##VIDEO ID:BIdF1pIxihU## we are recording all right good evening everyone we're get tonight's meeting started I ask that we all rise for the pledge to the flag pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty Mr Miller please call the role Mr Callahan present M KY Smith M quch present Miss lard pres Miss Leon Miss Wilhelm and Mr cologne present thank you Mr Miller just a couple notes uh councilwoman cramsey Smith and Wilhelm will not be joining us this evening as councilwoman cramsey Smith is out of state for travel and councilwoman Wilhelm is not feeling well this evening and mayor Reynolds will not be joining us as the administration's currently and the mayor working on evaluating the consequences of the executive orders that were issued yesterday yesterday by the new presidential Administration and trying to get answers on how those might affect some of our funding sources here in the city of Bethlehem so we're going to continue on with the meeting approval of the minutes for the January 7 2025 council meeting any comments on the minutes all right minutes are going to stand approved moving on to public comment our first public comment for anyone not familiar this for any subject not being voted on this evening I remind everyone of our five minute time limit we have two people signed up first being Mr Harry Faber hello everyone Harry Faber uh I first would like to address something that has been bothering me a great deal uh every time I pick up one of these papers that summarizes you know what occurred at the last meeting I check to see how my comments were summarized as one as one does and I'll give you guys credit uh you did use the word genocide today uh for my last meeting but I generally see as it is in this one my comments generalized as the conflict in the Middle East and is these subtleties that make this Council in my opinion a little complicit in this genocide I think I'm very clear when I mentioned the genocide in Gaza and in the word Palestine but when you choose to remove these specific words from my comments you're effectively complicit in Israel's genocidal policies the history of Israel has been a history of trying to erase the history of the indigenous population of Palestinian Arabs the US is all too familiar with the strategy as we have done the same to the indigenous Native Americans we need to be better say it with me we need to be a little revolutionary uh I would like to quote um Jacqueline lman the rise of the Trump was or the rise of trump was facilitated not because of the lack of votes for the Democrat candidate but because of the lack of commitment to advancing clear and consistent Anti-Imperialist positions to US policy from both major political parties its surrogates and the US media Academia and other bgea institutions we can either choose to accept the world around us or we can try to shape it to be the way we want it all you have to ask yourself is do you want to live in a better world we were all children at one point and then we grew up in growing up we faced we all faced a question do we accept the world for the way it is or do we try to change it I see children who have grown to accept it uncaring or unwilling to I see the same thing in our bgea academic institutions which care less about the quality of education and only about the profit of the executives but I know that if I can change if I can change I have faith we all can I understand why all of you intelligent folks made the decisions you made to be where you are if you are class conscious which I believe all of you are uh you know that once you reach a certain level of awareness you're faced with another brutal question do I cash in on my credentials and live The Comfy life the Empire will provide me or do I follow in the footsteps of all those revolutionaries who came before me and risk my own life for equality of life I understand why you cashed in the Behemoth that is our economic and political system feels impossible to get rid of as Frederick Jameson said quote it is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism end quote we know that the system though is not sustainable and the ruling by the rich will come to an end eventually it's just a matter of when this corruption however is enabled by everyday Decisions by people with power whether that power is money holding office being an educator Etc change can start anywhere this therefore change can start here and it is imperative for the people of Bethlehem that it does I mean you guys saw the inauguration what are we doing collapse is already here it's only a matter of time we need to defend the people of the City by building up what is required to take care of the people's needs we are all redeemable I want to clarify it's just a matter of when we start doing what's right change like Capital snowballs it compounds over time we are all social social beings we assimilate to our surroundings the things that are normalized in society obviously dictate what is acceptable and what is not so can we please normalize speaking out against genocide sure we got a quote unquote ceasefire but guess what Palestinians are still being murdered by the state of Israel if Bethlehem were to come out acknowledge and condemn the genocide we can set an example for the rest of the valley for the state I believe in a better world and because of that I believe in a better Bethlehem I gave you guys the opportunity to end 2024 on the right foot I gave you guys the opportunity to start 2025 right the ball is in your court condemn the genocide thank you Mr fav second person signed up this evening Robert Dandy I apologize if I'm mispronouncing your last name oh not at all so just uh briefly again I I know this isn't like a Q&A or anything like that but uh being in real estate residential and Commercial obviously I'm I'm acutely aware of the housing crisis we have in the Lehigh Valley as it is generally in uh the United States right now uh there's been aggressive underbuilding by virtal regulation that came out of the great financial crisis and uh restrictions not only on uh financing but also on zoning uh construction standards and all of that we're all trying to adjust for that given the lack of inventory generally in the real estate market I was very excited to see Council entertain the new uh potential changes to zoning I've talked to Matt Turk over in Allentown about the same about trying to liberalize zoning to accommodate in-law suites or apartments adus accessory dwelling units of of all sorts of things and there there are some in the city of Bethlehem that previously had homes on them uh that are no longer compliant under the current zoning to reconstruct homes on and um that you know the sewer connections are still there the gas line connections are still there the addresses are as ghosts still there but because of zoning no home can be built and with some additional Supply I think this crisis that we're facing can be dressed and uh with that being the case I don't know what the status is that the study that was Commissioned I think was due back to council at the end of December if I'm not mistaken uh and with that being the case I I don't know if anybody's looked at it would certainly be interested in seeing the results of that uh additionally speaking in that regard I I would call to remembrance that after the second world war we had a a housing crisis very similar in that there was very little supply for everybody who was returning from the war and uh there are there are countless cases of old apartments in basements Andor Apartments elsewhere that certainly aren't compliant with current zoning but they were they were done as a result of the fact that we had a certainly a large demand at that time for people coming home and wanting to work and and live locally and I think you know we'd be well served in the community here if we would start to address some of those Supply constraints uh that we have astutely wisely study those and such and uh that's all I have to say and certainly looking forward to any sort of report in that regard thank you Mr Dandy so I will say our director of community Economic Development Miss Laura Collins is here to my right and then during the council meeting as is custom we always have a new business portion where council members may ask questions of the administration and you're always welcome to stick around after the meeting if you want to speak to us individually or you can email us individually at your at your convenience as well that exhaust our list of who had signed up in advance I will go around the room for anyone else who wanted to make comment again this is for anything that we're not voting on tonight was there anyone to the left I turn to the wide Center is there anyone who want to make comment Miss mol marij Joe mcol 449 Grand View Boulevard after attending last council meeting I would like to add to president cologne's review of proceedings that took place in 2024 I believe the record should show that the council enacted two tax increases the city tax increase of 2.6% and the 8% increase in water and sewer I went back and reviewed several meetings regarding these increases but was unable to locate the exact sound bite I distinctly remember president cologne stating something to the the effect I'm glad we did this property tax increase this year and not next because next year is an election year I did my best to absorb these increases while dealing with the other numerous hits to my budget it was a challenge for me and I am sure of many Bethlehem residents Citizens need seniors need to be considered more when enacting tax and fee increases as the old saying goes walk a mile in my shes next time instead of raising taxes to solve a budget shortfall Tred doing a deep dive into each Department's budgets and look for places to cut there was also a lot of talk that things were paid for by grants and not tax dollars if these grants did not come from the private sector they most assuredly came from tax dollars albeit not the local level before some on Council interjects to inform me of property tax rebates from the state I already take advantage of this rebate the amount of my rebate however does not even cover half of the smallest tax which is the Lehi County tax secondly this past Sunday's paper included an article regarding Sanctuary status of immigrants in the Lehigh Valley Allentown city council is considering an ordinance to to protect immigrants due to president Trump's policies let me clarify my stand I am a descendant of immigrants I was born and raised in Allentown I moved to Bethlehem more than 48 years ago my great-grandfather grandfather and great aunt immigrated from Austria 125 years ago they came through Ellis Island in fact there are plaques mounted in their honor Back Then There Were strict laws and procedures that had to they had to follow after my grandfather's passing in 1988 10 days shy of his H 100th birthday all the legal papers came into my dad's possession one such document is the Naturalization paper signed by a judge in Ohio my ancestors did not take lightly the immigration laws of the United States it is my hope that the city of Bethlehem will not take them lightly either all right when those newly elected officers took their oath of office you swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States I trust you will take that oath seriously if any such ordinances are proposed thank you thank you Miss mol is there anyone else in the wide Center who would to make comment on anything we're not voting on this evening Mr sh Mr Bill Shire okay thank you I came prepared to talk about the Woolworth proposal tonight and I see that it's not on the agenda so that gives me two bites at the Apple this will be a little less formal tonight since it's uh still a work in progress 50 or 100 years from now historians will write about whether the old city council voted to uphold a historical context context for the maravian buildings or whether it voted to override its historical Architectural Review Board once again after it voted for a new smaller and taller parking garage which will enable a seven-story apartment building that will Loom over historical mainstream incidentally uh been thinking since I wrote this about how the new parking garage will be smaller but we're building apartments Boy theat the boy yeah I keep saying the boy theater the boy Apartments that's quite a few apartments this new Bo apartment building will be even more the Woolworth proposal will add some more Apartments but we're going to have less parking something is ay here and I couldn't really call it good planning I I grew up in this city playing on the Wesley Methodist youth basketball team with Gordy Mau incidentally we we lost most of our games after returning to my hometown some 22 years in 400 Council meetings ago Gordy and I talked a couple of times about the city its history and its future not long before he died gardy told Gordy told me that his biggest mistake as mayor was urban renewal then he realized the future was around the corner on Main Street those were his exact words Gordy's view has been born out which was dramatically evidenced on the Saturday after this past Thanksgiving When the Crowds or Main Street were so thick that one had to pick his way along the sidewalk incidentally um not that tourism is all important but when people want to come here here like that and I saw a couple of tour buses too it shows that there's something they're enjoying and if they're enjoying it I think the people living here enjoy it too so it's not just tourists we're talking about it's the people who live here is this Woolworth Building a contributing structure most people would agreed that it is so plain as to be virtually ignorable if that's a word but the banality if I'm pronouncing it correctly or banality of its architecture is precisely why it does contribute because its plainness is another example of the Myriad of architectural styles on Main Street showc showcasing the rich history of commercial architecture over the years in Bethlehem well what about the future history of what is being built now well this is already taking place on steroids as the ethnic history of the Southside is being eradicated by new structures Main Street is among the little that is left it is true that the roof line of the Woolworth Edition will match the roof line of its neighbor a similar argument was made for the so-called Boutique Hotel on West Third Street which has 16 more rooms than the Hotel Bethlehem but any planning decision is at least to some extent a precedent we don't I think want to encourage similar roof adjustments up and down Main Street or other adjustments of one sort or another possibly even some demolitions eventually dup duplicating the mini Canyons be being constructed on the south side if you override the harb once again again the dam well will have burst a precedent will have been set and the paraphrase Church it might be the beginning of the end Main Street might eventually become indistinguishable from what is happening on the South Side the historical context of the maravian buildings will have been lost and Bethlehem will have a reduced quality of life if this happens I will not be opposed to a reconfiguration of the light Bobs on South Mountain transferring transforming the Star of Bethlehem into a dollar sign which would at least exhibit transparency which we often hear about thank you thank you Mr shy is there is there anyone else in the wide Center I know it's a tough act to follow yes in the front Okay that that was indeed incredible thank you um but um yeah uh I wasn't planning on speaking tonight I haven't spoken in a while and I think it's I I'm trying to avoid being in the mix when I don't have to but um when I hear misinformation I feel the need to correct it sometimes and I you know I I think you all here on Council are intelligent people and do you have your own um knowledge of history but um as someone who is pretty interested in in genealogy um I I look at what immigration was back a hundred years ago and it was pretty different than it was today um so my great grandfather came here from Italy um when he was 16 years old in 19 192 um and he came from his hometown he went to the port in Naples he got on a ship by himself at 16 came over to Ellis Island and he pretty much immediately moved to Indiana um and a few years later he enlisted in World War I and he got naturalized and he came back to New Jersey I have seen these documents I have seen his immigration documents a single line on a sheet of paper for Ellis Island that's all you had to fill out your name your relatives what ship you came in on one or two other small details like that it was literally a sign in sheet um and he was there among maybe like 20 other names um and his naturalization papers were he enlisted in the Army congrats you're naturalized that was it um so like the first immigration law that existed in US history was the Chinese Exclusion Act which I don't think that we should emulate today um and uh the the core of the immigration laws that we have currently came in the Fallout of World War II to prevent too many Jewish refu too many Jewish refugees from coming here so um if I look at the policies that people are trying to implement on the county and the city level to make welcoming cities welcoming counties Sanctuary cities Sanctuary counties that is just really a policy of we see that the federal government is taking measures to kick out people that have done the work to be here and we aren't going to collaborate um and I think that's great if someone wants to propose something like that here in Bethlehem I'd be fully in support of it um another thing is if you have been wondering what have I been working on while I haven't been talking at city council every meeting uh I did submit a right to no request back in November on the finances I received a response I did the research our pension Investments do have um significant amounts of investments in companies supporting the genocide in Gaza that is true I went through it I shared some of that information with a few um interested City Council Members um but through further discussion what I found is that the city council does not have direct oversight over the contents of City pensions and that um it is in the jurisdiction more of boards that represent the bargaining units of city employees so further action on that we'll see it's probably not going to come before you on Council um due to that reason um but that work has been done and I'm thankful for the people who helped me with that I have more ideas I think there are still ways that the city can you know take a stance or be involved that will have some effect but I'm not going to talk about them right now I hope to you know bring something more concrete to you in the future thank you thank you I will remind everybody if anyone else speaking to please state your name for the record for Mr Miller when you uh start your remarks was there anyone else in the wide Center who would to make make comment on anything we're not voting on this evening is there anyone to the right okay that's going to conclude our first public comment moving on to our second public comment this is for any ordinance or resolution that's up for a vote this evening no one had signed up so again I'll go around the room anyone to the left anyone to the center wants to make comment anything we're voting on Mr Shire belshire 1890 Eaton Avenue which has been plowed or at least it's it's possible to move along there which is why I'm here I I just have a a question more curiosity than anything else this contract with the traffic system and design no traffic planning and design uh million dollars over four years I'm just wondering if there's anybody there who the principls are hases anybody moved over from Urban research to this firm or do anybody know the names of any principles I just wondering if if there's some of the usual suspects I'm not objecting to the contract I'm just curious and that question may be answered when we get to it on the agenda tonight Mr sh okay that's it thank you was there anyone else in the wide Center who wanted to make comment on anything that we're voting on this evening again I look to the right all right thank you that concludes public comment old business any old business from members of council I don't see any old business any new business from members of council Mr callam thank you I just got uh a couple of things that I've been hanging on to and I didn't want to bring them up uh during our longer meeting meetings and I was looking at the agenda I thought well this is a good time to bring them up because uh we got a short agenda tonight so uh miss cins you got a [Music] minute so I I was talking I was uh up on Main Street I like oh I I am often and uh I was talking to a lady that had drove here for like two hours to visit the city and um she said to me you know she had to go to bathroom really bad and when she got out here and there's no bathrooms where where would we send someone to go to the bathroom I mean there's no public bathroom correct in the city in the downtown area in the downtown on Main Street no there's not a public bathroom so some of these restaurants are starting to clamp down on people coming in and using their restrooms without um purchasing something and so I I just think that now would be a great time with the building of of the new Street Garage with people driving here obviously from out of town it'd probably be a good spot to put a you we don't have to put something huge but just something that someone can go to the bathroom and um and use the facilities when they first get here without having to use someone else's restaurant because I know the restaurants are starting to get to the point too where you know people just walk in and off the street and uh so I don't I don't know what the um if there's a spot or somewhere else that we could put it if the parking authority you know doesn't want it but there's got to be someplace in the downtown area in historic district and maybe in a Southside too you know you know our two downtown areas that we could possibly put um Mike I don't know if you have any ideas about it or not but you know there's there's got to be someplace in the city that we can have a public bathroom and I and I was just thinking you know with the with they're just starting to build the garage there's got to be a spot that we could probably put a a public bathroom there I I I don't know but someone's someone in the Administration has to make a decision on this it's really not a city council thing so I I don't know what the suggestions are or what the recommendations are from the from the city maybe it's something you guys can talk about and and get together with the parking authority but it seems like it this has been something that's been brought up for a long long period of time you know as far as bathrooms and nothing's being done on it so I'm not blaming you I'm just saying it's I mean this was was a conversation before I even got on Council nine years ago and I think Mr cologne and Mr Evans who were on council at the time can remember people you know complaining about it I just think you know for a city like us primarily um our downtown area is is is based on tourism I think there should be a bathroom somewhere you know and and and where I I don't know but uh I think with the parking authority being uh building a brand new garage right now I think that probably be the best spot for it it's essentially located in the downtown area I is there a park is there a bathroom over on the south side and I I haven't parked on in that in that Pok Street garage yet is there anything down there I I don't believe so and there's no public bathroom over there either right Mr call if I could just reject I know historically The Visitor Center on Main Street used to have a public bathroom open to the public I can't speak to if that's still the case or not I haven't been in there for a little bit but I know during and of of course their operating hours are you know set time right it's not a 24-hour um facility or Public Access but historically that's where we would direct people that were on Main Street I'm not putting any blame on anybody I'm just saying that it's it's time that we we make a move on this because it's something that has to be done especially with our new designation as a world heritage site if we're going to have a lot more I mean if you if you listen to the people who are the experts in this world heritage uh um designation is going to bring in maybe an extra 100,000 people a year in the city so there's go we got to have a bathroom somewhere and it's something that has to be planned like like ASAP and I I know there would be a change order to have it built at in the garage right now because there's no planned uh bathroom there but it's better to do it now than not have anything at all you know um I don't know I I think I think um under the next to the Apollo I'm not exactly sure there there's a building uh east of the the next building east of the Apollo there there's um I think volani um do Dominic vanani owns that and they found a bathroom underneath there there was steps that was made there public bathrooms yeah I think there was public bathrooms there so you know I I know there's nothing in there and it's been there I mean I think it was 10 years ago 15 years ago that he found it so I think it would be um I mean I don't know if it's something we can go talk to him and maybe we could purchase it from him or lease it from him and if there's piping already down there and water already down there I mean I mean something's got to be done it's just it's the same thing year year after year after year there's nothing being done on it and I think Now's the Time that someone's got to step up and and and and say what are we gonna do you know I think we need to at the ver at the minimum we need to have one male and one female bathroom public bathroom on the on the uh historic district and and one on the southide I think I think that with the water found hopefully you know I mean I don't know if if I mean I would appreciated if you can talk to the mayor or anybody else about it uh talk to Public Works and and see what you know or maybe there's a better spot for it I don't know I just think with the parking garage going on right now Now's the Time to make a move on it yeah I I I mean I agree this has been a a topic that has come up we spent a lot of time with the downtown Merchants um you know we sit on the DBA and on the chamber and have had a lot of these conversations um and have talked about some of the various challenges but also potential opportunities um you know you mentioned the garage but also we've talked about you know a future redesign of the Sun and Courtyard for example and have talked about are there ways to think about potentially bathrooms in that regard but as you point out I mean that's not just something that communia Economic Development would weigh in on and Public Works would probably um have have a lot to say and and a lot to weigh in on as well in terms of um you know cost and not just in the short term but obviously over the long term um and other challenges and there are a lot of different voices I think to have um as part of that conversation but but there are conversations that that have you know happened and I think we can continue to have yeah I mean you know if the mayor made a decision hey this is what we're going to do and told the department heads SW to find a way to get it done I think it could be I I think a bathroom is not that hard of a push for a city to size of betham so it's just something that I would hope that from this point on we start having a discussion about it all right second thing is uh I had um I had three different businesses um owners call me up and I heard nothing about this I don't know if anybody else Council knows about it but apparently we are offering uh to business owners free condom dispensers and free condoms in the city of betham if they want them do you know anything about that iik is it a grant I don't I mean I hope we're not using city tax if you mind using the microphone please relax okay I'm allowed to ask questions you're allowed to ask whatever you want well don't don't go oh I'm sorry Council I will I will ask we I understand she does it on a regular basis Mr Callan if you want to proceed with your questions Miss Collins I appreciate you coming to microphone sure I I I can check in with the health director U Miss wrick and you know give a response by email I don't have any details on that program all right if if it's I'm hoping it's a state Grant and not City money taxpayers money so the the health Bureau is is almost entirely funded by grants um I think we talked about it during the budget I want to say like 96% of the health bureau's budget and all of their programming is funded by state or federal grants so if it is a program that is funded through the health Bureau I am confident saying that it would be Grant funded could could you get back to me like by the end of the week sure certain find out about it yep so the uh if it is a state Grant uh and I'm hoping it is I hope we're not using City taxpayer money to to pay for condoms and condom dispensers so if it's a state Grant I'm I'm going to assume it's under like some type of Health safety Grant or something like that um I I would hope that there's another way un unless it's specifically granted for condoms and condom dispensers I would hope that there's uh some other type of way awarding that maybe we could allow um you know I know all these restaurants and businesses they have to go through these um Serve Safe training things and you know like that there got to be another way to program that money to help out our local businesses without spend money on condoms and condom dispensers I mean that's just my opinion so if if you could check on that for me sure and then last thing uh miss m I appreciate your comments on the tax increases um you know it's very important um to know at the end of the last meeting of the year um one of our council members talked about you know last year was the right time to raise taxes not this year and uh I would say this anytime we as a body raise taxes on you it makes the city more unaffordable and not only for you but for people of moderate and low-income housing it makes it more unaffordable for them to live here more taxes raises the cost on people and it makes it and one of the things we're always talking about is affordable housing affordable housing you want to make it more unaffordable for someone not to live in a city keep raising taxes there's no good year to raise taxes there's always ways to cut you know in in nine years to have been a council I voted one time for a 25 hour increase and that was my second year on Council and only be for $25 and that was only because we were in such Dire Straits financially at the time we would have had to cut police and fire that's the only time I ever raised taxes so I I just want to know that when when we all need to know that when we do raise taxes and vote to raise taxes it's making it more unaffordable for people to live here in city of betham that's all I want to say thank you thank you Mr Callahan any other new business from members of council councilwoman quch yes I just uh want to uh say I'm absolutely in favor of public restrooms if we can find a way to make them happen um of course that costs money uh as does the upkeep and maintenance and the security issues there's a lot of issues around public restrooms obviously viously uh unfortunately I don't have any friends who own property that have plumbing and former restrooms in them to offer to sell to the city but you know I still think public restrooms are a good idea also uh I also think condoms are a good idea as someone who uh lost a lot of friends during the AIDS crisis when I lived in New York and uh worked in the Arts protested with act up as someone who went into bars and handed out clean needles and free condoms to people uh to try to keep them safe uh I don't really understand uh given that bars are places where people meet each other and hook up and maybe find someone to spend some time with I don't see really how uh and there bars are places where people are supposed to be 21 years old um also they don't have to accept them uh so I I think public health is an important piece of what we do uh obvious ly uh we also have programs where we're helping our unhoused community and people seem to have a problem with that um and finally I just want to remind everybody that last year when we did vote to raise taxes uh it was because among other things we had a 3% uh uh collective bargaining agreement increase for the police and I think a 4% income uh increase for our firefighters and that adds up to a whole lot of money because our police and our firefighters are the largest uh segment of our public employees here in the city so again I I think I said you know raising taxes isn't something that everybody looks forward to doing or necessarily wants to do it's part of the job of people who are responsible for uh the care and maintenance of the city including our First Responders and making sure they have the equipment they need and all of that um and we've all been very um interested in making sure that we have a full complement of firefighters we've been sending them to uh you know a second uh training uh school um so that we can increase that number uh we have been asking Chief cot at almost every meeting are we up to our full compliment of police officers how many are coming through the academy uh and all of those people get paid and they get pensions and they get benefits and it costs a lot of money it costs a lot of money um and again you know I don't disagree that we have an affordability crisis everywhere in our country and including in Bethlehem um so while uh it's you know we want to build things to accommodate our uh world heritage visitors we want to welcome them here that costs money the people here who live here um obviously foot some of the bill um and when we you know find grants that are available to uh do things yes those are also tax dollars collected and redistributed um you know it reminds me of uh some of the things we've been hearing out of Washington about putting conditions on uh the money going to California and uh it you know I don't the people from Louisiana and Alabama the representative saying I don't want my money going to help California rebuild um it turns out of course that it'll probably be California's money that's going back to California to rebuild California because the people in Alabama and Louisiana don't pay nearly as much as the people of California on a per capita basis and the people of California get so much less back so this is the way we fund our civil society is that we collect taxes we distribute them um it's not always to our liking I certainly know that for the next four years a lot of my tax dollars are going to be doing things that I am really not in favor of but we're going to have to get through that as well so I guess that was all my new business thank you Mr President any other new business from Members Council councilwoman lar yeah um I just wanted to follow up on a couple of the things that we heard in public comment um one uh just to verify um the tax increase that the city did put uh in place was voted on in 2023 three not last year correct correct Mr Evans you could correct me if I'm wrong but we voted on a slate so that would have been budget season of 23 for the 2024 calendar yes year November okay December would not have appeared in to be voted on or commented on like that in last year's minutes it would have been 2023 is budget season correct our our 25 budget was voted on a couple weeks ago right so um just wanted to make sure that was clear um and the other question I had was um to follow up on Mr shire's uh inquiry about uh tpn are there any known um you know significant uh Financial you know implications about the principles of that uh that business or any people that are uh you know well known to us all in there I don't think microphone Mr alol please the mic thank you we don't actively track the movement between the two firms or who they are or I could share with you is we have their technical detail proposal which lays out all the Personnel that are involved in the project and we can provide thatb whatever appropriate means to is anyone that wants to know that I I assume that it followed the same process of selection for like we do with any of our vendors exactly of course yeah okay thank you um and bathrooms are apparently a thing of today's uh topic so um in terms of public restrooms are the public restrooms in our public facility Lake City Hall and the library available for residents to use okay so if you are downtown and you really can't find somewhere we've got a couple available locations right here okay thank you thank you any other new business for members of council councilwoman Leon I believe both my questions would be for director Collins and um the first one was in response to one of the Community member community members asking about zoning adus and those types of updates and I was wondering when the next time the city was going to give an update or if we should just be um putting people to the city's website to read the comprehensive um study that was done the city website is a is a good place to go or also the web build Bethlehem website where we also put um updates particularly related to to housing um that contract was approved by city council we're going through the Contracting process um with the firm and and our law Bureau so we're not we're not under contract yet but then from there there's about a a year-long um period under during which we would do the study so we don't have anything to report yet but there's also a uh steering committee that includes community members and Community organizations and and various folks um working you know contributing to the conversation around alley houses in general I believe that they are meeting quarterly um and I can ask Mr tulo um to send updates when when they're having meetings okay and then the the last one was since we're speaking about bathrooms it's just a gentle reminder of some of the conversations that were had um for the Southside in the Southside steering committee about um the the bathrooms that were placed on the greenway in support of something that the Southside Arts District was doing this was just a conversation that was had um in the Publican Green Space committee about putting maybe a nonpermanent structure within a permanent structure something that's easier to take out clean it's uh a type of public restroom that we've seen in in other cities so um I believe in that meeting um there was some support uh that the mayor was curious of of how that might work so maybe it's another conversation that we could have again um test running it on the southide like we did last time it it was very inexpensive to have have those like non-permanent structures there um so I think it' be an interesting thing to look at without breaking the city's budget as a kind of a temporary solution before we um put permanent structures and thousands of dollars behind it I think that was a conversation around I I believe because there a porta poot set up for the live on the greenway concert series and the Southside Arts District which love them for this they kept them open as long as possible they cleaned they shut them down one day for cleaning but they kept them open throughout the week um and that proved to be very helpful for the people that were traveling along the greenway um and that was like $100 a week to have them there so something like that is something maybe we could look into at least temporarily if we're going to see an uptick in people needing public restrooms um before we decide on putting a permanent structure anywhere so just something to consider yeah I believe those they were they were Porta parties that were put up by Third parties clean by Third parties right yeah that was that was all I had thank you thank you councilwoman Mr Callahan I just want to I just want to note that uh Miss I want to hear what what he has I'm sorry Mr Callahan I apologize problem alcohol was as far as on the North side in the downtown area I'm not sure I can offer it to people but the there are public bathrooms in Atlanta uh bus stop on ghter street they're fairly new uh I believe they're they're available to for public use yeah maybe we just make some signage then I don't know we to discuss that with with the garage and then right right thank you councilwoman Le you were done with your comments I just good enough okay what make sure sorry about that Mr Callahan no I just wanted to know too to that uh uh councilwoman leair is correct uh the vote on the tax increases was in 2023 uh late 2023 budget hearing before we had got on Council but I think it's also important to note that during that budget hearing uh we council at that time raise taxes voted to raise taxes at a time when the mayor was quoted as saying that the city's in the best financial shape it's ever been in that that was during that 2023 budget hearing and not only were we in the best financial shape we've ever been in uh we are also sitting on millions and millions of dollars of uh Federal money from Co that's when they raise taxes on you so thank you thank you Mr Callan any other new business for members of council so I'll just Council quch thank you um Miss Collins can I ask a question um could we use uh the covid money for like anything we wanted or would were there specific purposes for those things there were specific purposes and I might defer to to Mr Evans also but um yeah we yeah I'll defer to Mr Evans yeah yeah pretty strong restrictions and also recommendations from the government as well as all the agencies that we look to for financial advice that saying that these are one-time funds and should not be used to plug budget holes that would only become larger when the funding does expire which which was part of the case it's here the funding use it for infrastructure and list of related um covid related items but not to that this would be your use in in place of uh tax dollars or other sustainable Revenue come in each and every year so when we talk about the funds that we've set aside for specific purposes are for onetime purposes also that's the way we have set them up uh in the most recent future and uh including this year's budget I think there's a difference and we do talk about financial strength I agree uh we are in a good position but there's a difference between a balance sheet and an income statement the balance sheet it does look good takes a time to do that that's a picture of your assets and your liabilities liabilities including your debt we've talked a lot about the reduction of debt we're in a much better position uh some more bright future because of that but the income statement which drives the year to year that's from 1 one to 1231 particularly and that's where we do want to make sure we're not eating into reserves if it's a place where like you're in a negative or you're putting up deficits that's when the red lights go on that's when the flags go up that's when credit rings are downgraded saying you can only live so long if you're underwater and running in a negative situation is going to deteriorate your balance sheet so the the amount we did at that time we felt was um was the first time in three years we had done it I think we heard earlier about the fact there are increases in everything the state needs to buy to purchase uh the contracts with police and fire both didn't move up um they are our largest expense to begin with so if there was not any adjustments made there's only so much you can do cuts at City Hall and when you walk up down the hall a lot of offices that were one filled years ago are not there are many many empty many positions we've talked about were one deep we can't go from one to zero and many of our critical positions and as it is I I you know I think that's a clear and present danger we have in City Hall that there number of spots where one deep and when that person retires or leaves or wins a lottery tomorrow and walks out that's the only person that does it and you know there's just not a lot SP we can cut these four or five or these 10 or 12 people unless it's public safety and we've Shi away from that police and fire you know that's where we have death but that's all where we also play as place a high priority Public Safety public infrastructure so that's kind of what we've been trying to you know the path we've been uh following and then just one last question well it's sort of a two-parter would you I my experience with you is that you're a fiscally fairly um moderate to I mean I don't want to use the word conservative but you're very you're careful in your in your budgeting would you say but my qu my question really is um is it when you are not in a financially healthy position is that when you should be raising taxes is you know what I mean like what is what is the right balance for if you find yourself looking at because it seems like if you wait so long that now you're in a big hole now you're raising taxes way more I mean that just is that there are case studies to the East and the West not too far from here when that's what you will sometimes see if you hold too long and that's the great balance we always talk about it's going to have to be you can't go zero forever because you're going to you know then you'll put yourself in a real financial problem you become financially distressed uh it will result into all kinds of uh tough things that we want to face so I I agree with one of the things Mr calan said is that you wait as long as you can it's is a last I agree is a last resort we look many ways we do make rounds of cuts with what first comes to the administration as we do our reviews uh Personnel from time to time we have made cuts when we can uh but there are critical Services we need to deliver we just can't like some businesses can consolidate with another city or shut down divisions departments or facilities and programming that we need to deliver on there's infrastructure we need to invest we can't skip if you kick it down the road you could do the z00 zos we could do that our balance sheet would support some z00 zos and use cash but in that fourth fifth or sixth year of zeros there's going to be a a 20 or 15% you know to to get to get it balanced again because our revenues just don't grow that aggressively any game year if you do the zeros thinking someday it's GNA take off or have a second Casino show up with $10 million to incude and that was wonderful when it happened that was a $10 million increase to revenues 20 years ago and since then that number when we talk about H host fee has stayed exactly the same so while casino is wonderful the property tax they pay that has gone up but that wonderful host fee back in whatever year that may have first taken place 20068 that was before I you know I even started on counsil we started 10 and 12 that wasn't there yet that was a game changer but that was you know unicorn that fact that that came along and other than that um we are third class developed City 35% of our revenues which are our property tax revenues just through growth although we are developing nicely uh doesn't grow at the rate that our expenses grow even when we're not adding Personnel we're not adding people we're just paying bills we're paying utilities that go up for us like it does at us at my house goes up for us here at the city chemicals go up the cost of fuel you know it goes up and down you know we tried to manage that we found ways we've are using more of electric Feet Fleet we're getting more efficient cars we making all those changes that you try and make in your house to do it but there are just uh increasing pressures when we have to you know evaluate everything so we take it all very seriously we do watch expenses very carefully monitor them month to month if not week to week on many the discretionary line items and a lot as we've talked about before our set before the year starts we know what our debt is it's $1 million that's set that was decisions that were made many years ago for good reasons at the time that would proposed and supported for whatever reason they had to be taken on to do whatever we had to do build or make or repair but uh that's set MMO our pensions are set we know that before the year starts that's another 10 to 122 million so there's other you know that's 30% there and then our our salaries and our contracts that are in place that are um set as well we know pretty close what that's going to be as well so um it's kind of quick review covered a lot but that's a lot a lot of um considerations we go through as you know during each budget season we take a lot of time to present to council and address all the issues and uh the decisions at the end are always very difficult whether it's a tax increase or is it the hopefully not the cutting of services but that's sometimes what we don't want to face and how do we balance that this kind of how we work with you and um to to come to our conclusions each year thank you okay sure Mr Evans I got a quick question Mr Callan did you want the floor again yeah yeah yeah so I I realized we had uh the federal government had got guidelines on that uh Co money but we did spend millions of dollars in on certain light item budgets items that we normally have within the city I know some of it was very restricted but we spent several million dollars of that money on things that line items that we normally put money into on a regular basis correct yes yes so that was a savings to the city in capital not in our operating budget no I know I just wanted to make sure people understood that because you know I I'm not here trying to defend it apparently someone else is but I'm just trying to say that uh that money there was money available from that millions of dollars from that covid money that was used over the last two years on light items or line items within the budget which would have alleviated uh substantial savings that's all that's all I was trying to say we we put those the large number is I believe what you're speaking to into the capital budget which otherwise would have been a borrowing we would have borrowed money and then added to our debt service so in lie of taking out a a bond of $9 million and paying it back over 15 to 20 years which is a new expense of5 to $600,000 a year every year for 15 years we put that in and and put that whole long list you see in the back of the budget book of projects and purchases over two-year period which is City I qualify most of it qualifies as City infrastructure roads Bridges Etc my my whole point was that there was there was savings to the city due to the benefit of the covid money that's all I was trying to say that you know yeah during a time when we're in the according to the mayor we're in the best financial position that we have been ever been in that's all that's all and I'm just quoting what he said yeah and again there's two it goes back to two parts of the balance sheet is stronger there was a time when our cash balance was very short you know the years that we uh were near zero or even below zero back um at the end of the Steel Days uh the the last housing recession 080 9 10 into 11 that's changed we do now have liquidity we are less leveraged our debt is paid down so for all that we are positioned well for the future but again we want to we don't want to go back to that spot so to stay in a strong balance sheet we have to make sure income statement is balanced structurally that's kind of what we want to put together that's kind package we try and deliver each year yeah so I'm gonna have a couple comments then move this agenda on U thank you everybody for your comment so a couple things this all just sounds like a reminder why everyone who's watching or here make sure you come out every November December for our budget hearings I've shared the story before I'm not going to share it again but our budget hearings are where the the heaviest lifting of council happens when we talk about the budget tags that this is my 10th year now on city council I voted in favor of some tax increases at different times when they came up I advise everybody to go back watch the either the recordings of budget hearings our budget books are online on the city's website there is the um open data on the city ite where everyone could go through and look at where the spending goes goes to and then um the the minutes that were referenced earlier the I'm not going to get into the minutia of the budget again I've made those comments already during the past budget season I will say if anyone finds in the video anytime I because I say a lot of things if anyone wants to find a video of me saying time of raise taxes because it's not an election year I I welcome that my email is on the city website but that uh that quote doesn't come to mind the there was a mention of the minutes I brought this up before so I I think it Bears repeating minutes by Robert's Rules of Order minutes are a record of what was done during a city council meeting now what was said during a city council meeting I president of council cologne have advised Mr Miller to save his time and not transcribe word for word every city council meeting because that's not what um Council minutes are supposed to be they're recorded for anybody who wants to watch them they are they live on YouTube in perpetuity anyone could go back and watch the the real time conversation on the floor again I advise people to do that the minutes and attorney Stewart our solicitor could correct me if I'm wrong but again going by Robert's Rules minutes are supposed to capture what was done during the meeting not what was said during the meeting is that a fair that is true and I I would also reference the sunshine act in terms of the fact that um meeting minutes are not intended to be a transcript of what was said so thank you attorney Stewart so I I just like to clear that up because sometimes different people bring it up at different times throughout the year or the couple years that I've sat here in the center and I just like to remind people that is at at my direction and um with input from other members of council at times for the sake of time and what the sunshine act requires that I uh you know asked Mr Miller and our city clerks not to take uh a transcript of every of every meeting but that being said I'm going to move through to Communications Mr Miller Communications 6A January 13 2025 memorandum and proposed resolution from Michael alol director of Public Works Mr alol recommends a contract of traffic planning and designning corporated of Bethlehem the consultant will provide engineering design permitting and limited construction oversight for the Broad Street Corridor Improv movements project cost is $977,500 office M Liberto has reviewed the municipal records retention Act and the records listed on the exhibit of company the memo fall within the categories where destruction is permitted and a resolution will be placed on our February 4 Council agenda all right moving on to reports just a couple things I want to note one for our finance committee the finance committee will meet on Tuesday February 4th at 6m here in town hall before our next city council meeting and that's going to be to discuss year-end budget adjustments and budget additions will be on the agenda for that meeting and then also to those who may have noticed we did not have our committee meeting this evening prior to tonight's council meeting we had advertised for a community development committee meeting to review the residential parking permit program but due to some unforeseen absences that meeting was canceled and it will be rescheduled so we'll announce that at a future city council at a future council meeting when that's going to be be rescheduled too that's all I had for this evening Mr Evans thank you president clone we do have administrative order this evening order 2025 number two I he hereby reappoint Lee D Cunningham 2432 Victoria way coply PA 1 18037 to the code board of appeals this reappointment is effective through January 2026 administrative order 25 2502 the reappointment of Lee D Cunningham to the codes board of appeals board the resolution sponsored by Miss Wilhelm and Miss Leon any discussion on Mr Cunningham's reappointment call the rooll Miss L I miss Leon hi Mr Callahan I quac I and Mr col I pass Five Z thank you thank you Mr Evans we have no final ordinances or ordinances up for final vote or new ordinances so a couple resolutions 10A be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem the mayor and controller and or such other City officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute all documents and agreements with traffic planning and Design Incorporated to provide Engineering Services obtain permits and provide limited construction oversight for the Broad Street Corridor improvements project the resolution is sponsored by Miss Wilhelm and Miss Leon discussion we call the r Miss lard hi Miss Leon hi Mr Callahan i m quch i and Mr colog I pass 5- Z 10B be it resolved by the Council of the city of Bethlehem in accordance with the municipal records manual hereby authorizes the disposal of public records in the health Bureau as set forth an exhibit a resolution is sponsored by Miss Wilhelm and Miss Leon discussion call R Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Mr Callahan hi Miss quak hi and Mr cologne hi I pass 5 Z I'll accept a motion in a second to consider resolutions C through e as a group so moved second motion by councilwoman lar second by councilwoman Leon any discussion on the motion for the group we'll call the roll on the motion Miss L I miss Leon I Mr Callahan I miss qu I and Mr col I a motion passes 5 z Mr Miller please read the coas certificates of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of Pennsylvania legislature Bethlehem resolution are hereby granted for 476 North New Street to replace wood siding around the entire house repaint the house and restore the porch that faces North Street 79 West Market Street to install 24 in diameter double-sided sign with text glow by laser attached to the squirrel bracket and 233 East Church Street to remove a decaying patio roof and replace it with a freestanding second floor deck in the same footprint as the existing patio roof the resolutions are sponsored by Miss Wilhelm and Miss Leon discussion on the coas we'll call the roll Miss L hi Miss Leon hi Mr Callahan hi Miss quch I and Mr colog I passes 5 Z that concludes tonight's agenda at home safe everybody