter

down. It's coming out their front door.

>> That's great. I I just wanted to make

sure that we had something set so that

we had incentive for people to comply

and to adopt and to help keep the the

streets a little cleaner, make it make

life a little easier for our residents

as they're walking, you know, back and

forth coming from the stores. And and

also for our public works department, as

you're saying, trying to deal with what

we had before with the cobblestones or

deal with what we had with uh the the

trash overflowing that. So, I'm I'm all

for this. Thanks.

>> Thank you. Uh, is Councilwoman Green

online at all? I just wanted to make

sure. I didn't want to. All right. I

hope it

>> Yes, I'm here. Thank you, Councilman

Rodriguez. Absolutely. I don't have any

questions regarding this. Um, it's it's

pretty simple and straightforward. I

know it's something we've discussed um

several times in the past, so I'm just

glad to see it come to fruition. I think

it' be a great asset to the city. So,

thank you for working on this.

>> Thank you, Councilwoman and FeP.

>> Uh, thank you. Um, no questions at the

moment. Thank you, Madam V. Uh, Madam

President.

>> Thank you. I have a few questions

regarding the pilot program.

Um, I was just curious. Well, first,

thank you for describing what a litter

remediation trash can looks like versus

the another one. Um, my first question

is how many litter remediation trash

cans were involved in the pilot?

Like how many trash cans total?

You said it was in Allison Hill.

>> Yes. Okay.

>> They they were on Dair Street.

>> Okay.

>> Uh from

13th to

19th.

>> Okay.

Um and how long were the trash cans

there?

>> For about 6 months.

>> Oh, okay.

Um, and then my final question, I don't

I guess how will the hotspot kins, how

will this program, since it it would

become official, um, be evaluated moving

forward?

>> How

>> how are you going to evaluate the

success of this program moving forward?

Well, once we start once we place the

cans at the locations,

>> we will uh continue to monitor to see if

the volume of pickup becomes more and

more. Uh like we'll start with once a

week. Okay.

>> As we continue, we'll monitor each area

of of pickup to see if it's improving or

if it's staying the same or if it's

decreasing. because if they don't use

the cans, then there's no need to pick

them up. So, we'll hold we'll we'll put

it like a a six month spreadsheet

>> for each individual locations, how many

times we pick them up throughout the

week and so forth and so on. And we will

distribute that to council once we do

once we finish the paper.

>> Okay, that sounds good. Thank you. I

don't have any other questions.

>> You're welcome. Thank you, Madam

President. Councilwoman Ross.

>> Thank you, Councilman Rodriguez, and

thank you for being here, Director West.

Um I don't have any questions. I know

this is something that um Councilman

Rodriguez has been working with on um

the public works committee for some

time. Um and I I do think it's something

that's necessary to continue to keep our

streets um beautiful. Um also, if people

have somewhere to throw trash away, nine

times out of 10, they're going to put it

there. it's when there's nowhere to put

it that um litter does start to occur.

So, I think this will be something great

um for our city. Uh my only question,

well, not a question, but visual. I'm a

visual person. And so I was just

wondering if there's any way to get a

picture if uh of what that might look

like or and when the initiative um you

know when it's passed if it's passed

however goes um after tonight if there's

something that can go up on our website

just to say that this is something

that's going to effect and what the

trash cans look like and helping us

keeping the city beautiful. I just

wonder if that was

>> Absolutely. Would it be okay if I

stopped by public works maybe got a

picture of the can

>> a shot of the can with the orange lids?

Definitely. Definitely. I think for us,

for the community, just so they know

this is why they're out here.

>> Let's work together. This is what they

look like. I I think, you know, make it

a citywide thing.

>> So,

>> yes, that's it.

>> And another thing uh council needs to be

aware of that we're not spending any

extra money to purchase cans for this

initiative on the side. These are cans

that are already set within the budget

for the cans that we have. Thank you for

that extra um piece of information.

Thank you. That's it from me.

>> That'd be something great to get over to

our research analysts for uh the new

initiative that she's working on. So

that will go hand in hand. Awesome. And

uh Councilwoman Davis.

>> Thank you, Councilman Rodriguez. Thank

you, Mr. West, for being here.

>> You answered my question in terms of how

much is this costing the city, but there

are the payans are already paid for it.

>> Yes.

>> Okay. Exactly.

>> We have a budget of

>> a certain amount of cans every year and

we have

>> uh significant amount of cans that we

purchased last year that we didn't even

start purchasing cans this year that the

money that council and the mayor passed

for the cans for this year. We haven't

even touched that money yet.

>> Okay, great. Thank you. I was wondering

if we reached out to the store owners to

maybe let them know to make them aware

that these cans are coming to maybe

encourage them in some way. I know in my

area, I stop by a couple of the stores

and if I see trash out there, I will

actually go in the store and ask the

store owner to maybe gather up a couple

kids, you know, in the neighborhood and

have them GI the area,

>> but I was just wondering. Yeah, I think

once it becomes ordinance, um, there'll

be a roll out and I'll be working with

public works to get that information to

them and let them know what these orange

lids are popping up in front of their

establishments and how to obtain them

and upkeep them. That was actually one

thing that Madame Mayor was a stickler

about. She wanted to make sure that the

corner stores or bodeas upkept them and

I was in total agreeance to that. So,

>> thank you for that, Councilman

Rodriguez. That's it for me.

>> Awesome. Thank you. Um, Director West,

is there anything you wanted to add as

far as bill uh four of 26 before we move

forward?

>> No, just know that um the cans will not

sit and overflow. We will make sure and

um and stay consistent in making sure

that they're dumped. So there it won't

be another waste site for people, you

know, to bring their trash to when they

see overflowing cans and they put their

trash. That will not happen. That

happened before, but it will not happen

again. It happened when we had the stone

cans and and it was a mess actually with

the stone cans because it was it was

they just didn't have the capacity of

the holes to war when it rained and

deteriorated the cans. We kept

purchasing cans and

>> and this init initiative because we have

holes in the bottom of the cans for

waste to not uh overflow in the can the

water to not overflow in the can this

wouldn't happen and we're going to

monitor.

>> Awesome. Thank you for that. And then um

just another part of committee business,

this in conjunction with the EAC, which

is now um dated to be up and running

here at the end of this month. They will

reconvene with a full quorum. So very

super excited about that. And I did get

uh the mayor's um promise that she will

be making her appointments, although

it's not necessary for them to meet. Uh

we are working in full conjunction and

the EAC will be back up and running with

their first meeting at the end of this

month. So, a lot of great things coming

out here um momentarily. Uh so, moving

forward, uh resolution 10 of 2026. Mr.

Trudale, do you mind to please read

Resolution 10 of 2026 into the record?

Resolution 10, 2026, a resolution

authorizing the city of Harrisburg to

negotiate and enter into a lease

agreement with Lamar Advantage GP

Company LLC for the purpose of

constructing and maintaining a billboard

on a portion of city property fronting

Paxton Street located at 1812 Paxton

Street.

>> Thank you for that. And of course, Mr.

West is still here with us. Mr. West, if

you'd like to give an overhaul, just a

quick review of what actually this res

uh resolution is stating for council,

please. You talking about the signage?

>> Yes, the billboard.

>> That's 1820 Paxton.

>> It says 1812 over here.

>> So, just a correction for the record.

1820.

>> Oh, okay. Oh, we got Antonio.

We can move for Well, uh, let me see.

>> Are you resolution 8 while we have Mr.

West? Um, that's still the billboard on

a portion of the city I 83 located. So,

I guess Mr. West, that was that was it.

Bill four for you and Antonio can come

up and discuss resolution 10 and 11 of

2026.

>> Yes. Yes. Thank you.

>> Okay. Madame President, would you like

me to continue with this in business?

>> Yes, please continue.

>> Absolutely. Uh, so I see Antonio here.

Great to see you. Yeah.

>> Um, if you'd like to give a overhaul of

resolution 10 of 2026, please for

council.

>> Sure. Uh, Antonio Magna, Business

Administrator's Office. Uh, thank you

again, council. Um, I have Mike Adams

here from Lamar as well. I'll give a a

breakdown of kind of what's in this

agreement and then Mike and I can answer

some questions that everyone has.

effectively uh for the resolution 10 and

11 uh the the biggest difference that

these two are going to have compared to

the other three resolutions is that uh

there's going to be a construction of

two signs um at the 1812 Paxton Street

location. Um in the resolutions there's

a picture of where the the location is

and where exactly the two signs will be.

>> I'm sorry I'm sorry to cut you off.

Since you are speaking in terms of both

res resolutions, I'll just have Mr. Mr.

Trudale, read resolution 11 of 2026 into

the record and we can just knock it out

one time.

>> Mr. Trudale, can you please read

Resolution 11 of 2026 into the record?

>> Resolution 11, 2026, a resolution

authorizing the city of Harrisburg to

negotiate and enter into a lease

agreement with Lamar Advantage GP

Company LLC for the purpose of

constructing and maintaining a billboard

on a portion of city property fronting I

83 located at 1812 Paxton Street.

>> Okay. Would that be 1820?

No, it's 181 1812. Okay. 182 just for

continuity. This way we can keep it all

on board. Please proceed. Thank you.

>> Yep. Um so as I was saying uh in the in

the resolutions uh there is images

attached uh to show you where the

location of the signs will be built. Um

the key here is that this these

contracts are going to be for 15 years

in length. uh they start at $12,900

uh in rent uh for the entire year and

then they kind of go up depending uh on

which resolution we're talking about.

For 10 and uh 12 or 10 and 11, sorry, uh

they go from 12,900 for the first five

years. For years 6th through year 11,

it'll increase to 14,196.

Years 12 through 15, then we'll be at

15,600.

And then at year 16 uh and ongoing from

there uh it's going to be 17,160.

Um so you can see on exhibit C in the

resolutions there's a breakdown of the

monthly payments. Um there's also a

second option in there where uh if the

gross revenues for Lamar exceed uh

certain percentages 15% for the first

five, 17.5%

years 6 through 11 and 20% onwards. uh

then we can actually collect based on

those percentages of the gross revenue

instead of the monthly income if those

exceed the monthly uh rent. So um and

then the other key here is that uh these

leases will uh for the construction

parts will start either the first day of

the calendar month following uh the date

that the construction of the sign is

completed or uh within the fir within

nine months. So at the nine month mark

uh the lease will automatically start

then.

>> Awesome. Thank you for that. And uh the

gentleman to my right, your left, if

you'd like to.

>> My name is Mike.

>> Can you speak directly into the mic,

please?

>> Uh my name is Mike Adams. I'm the real

estate director for Lamar Advertising

here in Le Moy. U if anybody's not

familiar with us, we're the largest

advertising company here in the in the

midstate.

Basically, the reason why we came in

here, we used to have on a billboard on

right on that site right in the corner.

It was taken down as part of the uh

transportation project. when we first

started trying to to figure out where to

put it back in 2022. It appears PEDOT is

finally starting to at least draw some

harder lines so we can at least start to

work out where we might be able to

locate. Um we're on a what I'm going to

call, for lack of a better way to put

it, a very short timeline.

Normally these things take about 18

months to 21 months to get done, but uh

we agreed to do the nine months. The key

is is with pendots, everything they're

working on out there and you have an

active public works area out there. We

cannot interfere with them. We do not

take up a lot of space, but they have we

have to ensure that they hit all the

traffic flows and everything that they

work on. So location is going to matter.

Along 83, you're pretty much looking

will be what you would refer to as what

a standup billboard looks like. It'll be

1448. Look the same as every other one

down through that corridor.

What we're also asking to do is to go up

onto Paxton Street, which is a little

bit different. Now, up there, the board

won't look like that. It'll look more

like the the ones you're seeing built

currently. It'll look the design is a

lot different. It'll be, how should I

say, fit neighborhood design, for lack

of a better way to put it. We'll put

public works on the top of it, city seal

on it. It'll look really nifty, but all

of that stuff takes a bit of time to do.

If we talk about the leases in general,

it was brought up very simply, these

things have a revenue share on it. And

what they mean is

if these boards do better than what we

expect, you participate.

>> You get paid. If they don't, it doesn't

make any difference. we pay you that

base rent and it doesn't. I fully expect

these sports to do fairly well,

especially the one on Paxton Street if

we can. But again, with everything going

on out there, it's for me is at the end

of the day, I've been put on a very

short lease in nine months to get these

things done. It's who do I talk to with

design? How do we set up someone to help

with where these things go?

That type of ar that type of thing.

>> Absolutely.

>> Okay. That's really from our side of it

where we are. Uh we do over a million

dollars worth of pro bono advertising in

this area every single year. The city

participates. We do a lot of stuff with

you. So I that's basically my a bridged

version. I think I heard on the essence

of time.

>> Awesome.

>> So if you have any questions, I'll be

more than happy to answer.

>> Well, thank you for that. I think um

>> any additional mechanism that can help

draw in some revenue for the city is a

plus. And by way of advertising, I see

it as a double plus. Okay.

>> Um, so the one on 18th, that would be at

the public works building or above the

public works building like behind near

the highway area.

>> Yeah. Where I kind of see it right now.

If you look where Pendock condemned the

building next to it, then they have a

paper street and then they put that

>> wall like tight.

>> Gotcha.

>> So I'm going to try to basically where

I'm thinking of it is to hug that

building as tight as I can so you don't

have any traffic flow move. So I don't

I'm trying not to affect any traffic.

>> Yeah. No, I understand.

>> That's exactly where it is. Before it

was up on it was up closer to the

interchange.

>> I just don't know how that's going to

work right now with Pendot working.

Right.

>> There's no way in nine months they're

done. I'm can assure you of that.

>> My question would be for businesses um

entities that like to participate in

order to get their let's say information

business event on the bulletin. Is it

something we can cross-promote on the

city's website to help get that

notoriety out or how can we collaborate

to get even more individuals to perhaps

pay for these uh promotions,

endorsements, etc.

>> We'll figure that out.

>> Yeah.

>> Gotcha. Gotcha. Well, if if someone was

interested in promoting, how would they

reach uh

>> they would just contact our office. They

would go to our sales team. I have Tim

Joyce who's here tonight. He's the vice

president, general manager for the

office here. Well, just for the people

at home, maybe they're interested in

their business. Is there a number or

website you want in

>> uh lamar.com or or Lamar Harrisburg?

Either one of those two. You search any

one of those, you can find us.

>> Awesome. Well, thank you. Um I have

nothing further. I will open it up to my

immediate left right now with

Councilwoman Davis.

>> Thank you, Councilman Rodriguez. Good

evening, Mr. Uh I wrote your name down.

>> You can just call me

>> Mr. Adams. Good evening. Good evening.

Thank you for being here. I don't have

any questions currently. Thank you.

>> All right, Councilwoman Ross.

>> Thank you so much, Councilman Rodriguez,

and good evening to you both. Um, for

me, this is uh I don't have many

questions. I mean, anything that can

bring more revenue into the city, bring

it on. Um, we love it. I think the only

thing I want I'm a person who likes

things to look pretty and, um,

Harrisburg, we are going through a phase

where we're just trying to bring

ourselves up and, um, look good while we

do it. We're going through a

reconstruction phase and I think as the

capital, whatever makes us look that

what we are, which is the capital, I'm

for it. So, as you design, I would just

ask for something that is eye popping,

eyeopening, and something that's just

going to add extra flare to our city.

Um, but other than that, I'm I'm for

this. Um, I love it. Um, I would say

maybe for Harrisburg based businesses if

they get like a small discount, but if

not, that's okay. Just a suggestion. I'm

always looking out for Harrisburg. So,

anyway, but yes, just please make it

eye-catching, something that's going to

add to our city and not take away from

it.

>> I can do that one on Paxton Street will

look pretty nifty.

>> Okay. Thank you.

>> I can guarantee you that. All right.

>> That's all. No questions, just

suggestions. Thank you,

>> Madam President.

I don't have any questions. Thank you.

>> Right, Vice President Jones.

>> Good evening. Um, don't have any

questions. I share the sentiments with I

guess all of my colleagues. Um, you

know, I'm a big stickler for our city

being able to generate revenue. Um, you

know, over over the time this this can

be accumulating and hopefully you do get

those million two three million dollar

sales so we can get a little more. But

uh um I'll just say thank you for doing

business with the city of Harrisburg.

Well, thank you.

>> All right. Councilwoman Green,

>> thank you very much. I don't have any

questions regarding this.

>> All right. And Councilwoman Lawson,

>> thank you very much. I as a business

owner, I worked with Lamar and I don't

know, you said nine months. I've given

you guys a lot of like last minute um

changes and you you seem to make it. So,

I I think nine months will give you

plenty of time.

>> Okay. It usually takes me 18 to 21

months from start to finish. So, yeah,

I'm on a very short leash on this one,

>> right?

>> This one we got to move.

>> But, but I I definitely appreciate the

uh the idea of the revenue share. At

first, I looked at the lease and I

thought, okay, well, that's that's fine.

But, um, you know, again, when I worked

with Lamar, I knew sometimes that the

pricing was a little bit more than than

this. But, but giving us a revenue

share, I think, is extremely fair for

the city. Um, and I I appreciate that

being part of our contract as opposed to

just the straight um lease because, you

know, in good times you you'll benefit

the city a little bit more. So, um,

thank you. That's that's all I have.

>> All right. Thank you.

>> All right. Is there anything uh you or

Antonio would like to add?

>> I really am good. I just like I said,

we're we got to go. So,

>> all right. And speaking of e uh

economical and ecological stewardship, I

just mentioned Miss Muhammad as she

walked in and I see Ed. Uh so thank you

both for joining us as well this

evening. And um with that being said,

I'd like to add bill 4 of 2026,

resolution 10 of 2026 and resolution 11

of 2026 on the next agenda on our next

legislative agenda. And that concludes

the business of the public works

committee. Thank you.

>> Thank you, Councilman Rodriguez. We will

now move to the work of the

administration committee.

Our first piece of legislation for

discussion is bill two of 2026. Mr.

Trudale, could you please read it into

the record?

>> Bill two of 2026, an ordinance forgiving

and discharging 2024 and 2025 city real

estate taxes, including interest,

penalties, and cost and striking off tax

leans for certain historically taxexempt

properties.

Uh, thank you. Sorry. Okay. Um,

Solicitor Grover, do you mind providing

an overview or perspective from the

administration on bill 2 of 2026?

>> Certainly. This is, I think, the fourth

one of these that have come through. And

just to give an historical uh

perspective, in 2022 or three, uh

Dolphin County for the first time

required everyone who is taxexempt to

reertify uh and including the city and

and other agencies and the nonprofits. A

series of uh institutions, mostly small

churches, did not respond to that um and

therefore went onto the tax roles,

although they've always been exempt. and

the county has been very good about

tracking them down and getting them to

recognize they have to actually fill out

the exemption paperwork and get it

passed. As they get passed, we then uh

bring these forward to council to uh

basically forgive the taxes that were in

place because they they should have been

exempt but for their paperwork missing.

And uh so these are two more churches.

The one is uh uh

Mount Olive Baptist Church I believe is

the first one out on 14th Street. But

Tarsa prepared these and she's not here

tonight. She's the one who did the back

and forth with the county, but these are

we believe the last two um that they

have approved. I don't know if there's

any outstanding at this point. Um one of

them I think communicated that they were

uh no longer going to be functioning as

a church at all anyway and I think the

pastor had left the state who was

handling it. Um but these are the last

ones of that. So the school district and

the county have already forgiven these

taxes for these churches and we are uh

the last ones doing

Thank you.

I believe I did see the pastor of Mount

Olive. She was here. I'm not sure where

she went. Um, okay. So, I I I don't have

any questions. I'm pretty familiar with

this practice at this point. Um,

sorry. I'm just trying to determine the

other church. Is it agape? Does that

sound right to you?

I I don't know. We we we deal in partial

numbers when we're talking about taxes

at my office.

>> Okay.

>> Well, I believe that it is

>> Hold on. I

zoomed in too far.

>> Hold on.

Hold on. I want to be clear since we

named the other church. One moment.

believe it is Agape Tabernacle of Praise

and that's located at 1336 Green Street.

And hold on, there's one more address

listed. So I just want to make sure that

it's not the same.

>> It would be the same that we just would

have two parcels being put to a

nonprofit purpose which is religious

education or religious services.

>> Okay. So just for everyone's reference,

the 1336 Green Street parcel number and

1330 Green Street uh both belong to

Agape.

I don't have any questions. I'm going to

open the floor to my colleagues who may

have some additional questions. I'll

begin with Councilwoman Davis. Do you

have any questions regarding bill two of

20126?

>> Thank you, President Hill. I don't have

any questions. Thank you.

>> Okay. Thank you, Councilman Rodriguez.

Any questions on Bill Two?

>> Thank you, Madam President. No questions

for me. Thank you.

>> Okay. Thank you, Councilwoman Ros. Any

questions on bill two? No, no questions.

Just wanted to note it's for tax year

2023. I know we know that, but I wasn't

sure if the public did. Am I that's

correct for

>> No, it's actually discharging 24 and 25.

>> Okay.

>> Yeah. 23 is when they got the notice.

>> Gotcha.

>> Right. And then 24 25 they got taxed

because the paperwork wasn't filled out.

So that's what we're forgiving.

>> Well, thank you for correcting me. So

then it's still the public knows. I

>> Great. Thank you. No questions. Okay,

Vice President Jones, any questions on

Bill Two?

>> I don't know if this is a question. Um,

and I'm I'm very familiar with a lot of

the businesses or buildings, nonprofits,

501c3s, state buildings that are exempt

from our taxes. There was something

recently, you know, I went to uh the

meeting with the A and um I came across

some information that was very

eyeopening for me where we have at least

1640

properties that are tax exempt and over

a period of time

amounted equated to 1.5 with a B billion

dollars in revenue that we're not

getting. It's not revenue. It's a

>> tax. Yes.

>> Yes.

>> I apologize. I didn't mean to say it

like that.

>> We We'd be mounting a war against

>> Right. Right.

>> I didn't mean to say it like that, but

but you know, um and and and one of the

things that was put out there for a lot

of these uh exempt tax exempt entities

was um can you help, you know, donate

something for the city, you know, and

nobody gave a penny. So

my question would be

I know we're not rewriting law to start

taxing non-exemp uh you know tax exemp u

entities but you know how does this play

out for us moving forward with a lot of

these things and in this revitalization

period?

>> Well I'm not elected to anything so you

guys have to figure out how it plays

out. Um, but it's it's in the state

constitution. So, it's not it's it's it

would literally take a constitutional

change to change the the charitable uh

purposes. And some people can see very

easily and and it's I've been to I've

been to hearings up on the hill about

this where they've tried to discuss it.

There's a really big difference between

a local church, you know, who has a, you

know, maybe a daycare in there in the

day during the week and services a few

nights a week and on the weekends and a

billion dollar medical facility. They're

very different entities and they're

treated in Pennsylvania under the

Constitution exactly the same.

>> Okay.

>> Um and so um and then government

entities aren't taxed because taxpayers

don't pay one government tax to pay

another government tax.

>> Um so and I will note there are and I

don't know the number off the top of my

head because I haven't looked in a

while. We do have annual pilots with

quite a number of of nonprofits who do

every year they it's an agreement and

while they put it into an agreement,

it's not an enforceable agreement. It's

it's basically them agreeing in lie of

taxes they will pay us amount of money

because they know they use city.

>> Has that been happening?

>> Yeah, it's that's consistently happened.

There's not been a years where we

haven't done that. It's not a bunch of

them and maybe maybe 20

UPMC does it.

>> That's good because

>> Homeland does it, other ones do it

>> when the school district acts. And you

know, frankly, I think we got some of

the highest taxes taxes property school

district taxes in the 15 districts or

whatnot. But um yeah, I'm I'm glad to

know that somebody is doing something.

So not again that I was looking to tax

them. I know especially when it comes to

our churches, there are some of the

supposed to be some of the pillars or

backbones of especially the urban

communities. So yeah, that was just a

question I had. You know, that was just

some eyepopping numbers that I came

across and saw. So just thought I'd ask.

Um,

>> and I and I realize a lot of people do

talk about it's you gave a number the

percentages, but I think it's just over

50% is exempt within actual real estate

of the city. A huge chunk of that

obviously being the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania.

>> Yeah.

>> At the same time, because we're here, we

may not be able to get some things. If

you look at all the grants and then the

what fire gets and all there is, they

and they've put a lot of money into the

city of Harrisburg. You know, could they

put more? Sure. But the reality is they

have put a lot. Frankly, they picked up

the burden when we dropped the ball when

they put us in receiverhip, you know,

because we didn't write a check for

that. You know, they hired entire teams

of people and spent millions and

millions and millions of dollars,

borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars

uh for the parking system. Um so, um

>> we need that back.

>> We we don't need the parking system.

>> N I'm talking about the money, but go

ahead.

>> But I'm just saying so so they are a

partner with the city. Um, you know,

it's always a bumpy relationship, but

you know, we're they have us and we have

them, and you know, so it's it's got to

be a working relationship uh for both

sides of it.

>> All right. Thank you. No further

questions.

>> Thank you, Councilwoman Green. Any

questions on Bill Two?

>> Thank you, President Hail. Uh, I will be

recusing myself from Bill Two as my aunt

is the pastor of Mount Olive Baptist

Church, so I don't have any comments.

>> Thank you. Uh, Councilman Lawson, any

questions on Bill Two?

>> Um, thank you, um,

uh, President, and and I don't have any

questions. I I just um will piggyback

with uh uh vice president here and and

and say that uh there are entities that

we could possibly try to incentivize to

to offer a a pilot as we look to um uh

revitalize the city, renew civic pride,

and and and I don't mean the small

churches, but I do mean some of the um

some of the other nonprofits that do

have that ability to to help um within

the city and and we'd we'd love to uh to

reach out to them and see how they we

can get them involved. But um oh, there

is one question. Uh Solicitor Grover,

you said that you believe that all of

the churches have responded or do you

think that there may be some that

probably need to get in touch with us

because of um uh this outstanding tax?

So, as far as I know from the

communication with the county, everyone

who is still functioning and it's still

a church and some were other things than

churches that were nonprofit

organizations. All of them, as far as I

know, have responded. Could there be a

straggler? I don't know. The notice of

your real estate going up for tax sale,

which takes three years. If they haven't

responded, they'll notice by next year,

right? And then they will be here if

there if anyone's missing. So,

>> Okay, great. And then um obviously the

county has provided a process for them

to uh to start that uh

>> it's a very simple process you can do it

any time. There's a form to fill out for

for when you are exempt other than like

a tax relief. You can only do it once

one time a year. Exemptions if you're

exempt um you you can come in at any

time and fill that paperwork out. Give

it to the county tax office. Uh and they

will they will work with you to get you

on a in front of a board to get a vote.

>> Okay. Great. Thank you very much. That's

everything.

Thank you. Um, if there are no further

questions, um, I would like to move to

add bill 2 of 2026 to our next

legislative session agenda for a formal

vote. Next, we have Bill 3 of 2026. Mr.

Trudale, could you please read it into

the record? Bill 3, 2026, an ordinance

amending chapter 2-301 of part three of

the administrative code regarding

department heads, appointments, and

duties and acting heads to update and

clarify provisions regarding such

appointments.

>> Thank you. Um, bill 3 of 2026

was a request of Harrisburg City

Council. Um, if you remember and if

you've been following along uh with our

lawsuit when the mayor sued us, there

were two pieces of legislation

um that were a part of the joint

stipulation

um with the court. Um so this is the

first. Um,

and what this one does is

we've kind of nicknamed it the 121st day

um, ordinance. So, um, as Mr. Trudell

noted in the caption, um,

we are amending the administrative code.

So that's part three of title two of the

codified ordinances of the city of

Harrisburg. Um are amended as follows.

Part three uh 2-300 the administrative

code chapter 2-301

entitled departments and bureaus

generally section 2-301.5

subsection C entitled department heads

appointment and duties acting heads. Uh,

the mayor may appoint an acting direct

department head, excuse me, for a time

period not to exceed 120 days unless the

appointment of such acting department

head has been subject to the advice and

consent of counsel. No individual may

serve, and this is where the amendment

comes, or be entitled to compensation,

now we're going back to the language, as

an acting department head for more than

120 days during a mayor's term of

office. This is additional amendment

language without the approval of the

council. Upon expiration of the 120day

acting appointment period, if such

individual has not been approved by the

council as department head or for an

extension of the 120day period, the

controller shall be prohibited from

approving or issuing any further

compensation associated with such

appointment. Nothing herein shall

prohibit the mayor and council from

authorizing an acting department head to

serve beyond

120 days as circumstances dictate.

So I just wanted to read that amendment

language. I don't know Solicitor Grover

if you have any comments um before I

open the floor uh for questions from my

colleagues. O only some context that's

beyond I think what most people think

about acting department heads. An acting

department head can be here because the

approved department head is on a lead

for some reason. So it's used for two

different purposes. Um and if you take

for example um if if the director of a

department themselves or their spouse

had a baby, they would be entitled to to

12 weeks uh of leave and their deputy

would be made acting. Right? That's

that's a different thing. But it's it so

it's sort of inter intertwined with

those two things. When when we're

talking about circumstances, that's the

kind of stuff you have to think about

because if the same family had two

babies in four years, that would be in a

mayor's term. You would you would be way

past 120 days. So that's where you kind

of have to take is a case-byase basis if

there's a reason someone is in that

acting role. And and and the obviously a

director is entitled to the family

medical leave. That that's the other

side there. So there's two. There's the

I am making you the head of the

department. But historically,

Harrisburg's had both of those things

over the many years.

>> Understood. But I think well, we know

that this transpired from the other side

of the of the coin, not from a

circumstantial situation.

>> I I I am not saying differently. I'm

just saying just for for what I think

the purpose of the statute was from its

beginning, it had multiple applications.

>> Sure, I hear you.

Um I don't have any questions. I know

that this is um we've anticipated this

ordinance along with one more resolution

um as a part again of the joint

stipulation. So I don't have any

questions. I will open the floor to my

colleagues who may have some questions.

Councilwoman Davis, do you have any

questions related to bill three?

>> Thank you. Coun uh President Hill. No, I

don't have any questions. It's pretty uh

clearcut. We've been going over this for

the last three weeks. So, it's pretty

clear what a department head is, how

long they can actually work in an acting

position, and then on the 121st day, if

council and the mayor agree that the uh

acting head stays in that position, then

they will be able to continue to work.

If not, the controller will not be

paying for the position

past 120 days. Thank you.

>> You're welcome. Councilman Rodriguez,

any questions on bill three?

>> Um, no questions for me. I've been

through the procedure with council as

it's unfolded throughout court and

currently, so I'm privy to this new

information and um just glad to see it

uh coming into fruition. So, nothing

else from me. Thank you. Thank you,

Councilwoman Ross. Any questions on Bill

three?

>> No, I do not have any questions on Bill

Three. Thank you.

>> Thank you, Vice President Jones. Any

questions on Bill three?

>> No questions, just more of a comment.

Um, again, I'd like to thank all my

colleagues for coming together on this

and making sure that we were able to um

get this on the agenda. And actually,

it's not this is not new. This is

something that was there. This is more

about the compliance of that 120day

rule. Um, and I think, you know, this

was a good thing that we were able to

get it into in this form that so that

it's clearly understood by not only us

but also um any future council members

and any future administrations. Um, this

is a a big step in the right direction

for us as a whole. I think again one of

the things I think we got out of this

was putting to bed old practices from

previous uh administrations and anyone

that else looks to maintain these

positions. I think this is uh very good

clut and clear and we're going to stand

on this one. That's it.

>> Thank you, Councilwoman Green. Any

questions on bill three?

>> Thank you. Uh I don't have any questions

regarding this. Um, I think it's it's

pretty simple um and straightforward. I

think it's a ne necessary trigger

mechanism uh due to recent events. So,

I'm just glad we've got it on the books.

>> Thank you, Councilman Lawson. Any

questions on bill three?

>> Thank you, President Hill. No, no

questions. just glad that we were able

to um close this uh which was a a bit of

a loophole, but that now we can um

clarify the process and and make it

easier for everyone as as Vice President

Jones said to to follow that procedure

and um you know do their job. So we

appreciate this.

>> Thank you, Vice President Jones.

>> Yeah, just one one last comment. Not

only do I thank my council, I can't

leave the administration, uh, Mayor

Williams, uh, you know, for agreeing to

these things. Um, that was a that's big

and it's another step for us, um, as

council and the administration to work

together, being on the same page to help

move our city forward. I think this is

big for both for both of us, for all of

us and city residents. So, I just wanted

to make sure we made sure we gave the

administration uh, acknowledgement is

this as well.

>> Thank you. Um, if there's no further

discussion on bill 3 of 2026,

I move to add bill 3 of 2026 to our next

legislative session agenda for a formal

vote. Next, we have resolution 12 of

2026,

resolution 13 of 2026, and resolution 14

of 2026. Mr. Trudale, could you please

read them into the record? Resolution 12

of 2026, a resolution authorizing the

city of Harrisburg to negotiate and

enter into a lease agreement with Lamar

Advantage GP Company LLC for the purpose

of maintaining an existing billboard on

a portion of city property located along

South Cameron Street north of the

intersection on Magnolia Street.

Resolution 13, 2026, a resolution

authorizing the city of Harrisburg to

negotiate and enter into a lease

agreement with Lamar Advantage GP

Company LLC for the purpose of

maintaining an existing billboard on a

portion of city property located along

South Cameron Street south of the

intersection of Magnolia Street.

Resolution 14, 2026, a resolution

authorizing the city of Harrisburg to

negotiate and enter into a lease

agreement with Lamar Advantage GP

Company LLC for the purpose of

maintaining an existing billboard on a

portion of city property located along

South Cameron Street near the

intersection of Elliot Street.

>> Thank you.

Okay, so I wanted to to tackle these

together. if we could start with

resolution 12 and resolution 13 since

they both involve um intersections of

Magnolia Street.

>> Yep. Um it's nice seeing everyone again.

Um effectively uh the biggest difference

uh from the previous contracts is um

these are signs that are already built

um and are currently on um the location

on Cameron Street. Uh so the the new

agreement here uh is taking over from a

from a previous agreement made back in

2007. Um it is now we're updating it so

that it's 15 years in length. Uh the

starting rent is uh

hold on to my sheet.

Starting rent is $1,200

per year or $100 monthly. uh that will

go through uh until 2031, so year six.

Um and that's when it'll go up to $1,800

per year or $150 monthly. Um and that'll

be the rate for the remainder of the

contract. Um and then after 2041

and onwards, uh we either can

renegotiate or it'll just continue year

to year at $1,800 uh per year at that

point.

Otherwise, the contracts are effectively

the same as the other ones.

>> Thank you. Um, I don't have any

questions. I'm going to open the floor

to my colleagues. Um, I'd like to begin

with Councilman Lawson. Do you have any

questions related to resolutions 12 and

13?

>> No questions. Thank you.

>> Thank you. Councilwoman Green, do you

have any questions related to

resolutions 12 and 13?

>> No, I don't have any questions.

>> Thank you. Vice President Jones, any

questions regarding resolutions 12 and

13?

>> No questions. Thank you.

>> Thank you.

Councilwoman Ross, any questions? Oh,

good evening again. Uh, no president

here. I don't have any questions. Thank

you.

>> Thank you, Councilman Rodriguez. Any

questions?

>> Thank you, Madam President. I just

wanted to commend Antonio for the great

work he's done jumping in in lie of uh

not having a BA any longer. Not only has

he been productive in showing up and

speaking, he's just been able to answer

a lot of questions that, you know, we've

turned to him for, but it I think these

resolutions um are a testament to like

the aesthetics of the city moving

forward. Uh really rejuvenate it, giving

it that, you know, pop that we're

looking for, especially with all the new

construction, especially.

>> Thank you, Councilwoman Davis. Do you

have any questions?

>> Thank you, President Hill. No questions

for me. Thank you.

>> Thank you. Thank you, Antonio. Let's

move to resolution 14 of 2026.

>> Okay. Um, this is the same exact uh

agreements essentially that I just read

out with the same rates of 1,200 and

moving up to 1,800. Um, effectively the

only difference is it's further down

Cameron Street. It's closer to the um uh

the Elliot Street. uh like ramp there

instead of near the Magnolia Street. Uh

but effectively it is the same contract.

>> Okay. Thank you. Um again, I don't have

any questions. I'll open the floor. I'll

begin with Councilwoman Davis. Do you

have any questions?

>> No questions.

>> Thank you. Councilman Rodriguez, any

questions?

>> Thank you, Madam President. Nothing for

me. Thank you.

>> Thank you, Councilwoman Ross.

>> No questions for me. Thank you.

>> Thank you, Vice President Jones.

>> No questions. Thank you, Councilwoman

Green.

>> No questions. Thank you.

>> Thank you, Councilman Lawson.

>> No questions. Thanks.

>> Thank you. Thank you. I move to add

resolution 12 of 2026,

resolution 13 of 2026, and resolution 14

of 2026 to our next legislative session

agenda for formal votes. Our final

resolution for discussion this evening

is resolution 15 of 2026. Mr. Trudeale,

could you please read it into the

record?

>> Resolution 15 2026, a resolution

ratifying and approving the 2026 2028

basic labor agreement between the city

of Harrisburg and local 521 American

Federation of State, County, and

Municipal Employees. Council 13.

>> Thank you.

Um I believe we are joined

>> uh we have Jack Dean who is the city's

labor council who was negotiated on

behalf of the city online.

>> Thank you.

>> Good evening.

>> Good evening. And I want to thank you.

Can everyone hear me?

>> Yes.

>> Yes, we can hear you

>> for accommodating me by Zoom. I sort of

got iced in today when I was in

northeastern Pennsylvania. So, I do want

to thank you for your courtesies and

allowing me to participate remotely.

>> Uh, as most of you have know, uh, we

have served as labor council for the

city of Harrisburg, uh, for the last 10

plus years. Uh I am pleased to inform

you tonight that over the last year uh

over multiple meetings with ABSME

starting on May 15th through the summer

uh culminating on February 5th we were

able to successfully negotiate a

tenative agreement with the over 170

member ABSME union. Uh the negotiations

uh were professional and collegial on

both sides. It was a pleasure de dealing

with uh ABSME and your employees and

after much back and forth uh we were

able to reach a tenative agreement and I

have

highlighted and I'll highlight the

substantive terms of this agreement for

your consideration.

uh keeping in mind that there's a lot a

lot of the back and forth was just

language cleanup. For example, ABSME

changed their their their district

number. So, we had to go through and

make sure that was all correct. Uh there

was some language in there that no

longer applies. So, we all agreed that's

that was extraneous. So, we agreed to

strike it. Uh but as to the substantive

matters, there really are only four uh

substantive matters. The first is it's a

three-year proposed deal, 2026 to 2028.

Uh we're already into 2026,

so we had to consider uh uh we wanted to

make sure that these valued employees

didn't go very long without a raise. So

the other substantive provisions are

article 9 holidays. We have agreed to

add another holiday to their uh uh uh uh

CBA which I believe they were receiving

anyway. It just wasn't uh officially in

the CBA. We decided to add it and that's

Junth. So they will have Junth as an

official city holiday starting this year

if this contract is ratified. Uh the

second article that's substantive is the

big one obviously wages.

It's article 15 section one.

The wages that we offered for three-year

deal were for year 1 2026

20 4%.

We agreed for this offer that that 4%

will be retroactive to January 1st. So,

if this contract is ratified, in

addition to the employees wage of

paycheck going up by 4% on their hourly

rate, they'll also get a a one-time

check of whatever that 4% is for the

last month, month and a half. We also

agreed to give the employees and they

agreed to a one-time $1,000

signing bonus. Uh in the last contract,

there were other bonuses associated with

it, but we had ARPA money at that time

and COVID money. Uh that money uh is all

allocated right now. So, the employees

agreed to a one-time $1,000

essentially sign on bonus for every

employee in the bargaining unit. There

are about 170 employees in the

bargaining unit.

>> Year two of the contract 2027,

the employees will receive a 3% raise.

Year

four, year three of the contract 2028,

the employees will see receive a 3%

raise. So it's four, three, and three

with a onetime $1,000 signup bonus.

There are no other bonuses associated

with this contract.

The final substantive provision is just

a continuation

of article 20, the reimbursement for

Medicare supplement payments for our

retired employees who receive health

care or who have Medicare supplement

insurance. For traditionally for the

last 10 years, that's been increasing by

$10 a year. We can we agreed to continue

to increase it by $10 per year. So by

the end of the contract, Medicare

supplement receiving retirees will

receive $370

uh to uh towards their Medicare

supplement.

We also agreed it's not it's not a

substantive change. There is a rule of

80 requirement for retirement which

means that if you receive uh if you're

80 which means age plus years of

service. So, if I'm 65, I have 15 years

of service, the rule of 80 will allow me

to retire and get my normal retirement

without penalty. Uh, that expired by its

own terms at the end of the last

contract, which was December 31st, 2025.

So, we agreed to keep the rule of 80 uh

in place

uh for the next contract. There are

again some substantive language cleanup

uh or non-substantive language cleanup

uh items, but everything was very

collegial. Uh the union voted and

ratified it. Uh and I'm here to answer

any questions on these proposed changes

uh that you may have.

>> Thank you very much. Um thank you for

the for highlighting um the four major

areas. I don't have any questions. Um, I

appreciated your overview. I will open

the floor to my colleagues who may have

some questions for you. Um, I'd like to

begin with

Councilwoman Davis. Do you have any

questions?

>> Thank you, President Hill. No questions

for me at this time.

>> Thank you, Councilman Rodriguez.

>> Thank you, Madam President. Uh, good

evening. Thank you for joining us. Um my

question is relative to uh the union

actual negotiations. Um council uh we've

been trying to achieve something with a

few groups around the city, but uh I

know personally in the public works

department we've kept hitting kind of

blockades because we never wanted to

impede on negotiations.

How would I be able to perhaps get our

city clerk to arrange a meeting just so

I know um different ways we could step

around it without interfering with the

negotiations or uh contract theirs to be

>> arrange a meeting

>> uh the gentleman

>> yeah you're not

>> you can't

>> no you're not that's that's their labor

negotiation council

>> okay

so what I'm I guess what I'm trying to

get across is uh perhaps even being more

specific speific with the CEO um

situation. We've keep hit we've hit many

blockades where they're saying we

couldn't move forward because of the

union negotiations. So if we had people

from ask me here and we can't speak to

this gentleman, who do we speak to to

accomplish what we're trying to

accomplish?

>> Can you remind me what the CEO is?

>> So we were trying to organize a contract

for litter mitigation through a group

called CEO um to help uh end recetivism

and give second, you know, re-entrance

and opportunity. They said because it

may impede on uh you know ask me

negotiations, we wouldn't be able to

move forward.

>> Not just ask me negotiations, it's

literally by contract union work. That's

what

>> there is no union work where they're

cleaning up the street. So that's that's

the only part that was confusing.

>> I don't I'm confused. Think

>> we had a whole policy work session

around it. You were president.

>> Okay. But I'm still conf when you say

cleaning up the street. I guess we can

dive deeper into it just so there's no

tension on the floor. But you were in

attendance. We had a whole policy

session around it. I realiz CEO Miss Kia

Hanser was in attendance. I I

>> we actually had to ask me presidents and

other entities here

>> and what we kept being told was we

couldn't because it impedes on

negotiations.

>> It impedes on the contract. The contract

makes them the exclusive performers of

certain work.

>> I 100% understand that. But if that work

is not in the contract, how would that

be impeding? Like there's no there's no

work where they say litter control or

litter cleanup or litter mitigation is

done by an ASME employee. It doesn't

exist in the contract.

>> City labor on city property

>> including the streets is ASME's work.

>> Whether you have enough people to do it

is a different question.

>> It's nowhere in the contract though. But

that's why I said just to alleviate any

tension on the floor. Perhaps we could

continue the conversation.

>> We disagree with you that it's not in

the contract. We've we've looked it up.

>> Okay. But I respectfully disagree with

you that it's not in the contract.

>> That's interesting. I'd love to continue

the conversation.

>> Thank you.

>> But it's but the bottom line of who it

is, it's the mayor you have to work with

to get there. Like if they she would

work through asks me with their people,

but it's the mayor bringing in someone

else to do other work that is which

would trigger an ask me that you should

be paying us to do that work, not

someone else. But taking care of

basically public property is

>> well well not to interrupt but like you

said it's vague in your memory but we

did have a whole work session policy and

the answers we were getting at that time

completely different so I'd like to

revisit it if possible

>> sure

>> thank you

>> just for everyone's reference CEO is the

center for employment opportunities

um they provide immediate effective and

comprehensive employment services

exclusively to people recently released

from incarceration and they operate are

currently operating in 30 cities ities.

Um they're dedicated to ensuring that

justice impacted job seekers have

opportunities to achieve socioeconomic

mobility.

Councilwoman Ross, do you have any

questions related to resolution 15?

>> Um

uh I would say good evening first of

all. Thank you for um explaining this to

us a little bit more. Um I don't have

any questions really. I think just a

comment. I mean, I understand council's

duty um when it comes to uh ratifying um

contracts and I know we can't

particularly talk to the union um the

people within this union, the workers

who I think are so important. I just

hope that they are satisfied. I'm going

off of your word that they're satisfied

with this contract that you all did come

to an agreement. Um because it's not

something particularly that um they can

come in front of us and say yes, we

agree to this. I think um also being an

uh a union worker and under contract and

understanding that uh sometimes we don't

always agree with um the things that are

placed in front of us and there's a lot

of conversations

um and some sometimes people don't

always hear from the people who it

affects. So, I would just say I hope

that this is um a contract that those

the workers who this will affect

completely agree with this that's in

front of us. That's all I ask. And if if

it's not um going back to the drawing

table, but if this is something they

agree with and it's and it's here, then

I I hope it's something we're passing

that that's going to ultimately provide

um work life balance for them in great

work conditions. So, I guess that's my

only question statement, but not really

a question, just a statement.

>> Thank you.

>> I I could briefly respond uh is that we

we don't I don't come before council and

I have for the last 10 years. I don't

come before council until the entire

union votes to ratify the proposal.

Thank you for that reassurance because

you are who we speak with and see and

and know and and want to um get that

information from of knowing that we're

passing something that is um working for

the employees of this this city that we

do represent as well in that sense. So,

thank you for um answering my question

comment all in one. I appreciate it.

>> You're welcome. Thank you.

>> Thank you, Vice President Jones. Any

questions? Uh yeah, thank you. Um good

evening. Um thank you for uh talking

about this um agreement with um ask me

and you know one of my questions is um

looking at

the medical benefits

retirement

and um everything that's in place. you

know, I I know again being a distressed

city, I again I don't know if this is a

question for Anthony or this is

something for you. Um just making sure

again I it's obvious that you know the

um union workers must be you know

agreeable to this to these terms but my

my question would be on a monetary basis

looking at the increases the 4% 3% then

looking at retirement um are these

things sustainable for our city in this

condition financially right now?

Well, I I I could answer in just on

procedure

uh is that

we don't and and when I say we, I mean

myself because I'm the lead negotiator.

I don't I do not make a financial offer

uh unless I clear it through the

business office to understand that they

understand the financial impact whether

it's zero one two three or four or 5%

whatever the case may be. So in this

particular case, uh we ran the numbers,

compared them to where we were

previously, and for this three-year

contract, the business office determined

that that is sustainable for the next

three years. And this was including

analyzing tax revenue coming in, uh the

things that that business office does.

And by the way, I echo the comments on

Antonio that were made before.

He's doing a fantastic job. Whenever we

uh whenever we tried to crunch numbers,

he was prompt getting back to us, which

is the key to negotiations because I've

seen far too often in negotiations I've

been involved with where my team gets

excited and then they walk out of the

room and they didn't run the numbers and

they can't afford it. We don't do that

here. and Antonio is fantastic getting

the numbers in hand to us for every

negotiation session.

>> Yeah. Um thank you for that. And um the

question I'm asking is is is is a reason

you know just because council's not a

part of these negotiations. We're the

last ones to to get this and we you know

have to put our stamp of approval. Um

and then also for our residents so that

they understand uh what's happening

here. So that's the reason why I'm

asking the question in the public forum

to to make sure um again we just have to

watch what we're doing here uh with the

city's you know um revenue streams and

and again just making sure that it's

it's sustainable. Um but all the other

parts of the negotiations I'm pretty

sure that those um union members have

agreed upon it or or you wouldn't be

here right now. So um that was my

question um and I'll continue to just

keep an eye on that. So again, after the

three-year, I get I'm sure you'll be

back at the CBA table looking crunchy

numbers again. Correct.

>> I I would be back at it probably in in

the next month or so with we have a

couple other contracts on standing. So

>> all right, that's all I have. Thank you.

>> Thank you.

>> Thank you, Councilwoman Green. Any

questions?

>> Uh the couple of questions I had were

asked and answered, so I don't have any

questions. Thank you for all the hard

work to get this done.

>> Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

>> Thank you, Councilman Lawson. Any

questions?

>> Um, probably just one question. And

thank you very much for taking the time

and uh coming out and hopefully the the

roads are starting to become a little

better for you. Um,

>> I'll let you know in about 20 minutes

hopefully.

>> Sounds good. Um, just how how does this

contract reflect to the uh the contract

that we're replacing? Um, is do are we

looking at similar increases, similar

bonuses? Uh, I I know that we're adding

a uh an extra holiday.

>> We're adding an extra holiday obviously.

Uh, the raises are similar. Uh,

the the bonuses uh last contract it were

they weren't in the contract uh per se,

the bonuses because it was all

subsequent ARPA money. So there were mo

there was essentially memorandum of

understandings which are essentially

amendments to the contract which were

done uh to provide these employees with

some yearly bonuses but obviously as

stated uh that money has has uh expired.

So there will not be yearly bonuses this

year just a one-time bonus in this

contract. Naturally, uh uh should the

city have a windfall or another

uh uh uh

area of the federal government giving us

an infusion, the city can go back to any

bargaining unit and say, "Hey, we have

this infusion. It's designed for this."

And part of it can be given as a bonus,

but the bonuses are less because there's

only a one-time bonus in in this

contract.

And the unions obviously union is well

aware of that. I actually brought that

up at our August 9th meeting and they

they acknowledged it.

>> Okay.

>> And and the and the rate increase

annually in the one that expired

December 31st was 3% for each year of

that contract.

>> Okay. So the 3% is is something that

we're we're fairly consistent. Okay.

Great. So one year

>> we get a a bonus year essentially for

the first Historically what happened in

receiverhip is they got zeros

>> like all of them did for a while got

zeros which is a tough tough thing to

sign up for.

>> Correct.

>> All right. Thank you. I I'm I'm not

opposed just wanted to uh get a little

bit of history so that I had an idea of

if this if this is the norm or if this

is an outlier. So thank you very much.

>> You're welcome. Thank you for the

question.

>> Thank you. Um, if there are no further

questions, no further discussion, I move

to add resolution 15 of 2026 to our next

legislative session agenda for a formal

vote.

We will move forward with our meeting

agenda. 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 will

have four minutes to share your

comments. Mr. Trudale has added a timer

to the screen for your reference.

And thank you. I will begin to my right.

Is there anyone that would like to offer

public comment?

>> Hello council. That's Ed Jerk, 1521

Second Street. I just want to comment on

the hotspot uh garbage cans. Uh thank

you for introducing this. Uh Councilman

Rodriguez Rodriguez did send me the bill

last whatever Friday after it got put on

the table or whatever for comments. And

so I sent it out to our friends of

midtown. I'm I'm the beautifification

chair of the Friends of Midtown. So I

sent it out to them and I just want to

read just some positive things. Uh Chris

Greenblat said, "Hey, thanks for

sharing. love the idea of hotspot

receptacles.

Andy Hughes, who's our vice president,

say, "Hey, this is great." Um, and then

I also sent it Ralph to uh Strong

Harrisburg. That's a informal group. And

give me one second. I got to pull up

Slack to

find all that. I don't know if you guys

are Slack users or not, but the Strong

Harrisburg group is a bunch of young,

smart people that are really interested

in the city. And if you if you're

interested in joining, I can send it to

you. Uh, so I sent the bill and and I

put all your comments in there, Ralph.

Uh, Joe Kavanaaugh said, "Hey, I'm for

this." He says, "I'm I am however

concerned that our public trash cans

aren't emptied frequently enough, and

currently I wonder if adding more cans

will affect that." Uh, Will Rose said,

"Um, who will be responsible for

identifying and placing the receptacles

outside the stores? I also would like

more information about when the existing

receptacles are emptied right now. Is

there a list of all the city- owned

receptacles? Are they emptied once a

week during trash collection on the

street in which they are located? How

about receptacles not located directly

on trash collection routes? Is there

increased collection during times of

hightra events? So, those are my

comments. All generally positive. You

know, we do litter cleanups once a month

or try to in the summer. Um, and

obviously we, you know, want our

neighborhood to look nice in the whole

city. So, just want to give those

comments. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else to my

right that would like to offer public

comment?

Good evening everybody.

Uh real quick, uh my name is Joshua

Barker. I live in the uptown area of

Harrisburg.

Um real quick, uh I have a few programs

that I do every year. Uh I have a

nonprofit called uh the B shop Boys and

Girls Club. So um currently have a few

programs that we're doing um in March.

One of them being a program where we're

teaching families how to grow their own

food um within buckets,

uh grow bags, stuff like that. Um we

know it's

very important for us to have food um in

this time, you know, just tough for some

families to have food, healthy food,

fruits and vegetables and stuff like

that. So we're going to teach them pe

teach people how to um start with seeds

and stuff like that. Uh I'm very um

involved also with youth teaching them

um entrepreneurship and trades. So um

this month in March we'll be starting a

program um you know every summer I do a

program but this March I'll be starting

a program where teaching the kids

entrepreneurship and trades also. So um

you know I just want to keep everybody

posted. I'll have an exact date when we

start in March and inform you guys. Um,

so, you know, I think it's very

important now that we see uh

the school being destroyed over there,

um, that we keep everybody in the the

loop of teaching our children

entrepreneurship and trades. So, thank

you.

>> Thank you.

Is there anyone else to my right that

would like to offer public comment?

Okay, seeing and hearing no one, anyone

in the middle section.

Greetings, city council.

My name is Rafika Muhammed, resident of

Harrisburg, uptown Harrisburg. I got a

little list as I'm going be coming

around and feeling better. been down for

a while. Getting back into the swing of

things, there's something I do want to

bring up. Um, on my list here, I got air

quality, data centers, e-waste, and

urban heat island. All of that impacts

our community and our city and our

residents. But one main thing I really

want to talk about tonight is um farm

animals.

I know this comes up over and over and

over and it is in our codes and I I

pulled it up and I had a long

conversation with our police

commissioner. I want to say we're in 26

maybe in 24 uh talked to him in detail

about farm animals which he said that

this is something that he's really not a

lot familiar with but he does get a lot

of calls about farm animals.

So I do know a lot of people want to

have chickens and do things and I get

it, trust me. But if we don't have

60,000 square feet of land,

we can't raise chickens. We can't raise

farm animals. And then after your first

animal, then it's an additional 20,000

square feet of land. We don't have that

capacity in the city. I think this is

something that the I would like council

to reook at as far as ordinances.

Um,

and we might have to go after people's

pockets because farm animals do run

around. My concern in dealing with uh

food and dealing with food for decades

is when we're talking about dealing with

chickens and then we talk about

influenza, people do not get the

connection. Um, I've heard this over the

years and have spoken publicly about,

okay, what are you going to do with

those chickens if something happens to

them? How do you properly dispose them?

who's going to be responsible for the

veterary costs and etc etc. See a lot of

people want to do things and they do

want to put it back on a city and that's

not our responsibility

and we don't get any answers. So that's

just something I feel that I really

would like for y'all to really look into

look at. I have seen pigs run down

Jefferson Street.

I have seen roosters and I'm in Uptown

Harrisburg. And I do think a lot of it

could be because we do have immigrants.

I don't have nothing against nobody.

Nowhere. No way. No shape. know how, but

once they come into our communities,

they're still leaving from a home that

maybe they could do those things. So,

again, education really needs to come

into play. So, I wanted to share that

real quick with you. Also, I'm a little

concerned and was a little upset when I

read about a data center today coming in

Dolphin County. Um, we all need to be

aware about these data centers. Um,

everybody's in this AI thing, AI, AI.

And um I know I my electric bill is

going up and I'm buying generators. I'm

trying to take my house off the grid.

I'm being very serious. There is no way

that we're going to be able to pay four

and $500 light bills. It's not going to

happen. We're going to have people that

will just cut off their and then we

that'll be another issue that we're

dealing with the city. So again, we need

to come up with some some information

education and I do know at our county

meetings there is someone that comes and

talks about these data centers. cuz I

know one of the golf if I'm not mistaken

one of the golf places in our county is

being sold for a data center and that's

that's very very bad. Um we're not going

to have water

or air. Um but we love AI and we don't

understand how these are connected and

what that means. So if you're concerned

again about the planet, if you're

concerned about your water and air and

you like AI, I would say use AI in

moderation

only when you need it. It's not Google

and I'm not concerned about money as far

as this is income, but it's hurting us

in the process.

When we talk about uh heat islands,

I'll come back and talk about that and

e-waste. Ralph, I want to talk to you

about getting together on some sites

throughout the city. March, April, and

May. I'm going to start now, but

consistently how we can keep our e-waste

out of our community, off the streets.

The city does not take e-waste, but we

can have something that we can work

together. This is not no labor thing, so

I'm not going to put that I'm doing

this.

>> Thank you very

>> working with some stuff.

>> So, thank you.

>> Thank you. Is there anyone else in the

middle section that would like to offer

public comment?

>> Good evening, council members. Kia

Fowler, North Fifth Street. Um, first

couple of shoutouts to I believe his

name is Mr. Lamar. Um,

No, no. This one, this one's actually

really good. He was speaking with a

member of the public prior to this

meeting beginning. I'm sorry. I don't

>> I believe he's in connection with Lamar,

but um he was speaking with a member of

the public who had some concerns about

the impact of some of the billboards on

her local community, and he immediately

said, "Here's my card. I'd love to have

discussions with your neighborhood." So,

it's really nice to see a contractor um

really trying to integrate themselves

into the neighborhood like that instead

of just saying, "We're coming in dealing

with it."

Um, number two would be

the council generally does this, but

tonight I observed Councilwoman RWS and

Councilman Jones trying to really

emphasize the point that the public

understood what's being said, what's the

meaning of some of these proposed

ordinances, what is the context behind

them, what are the implications of it

for those who might not be as familiar

with technical jargon or whatever it may

be. So, I really appreciate your

consistency in trying to make sure the

public understands what's being

discussed and what's happening. Third

question regarding the uh 120day

proposed change. Maybe I didn't hear

this when I was listening to it. Um I

understood that if 120 days elapses

while the mayor is still in their

current term, then that interim

department head must cease being paid

and or cease being in that position.

What happens if, say, 80 days elapses,

the mayor's term ends, the mayor's

reelected, can that department head stay

in for another 120 days? Does that kind

of violate the intention of the act?

We normally don't respond, but um no.

So, well, I don't want to speak to

circumstantial

situations, right? So, but the answer

would be no. It would it it should be

one individual or appointment per term.

>> Okay. Thank you. That's why I spent some

time in model UN in high school and so

understanding that commas and periods

can be used and abused by people looking

to do that. Um third would be coming

before you again as always to discuss

some of the um impacts I'd like to see

of especially really bill one and

amendments like to see to bill one. I've

spoken a couple times with several

council members about trying to require

all law enforcement, local, state, and

federal, to visibly identify themselves.

Um, if they have badges, visibly display

badges, vis visibly display agency

affiliation. I know Pennsylvania already

has a law requiring all of their

officers to have identification upon

request. Um, in a lot of instances,

visibly display their agency

affiliation. I would love to see

Harrisburg pass just a blanket all law

enforcement must display. Obviously,

there's things like SWAT that have to be

accepted, but in all other general

cases, um identification must be visibly

given, must be visibly seen, as well as

agency affiliation. I know in DC, law

officers must provide their um

information in writing upon request. Uh

I think that would be really neat to see

here as well. I know I have less than a

minute. Um

I do have some I'm not going to read

them now, but uh I may email them to you

later. Just some examples of other

states that have passed

um legislation about identification. Um

I had a conversation a while ago with

Councilman Jones about not being able to

ban masks. I know that 23 states do

currently ban masks in some capacities

such as one may not wear certain face

coverings in commission of a crime. Um

and so I would be interested if anyone

has more knowledge on that than I do

about having a more nuanced discussion

so I can kind of understand where some

of these thought patterns are. Thank

you.

Thank you. Is there anyone to my left

that would like to offer public comment?

>> Good evening, Council Libby Profit,

2000 block of Chestnut Street. um

about those billboards. It'll be nice if

the vacant billboards are publicized for

the local community that individuals

that want to use it can lease it because

for $1,000 a year,

those are some great prices. I've been

looking at marketing and um if you guys

have Billboard and us if we can get it

for that price, huh, those are some

great prices.

Now, as far as the um I heard Miss

Muhammad mention something about

the grids,

the connection between

what the public utility commission is

doing. They had a hearing today about

it.

And it's important because

we are paying more because our energy is

being outsourced to Maryland and

Virginia. They're keeping it in data

banks over there and then they're

selling it back to us at a higher rate.

So it coming to the Dolphin County area

is a way that they're trying to balance

the cost. I think it'll be good for us

to bank some of our own her own energy.

I spoke to a senator today,

Senator, she's from the Lancaster area.

She was speaking about how

two of the companies in her area within

the last year lost over 100 employee

each that was

generating energy and how the cost of

them generating this energy

supersede what they could actually

afford. So she lost

jobs in her district because the price

of energy is going up. So I understand

there's environmental issues, but we

can't be producing all this energy

and having it bank in Maryland and

Virginia

while their energy cost is going down

and our energy in Pennsylvania cost is

going up.

So that is something I wanted to balance

and again thank you.

>> Thank you. Is there anyone else to my

left that would like to offer public

comment? Okay, seeing and hearing no

one.

Councilwoman Raj, you had a number of

announcements you'd like to make.

>> Yes, I do. Good evening again,

everybody. I just wanted to make a few

announcements about some things

happening um this weekend and next week.

So this weekend, I'm sure we also the

press conference the administration made

on the ice and fire festival. So I just

wanted to remind everybody it's going to

be 70° on Saturday. So although the ice

may melt a little bit, I think it would

be a great time for us all to finally

get outside. Um the snow and the

freezing rain has definitely kept us

indoors long enough. So, that is going

to be um this weekend

um from 11:00 am to 7 pm. And I think

it's just a great way to get some foot

traffic in our city um and just have

some fun. So, I wanted to remind

everybody again about the fire and ice

um festival. Um it's going to be around

tier 10 North Second Street. Um but I

know there will also be I think a little

bit on Front Street too because I know

they have fire pits um and other

activities. So, um that it will sure to

be fun. I know it's fun. Every year I

take my kiddos down.

Um next week, um on Thursday, March the

12th, I'm going to announce this again

next Tuesday during our legislative

session, but I wanted to make sure um

residents could plan adequately. Um

there's going to be a town hall meeting

at uh for uh 15th and Vernon playground

um for some building um um concepts and

um for residents to give their ideas. So

that's Thursday, March 12th from 6:00 to

8:00 p.m. and it's going to be at the

Hamilton Health Center, which is uh 110

South 17th Street. So I hope to see

everybody out there. I've put it in my

calendar to um come and hear what

residents are requesting and asking for

and uh just to hear what uh the parks

and recreation and enrichment department

have planned for that playground. Also,

uh roller skating is back. Um I know

President Hill and I are enthused to see

roller skating coming. That was

something that we spoke about with the

administration and at the time it was

something that could not happen. Um, and

even though they went ahead and planned

it, um,

to have it, uh, I would say I'm just

really glad to see that it's happening,

even if, um, we weren't able to give any

more input on it. So, uh, roller skating

is back at City Island. Um, it's going

on Friday and Saturday night starting

March 7th through March 28th. Um,

there's Teen Tuesdays, which starts on

March 10th. um March 10th, March 17th,

and March 24th. And Teen Tuesdays are

from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Um this

roller skating will be going on at the

Carousel Pavilion on City Island, which

is right across from the carousel. Um

there it's from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Adult skate is from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00

p.m. We love to see your adult moves. I

have no more, but I can roller skate

backwards. Um,

children 16 and under must be

accompanied by an adult.

Um, attendees seven attendees 17 and up

must provide ID for attendance. The

injury fee is $5. Skate rental is $2,

chips are a dollar and candy is $2. So,

um, I hope to see everybody out there. I

know it was fun when I took the kiddos

um, last year. So, those were just a few

of my announcements of what's coming up

and happening um, in the city. Thank

you.

>> Thank you, Vice President Jones.

>> Uh yes, thank you. Um so I just want to

put out to the public that uh the

National Coalition of 100 Black Women

Incorporated, the Harrisburg Chapter of

Public Policy is hosting enough is

enough. Gun Violence Demands Real

Solution. Um one of the uh keynote

speakers would be Dr. Sylvia C.

Washington. Um, this will be happening s

uh Saturday, March 28th from 12:00 noon

to 3:00 p.m. at the community charter

academy um one innovation way Harrisburg

PA17110.

Um again, I'll be making this

announcement up until that date. I think

this is something that um all of the

nonprofits, all of everyone that's

working out there with our youth,

something to get involved with. Um, I

think this is going to be a great

program coming to our area. Great

opportunity to network with other

individuals uh facing these same issues

in their communities. So again, that'll

be March 28th

uh Saturday, March 28th from 12:00 to 3

at the Commonwealth Charter Academy and

this again is hosted by

uh the 100 black women here at their

chapter here in Harrisburg. So thank

you.

>> Thank you. If there's no further

business, the time is 7:08 p.m. I will

entertain a motion to adjourn.

>> So move.