city Council meeting I ask that we all rise for the pledge of the flag Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and
justice for all Mr Miller please call the role Mr Callahan present Miss Grampy Smith present Miss Quitech present Miss Leard present Miss Leon present Miss Wilhelm present And Mr Colom present Thank you Mr Miller I'll
recognize Mr Callahan is joining us remotely due to being under the weather this evening and Mayor Reynolds um also under the weather was out of work a little bit today So will not be joining council this evening Prior to consideration of the
regular agenda items city council will conduct a public hearing to receive comment concerning a request from Attorney Dennis Benner representing DB6 Incorporated Sorry And DB3 LLC requesting an amendment to the city's zoning map by
changing the zoning district containing two parcels at 8th Avenue in Martin Court from mixeduse commercial district CMU to the shopping center district CS This privately proposed resoning request is related to a proposal to build an
upscale car wash andor a restaurant The public hearing is forformational purposes only No votes will be cast during the public hearing In connection with this public hearing there are two communications Mr Miller please read
communication 6A March 17th 2025 memorandum from Assistant Planning and Zoning Director Craig Pyer outlining the city planning commission's review of zoning map amendment proposed for 8th Avenue and Martin Court Mr Piper reported that the planning commission
voted 4 to zero to recommend approval of this amendment And please read communication 6B March 18th 2025 correspondence from Jill Sites chief community and regional planner with the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Miss Sites assessed that the
reszoning that reszoning this property from the existing mixeduse commercial district to the adjacent shopping center zoning district is logical extension and aligns with the LVPC's future LV the regional plan However Lehigh Valley Planning Commission strongly recommends
requiring a subdivision of the pime primary property and lot line adjustment with the adjacent parcel to avoid split zoning Determining property lines should be should occur prior to the approval of the zoning district change Thank you Mr Miller
The public hearing is called to order I'll start by recognizing representatives of the zoning amendment petitioner to speak about the requested zoning map amendment and sir and anyone else who is going to be presenting if you don't mind just identifying yourself for the purposes of council in the audience
Thank you Mr Chairman My name is Dennis Benner I am the applicant uh before the council this evening Um I uh um I'm asking the city council to consider a zoning map amendment Um the uh existing
zoning is CMU It's got for lack of a better word some commercial light kinds of uses available to it Um the uh property across the street is CS Uh it's more of an intense um commercial use
I've identified some likely uses for the property one is a a pretty upscale u car wash very responsible people in terms of their environmental
um application to car washes Uh and I think that would be a good fit at this particular location I've also had some conversations with some restaurants Uh it should be no surprise that every restaurant that you talk to requests uh some sort of a drive-thru uh and the uh
CMU does not permit a drive-thru CS does That's pretty much the extent of uh what this is about Uh any kind of a use um needs certainly needs to go before the uh city planning commission and all the appropriate bodies to to advance any
kind of a of a real use for the property I've asked Darren Hecman from Keystone Engineer to uh to join me this evening in the event there are any uh questions from the city council He's got a board in front of us here Uh hopefully you can
see what this is You may have it in your packets Um but there's no land plan uh that's being uh suggested this evening It's just to clear the way to be able to do one
Thank you Mr Benner Did you have anything else you want to add before we I don't think so though Open it up for discussion Thank you Was there anyone from the administration who want to make comment this evening thank you Mr Chairman I'll keep my comments relatively brief brief I
believe uh Mr Benner summed it up quite nicely Um you'll see in our memo that we do outline what was there Uh this district was created back in 2006 The CMU district it was created for the purpose of allowing for lighter commercial uses Directly bel beneath
this district is the CS which is more let's call it vehicle vehicular intense type of uses In our memo we do recommend approval The planning commission also did recommend approval We feel that this is a logical extension of the CS district up 8th Avenue and I'll take any
questions that you might have Thank you So at this time I will open it up to members of council for comment either of the applicant Mr Benner and anyone who's with them or of the administration I'll start with anyone from council who has
questions I'll start with Councilwoman Camy Smith and work my way down I guess this I don't know if it's for Craig or I just want to clarify So the CS is right across the street from the current site and CS would allow the um car wash and or the restaurant then it would allow
allow specifically the car wash and specifically a restaurant with a drive-thru Okay which is what they're petitioning for Correct Okay Thank you Counciloman Quitech Thank you Um I did have one question about um in the uh LVPC letter uh they strongly recommend
requiring a subdivision of the primary property and a lot line adjustment with the adjacent parcel to avoid split zoning Um and said that this should uh occur before uh approving a zoning district change Have you done that i
have not Uh what I can do is give uh the city or the planning commission whoever may want require it the net result of that request That request does not contemplate the existing underlying ownership it being a condominium form of
ownership If I did that I would destroy the condominium regime um that's existing on that property So that's why I had our our engineer do a plot plan and a meets and bounds description to present with this
application so there would be total clarity in terms of what we're doing here So just to be clear all of these uh these add up to the full parcel that all of these names of these uh owners and
and their addresses they all own a piece of this in a condominium Yes I own I own all of those condominium units Uh and a number of years ago when we developed the property they were done in a condominium form of
ownership uh for various reasons Uh and then a number of years ago I did some financing and that's why there was that the subject prop property was a flexible condominium In other words you could add it to it at a later date and that's what I did 2017 kind of time frame
But but that okay but that ownership um arrangement uh was it done in contemplation of building actually condominiums residences or was it just a a a use of the ownership structure for other
purposes there's often a mistake or a misunderstanding what a condominium is It's really just a form of legal ownership A lot of people think it's a like an apartment building or some residential unit It's not It could be a parking lot spot It could be a boat slip It could be anything in a in a
condominium form of ownership And it's owned together with common areas Um and the common areas in a condominium form of ownership is what has been the driving force for this property for the last 15 or 20 years How so why can you
explain what the benefit of it it is when you when you do it has a lot to do with the design of a project in terms of it's one lot uh and there's there's condominium forms of ownership and if you were to have
multiple lots like with a subdivision you would have sideyard setbacks for every use that you have there becomes very cumbersome in terms of when you start doing a commercial development and that's why a lot of this is done in the condominium form Um so I know you said across the street
When you said across the street it's CS You meant across the street where Price Right is and Lowe's Okay So on the other side of the Yes Okay Uh and um was there a reason why it that part
wasn't designated CS at the time that the redevelopment started happening over there i can't I can't I can't speak to that I don't I don't know It goes back 20 some years 25 30 years Okay Predated me Okay All right That's all I had Thank
you Other questions from council councilwoman Wilhelm just quickly I want to confirm something I I don't think I understood until this evening that the only type of restaurant that is permitted on this property is a restaurant with a drive-thru as it
currently is Uh CMU you would be allowed to have a restaurant there but without a drive-thru If you change it to CS then a restaurant with a drive-thru would be permitted Or a restaurant without a drive-thru Correct Okay Just wanted to make sure we're But it sounds like you're part in
particular seeking a restaurant with a drive-thru That is to say we're looking at fast casual fast food style or are you considering I'm considering that as well as one without but I like the flexibility because to have a restaurant
go to a particular location these days it's very hard to even have a conversation without a a drive-through restaurant I think Cohen drove drove that whole narrative Uh and I I see it even with other properties that I have is they don't even talk without a without a drive-thru
Okay And and also something I I thought I understood in in reading uh prior to this meeting is that there was the possibility of a combined Is this a misunder there's not it's not going to be a driveth through car wash no no no no no Um just want to make sure
I I could have sworn I saw that somewhere Um I was wondering also if you could say a little bit more about uh you sort of indicated that the car wash uh is sort of known for its environmentally friendly uh practices Could you say a little bit
more about that uh the u the likely uh operator is a company called Cloud 10 They're out of New England It's financially backed by uh private equity uh there's uh
significant assets behind this company uh and they've taken a a posture when they're when they're doing this to be very environmentally friendly in terms of reuse of water in terms of the chemicals that go into the the mix
itself For example there's it's about 17 to 22 gallons per wash It's about the same amount of water a person takes a shower with Uh they're very uh community friendly They do things for the community to help them out Uh it's uh I think they'd be a very good neighbor
Okay You said cloud cloud 10 Cloud 10 Yes Thank you Any other questions from council councilwoman Leon Uh I had a question about um surrounding zoning So we talked a little bit about uh the increased density um and the increased traffic that you would expect under CS So with
that next to other Martin the Martin Tower site and that's potential development Do you think that area can handle the amount of density that additional shopping as well as additional housing when it does come is that area capable of handling that density so I'm not a traffic engineer Um
but I would say that the way the intersection is designed it is it takes into consideration both traffic and pedestrian safety Okay And whenever things do get developed there would be additional traffic studies done along in that process as well Anyway certainly with the Martin Court site Martin Tower
site Yes Yeah Thanks Any other questions for members of council a couple questions I had uh for everybody First Mr Piper can you just speak to the question about uh do we know why um this is zoned what we talk about just
the difference between CS and CMU on neighboring properties Do you have any insight to how the map ended up looking the way it does a little bit of insight U whatever you can provide is appreciated prior to my tenure Uh the interesting thing is across Martin Court that little sliver of land before you
get to where the stormwater detention pond is was actually reszoned to CS So that little piece is actually CS And what Mr Benner is looking to do is push that CS a little bit further to the north to encapture that storm water detention pond Going back and looking at
the comprehensive plan that area was also um recommended for neighborhood commercial So very similar to the conversation we had last month with another resoning request is CMU just like um the CL district are more
intended to be neighborhood focused walkable type of of commercial uses In this case the CMU was created specifically for a lighter commercial use that was adjacent to residential districts So try to encourage those residents to have access to lighter
commercial uses that don't require a vehicle to get to them Understood Thank you My pleasure And then Mr Benner a couple questions Um just for I know there's a map that we're looking at but can you just speak to what if anything is currently on this
site and then just for everyone kind of imagining and knowing where it is what is adjacent to the site that we're talking about what is on the site is uh a marquee for Woodmont
Apartments and that's pretty much it It's years ago 15 17 years ago I contemplated some development at this location and that's the reason why it was done in a condominium form of ownership in a flexible form of
condominium because I at that time I didn't know what if anything was going to happen there a number of years ago Um not a number It took a while to to to acquire a little strip from Woodmont Muse so we could have access coming off
Martin Court It would was much safer and it seemed like it's much more appropriate uh in terms of a of a location for a use at that location But other than that no There's the what appears to be a pond actually is a
temporary structure uh contemplated 15 17 years ago for some future development And we're talking about just south of CVS on 8th Avenue Correct Uh no just south of uh a St Luke's building the neurology building
Oh yeah Thank you for clarifying the and then what other so what other uses have been contemplated that weren't feasible so with the current zoning being as it stands and you know you mentioned years of kind of looking at the site and contemplating what could be used there
Can you speak to what was investigated previous to tonight that just right now isn't feasible for the site if you go over there you'll know there's three uh medical office buildings for St Luke's and now we have two larger uh medical office buildings for Lehi Valley Health
Network Uh that that is pretty well saturated Um I was fortunate enough to uh to get a bank on a corner and I was fortunate enough to get a city CVS U building office buildings in this climate today
uh isn't particularly practical I've uh had numerous conversations with the folks at St Luke's are just not in a position at this point to expand any further Uh that's an eight-year sort of a try U so it's like I I I'd like to do
something with this you know make it productive property Understood And and just last comment I'll say is you referenced sort of um different restaurant chains or anyone looking to invest in opening a restaurant mentioning drive-thru There's a lot of
recent um writing about how COVID did change sort of how we as Americans go out to eat People aren't sitting down at traditional chains anymore It was just announced uh national chain just closed their last Lehigh Valley location after
closing other ones and just other chains struggling because the way people go out It's more of that fast casual either a drive-thru pick it up take it home or just not you know people don't go to the movies anymore So people aren't going to dinner in a movie as much and other sort
of um norms that we experienced previous to the pandemic and and just with the rise in how we consume things is different So there's a lot of literature out there that that talks about that Well I know it right on the street because I have a property as you well know on the the Gateway building on the
southside and there were a number of restaurants that have inquired about being there As soon as they found out there was no drive-thru that was the end of the discussion Yeah Thank you Mr Benner Any other questions councilwoman Leard um I just want to revisit what was said about the intended uses of the
existing zoning Um and to make sure I understand and the changed uh proposed change zoning So the existing zoning was intended to provide businesses that would be
walkable to the nearby residences Correct and incompatible with the adjacent uh residential development And the new zoning would allow for car wash and a drive-thru So very very
specifically vehicularly focused Correct And is this uh this list of properties is this the um properties in a certain radius is this the ones that you own the land that they're on and what what is this list
they're all adjoining property owners So and these are all residences it looks like for the most part Yes Um Okay And in your idea knowing that you haven't gone through the site
engineering um where would you be envisioning a drive-thru and a car wash exiting this property onto Martin Court so they'd be exiting onto Martin Court and coming out at the light on 8th
Avenue That's the safest location to be able to do something Okay So it would not impact specifically the walking path from
these neighborhoods I'm just trying to see where people if somebody's living on Stanford Road um which is adjacent here and they're trying to get to Price Right the grocery store right there Um
would this impact any of the paths that they would have to cross to get no not at all Okay Um All right Thank you I'm just trying to I'm I'm looking at a map while we're talking and trying to envision
where where traffic would pick up Um and do you uh know in this adjacent development that the zoning was um put in place for how many um how many homes are in that development i don't know the
answer Okay All right Thank you Any other questions or comments from members of council counciloman thank you Um and Miss Lar actually I was I was anxiously wanting to ask that same question when uh you described the use uh for CMU
versus CS And I'm just wondering has anything changed over the last decade or so since how long has it been it's been about 10 or 12 years that we've had the development over there or even longer ago with the Derky plant redevelopment right um has anything changed in the
character of the neighborhood that would make it um that you wouldn't want to have uses that were walkable neighborhood uses that we would want to drive more uh vehicular traffic to that
spot short of the Martin Tower being demolished Um there's nothing that has been significant to my knowledge that has changed there The intent is still to provide for pedestrian type uses and pedestrian safety We do that in every one of our commercial districts It's
just with the CS being more vehicular focused and being adjacent to the um 8th Avenue interchange with 378 we didn't see a reason to push back on this particular request Okay I Yeah I
appreciate that thought I just um it's it so what we're being asked to do is really change the character of what happens on that land because the intended uses for the zoning uh as it stands is quite the opposite of what the
intended use for the other zoning is and I just wanted to make sure I had that clear in my mind So I appreciate that Thank you Any other comments councilwoman Crazy Smith Um I mean I I drove by and I just want to clarify So the area that you're looking at is that that's not occupied right now right no it's all clear So you're not going to
have to demolish anything or take No nothing is being taken down Okay All right And both um and again so I can clarify Craig then the zoning board and LVPC both support this The planning commission and LVPC did both make recommendations for approval For
approval Okay I just want to clarify Okay Thank you Any other questions comments from members of council all right I don't see any Thank you Mr Benner for the presentation Thank you Mr Piper for the insight you provided At
this time I will open it up to comments from the public Now just like we do for our typical council meeting this is for the public hearing So this public comment is strictly for this proposed zoning map amendment and it's an opportunity for anyone to give whatever
comment they would choose to council on this I I'll start to the left and go around the room Starting in the front Hi my name is Regina Padilla Allentown resident born and raised Bethlehem Um as long as like parking and traffic is okay
Like you're fine by me but I'm a big girl so I have to do big girl things Can you write down Chiba Hut that's what you should open up there Chiba Hut Chiba Hut Yeah I got you I got you right now C H E
BA and then hut Yeah go on and do that Thank you very much Any other comment from anyone to the left that wants to comment on the public hearing i turn to the center Anyone in the wide center who wants to make
comment sir in the Penn State hoodie Hey Brandon I'm on Broad Street in Bethlehem Uh just a quick comment I I don't have any issue with his planned or anything It sounds fine but you guys seem really concerned about the uh foot traffic I wouldn't worry about that I
don't know how many you guys actually live in Bethlehem but nobody's going for a walk over by uh Martin Tower May I mean on Main Street yeah maybe on Broad Street Yeah it's a nice nice part of the town but I don't think anybody's like it's not real touristy over by Martin
Tower So I think we're good Make sure there's enough parking spots I don't think anybody's going to be you know strolling past Martin Tower So I I think you're good to go as long as there's enough parking Thank you
Mr Faber Hello Harry Faber I actually completely disagree with that I mean the whole plan with Martin Tower is it is supposed to be a residential area and if we want if we wanted to be we should be planning accordingly So uh yeah one I one I wish
the presenter presenter would have been less vague Um it really sounded like you couldn't be bothered with fi finding good quality chefs with a vision You sound like a landlord who wants to sell out and make a quick buck from McDonald's You said quote make a productive property end quote uh it
really sounded like you just want a profitable property Overall it sounded pretty completely unprepared and purely speculative So I think we should use this opportunity for good um urban planning where we should be thinking about the future and making Bethlehem a
more sustainable equitable equitable area So um yeah there was just sounded very completely unprepared I don't care if it was approved by the other places or the other organizations That was again like the other presentation a few meetings ago really really bad Thank you
Is there anyone else in the wide center who wanted to make comment sure Good evening Scott Slingerland 1935 West Broad Street Um I just a point of clarification Um I do walk and bike over there Um and you're all talking about uh
Stanford Road There is a disconnect and is very difficult It's basically impossible to get from the Lowe's shopping center area to the neighborhoods to the northwest of there And I think it would be very great to have some kind of connection side you know a path
Um I I thought we were initially talking about the Martin Tower property but for this I would also refer to our letter to city council March 14 2021 to connect from the Monoxy Way trail along uh the West Betham uh railway that's abandoned
and that could potentially connect the neighborhoods as well to Stanford Road So thank you Thank you Was there anyone else in the wide center who would like to make comment and I turn to the right All right Thank you
everybody So that is going to wrap up the public hearing We're not voting on anything tonight An ordinance will be placed on the April 15 2025 city council agenda for first reading And the public hearing is adjourned Moving on to our
regular city council meeting Approval of the minutes for the March 18th Thank you Mr Benner Yeah Moving on to as I said the March 18 2025 minutes Any comment on the minutes from the March 18 council meeting
those minutes will stand approved Moving on to public comment So as is typical we'll start with any subjects not being voted on this evening I ask everyone to give their name for the record for Mr Miller We do have our customary five minute time limit I will
say before we get into public comment we will be addressing during new business There was some outreach from members of the community regarding some activity down along the encampments along the the trail and then we'll talk about that during new business tonight We'll we'll bring that up So that is something
council is aware of and um we'll we'll discuss when we get to new business But we do have five members of the public who had signed up So I'll start with Scott Singerland Good evening council Scott Slingerland here again Um I'm here to talk about public restrooms Uh I'll try to do this
as dignified as I can They are a tough topic to talk about Um I'm here to talk about public restrooms because you know there's a lot going on in the world and bathrooms seem kind of secondary but if you think about it they're really a
basic human need And you think about you know Republicans Democrats everybody needs a bathroom right you talk about um parents with young children You talk about visitors and tourists You talk about people who work downtown Bethlehem You talk about families who live here
Everybody needs a restroom And if there's no public restroom people are going to basically hang out until they have to find one and then they're going to go home to use the restroom And in some cases they don't have a home to go to Some cases they're from out of the area So um I'm here to offer y'all a
resource Uh Cat is not an expert We are not experts in public restrooms And I know from a public works perspective they're very difficult to maintain There's a lot of considerations This is a book called No Place to Go Uh how public toilets fail our private needs
And uh I have a copy for anybody on council who would like to do some light reading Uh thank you Can may I approach sure Thank you Mr Slingerland Thank you Thank you Our next speaker this evening Valerie
Nunan Hello Um before I get into my main topic today I have a small announcement which is something I thought about I went back
and forth about um and well now it's past the filing deadline but I'm running for city council That was an April Fool's joke I'm kidding honestly Um okay But
for real I thought I'd take my chance Um but um I am here to talk about the homeless encampments Um so there has been a little back and forth already about this I know the council is aware the chief is
aware Um basically what happened is that people noticed that there were several tents being tagged um with notices from the police department and the health bureau
Um and these were mainly down the Mitsy Trail area Um uh the area specifically called Charlie Circle I believe Um so the boilerplate notice that was put on several of these tents reads "Please
remove your tent belongings and trash from Bethlehem City property as per Bethlehem City Ordinance 941.02A4 Tents are not permitted on city property Please remove your tent and any
other items by April 3rd 2025 Any items left in the area will be disposed of Sincerely the Bethlehem Police Department Please contact the Health Bureau's Community Connections Program for assistance with obtaining additional
resources at phone number Right Um so there was that There's also at least one tent that had something different going on This tent was
uh tagged with a vehicle tag and uh it was kind of covered up by some of the other notices but it says this vehicle is considered abandoned due to the something listed violations and will be impounded if not
repaired or removed Um the whole thing it's an orange vehicle tag It's meant for vehicles It's not for tents and it's on a tent Um and that same tent had a handwritten
note on it um from the Bethlehem Police Department saying "You need to remove all this trash Leave the area No tents permitted Remove or it will be thrown away." Okay Um so I think some of these
responses we got from council members We got at least three responses if not more And I'm really thankful to everyone who looked into it Um the the first response we got w was from Miss Lair And so the
explanation given was notices were posted on these specific tents as a courtesy in case they're not abandoned they're assuming they're abandoned and include phone numbers for both the police department and community connections so people can notify them if
they're not abandoned No one has been asked to leave So there are two things that are not fully accurate about that Um one is that there's only one phone number Um it says it's for the health
bureau I'm assuming it would get you to community connections but um there's only one phone number on those That's a little beside the point Um the other is that no one has been asked to leave because there is a handwritten note on
this one tent saying you have to leave Um so like I understand if these are abandoned property then they're abandoned property There's a real issue with that one tent
that I pointed out And additionally even for these other tents even if they're totally abandoned and they just used some boilerplate language seeing that kind of thing scares people People are in really precarious situations You see
several tags tent several tents tagged with that kind of notice You assume there's going to be a sweep I think any reasonable person would actually think that after seeing that Anyway thank you Thank you Our next speaker signed up this evening
Regina Padilla Hello again Um Regina Padilla born and raised Southside Bethlehem Nal Allentown Anyway I understand that ordinance 94102 was put in place with the intention of maintaining order within the city but
homelessness is really complex and it comes with challenges that are difficult to solve Uh we need to consider the true impact of displacing people who are already at their lowest point and the harm that further disruption will cause For many in the encampment this location represents the closest thing to
stability that they have Moving them from the spot will disrupt whatever fragile routines and support systems that they've been able to build These are people who've already lost a lot their homes their jobs and in some cases their families We have an opportunity to show these people that we see them that
we recognize their humanity and the trauma that they've endured Displacement is not the solution Uh moving the encampment won't solve the problem It'll just move it somewhere else without addressing the core issues at hand The ordinance does not tackle um the root
cause of homelessness So I understand that it's to like move tents and whatnot but that's I'm sorry Um we have a lack of affordable housing and we have mental health challenges and financial instability Uh we need long-term solution to homelessness that
goes beyond simply pushing people out of sight The current encampment is not an eyesore It's a reflection of a much larger crisis in our city We cannot just sweep the problem away The focus should be on creating sustainable solutions not just enforcing ordinances that fail to address the underlying causes of
homelessness I ask that y'all consider the moral responsibility that we have to our f fellow residents Displacing the homeless community without offering real solutions is an act of abandonment I strongly encourage you all to take this opportunity to lead with compassion and empathy There is no perfect solution and
there is no quick fix But the first step towards meaningful change is to treat those affected by homelessness as human beings deserving of kindness and respect And here is your reminder that being homeless is not inherently a crime Um it is simply a symptom of a society that
has failed And I'm not even shaking like a dog this time I started Lexapro Oh I feel so good I feel so good Anyway thank you Thank you Our next speaker signed up Mark Will Weber
Those are hard acts to follow Uh Mark will Weber uh 66 West Elizabeth Avenue I'm here to represent the drip the consumer uh citizens uh page for about water and such Uh on our page we uh occasionally post
stuff from around the country as we find things that might be interested uh to our 365 uh viewers Uh this week I posted something from South Lake Texas and it's
a three or four minute video Uh not the most exciting four minutes you're ever going to spend but I would recommend that council look at it u if you can I also put it on complainers of Bethlehem Uh and what it shows is a little video about a an app called Eye
on Water Eye on Water is a little app that uh when you get a smart meter if uh the uh bureaucratic department around you deems it worthwhile also gives you this app I water and you can monitor
your your water use uh daily uh even hourly actually uh and it uh they did a great job at presenting it and showing their uh constituents how to download it Uh how to put in um a warning device In
other words you could put in 100 gallons So this this app would beep your phone and say "Hey you've used 100 gallons in the last two days." And if you're typically using 30 gallons in two days you go "Okay something's wrong." And I can check into it uh in in the the case
of what my wife and I went through and what uh uh uh the solitario uh woman went through we we could have caught that like days into it instead of 3 months later getting a huge water bill Okay and supposedly it's win-win because
the city would conserve water right they want people wasting water even if it's uh uh by accident Okay so uh as we're getting smart meters here uh we're told well we're going to look at this down the line In other words
I've had a smart meter now I think for a year and a half but uh no mention of when I will get an app like this this eye on water um app which if South Lake Texas can do it you would think Bethlehem could do it right i mean we have uh smart guys at the head of our
sewer and water making six figure salaries so they should be able to figure that out Uh and yet we keep hearing well we can't do it till everybody gets them And it it makes me think of what if you went in for a car and you bought the car and
you're ready to drive out Well not only that you bought it but they made you buy it And then you on the way out go "Wait a minute This doesn't have a seat belt." and you go back and you go "Hey can I have one with a seat belt?" And they go "Well uh we're going to wait till we sell all the cars on the lot and then
we'll give you a seat belt." So the only thing that really protects this the consumer with these smart meters The only thing that's good for us is the thing that's been put on the back burner They haven't done anything Meanwhile they're collecting more revenue from the
smart meters uh less manpower uh hours because these guys don't have to zip around the city anymore because the smart meter is sending the data directly to the tower for them Uh presumably less wear and tear in their vast uh vehicle fleet that they have So you know what's
in it for us when do we get something uh for the consumer i I hope hope uh sooner rather than later You know they're they're going to drag it out for three or four years till uh people get this protection I guarantee that there's people out there right now accumulating
a large water bill that they don't know about that they're going to get next quarter Okay So why can't we do that i mean the city should be uh as good as South Lake Texas right the Christmas city the Music Fest city uh UNESCO site
city What about the nuts and bolts for something like this let's address what the consumer citizen needs in uh this case of the water thing Okay and there's no info on it There's no timeline Nobody says "Hey we're we're going to have this
in x amount of time You know next year you'll have it." So uh please look at that video That would be something that would be really good for everybody And uh I don't know why we can't have it sooner than later So thank
you Thank you Mr Weber Our last speaker previously signed up Megan Lasowski Hello my name is Megan Lasowski I live at 813 Haze Street I'm here tonight to talk about zoning reform to allow for small-cale development The Lehigh Valley
Planning Commission's plan for a housing crisis to add more luxury units The valley has seen an influx of upper income residents so let's build for them One such project is being voted on with our ordinance tonight about the garrison in New Street Um the thought is that as luxury housing is being built upper
income residents will move into those homes freeing up the homes at the bottom Um it kind of it's like a ladder Everyone moves up and I think that's great I think that we should keep doing that But the thing is those projects take a lot of time Um and we do have
great projects along the way I'm really excited about the First Presbyterian mixed income development and also in Southside Beth Bethlehem But the First Presbyterian I think 2027 is when they might break ground We need more units on our ground now Um in other words we
could add more rungs to the ladder I know um Lehi is working with the city on an alley home project an additional dwelling unit I think we're about a year out before we could see an ordinance go before council So I'm here tonight to talk about some smaller um changes that
we could make sometime in the future I have before me a strong town's housing ready checklist Um on it we have allow single family home conversion to a duplex or triplex by right We have a special exception in our RT zone Uh number two is permit backyard cottages
in all residential zones That's something that could come up in the next year Number three is legalize starter homes in all residential zones eliminate minimum lot sizes requirements in existing neighborhoods repeal parking mandates for housing and streamline the approval process I've been a member of
Strong Towns for a year and I've started a small Bethlehem Strong Towns um committee We're not that active Uh I just got married The other two have young children just had babies Very exciting Uh what brought this to my mind is it's something that's I've been thinking about for a while is last
Wednesday before the zoning hearing board there was a southside resident who had a home who wanted to use the RT um special acceptance to convert his N-un row home into two apartments His home is
a double wide row home up and down his street on Atlantic Street I ride my bike by there every day to get home 13 foot 13 foot His home 26 foot What he wanted to do was cut it in half this way Upstairs he already has a full bathroom kitchen and bedrooms Downstairs full
bathroom kitchen and bedrooms There's already a separate entrance in the back separate entrance in the front Um he needed four variances to get permission to do that he has one garage on site and three that and there's a Bethlehem
parking authority lot across the street that he would use Um the board denied his case The way that the board works is they go out in the hall they um make their decision and they come back in and then that property owner will receive a letter stating why he was denied Um so
what I'm here asking for tonight is we could allow single family home conversion to a duplex or triplex by right We could get rid of our simple ex special exception and permit it so that the people who are in our community our small-cale developers our property
owners are able to create more units at a smaller scale as we continue and as we can do right now Thank you Thank you So that exhausts our list of who had signed up prior to the meeting So I'll
go around the room Anyone who wants to make comment Again this is for anything that we're not voting on tonight So I'll start to left Was there anyone who I'll start in the front Hello there My name is Siri Capri Uh that's ce I'm 27year-old woman and I
live in Bethlehem Pennsylvania There's a lot of women and a lot of men like me who live in this uh area uh contrary to what the federal government would have you believe Uh but that's not what I'm here to talk about tonight I'm here to talk about the resources that we could be redirecting to the most needy people
in our community the homeless community in Bethlehem As was previously stated by uh Valerie we got a lot of notice that there was going to be a sweep and there was a lot of miscommunication It seems like everybody in the city council it
has knowledge of uh what is what is intended to happen at the encampments but it's absurd to me that the people actually at the encampments whenever I go down and talk to them they seem very confused as to what the city's intentions are Um uh personally I think
that it's absurd We came here uh last November to ask for the bathrooms to be opened and they were opened for about a month and then they were closed for the rest of the uh winter Uh and to my knowledge they haven't been opened yet but I might be wrong about that I
haven't been down in about a week Um the people down in the that area are uh members of the community um they're suffering from health conditions concussions uh addiction um all sorts of
problems that need city resources to address them And the city has the resources to address them I read an article in the morning call from October of 2023 that says that you're planning to spend about $600,000 to make a pickle ball rink
arena I don't even know what it's called a a pickle ball court Um I I never played pickle ball I'm I'm a younger person but uh I think what might be more important for this community would be those people who work around here and
bring value to this community A lot of them born and raised in this community who left and then come back and can't afford to live here anymore but don't want to leave because they're so attached to this area Uh those people work in this area uh institutions like the business we
were talking about earlier wouldn't be able to run without people working for Pennsylvania's absurdly low minimum wage uh in our businesses around this entire area That's not even to mention that there's
365,000 is what I read uh allotted to a replacing a police armored cruiser with a sound cannon at the top of it seems like um I'm not sure what that police cruiser would be used for except for getting people out of that encampment Um
doesn't seem like the most efficient use of resources I think a more efficient use of resources would be bringing these people uh food naron any kind of resources that would help them get back to a stable
position Uh these people are human beings and they are working very hard to keep themselves alive and afloat Uh and at the very least there you could appoint a liaison or a commission
to provide clear messaging to the homeless encampments And further than that you could um provide actual cleaning committees that you could pay and provide resources or even a volunteer cleaning committee that
would just be given funds Uh there's lots and lots of solutions to this and I could stand here all night suggesting them but the main thing is this is a problem that can't be ignored It can't be pushed under the rug these people what they need is care and resources and
frankly love Uh that that stuff has to be given so that they can basically recover from whatever they're suffering from and reintegrate into our society This recovery is possible and we should make it more possible We shouldn't have
overflowing uh homeless shelters that are closed in the middle of March uh while it's getting cold out Uh you know it's been weather's been up and down but we should have the resources and we can give the resources to to take care of
these people I think they should be redirected from these projects that are glitzy and worth talking about to stuff that's actually going to help our community and help the most vulnerable people in our community Even people who like myself I'm not homeless but I'm on
the verge of it And I talked to many other unemployed people in this area in their mid20s like me who are on the verge of homelessness And what you're telling us is that as soon as we can't afford to stay here the cops are going to come put their boot on our head and knock us out send us out of the uh county So if that's not the message you
want to send to the unemployed folks and the young folks in this community then I suggest giving more money and more resources towards the homeless encampments Thank you Was there anyone else to the left who wants to make comment who has not had chance to speak tonight
no one else to the left Anyone else in the wide center i'll start in the very back All right Um thank you to the uh chair and to the council for hearing us out on this Um I'd like to I know that you guys are going to bring this up later so I'd
like to just start with some basic details so that it's on record and so that you guys have the context for uh why we're here um before you end up responding Uh so starting with the basic details uh we were alerted by the residents of the encampment of these notices I have one right here It's
obviously uh pretty torn up uh just uh cuz it was pretty hard to take off but it um Valerie uh read it earlier um essentially saying um that uh the tent and any other items would be disposed of
by uh April 3rd Um we uh we we've seen several of these notices on on all of the camps uh on all of the tents um past Mincy Trail Bridge um not on the Fehee Bridge uh encampments which was uh
misunderstanding earlier Um and uh we we saw also that there was one that declared uh a vehicle It it declared one of the tents a vehicle and said that the vehicle was abandoned Um the vehicle declaration is not accurate of the tent I understand why it was declared a
vehicle but in this case it would be uh a shelter Um and it would be legally declared a home because it is currently being used as a shelter It is occupied by a person within the tent Um therefore the police can neither search nor seize within the tent without any objects
within the tent without a warrant Uh notice of abandon also requires a longer notice than the apparent 5 days available to the residents to remove their property Now I'm under the impression that it may have been up to 14 days but uh we're not sure of that So far um we understand al and and also if
it was 14 days um it would still not be enough of a notice of abandon for a uh a shelter declared legally as a home Uh which we believe this is Uh we also understand that there is trash present in the area Um and it is understandable
that uh we we do want this cleaned up as well Um so we would be able to organize a cleanup around it for sure Um but I absolutely cannot do so by Friday I I only received information about this uh pretty much yesterday Um so at least um
we're asking that first off at least you postpone this until Earth Day Um organizations like ours are able to get a lot of people out for cleanups on Earth Day I've I've historically seen like you know 50 people show up from a local college um back in my hometown Um
we had a lot of people show up We had a lot of uh hands to clean up trash that uh could be almost as extensive as this encampment Um and if if we postpone it until Earth Day we could maybe get a sizable amount of people out there Uh
now second off our ask is for the bathrooms to be uh reopened Um because uh we have heard that there are issues of the cleanliness of the bathrooms um as well and we are willing to uh you know pay for some of the cleaning to be
done for those bathrooms but we really need those bathrooms opened because that does contribute also to the amount of trash that happens in these encampments Uh the the homeless people from these encampments have been banned from the local Wawa and aside from that the
closest bathroom is the one on Sand Island So they have no access to bathrooms leading to them having to bag their feces up in the middle of the woods obviously contributing to the the trash crisis Um so this is another issue
that we would like to work on Um and aside from that I feel like there is other information that I could definitely provide but I'm not remembering all of it at this moment Um either way uh I I hope that this can be resolved I hope that you guys come to a
conclusion about this and uh I know that uh we've also been speaking with uh Chief Cot and uh are willing to work about uh work work on cleaning up this uh the the the trashburgs So thank you Do you mind giving your name for the
record for the clerk chase Thank you Was there anyone else in the wide center who wanted to make comment on anything we're not voting on this evening yes ma'am Right in the front This has to do with Oh Terry Cloyber Bethlehem Thank you Mr Gran View Boulevard Bethlehem This has to do with
my Bethlehem app I still haven't quite figured it out I sent a note in on March 29th It said "Ever since BHX purchased this plot of land at the old Bennett's lot the trash has never been cleaned up The previous owner would clean it regularly and now
this trash blows across the lot to the fence then gets under the fence and blows into the neighbor's yards Can the owner be tasked with cleaning the property up?" So the service center wrote back and said "This is located in the city of Allentown The address is clear clearly 2300 West Broad Street
Bethlehem Next notice from Bethleam Service Center says "Please note the status of your service request has been completed and your service request is now closed." So I wrote back and I said "The fence is located along Baskam Street which is Bethlehem Please take care of this." Then I got another note back said
"We've notified our city department that handles these types of issues However the property is located in Allentown you will also want to reach out to the Cedar Allentown sweeps department which handles these types of issues in their city So I wrote back and I said this property is located on Broad Street in
Bethlehem Only one quarter of the property is Allentown Threequarters of the property is Bethlehem The address is 22512299 West Broad Street Bethlehem PA 18018 Thanks for the update The department that handles this has been notified However the main property
address is also in Allentown I would recommend also notifying them as well of the concern So that was very frustrating And then I wrote back I made another complaint a week a couple days later whatever And I used the address
401 to 499 Baskam Street which is the fence clearly in Bethlehem right behind my brother's house which is Bethlehem Mary Joe's house which is Bethlehem all of that And I said "Trash along this fence along Baskam Street Bethlehem."
And I sent pictures on both of these Please have the owner clean it up Previous owner always cleaned it up The new owner doesn't anything And this is the multi-billionaire BHX Norton Heric who we're fighting against for this property to keep the
building to a minimum in there He cannot keep his own property clean He's got more than enough money to do this and take care of it The previous owner was um whoever owned the land they had someone come out once a month at least and clean up the trash Now you walk down the alley there's trash all along the
fence There's trash from that blows under the fence and it's up along the neighbor's houses right in the back I mean it's awful And as far as I'm concerned this app is awful And we all know that I think But the response to have to go to Allentown I'm sorry this
is not Allentown This is a Bethlehem problem Thank you Thank you Miss Claver Anyone else in the wide center who Mr Shy Bill Sher 1898 Avenue Um I want to apologize because this is going to be somewhat
speculative but it's um important and timely There was a meeting in this room yesterday at 3:30 p.m which unfortunately I was not able to attend but it in it concerns a meeting
between the city and neighbors as I understand it about a proposed development on the west side Um it's a little confusing as to whether it's Route Street or Handover Street or both but uh what I'm gleaning from
emails is that somebody wants to build town houses on an alley that's 12 ft wide And the city according to these emails has come up with an interpretation that this can happen as a
matter of right and they don't have to go through the planning commission or the zoning hearing board My guess would be that now this is really my guess but that the city is taking the position
since they are on an alley the usual dimensional variances do not apply If that's the case it doesn't remind me of our current president of the United States who has his own interpretations of laws
And in any case uh this is something I need to follow up on and have have uh and determines what exactly is the case but I just wanted to bring it up here so that we all start thinking about it Thank you Thank you Mr
Sh Anyone else in the wide center mr Favor All good Harry Faber Um so first I would like to talk about uh the last meeting just briefly
Um I also would like to talk about Mr Hackett's comments from a few meetings ago where he talked about wanting to minimize public comment Uh and I do respect actually when if you go back and listen I agreed with most of the things he said that night Um but I disagree and
the reason I'm addressing last meeting is because we don't have this back and forth We get to come speak you listen to us twice and then you guys get to go about doing your all business I do wish that it was more um participatory I wish that we got to engage you guys got to
engage and we would more of a back and forth I think that's how a democracy should be Um but nonetheless uh I do believe that the things I heard in response to my last public comment um were kind of silly And I understand that
the way I said it was "Oh you guys are voting to increase your own wages." And it would be for the incoming uh council But the way it sounded was "Oh poor us having to do something like this There's never a good time ever to vote to
increase our own wages." And that's just not true A good time would be after you decrease the cost of living and you increase the quality of life I think you bake a bigger pie you get a bigger piece I think that's just natural And I think that um to say "Oh it's so hard to come
up here and do this type of thing um when people um over the past few months who are immigrants who are um deeply affected by the Israeli regime and the uh Trump regime Um I mean over
the last few weeks uh I have a few names written down but students activists um even professors have been disappeared such as Mahmud Khalil Risia Ozurk Madu
Tal Ali Resa Darudi Badar Khansuri Yun Shiao Chung Ranjani Sin Vasan and Xiao Fang Wang I mean these are people that are
uh students academics bright members of their communities that have been abducted by our regime disappeared And we have people of our own community coming up here putting their face out there their names out there speaking their truth about their fear and their
struggles and about what's going to be coming next And I think that's hard because they're actually under under threat They're risking their lives by coming out here speaking especially I mean at the at the meeting a few a few weeks ago or I guess a few meetings ago
I mean we had immigrants come up here and ICE comes and plane closed I mean that that's the case of what happened with uh Risa Austerk She was approached in Boston um by a bunch of planelo officers and abducted And this is
happening in our country This isn't in Russia or China or Cuba or North Korea This is in America in cities bigger and smaller than Bethlehem And that's a real concern for not just me I mean I come
here and I'm not an illegal immigrant My father was an immigrant from Austria but uh I'm I was born here but the way it happens is okay you start with a group of population such as illegal immigrants Okay then you go to descendants of illegal immigrants or green card holders
and now that violence is normalized and next thing you know it's anybody who speaks ill and that's that's how we descend into fascism If we normalize violence against any people that violence can then be normalized against us So uh besides that I also just wanted
to talk a little bit about Palestine Uh a day ago Netanyahu declared that Israel will escalate their massacres until Hamas leaves Uh then they will enact Trump's plan to ethnically cleanse everyone in Gaza Israel's plan is first increase pressure and negotiate under
fire which is code word for massacre civilians Then they want to force uh Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza which is their homeland And again Hamas isn't just some billionaire bureaucrats that are taking up arms These are people who have been oppressed and have been colonized and in an open air prison for
plus 20 over 20 plus years Um and they have taken up arms which is their right under international law uh against their occupiers and the colonizers which have been violently dispossessing them oppressing them you name it And then after that they they said even after
Hamas is gone they're planning to occupy Gaza and enact Trump's plan which is ethnic cleansing There's no longer any room for speculation or debate uh about intention Israel revealed the plan all along erasing Gaza's population and stealing land This dismantles nearly two
years of Zionist propaganda and genocidal denial It was never about self-defense or Hamas or hostages It was always about colonization Thank you Mr Favor Was there anyone else in the wide center mr Antalix
Stephen and Talic 77 Uh I can't resist but with your permission I have April Fool joke number two Um uh the citizens of Bethlehem award every member of council for their work at
A+ End of joke Um my comments now are in effect concern with the election coming up in May for city council election So I
I'll I'll read accordingly Some years back I use a term parsall effect to describe some members of council I repeat it tonight because some council members in my estimation
are guilty of the same effect today To review Parfall is a very moving and profound opera by Vagner where the knights of the round table are assembled in the presence of the Holy Grail as being light descends
upon them bestowing with them special gifts It seems that some clergy when ordained and some elected officials when sworn in feel they become imbued with this special
light But unfortunately they are not aware that gravity keeps them grounded like the rest of us common citizens Past meetings under the leadership of the likes of Delgraso and Schweder are in sharp contrast to
meetings of today Meetings then were unusual because of the free interaction between council and citizens on issues of interest since citizens interact verbally on issues during the formal meeting
Some council members then were known to socialize socially mingle with citizens before and after this regular meetings In today's meetings the space in front of the council table is treated by council members at
no man's land Along with the absence of verbal exchange during the meeting to determine the validity of my observations I checked with a few long-term residents familiar with council meetings and found confirmation
from them for my beliefs In the past years meetings were well attended by local citizens which included healthy discussions and exchanges between citizens and those they elected They appeared to be in the style of the classic form of the town
hall type meeting Today it appears to be meeting by council as required under the third class city code with citizens allowed to be there as audience
A number of attendees have complained that council pays no attention to them and these some of these people have ceased to come for that reason and made that verbally known And in some instances council members have exhibited
subtle hostility toward the speakers because of their comments And some of these responses by council have had disastrous effects which I'll may come up later What is the
solution educate the voting citizenry to as to the qualities of those seeking office For new office seekers for new office seek seekers candidates should be elected who have the longest city
residency And for those seeking reelection the electorate should be advised of the results of a recent citizens opinion of these council members past performance In that way only can you
educate the electorate as to maybe council can come back to where what it used to be And thanks for your permission Thank you Mr Antalics I believe in the very center
Yes My name is uh Susan Jones I live on Wall Street and I'll be very brief Um I listened to the young man that was speaking about uh the need for bathroom facilities I worked for many years at
the Moravian bookshop and I give tours now at the Central Moravian church um to accommodate you know the we had an enormous influx of tourists especially at Christmas time and the fact that
there's no facilities in at all for for people visiting town this town is um is very offputting and a lot of people have complained and I I think if you want this town to live up to
its designation now bringing people in from all over because of uh the the um UNESCO uh designations that um that you could do So I know years ago I was in Alexandria Virginia They had a little
office in right in the main street and it was the welcoming center There were bathrooms They gave you a little map Um and it was it it made the trip very delightful And I even if it was only open during business hours for the
tourists when the stores were open I think it would make a big difference Perhaps even in the new garage Uh but somewhere downtown Uh I think that would be a kind of thing we should invest in And the other thing is a very brief
question If you're moving these people from under the bridge where do you expect them to go um that's it Thank you Is there anyone else in the center who wants to make comment who's not had a
chance to yet um the name I will not be giving Uh neither will I be giving the address if that's okay Um but I was going to mention there's been a couple of things that have been said um that I want to
make note of Um I do not have my notes with me so bear with me Um but one of the things that I've been talking about with my family has been the largely untalked about um at least widely
um notion of what do we do when I start staking people here and what does that look like in terms of planning and like response
Because even if we know our rights that doesn't necessarily mean that ICE is going to play fair And it hasn't It has taken people from their homes Even just as a recent there was a a man who was taken um and he was dropped off in
another country and there was no jurisdiction There was no way to bring him back They were just like "Okay well you there you are." No um prove the proceeding no first
amendment rights no Miranda rights Um I think it's important that we talk about this Uh but also in terms of um the homeless encampment I think it's egregious that we should be talking about this again but it seems
like since last time there has been another miscommunication and I feel like we should have a liaison in place between the city and the people living there because it produces an insane amount of stress and levels
of just fear that are unnecessary These are people who still deserve our love or attention or respect Um not only that but also I think
it's interesting that the sweeps are being done um in the way that they are or at least that they're being communicated in the way that they are Um I don't think it should be asked of every citizen here to be cleaning
up your mess because technically it is your mess You're not giving these people the spaces that they need nor providing the resources that they need to be able to live like dignity like dignant
um human beings Um maybe that's not the right word Sorry I'm like really nervous right now Um but um I just think it's important that we're treating this with the respect it deserves and with the care it deserves
Um it sort of seems like it's not being taken as seriously We've talked about this multiple times I mean there's people living there since winter So yeah Thank
you Was there anyone else in the center yes Hello Um I'd also like to speak like them speakers before me about the homeless encampments Um and mention just a few things to reiterate Um it's been a
lot of miscommunication and just a divide between what the residents of the encampment know what the police know what the city hall here knows just it creates like a lot of fear and a lot of riffs where people don't know if they're
going to have a bed the next day or if they're going to come home from work and any of their belongings are going to even just exist or not just be in some trash bin somewhere Um we've confirmed that these tents are not abandoned Only one is abandoned and that is the one that's closest to the
bridge as far as we are aware so far And even the information that the uh residents received to call and sort of get some assistance just got sent got sent to voicemail multiple times So we're just not providing these residents
with any sort of information or any sort of you know outreach to even get help or have any sort of voice Um in fact it wasn't until tonight where I spoke with the officer here Um and we actually did
were able to like quell a lot of fears and concerns and get some really like actually actionable information um that would you know reduce stress levels for the residents in the uh encampment and even the people who are trying to do
community service to help out You know we want to clear the trash out We want to restore the bathrooms and have you know just basic cleanliness and resources for these people But there was
a very quick timeline and notes that seemed very aggressive and basically seemed like we were just trying to remove them without any representation So that's all I have to say Thank you Do you mind giving your name for the record if you're
comfortable joshua Hawthorne Thank you It's for the minutes I appreciate it Is there anyone else in the center who wants to make comment who's not had an opportunity yes Yes Good evening council My name is Jennifer McDermott I live uh on Southside Mountain on H Street Um I've been a
long-standing um homeless advocate uh since at least 2014 uh around the area Came to New Jersey I'm from New Jersey originally Um I've got a lot of experience and and I'm basically a boots on the ground type of a person I don't normally come to council meetings Um so um but I did want to reiterate to you uh
there are many things on the board right now The most important obviously the sweeps that we did here about less than 48 hours ago which I would uh you know ask that the council provide uh some sort of um you know not guarantee but we will be literally upon leaving this
building in touch with folks at the encampment that we've been in touch with and been serving for for quite a while here Um and they are terrified We told them you know you should come to the meeting speak let you know let folks hear your voice They're too scared uh they are terrified that they will be
swept and and like the last speaker uh did say that we have received some um you know good information from the chief of police um that we'll be happy to report back I'll be feeding like I feed people That's just what I do Um you know to have a homemade meal when you've been
living in a tent you know it it lands pretty well I have to say I was just one of those things that I do provide um with the help of the community I want you to know that there are dozens of people waiting to hear They're not doing the sweeps are they uh you know that are waiting to hear from us once we leave
here that have become very involved They're very concerned for our neighbors down in the encampment Yes there are issues Uh there are many people that are willing to step up and help with the trash and so on and so forth Um I wound up delivering thousands of dollars worth
of goods that were donated by the Bethlehem area community My porch became and all down my walkway my kitchen I was inundated with boxes because one of the folks in the encampment reached out and said "We've got no food We need food." Uh you know etc There people without
tents Uh it was freezing They needed propane This type of a thing Uh and the community answered like I've never seen before in all of my years of doing this So um I want to just make you aware that there are many people in this community Although there are a few of us here tonight but there are dozens if not more
behind us that are willing to uh you know step up and continue to help serve these folks and their needs Um and I just uh appreciate your time I don't want to take up too much of your time but I really um hope that there is a better way to communicate about this so
that people aren't thrown into a tail spin the last 48 hours have been a bit uh daunting because we really don't know what's going to be happening in a couple of days and the thought of you know an encampment being swept is really the stuff of nightmares to me So I do
appreciate your time very much uh tonight Thank you for hearing me Thanks Thank you Was there anyone else who would speak who hasn't had a chance to yet in the center was there anyone to the right yes
Hi my name is Brian Anderson I live in Freersburg but I've also been helping the homeless people of the Bethleam camps I want to first go by what people might think a homeless person is They describe him as somebody who wants doesn't want to work and wants stuff for free That is not true I'm here to tell
you most of the people down in the Betham homeless camps along the canal do work Some work two and three jobs but yet cannot make enough money to get an apartment The problem is most employers that hire a homeless person pay them less than what they pay their other employees because they think they're not
worth the same amount of money which does not allow them to get the the financial goals to afford affordable housing Some homeless people in this situation are because they made a bad choice in life because they were young did something stupid like text you know got
into a car accident and somebody died or something which prevents them from getting any kind of help from housing assistance like that because from what I understand if you have a felony you cannot get housing help Um some have medical problems some just had bad luck
They lost a job they family kicked them out whatever the situation might be I've also heard people in Betham when I used to rent in Betham complain that the homeless people cause property values to drop crime labels crime levels to rise
and the city looks undesirable I'm here to tell you that very little of the crime is actually committed by the homeless If you watch the news more of it can committed by the people that own a house than is our homeless people Um as far as keeping the areas clean and stuff like that I work with a
community group that we went out and reached with the bathroom homeless about two weeks ago We went down to San Island We did a trash pickup We picked up 12 bags of trash All volunteers Nobody paid So that is proof that they're willing to go out there and help keep everything
clean I believe that we need more affordable housing and less regulations on how to get help into getting back on your feet But yet I agree it should be regulated Um I'm here to tell you basically
that if 1% of the 200 people that I heard live along the canal are paying taxes to Betham Betham makes $20,000 a year off of their taxes If we were to sweep all these people out or make them leave that would cause Betham to raise the taxes of other residents in the city
So we wouldn't want to really hurt anybody by kicking out people that are contributing to the city Some of the basic needs that your homeless people want is basically first thing dignity They want to be felt like they're treated just as equal as everybody else in the city They want a h
roof over their head heat food security It's funny that we can have a violent criminal that commits a crime goes to jail They're afforded all this by our government but yet we can't take care of our own homeless We can't offer them any kind of security uh heat food Um you
might say "Okay there's soup kitchens out there and shelters that help." Our shelters right now and food soup kitchens are overworked The homeless community has gotten so large that they cannot even keep up with it So this is where I'm asking the seed to help by stepping in and help everybody And then
lastly I want to say is that nobody can 100% say that they're never going to be homeless It could happen to anybody I guarantee one person in this room will end up homeless before they die It just happens the way the economy is And if you cherish this city as much as I did and then all of a sudden you became
homeless and the city turned his back on him how would you feel thank you Thank you Was there one else to the right that want to make comment that didn't have a chance go ahead Thank you My name is
Ron I'd like to start by thanking U Betham City Council for being very accessible to um residents and constituents here Uh very different than United States Representative Ryan McKenzie and members of our US Senate
Uh thanks to the inaction of our US senators and US Representative Ryan McKenzie our federal minimum wage is still below $8 per hour My understanding is that the minimum wage set by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania is also below $8 an hour And there is cities that have the power to raise those Um Bethlehem it seems like is not one of those cities um is my understanding but I'm no expert on this situation
but but from this calculation a minimum a worker making minimum wage would have to work 200 and six somewhere between 260 to 270 hours a month just towards
rent that uh just to afford you know a one-bedroom apartment here in the city of Bethlehem and um that does not seem sustainable Um and it's not I'm not putting this at
the fault of anyone on Betham City Council This is a structural problem that comes from uh like I mentioned inaction from our US senators and our US representative Ryan McKenzie uh who seem to have very
um have hatred towards uh low-income workers um throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and um throughout the city of Bethlehem And I would like to express um a lot of gratitude to everyone here that
um expressed um concern and advocacy towards the most vulnerable amongst us ranging from um the plight that my community of um is facing whether it's you know migrant
workers or individuals facing housing insecurity you know um there is such thing as no fault evictions right um where people can get evicted and then be put on the street Um there is such thing
as you know as poverty you know and uh no fault of their own uh like people had mentioned um times are tough and um with everything that's going on at the federal government um to really inflict more and more harm
on the most vulnerable amongst us um you know organizations like food not bombs um the queer trans uh Lehigh Valley mutual aid network the great work that is done towards providing you know basic solidarity and mutual aid towards the
most vulnerable amongst is truly what is going to protect and keep everyone safe here in the city of Bethlehem And um I would love to see how we can work together and coalition and collaborate with one another um to
really make those things happen because they we desperately need those things to happen because things are really bad here People are losing their jobs custodian you know janitorial staff are
losing their jobs because budget cuts you know and um people that are halfway towards getting their pension are being viewed as disposable and no longer going to have access to their pension
Um so I just you know have an open call to everyone here in the room to continue um the great word the great advocacy um loving thou neighbor without any exceptions and um please resist any kind of divisive rhetoric um to divide worker
amongst worker that coming in from you know billionaire um propaganda or the department of homeland security Thank you Thank you Was there anyone else that missed who wants to make comment before we move
on so we're again that's going to conclude our first public comment tonight Moving on to our second public comment This is for any ordinance or resolution that's being voted on this evening We did not have anyone sign up in advance for the second public comment
So again I'll go around the room Was there anyone to the left who want to make comment on any ordinance or resolution anyone in the center mr Favor man I think this is my second time in a row speaking three times Turkey double turkey All right I want to talk about
the uh Edward Burn Memorial Justice Assistant Grant Um I had didn't done some research and I spoke about it at the last meeting but it provides local governments with funding to support a range of program uh areas including law enforcement prosecution indignant defense courts crime prevention and
education uh corrections and community corrections drug treatment and enforcement planning evaluation technology improvement crime victim and witness uh initiatives mental health programs and related law enforcement and corrections programs including behavioral programs and crisis
intervention teams and implementation of state crisis intervention court proceedings and related programs or initiatives including but not limited to mental health courts drug courts veterans courts and ex uh extreme risk protection order programs Um Bethlehem's
receiving $33,577 from uh the Justice Assistant Grant and we heard the presentation from Chief Cot uh at the last at the last meeting and I really want to urge council um to reconsider this plan and
I'm sure you put a lot of effort into it and I I spoken some criticisms last time but I'm going to reiterate We need to be thinking about the precedent that this will set Um for those of you who are unaware it is to uh install buy install
um cameras at two intersections I do not remember the names of the intersections and for that I apologize Um but these intersections already have c cameras um I I might add but right now as people are being disappeared for their political beliefs as I had mentioned uh earlier do we really think this is a
good idea to invest in surveillance cameras um who does this actually benefit uh we the people don't actually benefit from more surveillance Uh um we don't get access to it It's not like it's going to be live streamed for the
entire public to see from these cameras Um the only people who it really benefits is those who are looking to uh surveil capture abduct Um and I'm not saying that Bethlehem PD is going to abduct you know our citizens
but ICE is doing that um maybe not in Bethlehem right now but that is the plan That is what they're doing across the country And um we haven't passed any uh um welcoming city legislation or
anything like that We haven't really uh told our people that here we're standing against ICE We've refused to take a stance Um so uh yeah it's it's just a terrible look It looks like you guys are increasing
surveillance and going to corroborate with ICE and uh participate in the disappearance of our um marginalized communities And I'm sorry if you disagree but this really only further helps create a more total authoritarian surveillance state There's a lot of better things we heard about the homeless encampments Um and as I had
read there was plenty of things we can use these $33,000 for um such as education or um drug uh drug prevention or drug um where did I write it uh there's so much other stuff other than
other than surveillance really We could create a team to help clean um you know these areas We could there's so much it is purposefully vague and on the website you actually can't look at if you click the link you can't look at um the Q&A
section it was down which is odd and I wasn't the only one who tried but there are so many other things other than again increasing surveillance it doesn't benefit the people the people um need reassurance they need uh action especially those who are the most um
impoverished And it just again I can't reiterate this enough This doesn't help anybody It only helps catch people and put them behind bars which is inhumane I'm very against the prison industrial system we have in Northampton County It is a privately owned prison and they make a lot of
money from you know the slave labor that is being used there Uh so really let's think of let's think of something else I mean there's so much stuff that addresses crime And how do you address crime you address poverty and you address uh lack of education and like I
said earlier uh we can use these funds for educational programs even if it's like after school tutoring I mean we don't know I don't have a personal connection with all the Bethlehem police but guess what if you have the police you know participating in educational programs after school programs for those
who parents are working multiple jobs and they don't have you know um supervision or can't afford I mean there's so many things we can do that's actually benefit benefiting and helping the community opposed to just getting more cameras just to catch more regular people and put them behind bars It's
dumb Thank you Mr Favor Is there anyone else in the wide center who wants to make comment on anything that we're voting on this evening mr Sh Bill 1898 Avenue You've heard this before but there's a new paragraph So
uh I hope that you will not vote to change the zoning for 11 and 15 West Garrison Street from residential to s central business district I understand that it will increase the efficiency of the apartment building proposed around the corner on
New Street but sacrificing these two buildings is too high a price to pay 15 West Garrison in particular looks to be a solid brick building I guess it was during the days
of urban renewal when the area bounded roughly by main broad and center streets to Union Boulevard was reszoned from residential to central business district But some city planner evidently had the vision to
exempt the unit block of West Garrison Street It is a block of small single and twin houses that go together and are relatively affordable housing I find it to be rather charming actually If it were in Europe some American tourists
would very likely find it so Later some of the broader area particularly along Center Street was downzone from CBD to residential Excuse me Here's the new
paragraph It has been argued that these two buildings will be demolished anyway I find this rather puzzling Excuse me For if the reszoning is
denied the developers would be left with a vacant lot It would it could not be used for the apartment building because it would have to be joined to the lot of the apartment building And it is my understanding that two different zones
cannot be cannot coexist within the same lot And if the lot were vacant it couldn't be sold as a residence anymore or rented out as a residence It would then could not then
contribute anymore to affordable housing in the city Bethlehem is attractive to developers that we all know If we are not careful what is attracting people to the city will be lost There is a lesson
in the townships People first moved there for the space peace and quiet But as more and more people moved there there was less and less space peace and quiet Similarly people are not not moving here because they love six-story
apartment buildings They are moving here for other reasons But as we allow more and more apartment buildings these other reasons will be less and less prominent North Philadelphia is an example of this If we are not going to significantly
change the character of Bethlehem we have to draw the line somewhere Even though the resoning is only for two buildings this is a good place to start and preserve the total character of the unit block of West Garrison Street Who knows future
historians might someday say this was the moment when Bethlehem decided to preserve its character Thank you Thank you Mr Sh Was there anyone else who wanted to make comment on anything that council will be voting on this
evening seeing none I'm going to conclude our second public comment Old business Any old business from members of council we'll continue on to new business Any new business from members of council
councilwoman Quitech Thank you Um thank you everybody for coming out and I'm sorry that if you're leaving now because I think this would be a useful time for um more information and more discussion Um I had a couple of questions for the
administration first Um Mr Buscola when uh we had our first our conversations about the um water meters and the um the implementation of the smart meters and we knew that it would take several years to cycle through them and I did ask
questions about sort of why we couldn't begin an alert system for the ho houses that do have um the smart meters yet Could you sort of reer reiterate your explanation i'm I kind of am wondering again
Yeah So we we do have an alert system but it's one that we control that we use um that's internal to our system Uh what what what the speaker was talking about before was giving the customer access
basically access to their account information much like other utilities have I know you know ppl you can have your account on ppl and you go on look at your account you can see your load profile your usage profile and stuff like that we just don't have the technology to do that right now that's
that's the vision to be able to get there um it takes a lot of effort and resources to get there and we're just in a position now where we're just trying to prioritize uh the replacement of meters That is
like the number one priority because we have meters in the system that are 30 years old and they're failing and we have to get them replaced That's the main focus right now We can tr we have about 20,000 people now on new uh automatic metering system 20,000 out
of 37,000 That's more than half roughly 55% maybe Getting there Um so we're getting there right So but yet but I would say yes the goal ultimately is to give the customer that additional ability to view
their account online so they can see what they're using but we're just not there yet And and so it was the expense of the software the implementation of the software the Yes Okay All of that So are you familiar with this eye on water app is it is it a third party app is it
No I mean there there are a lot of those different apps out there Um our meter uh company has an app like that Um that that's the ultimate goal is to do something that like that Customers can purchase their own
equipment There is there's privately available I don't want I don't call meters but instruments that you can put on your system that you can track your usage indivi you know individually um without the need for getting into the
your account information Some people do that as well Um but there are there are multiple platforms out there that that give that that can do those type of things And then just finally um so the 20,000 that have the smart meters we are
now monitoring their usage and they will get contacted if there's an unusual usage Every day we run a report that looks at uh because we because the new meters um basically get a reading once an hour
So you get 24 reads per day as opposed to the old way was just one reading per quarter Right Right So now with that all of that data we can now the system can now track um the usage profile and if there's a
big step increase with a particular account above your norm we get alerts every day and then we we contact those customers and that's ongoing You've been doing that We've been doing that Okay And it's and it's really just a handful
like I think I said before it's maybe a dozen a week say in that neighborhood that where we get those alerts and it's sorry one more finally So um and so what are you finding is the profile of uh the cause of those alerts is there any
pattern like does the person go oh I didn't realize something's leaking or it's it could be yeah it's it's any one of a number of things It could be a toilet running a leak somebody filling their swimming pool
uh watering their lawn any any abnormal usage above their norm So if they have like if if they just planted sod and they're watering their lawn that's going to be something above their norm If they're filling a swimming pool you know that's something above the
norm If there's a leak that's something above the norm So it could be any number of reasons There's no I I couldn't say it's any one thing Okay thank you very much I appreciate that Um Miss Collins can I ask a couple of questions related to
CED i have to admit and and forgive me if this is something that Are we building a $600,000 pickle ball court uh community economic development is not That might be Oh that's a more of a public works thing I'm sorry Recreation
Recreation So um Mr Alol sorry I don't believe so but I hope check to see what the real story is behind what's making people I mean it was my understanding that we were doing some repainting some
restriping so that people we have multi-use you know tennis court that we also convert into a pickle ball court u so it's multi-purpose but it doesn't cost $600 does not sound anywhere near right reasonable for for that type of
okay thing I just wanted to make sure that wasn't like in the budget and I some we've done that already it was minimal cost right okay that that there's there's nothing in the in the budget in the 2025 budget that has that Okay Thank you I I just wanted to make sure of that Um and then um I uh I am
one of the council members that responded to uh somebody's question about this today and um was working off of information that was uh shared Um uh and I just you know um I know a lot
of folks here really care very much about our unhoused population and I certainly do as well and um you know it it falls on you know it just doesn't fall great to say you know we are working on trying to find a location and
a and to but the plan is we have a plan to acquire prepare a property and fit it to for emergency sheltering Correct Yes we are working on the in terms of a long-term solution As
you know Betham Emergency Shelter operates temporarily for six months out of the year Um we are working very closely with bees um having a meeting tomorrow um with a property owner um just as continuing to
move that process forward um to both you know come to an agreement about the location and the terms of that and then also about the operation uh you know with Bethlehem Emergency Shelter um you know but there's still a lot more to do
um particularly around funding um you know we have money in the city budget that um council has um graciously dedicated towards this project Um we're also you know working through a large list of potential additional grant funding sources and working with bees on
their own fundraising Um the landscape has changed a little bit in the past um couple of weeks and 71 days months 71 days Um but um all all of that work is on ongoing Um as well as um you know we have the architectural work
preliminarily that's allowing us to put together the cost estimates to go out for the grant funding Um so all that work has been done We'll eventually as well need to you know go into more like you know full design um and and that phase of the project as well So and you
know folks have mentioned and I and I totally get it this the concept of a liaison um our community connections uh folks in the health department Yes we actually have in addition to Chief Cot who I think is eager to speak um um
Benet Burgerer who is runs our community connections program is here tonight as well specifically to answer questions and be available and make sure people truly understand the full scope of that of that program and how it interacts with our homeless um encampments That would be great Um Miss Burgerer would
you come to the mic and and so you've been sitting here listening to the public comments So perhaps there were things that you heard that you would um like to address that aren't coming to my mind right now but if you if you wanted to share with us your thoughts Sure Yes So my name is Ben Burgerer and I am the
director of nursing and our community connections program and we are housed some of us in the Bethlehem Health Bureau And the community connections program is a collaboration between social workers in the health department and nurses and community outreach and
the police department So essentially just to give you an idea what we do is um well we do a multitude of things but we work with the police If police are in the field and someone is having a mental health crisis or has an acute um social need they will call us
and we will go out in the field and um help that person where they are with what they need in that moment So we do that as a co-response we do that through a referral system we do that through other organizations with with whom we work very closely So first of all I I
really want to just say I am so pleased to hear all of the care that all of you have brought into this meeting tonight in regards to our unhoused They are a vulnerable population It's a population with whom
we do outreach weekly sometimes bi bi-weekly and in a climate that tends to feel a little hostile right now to many people in the world I really applaud your advocacy and your efforts So I want you to know that this city especially
with this program feels the same way So one of the things that Community Connection does is we have a weekly outreach in in the in the encampments for the unhoused and we have had a multitude of programs to work with and address many of the issues that you have
brought up So we also function not only working with police but we work very closely with pretty much every other community-based organization in Bethlehem and in the surrounding areas East and Allentown to help create a
tight network of support So we can the city can't do this alone We can't just go out and solve all the problems but we work very closely and do co-outreach with conference churches um New Bethany We work closely with Bob Rap and Bees We work with Valley Youth
House We work the Third Street Alliance We there are multitude of agencies with whom we work regularly so we can make immediate referrals when people have need So I mean there are unhoused here there are
unhoused everywhere We do have a an affordable housing situation as many places do but the altitude we do is regular And there isn't anyone in the unhoused community with whom we have not sp I mean there might be someone we're not familiar with but my colleagues and
I could probably um have had conversations and could probably name everyone by name at this point At least we could with Riley from Conference of Churches and the people with whom we work so closely We are very dedicated the city is very dedicated to trying to connect these um folks to
services We cannot force people to take services So that is something that I really want people to understand We can offer to connect We can even have the services available We can go back repeatedly over
and over to try to encourage some of our folks to take advantage of some of the things we can connect them with can't always connect them with everything that they need but a good portion of it we can make those connections for them to get them on in that process to get them
started on on a a track to to change the trajectory But we can't it's voluntary We can't force someone to go into rehab We can't force someone to take mental health services even if we've connected them with health insurance and and
gotten them a provider We can't make people do it So we do try and we are out there every week with our community partners to make those connections and try to see how we can help these folks So that's one level of the program that we have the boots on the ground Our
officers another thing that we feel very strongly about is our police officers They're primarily here for law enforcement right their job primarily is to make sure there's law and order But if you're not committing a crime you don't have to worry about law and order
They are there for service and they refer to us all day long The officers are the ones that have connected us with most of the people in the greatest needs because they do care They are in the community They see the people in need They're in they don't go into the the
unhoused the encampments to there will be no sweeps Sorry this is not my territory Going to be Chief C that we're no one is going in and cleaning and and doing a sweep in the unhoused community That's not happening That is not the city's position and it's not happening
So you know why I think sometimes the people down there are terrified is because this rumor that they're going to be great sweeps and people are going to be moved out is going around But that's not happening I applaud the idea of having a centralized a liaison and a
centralized communication portal I'm not the greatest with the computer but portal or system and we're working on that We are trying to come up with a plan so that when people hear these kinds of rumors we can they can come to the source and
we can say no no there's not going to be a sweep or yes that notice was put on there because they actually are not allowed to be in that space and in fact yes the tent and a lot of that um uh those tents and those belongings were abandoned So there are very there's a
lot of specific attention paid to these issues There's a lot of work that the city is doing So along with the boots on the ground that we do daily almost and definitely weekly with all of our community partners our the city has taken the role of creating trying to create working with all these
organizations to create a tight like a network of support Like there's a lot of siloed organizations out there like this one will do some portion of work for that could be helpful to some of our community and another um organization does kind of the same thing We're
linking them up and we're making a network so we can easily communicate with one another and know what resources are out there when That's hugely important to me and our team that we when we go out there and we make contact with residents that we can say what do
our assessment what do you need this is what we can connect you to we not going to say we can connect you to services I'm not going to tell you I'm going to get you a house that's not going to happen and I'm not probably going to be able to do that what I want to be able to do and what all of our team wants to
do is have real information real options and connect people to those services and really encourage them to take them and participate and again that's a voluntary thing can't make anyone but we want to have them available so we are working very closely
with all I could name so many organizations really conference of churches is big New Bethany is big third street Alliance bees I'm sure I'm forgetting others right now but there are so many with whom we we speak daily because we're making referrals daily and that we they
are getting to know who we are Our hospital systems as well We have two really big hospital systems here in the Lehigh Valley St Luke's and LVHN And they have come together with us and met with us and the police and our community partners in the Bethlehem Health Bureau to talk about how we can better service
our our residents who have mental health crisis Everyone knows there's a lot of mental health crisis out there and there not a great deal of services that are easily accessed but there are services So we're working with the bigger systems
and the medium and the smaller sized organizations in in Bethlehem to to make that make that cohesive network if I can call it that so we can refer easily And then the other things that we are working on with these same community
partners we have the hospital systems and all of the other organizations is then where are the gaps that we all are that we all notice where are the gaps why are do there continue to be is it difficult to get housing why are the is
are these people unable to get mental health or if they do get mental health why does it fall off so quickly where are the gaps in services and how can we collectively since we're hospitals and health bureaus and cities and organizations how can we collectively figure out how to fix that we're having
a lot of conversations about this So it it I'm I'm sure it seems sometimes that if you don't see us out there and if people don't know what community connections mean it's because I say "Hey my name's Benet and I'm from the health bureau." I guarantee you most
of the people are going to go know Benet They're going to know Cararissa They're going to know some of our other outreach workers They're going to know Riley They we we are out there and have a presence on a weekly basis So there really is a lot going on that may not be so obvious
but I encourage um we are going to try to get up that information what however we decide that's going to look get up um information where you can find out exactly what's going on And if you feel nervous that there's going to be some kind of
sweep don't post it because you're going to scare a lot of people if you're not sure that's going to happen And I can tell you it's pretty likely that that is never going to happen So that is not in the city's plans Not right now in any way shape or form But we do do regular
outreach So that's what community connections is That's what a big part of my team does Um I know that Chief also has a lot to say about you know the the the law enforcement part of it and that part of it but does anyone have any We're not We're not opening it up to
questions I'm sorry I I understand you're on a roll there and I appreciate that but you're responding to council I'm sorry We're we're we're still in new business and so we each kind of get a get a chance to not follow up But I just want to say how much I appreciate you're
sharing all of this information because I mean there are even things that you said tonight that I wasn't really aware of and and we have to be better about I think the communication piece which is something that several commenters had brought up is is something we need to continue to strive to um improve and um
but thank you very much You're welcome Yeah And and if I can just interject councilwoman I do welcome anyone who wants to continue conversations after we adjourn the meeting We'll all be here It's just we're now in the agenda for tonight but and I'll speak on that when
we when I speak a little bit more uh during new business but everyone is invited to stay after the meeting or have conversations one-on-one once we adjourn the agenda tonight Thanks And I know that Chief Cod is up there and um so some of this does have to do with um
uh messages uh that were posted by uh by the police Um I would I would say that um having seen the the message having seen a photograph of it um I could understand where there would be some misinterpretation or some concern about
uh about it and maybe there could be some some work on on maybe re rephrasing or reframing these notices But the one I actually had the question about was the vehicle Are you aware of this sticker could you explain that i was just made aware of it today right before city council when I went out and met with
some folks and and that is going to be looked into and addressed I I have no rhyme or reason why um somebody would think that was a good idea other than maybe they thought it was abandoned property and know that we have these abandoned you know vehicle stickers but
I I have no rhyme or reason why that would have happened Councilwoman Okay Well I'm sure you'll find you'll be able to figure out you'll find the officer and have a chat with them about the reasoning behind that Um and and so I think that uh Miss Burgerer was pretty
clear about you know um again it would be helpful if people had concerns they could reach out to the police or to community connections before sort of um spreading around information that might not be entirely accurate Would absolutely My email
address is easy to find It's on the city website I It may take me a day or two to respond Um I'm pretty good at checking and getting through all my emails that I get but uh we're pretty responsive and we will get back to people and we will do a better job about communicating so
the community has an idea as to what's going on because I understand that it's very very scary uh for people to experience um that kind of sheer dread that there there's going to be a sweep down there
Great Um I appreciate that and um I think we all learned a lot tonight and I really appreciate that And our our emails are also on the website Um and uh appreciate hearing from folks and and um that's certainly how I was made aware of it as well I do check my email several
times a day um during lunch break coffee break things like that So um so please feel free to reach out to me as well I appreciate that Um uh I'm done with this portion of my new business my only other new business really Um uh I I do want to
say that uh I am absolutely horrified furious disgusted by what's happening um in terms of the disappearing of people off of our streets Um regardless of their immigration status no warrant no
no charges just literally being shuttled to some place in Louisiana some private prison in Louisiana It's disgusting It's horrific Um I feel like everybody else in here helpless because there is nothing that I can physically do to
bring like Miss Ostk back or the gentleman from Maryland who they now admit they took mistakenly but well gee we don't have any way to bring him back Too bad Sorry Uh it's it's a nightmare It's an absolute nightmare Um it is an
absolute um dissolution of our rights of due process our constitution is being trampled on and I want to make it very clear that that that is something that I am thinking about constantly Um on a on a sort of semi-positive note I just want
to thank everybody who came out for a transgender uh day of visibility yesterday and the flag raising which um was uh powerful and a reminder that um you know we can uh show up and um folks
can be visible here in Bethlehem Um you know uh I don't talk about this publicly very much but my uh daughter is trans and um she uh I'm going to say it cuz she told me I could say it She happens
to be a newly minted officer in the Navy Um coming up on just a year in the Navy And um so if anyone knows what it feels like to have a family member with a target on their back um I certainly can say that I am um you know very much in
league with folks along those lines So uh the injunction has sort of unclenched my jaw but for the most part I worry about my daughter who's all the way across the country pretty much 24 hours a day as well Um so Transgender Day of
Visibility was a a really great chance for us all to come together Um we talked about some ways that we might be able to update our um human relations and non-discrimination ordinance and uh make
sure that we are uh doing what we can uh within you know our little city here in our little bubble um to make sure that that sense of uh welcoming belonging here uh continues So that's all I have
Thank you Sorry I know that was a long new business Thanks for your indulgence No one needs to apologize Any other new business from members of council councilwoman Lair Uh while you're still standing right there uh I'll follow up with with you
some more Um so the um first of all on the topic of the the homeless encampment um I did respond uh to several uh people today on this topic and when I got the first email um about
the fear of a a sweep um I reached out to Chief Cot right away and I responded in good faith uh with the the information I received Um I am wondering with the the notices cuz the the initial communications I received did not have
the notice uh photograph on it Um I got one of them later Um are those is are those the notices that are used because those are the notices that must be used or because they're the most
accessible to be used um you know is the language on those notices dictated by policy or something like that So it's a a courtesy The boilerplate template that gets posted is a common courtesy to folks that if we
are mistaken that the property is not abandoned um to either make notice with community connections or uh with the police department um or the officers will go back to the same location um a
day or two after doing the posting to see if anybody's around um to see if they're able to speak to anybody They'll speak to neighbors uh to see if a tent is is still occupied or not So the I guess the question I have is the notice that I uh saw a photo of and I think a
couple people read tonight didn't specify anything about abandoned property or if this isn't actually abandoned please contact I think the handwritten note did but not the official notice It was about uh tents not being permitted which I understand
is is law Um so I I wasn't sure if there is an alternative notice that could be more directly uh indicating this is seen as
abandoned property like I didn't get that from what I read Um so is there the opportunity to to craft a notice that would be more along the lines of what seems to be the intent of clearing out abandoned properties absolutely Because
that is you know as I spoke to the the individuals before the meeting that is the intent here is due to numerous complaints we received about the condition of Charlie's clearing um east of the Mincy Trail Bridge That is the
reason why we're we're going to be focusing with the public works department on on cleaning up that area Okay Um I also wonder if um because there there was some comment about that city council seems pretty well informed
about what the intentions were and I can say uh at least from my perspective I was well informed because I received input from uh or received concern from the community and therefore was able to to make contact um and find out what was
going on Um so I'm wondering obviously you you cannot inform us about every single thing that the police or public works are going to do but um given that we know that this uh is a situation that can sometimes have breakdowns in
communication or fear associated with it is there the opportunity that um you know council could have a a heads up when these notices are being posted absolutely There's always room for improvement and like Miss Burgerer said we're we're really working on there's a
communication plan that the health bureau is looking into on better ways that we can communicate not only within the city and with city council but with the community as well Yeah And once once that plan is enacted then I I would think that that will provide plenty of opportunities for everyone to be
informed Um I'm looking forward to it So this is my request is sort of for in the the interim period so that we can appropriately respond to people Um and let me Sorry my iPad just timed out with my notes Um
uh okay that was that was my my questions for you Um thank you Um in terms of the uh smart meters and associated apps
um just a small follow-up question um to what Councilwoman Quietch asks Um is there a benchmark i I recognize that the priority is the infrastructure um and can support that Um I'm wondering if
there is a benchmark for what point the uh prioritization could allow for including looking at the the app Like we're at 55% I think you said Um are we looking to not move towards implementing a consumerf facing app or portal until
100% or is it 80 like is there a ballpark i I don't there there isn't a a benchmark per se I think it's just a question of prioritizing do with our infrastructure and limited budget Are there
opportunities um in public infrastructure like um for example we're voting tonight on the technology related grant funding for the police department Um is there similar grant funding out there
for um public utilities technology none that I know of Not that we can't look know of Okay Uh most of the funding in the utility
sphere is for hardware pipes in the ground meters valves pumps that that type of thing Mhm Technology I mean maybe there is but
specifically but we can certainly look into that Okay Thanks Yeah that would that would be great because I I do recognize that there's a lot of cost and um implementation work associated with it but I also as somebody who uses that PPL portal a lot uh to analyze things
I'm like it really would be nice to put out there for people Thank you Um then uh a comment
um about the uh the uh property the BHX property uh and it straddling the the city lines there Um I I'm concerned about that not only because it it sounds like it would be a frustrating experience for uh someone
who's reporting an issue like trash on that property but also in in the event of an emergency uh if somebody were to contact and say "This is my address I need help." Uh and give that address Is there going to be um you know confusion
in the call center about what what police department or ambulance or fire or utility service even uh would respond if there's um confusion about what jurisdiction that property lies in I
don't know who that question is for but on that one So I I do have that written down to look into exactly what happened there Um it should have
been handled Uh I I'm not quite sure how exactly it's in our GIS system So that's something I'll look into But to answer your question uh it happens all the time where there's an accident in the middle of the road there and uh both Bethlehem
and Allentown Police Department will respond and kind of point fingers at no it's your accident and it's our accident It's um but until it's figured out uh both departments would respond in in the case of an emergency Okay But I will
look into that with the service center Okay Uh from a public works perspective is it clear um who is responsible for like let's say that there was a a pipe break or uh something like that in the area or a sinkhole that opened up or something is is that uh clear within the
teams um I I believe so I mean anything within the city limits is our responsibility into in terms of all utilities and we have that fairly clearly defined in our GIS and then all our mapping and all our
infrastructure uh GIS mapping Um okay Yeah I I and I would have thought that but I the app is where people would report things like that right like I mean it's going into a call center and those staff are interpreting
where the property is in the case of us maintaining our facilities our engineers would determine understood where the location is and respond Okay Thank you Um and then my last uh new business
comment is just um a a brief update that I am continuing work on um data privacy conversations um and policy conversations with the city administration as they relate to um
our residents data and the data that um this was initially sparked by conversations about immigration data which we do not make a habit uh storing at all Um but just thinking about the climate of um the United States right now and various uh
populations and sensitivities that uh people may have or fears that people may have about their personal data Um I I am interested in that aspect of what we can do to protect our residents Um so those conversations are continuing with city
administration and um I I hope to have some more updates to share about that soon Thank you Any other new business members councilwoman Camy Smith Thank you I have a couple questions Um I think Miss Collins I just have a few for you
if you don't mind Before I ask the questions I just want to say um thank you especially to Renee and everybody who came tonight and spoke and everyone who certainly um obviously is concerned and doing for our outouse population That's really
gracious of you and I it makes me um really great that we have so many great people in the community that have concern I um worked over 40 years with people that have been unhoused and I know it's um you know it's really a challenge It's very sad It's so
multi-dimensional multi-level as far as all the issues that encompass being being homeless and um I really commend everybody who's really out there trying trying to help those folks and I hope that we can continue to do whatever it takes to um to try to address and get rid of this problem So um Miss Collins I
guess I just had a couple questions One thing is do we have any time frame i know there's a lot involved but as far as the shelter goes or like the gateway on fourth like any are we looking at any time frame when we think that those things will come to fruition um sure I'll start with gateway on
fourth We submitted our LITC application That's the low-inccome housing tax credits which make up the largest chunk of the capital stack for that project So we submitted that application for phase one um by the February 11th um due date So PHFA the Pennsylvania Housing Finance
Agency is reviewing those now That's a multi-month process Um but if we are successful in the award and by we you know obviously Lehigh Valley Industrial Park LBIP um contributed $4 million to that project as a result of you know working with us through the opening
doors plan and their uh you know interest in um advancing affordable housing and and partnering with us So big win already $4 million from LVIP and then Penrose is the developer doing the project But we're obviously working hand inand with them and um you know
committing city dollars as well from our um HUD home allocation But so um if Penrose and the team is successful in the LITC award um there's a few few other additional funding sources that we're currently you know helping them um either as the applicant um or just with
with letters of support for either um um local state or federal dollars Um phase one would then begin construction in 2026 I believe is when the first construction would happen And when when will we hear about the the LITC grant is
there a date that we will hear um I I'm not exactly sure I want to say I mean it usually takes multiple months for the state agency to review it So I want to say like summer maybe fall possibly Okay All right And then how about the shelter
any um time frame for the shelter yeah Well so as I mentioned that also is in like the capital um acquisition phase I suppose you could you could say Um you know I I think that it would be ambitious to think that it
would be for like I think it would still be open in its current form temporarily for next shelter season which would be the 2025 2026 season So probably looking at the following year So like we'll be still using the ba the
um the temporary shelter for 25 26 and then maybe 26 27 have a permanent one in place Well so construction for a project like that would pro what we're one of the things we're talking about now is can you get that done in between sheltering seasons or is it going to be
a long enough construction period that there might be a season in which we have to think about like is there an alternative while construction is underway that those are that's still being worked out So as far as a time sounds like it's not really we don't have a clear time frame
at this point for the shelter Definitely not for next shelter season Okay It would not be open for next shelter season Okay Thank you And then let me see what else I wanted to ask Um um oh as far as the um the bathrooms is
there anything happening with public bathrooms that will be accessible you know downtown or or near the um Well so the first thing I'll point out there there are actually public bathrooms currently in the North Street parking garage which often gets overlooked which I do think speaks to the fact
that people don't necessarily like going to park um you know bathrooms in parking garages um and they're they're hard to maintain So those do exist currently um but they are not particularly well used it seems Um but in terms of other
conversations about other potential public um bathroom options we have had conversations uh recently with the downtown Bethlehem Association um at the request of of some of the folks on on that board um about looking at um a
variety of infrastructure needs for the downtown including bathrooms Um so it you know it's it's constantly been a part of the a part of the conversation You know I don't have a solution for public bathrooms currently but it is Are there is there any way we can advertise because I I've found I' I know I' I've
told Mr Fernand like I found many people aren't even aware like of the North Street garage especially people from out of town you know I have to tell them They don't know where the garage itself or the bathroom Yeah the garage itself Um you know people in the Lehigh Valley But I'm just wondering can we advertise or is there a sign for the bathroom because I don't even know where it is
and I use that garage a lot Yeah So they're they're right in the like Atlanta area Okay for the Atlanta Is there a sign like I'm just wondering the bus station Maybe we need to just advertise it in a better way or Yeah they as Mr Alcohol is pointing out they are maintained by Atlanta So it's the
Atlanta the bus station So it's really for the bus station It's really Well they're public bathrooms but it's public Okay So it would be more up to Atlanta to really advertise it Okay Gotcha And then um my last question is about the meeting um that someone brought up that occurred yesterday regarding Arous and
Handover Street the multi-unit that they want to Can you just give us an update on what transpired at that meeting i don't know if that would be you or Sure Yeah I'm happy to talk about it Um so the project is related to a property that that fronts on Hanover Street Um
there's uh you know it's gone through a couple of iterations they had gone to the zoning hearing board multiple months ago with a different project They withdrew that project Um they then came back with a sketch plan for a different project that went to the planning commission in February had its initial
review process Um at that point there was a few aspects uh on the sketch plan that were identified that may have needed zoning relief Um the developer asked for an interpretation um on a particular zoning issue related
to um built lot size effectively and you know how we how we would interpret them choosing to put like town houses on this existing property that has a two family detached dwelling on it as well
Um we had made a zoning um initial determination It was appealed Um we we reviewed it our law bureau reviewed it and and um ultimately uh the the decision on that particular issue was pretty clear So on that particular issue
um the wi the applicant uh ended up withdrawing their zoning appeal Um but you know the project itself is still like in the very early stages and going through um you know the the the land development and you know zoning review
process So um it's not the case that the project is fully approved It's only at the very early stages really Um we've only seen a sketch plan at this point Um and so you know the neighbors have been very very actively involved um from
the beginning for for many many months and are diving all the way in on a variety of issues They've interacted with our office many times and were very responsive to their questions and their requests Um you know and they were asking some pretty detailed questions about that one particular um zoning
issue and asked to have a meeting about that Um so that's you know I was there our city solicitor was there um the mayor was there and you know we we listened to their concerns and also you know talked through with them not only this particular issue but just the process in general So it sounds like
they still need they'll still need to be going to possibly the zoning hearing board or the planning commission Yes certainly Yeah they haven't even submitted They haven't even submitted for land development yet So okay Um a sketch plan is just a very preliminary review Then zoning relief may happen um
the land development will have a full planning commission review as well So okay All right Thank you There's a lot of pieces to that Um I guess the only other thing um I'll say is generally speaking some people have addressed it I know many people's tonight is you know the state of affairs
at the national level and I know it's um you know very concerning for all of us and I think it's just um important that we all just try to try to stay strong and um stay united as much as we can I know it's discouraging but we just have to um you know keep up the good fight
Thank you Thank you Councilwoman Any other new business for members of council i I do Mr President Mr Callahan go ahead Um first I just want to apologize for not being there I've been ill for the last three days I don't know what bug's going around but I got it Um
Miss Collins is there a way that we could have either the city uh the parking authority or Atlanta uh increase the signage for the area because I I I lived literally across the street from it and and I had no idea there was a bathroom there either
I suppose we could talk with Atlanta about that Sure Could I mean since it's a public bathroom could could we do some signage too for a public bathroom signage just to direct people like where to go
Yeah m Mr Alol is telling me that we can have a discussion with Atlanta about that and you know just check if they're willing to do that and what that might look like Who who who owns the bathroom facility so the parking authority leases it to Atlanta Mr Al was telling me they do but
but it is a public bathroom Mr That's my understand Do you mind coming to a microphone just so Miss Collins isn't relaying your words we we built that as part of the North Street garage project for for the uh purpose of
um leasing and being operated by Atlanta I don't believe it's officially public bathroom as to the general public that's in the downtown area but it's certainly available to all the commuters that use the station So
that's why we'd have to have a conversation with Land whether or not they want to advertise and promote its use by everyone that is not utilizing the bus system No And no I realize that I just I I I thought Miss Collins just said a couple minutes ago though that
it's a public bathroom May I May I interject or would you like me to Is this related to the bathroom related very specifically to this Is that all right with you uh Mr Callahan Sure Uh so I actually uh had a
meeting um last week the week before with uh BPA and Atlanta Uh which was not intended to be about bathrooms Uh it was intended to be about an email that all of council received a while ago about um
heaters or waiting in the cold at the the bus terminal uh and talking about the potential for adding heat Um and then um it actually extended to bathrooms because Atlanta brought up the topic Um and did seem interested in
having conversation with the city Um and I directed them that that was not something that I was directly involved with but encouraged them to contact you They they did seem to have like even a sheet made up to of talking points to to
start a conversation So um that obviously is nothing very official but I just wanted to say like that conversation has happened and they were aware of some complicating factors but also that um it is a restroom that
during their business hours at least is uh accessible to the the public So sorry I I just felt that that was relevant to add in before everybody was like I don't know we'd have to talk to Atlanta That conversation happened Thank you
Floor is still yours Mr Call No I was just wondering if if if if the administration could get back to us on uh on any signage or any progress with conversations that they might have with Atlanta or the parking authority on signage for that area since it is the
only it is the only public bathroom in the area They're not they're not they're nodding in agreement Mr Callahan thank you I I'd appreciate the response will follow up Thank you That's it Thank you Mr Callahan Any other new
business councilwoman Wilhelm Yes Mr Alcohol Um before you move away from the microphone I was wondering if you could um Sand Island was mentioned and it was mentioned that the Sand Island restrooms were opened and then closed I was wondering if you could They were they
were simply winterized We winterize all our bathrooms that are not heated those bathrooms and then uh late October early November uh we have no choice We have to winterize them otherwise we'll have issues and then we'll put them back into service uh in the next few weeks Okay
Just wanted to clarify that part Okay Approximately when do you think they will be reopened uh sometimes in the next three weeks we'll start putting the reasoning back into the parks and as well as that that location Great I was also curious just
to know how many existing whether functioning or locked um or not functioning How many facilities exist potentially as public restrooms that were they to be working there the the infrastructure exists how
many of those are there in the city so we have public restrooms at Sand Island Yes And where else do they exist whether they're being used or not sen Park has bathrooms Mill has bathrooms Uh many of our recreation areas have
bathrooms Skate park Rose Garden Rose Garden Yeah Five to 10 locations Maybe more Yeah More than that More than that Okay And are they generally all open and available to the public is a certain percentage of them it varies like you know we provide a key for
example at the Rose Garden It depends what the experience has been I know like was mentioned we've had issues at some of those facilities and that's mainly why some of them would get locked you know at the end of the day and opened in
the morning Okay Or only open during you know least pavilions and or what have you Okay Thank you So do you think is the best option then to work with the the infrastructure that we have or are there other sort of quick or lower cost
or innovative solutions that we could or should be investigating that could sort of provide more options for the public sooner I'm not sure if there's anything feasible beyond what we what we
what we have without substantial um investment Okay And so is it is it a human resource issue in some cases that we don't have it's both capital as well as ongoing maintenance requirements that
would obviously need human resources Okay got it Thank you Um I also wanted to clarify on a different topic I think the individual who brought this up has left but um we do all live in in the city of Bethlehem I just wanted to make sure folks knew that And lastly just
um it's been said and I just want to add my thanks to those of you who came to speak tonight uh who keep us informed um and who are out there doing the work that you're doing providing comfort and care and dignity to our unhoused
neighbors We really are so grateful Um and you know I think some some folks might hear the conversation tight and think "Oh good It's just a communication issue and and yes good because that's a fairly a relatively easy solution We can
fix that pretty easily But that a miscommunication uh can cause the terror whether it's for a day 48 hours Um as you described it it's really that was a really valuable perspective for for many of us to hear
um that seeing those signs whether a sweep was to happen or not is going to happen or not that it can can um give somebody that experience of sort of terror and fear Um so I'm I'm glad to know that we will um figure out a way to
make sure that the message is clear uh what is and is not going to happen in those spaces so that we can avoid um inadvertently even um causing that experience for somebody So but thank you again for for what you're doing Thank
you Thank you Councilwoman Any other new business from members of council just a couple brief uh comments I had a lot of the the questions were already answered or brought up by other members of council and answered by the administration But a couple things I would touch on Uh the the question was
uh asked about living in Bethlehem As one of my colleagues just mentioned to serve on city council you have to live in the city of Bethlehem And not only that three of the seven of us particularly live on the west side of Bethlehem And as I as it relates to 8th Avenue I would say I'm sure all of us
whether you live on the west side or not that's a very welltraveled corridor here in the city So I uh I will be traveling to get something to eat at a 24-hour location when this meeting gets out tonight on 8th Avenue But the and that
said we it it came up tonight and it comes up at times the whether it's real perceived whatever it would be this notion of council public and and such and as I had kind of interjected when Miss Burgerer was talking before and welcome questions that that's procedural
I also always remind everyone council only has 24 city council meetings a year We work 365 days a year And again I'll I'll include all of my colleagues here that as we heard tonight from Miss Lair talk about conversations related to bathrooms
uh Councilwoman Camy Smith about conversations related to um directing people to parking resources everyone at different times during council meetings or maybe not even necessarily bringing up the work that they do We we heard as the advocates who came out tonight for our unhoused population had reached out
through some emails today and then I heard that there was already feedback from a few members of council before the meeting and then members of council were proactively engaging with Chief Cot Miss Collins and others beforehand So regardless of how you feel about the
dynamic of how a meeting is structured please do not let that deter you from ever reaching out As is noted before all of our emails are on the city website City administration has contact information on the website You don't have to wait until the first or third
Tuesday of every month for outreach There are people in this room who have called me at all kinds of hours on my personal cell phone and I give it out to people when when I think someone needs to reach out to me as do others That's not unique to me But I think in as as a
president of council I have to address this notion that and I'm not here to convince anyone how they should feel other than objectively state as you hear from members of council during the course of business We are not only here to engage with the citizenry and those
who have questions of council on the first and third Tuesday of every month So please continue to send emails or reach out to our clerk's office whenever you need information whenever you have questions More often than not it's just me kind of CCing someone on an email to help navigate someone to a resource We
heard about community connections Chief Khs Burgerer were in contact with me earlier for someone in the community who I had contact with who is you know hopefully will benefit from some of the established programs we have Can we do better in terms sometimes about communication yeah I don't know if you
ever you hit like a 100% on those things There's always ways to improve always someone coming forward who said I didn't know this service existed or I didn't know this meeting was happening whatever it would be so there's always room for improvement that that's not the intention of what I'm communicating it's
that this idea that it's you everyone just comes here and speaks and council's here to give everyone their five minutes to then go home at the end of the night again I'll welcome anyone to come up to council after the meeting as is custom a number of members of council engage with members of the public afterwards and
always reach out if you have questions don't especially if it's something pressing uh as it relates to uh any different needs that you have or someone you know has or whatever the case would be even if it's just for counsel to be that that connector so that um we can
get you to the right person who has the right answers sometimes So uh thank you for for listening on that I did also just want to note that uh a couple community events that had
um come across my attention the last few days that I think are just worth mentioning to anyone who's interested The cherry blossom festival that goes on outside every year is scheduled for Saturday The forecast isn't great We'll see what happens but that's Saturday from noon to 4:00 The annual cherry
blossom festival that's in conjunction with the Sister City Commission And then also on Saturday is the Penrook Choice Festival over at the uh Bethlehem Boys and Girls Club over in Penrook And that's from 2 PM to 5:00 p.m to get
feedback and talk about the the works has that work that has been done Admittedly I haven't been able due to my day job obligations participate much but I do look forward to the weather being accommodating that festival could still go on and um anyone who's interested
able to attend and hear about the work that that committee's been doing Any other new business from members of council before we move on with the agenda thank you everybody and thank you to everyone in the administration for your responses and help with questions
that came up tonight Communications Mr Miller 6C A March 19th 2025 memorandum with an attached resolution from public works director Michael Alcohol Mr Alcohol recommends a contract with Garden State Fireworks
Incorporated of Millington New Jersey $40,000 to provide the fireworks display for the 4th of July with a rain date July 5th There are no renewals And resolution 10B is on the agenda tonight 6D March 26 2025 memorandum and proposed
resolution from public works director Michael Alcohol The memorandum seeks authorization to execute an agreement with Grace Industries Incorporated of Bath to provide improvements to Friendship Park including the installation of new basketball court splash pad ADA compliant walkways event
plaza upgraded playground and shaded pavilion Cost is $965,952.73 and the work is to be completed by December 31st 2025 There are no renewals This bid was the lowest of two received and resolution 10 C is
on the agenda 6E a March 26 2025 memorandum from solicitor John Spark Jr with an attached use permit agreement and resolution Permit is the Beth Bethlehem Economic Development Corporation buying through its initiative Southside Arts District Subp
permites are Social Still LLC Country Club Brewing LLC Five Maidens LLC doing business as Five Maiden Cider Company and Surat LLC doing business as the event is 2025 Live on the
Greenway Event times and dates will be 1 to 3 p.m on May 18th and 25th and June 8 June 1st and June 8th The duration will be noon to 4:30 on each of the four stated dates Specified premises will be the Greenway between Webster and Taylor
Streets including Harmony Pavilion And resolution 10 is on the agenda That concludes our communications for tonight Reports I have nothing to report Mr Evans No we
have no committee reports this evening Moving on to 8A ordinance for final passage an ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehi and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending article 141 of the codified ordinances entitled Sister City
Commission by repealing the existing ordinance and replacing it in its entirety Bill number 19 2025 is sponsored by Miss Leon and Miss Crampy Smith Discussion Call the role Miss Quiet I Miss Leair Hi
Miss Leon Hi Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I Miss Grampy Smith I And Mr Cologne I pass 70 Moving on to new ordinances 9A An ordinance amending part 13 of the codified ordinances of the city of
Bethlehem Pennsylvania as amended known as the zoning ordinance of the city of Bethlehem Pennsylvania by amending the city zoning map Bill number 2025 is sponsored by Mr Cologne and Miss Guite
Discussion Councilwoman Leard Uh yes So um two meetings ago we voted to postpone our vote on this uh matter Um this was in response to some some concerns um about the neighbors not all uh fully
being aware of what was happening um and not having uh as much opportunity to engage um with the developer or come to the public hearing as we had hoped Um so uh in order to provide opportunities for
that um we wanted to uh more fully open channels of communication between the developer and the neighborhood residents And to that end uh last Thursday uh neighborhood conversation was held at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School It was
facilitated sorry facilitated by community action Uh the intended audience for the meeting was the residents in the immediate uh surrounding neighborhood and the developer Uh not city council members and this was not a formal um meeting of
council Um we had already been aware of this request by that point for some time and therefore had ample opportunity to do our own research um and meet directly with the developers They had invited us to do that before the public hearing Uh plus had the opportunity to ask
questions during that hearing which is uh what we had learned some residents had not been aware of So um the meeting is not a required part of the process and therefore I I really do appreciate everyone who participated uh so willingly and even eagerly from
residents who I I do see some uh in attendance uh to the developers to uh the city administration which provided information to residents about um the resoning process and the land development process including highlighting opportunities for public
engagement such as tonight's meeting and the the next one um and all the way throughout the land development process Um the developers presented information to the neighborhood about their resoning request and the intention of the development Um and then residents were
able to ask questions of the developers and share feedback with them Um so the intention was to provide an informal forum for neighbors and developer to build relationships and uh to inform neighbors about um some pretty complex
bureaucratic processes Um overall I am satisfied at this point that the appropriate level of outreach um which I'll I will summarize Uh Councilwoman Leon and I distributed almost 150 flyers on foot in the neighborhood surrounding
uh the the properties in question Uh so we did uh do a good amount of outreach there and uh communicated um with people uh in the neighborhood my concerns about that breakdown uh or potential breakdown
have been satisfied So thank you Thank you Councilwoman Any other comments or discussion regarding the reasonzoning counciloman Cra Smith Thank you Um I want to just thank um the developers I think it was um noble to
meet with council members that wanted to meet with them and also the neighbors Um I've reached out um to some of the neighbors seo and you know there's still some concerns There's um a lot of issues and it's a difficult vote I think for me
anyway because um I can see you know the positive certainly in doing um the 70 unit apartments Um but I also am thinking about you know what's best for the quality of life for that area that community and public safety and whatnot So I have several concerns that I think
I I addressed before but I'll address again Um you know the parking is always a concern especially since we're losing over 200 spots with the Walnut Street garage And you know we're going to have 70 units and I think 70 spots or one for every unit but half the units are two
bedrooms So that could be a concern Traffic is very concerning especially because of Garrison Street Garrison Street is so small It's almost the size of an alley at the street itself and the entrance being on Garrison um to the garage is is concerning as well as North
Street Um I know someone had brought brought up the issue of spot zoning at a meeting and um you know we were told it wasn't spot zoning but um you know whether or not it's spot zoning because we're looking at just reszoning two houses on a block So we're going to have two houses zoned one way and the rest of
the block is going to be zoned another way And um whether or not a spot zoning I mean you know I I I appreciate our solicitor's input on that but there is still the issue that you know it could be appealed and then it's going to be up to a judge if it's going to be spot zoning or not And then you know we're
going to be hanging because of that Um the other the other issue I have is I mean we're we're all about our climate action plan and you know when we're looking at tearing down homes um homes that are habitable and are you know being um people are residing in at this
point and offices whatever um you know is that really environmentally friendly and I think that the fact remains that preserving any kinds of homes um is more environmentally friendly than demolishing them and putting up new new um whatever it may be new buildings
because we're looking at reducing resource consumption and minimize waste We're conserving energy Um we're preserving the existing infrastructure meaning that we already have you know we're not going to have to put new water lines and sidewalks and redo the streets and whatnot So the environmental impact
is concerning and I think we need to to consider that Um as far as the affordable housing issue which is you know number one for many people um I guess I question how we're addressing it because currently the number of homes that are in that area that will be
demolished um are rentals and people are living there um and or renting office space and I'm assuming that it's affordable that they can afford it because they're there now but from the people I've spoke with um then if they have to leave they would never be able
to afford the apartments I mean so how are we really addressing affordable housing by doing this um I also worry about are we setting a precedence because we're going to allow to reszone just two homes in that area Um and that could set a precedence for reszoning in
the future I also um I know that we speak of needing more apartments or housing but we have the board two blocks away that is only I think at maybe 25% occupied
75% not occupied We're going to have the Waln Street apartments in the near future And we have Martin Tower that is already approved for a thousand apartments So that's a lot of apartments in downtown Do we need more apartments um you know I think what ideally and
again I know I don't have control over this I only have a vote on the resoning but I think ideally if we want it to be really um communityfriendly and friendly environmentally and affordable housing friendly is you know keep the homes there and then on the empty lots put up
you know smallcale multi-units like the one woman said um who spoke tonight about strong towns and how it's important to look at small areas and have multiple units in in small areas So for all those reasons it was a very difficult decision I really did put a
lot of thought into it but I will will be voting no Thank you Thank you Councilwoman Any other discussion from members of council councilwoman Quiet Uh thank you And I want to thank uh Councilwoman Leard in particular for the outreach um and and Councilwoman Leyon
um to the neighbors Um and I think it was really important that the that neighbors had an opportunity to have direct conversations with the developers Um for me uh zoning map changes are a high higher bar Um we've you know been
encountering more and more of these As you saw tonight we had a hearing beforehand about a res a zoning map change um on 8th Avenue Um we had a zoning map change request on Technology Drive last year the year before last
When was that um and uh each time we're asked for for these zoning map changes um we often get um sort of uh dire you know sort of uh you know rhetoric from from
developers about you know what will happen if they don't get the zoning map change Um in the case of Technology Drive uh we voted uh down the zoning map change and now we're going to have um this the building which was owned by IQE
which uh the developer had told us was in no shape to be used for its intended purpose anymore It was outdated and it was so lousy and they just you know really badmouththed this building um we're going going to now have a new employer that's got banners up that says
now hiring um in the semiconductor industry um which is what the original zoning was intended for So I'm not opposed to changing our zoning to amending our zoning to finding to modernizing our zoning Um but when a
developer in particular is asking us to make a change for their own um purposes for me that's a higher bar Um and so in this case um this this area used to be zoned CB these two these
where these two homes are um then it was as they say uh downzoned I don't know why that's downzoning but I guess because you can put less stuff on it um to RT to which conforms with the whole rest of the block going east west
um and and so more aligned with what you see when you look down the street um away from new which as we all know is CB because it's a big you know central business street um so stipulating that no matter what our decision is on this
zoning map change there is going to be an apartment building because that is what the developer wants and can build by right on the seven parcels that are zoned uh CB central business Um so the decision comes to uh if we allow the
zoning map change they will use the spot where there are these two um more naturally affordable rental properties right now One of which is uh currently rentable one of which I think maybe needs some updates they would knock those down not to
actually build more housing on that but to make it uh more parking and more exit space And um so I don't I don't love that use for that particular spot I don't feel like it
aligns with the whole rest of the block Um which is RT I mean yeah RT Um so th so those are some of my concerns Um and again you know we were shown two versions of a design neither of which is
you know guaranteed because the land development process zoning any zoning variances that might be needed etc Um but when they showed us the two versions you know there was this um sweetening the pot that there would be nicer facade and more parking um on the property if
we allowed this um zoning map change Um so again the facade there's no guarantee of anything because again these are just really sketches not final plans Um but in terms of more parking I know that people talk a lot about parking Parking is tight certainly on
the street uh in that neighborhood Um however the other side of the property is North Street and we do have a big garage on North Street And while there will be fewer bu uh parking spots in
Walnut Street uh there will still be ample parking um in the downtown area uh we are over over garaged um at this point And so uh the parking authority has made these calculations I think I've
said this like a hundred times Um a lot of people who live in apartments in downtown areas park in garages They have monthly permits Many many many people who live downtown park in the garages Um so I am less concerned about this pot
sweetening of more parking if we change this zoning map um than I am about the folks who live on Garrison Street and the loss of naturally affordable um housing on that street Um obviously it
would be unfortunate if uh they just knocked them down anyway I would be disappointed in that decision um if we didn't you know if they don't get the zoning map change But uh yeah I am a no on the zoning map change because um for
all the reasons that I stated um mostly that it seems to me that the RT uh is the appropriate zone for those two properties So thank you Thank you Mr Callahan Do you have your hand up i I I
do Um I I I'm I'm going to be voting for it um for a a number of reasons Number one um I believe the um the height if if we don't allow them uh the zoning relief on
this uh it's going to go to six stories uh versus five stories They've already stated that they need the 70 units and they need this in order to get 70 units in without the zoning change they're going to have to go to a sixth floor Uh also as far as the parking uh there is
some on-site parking Um but uh there obviously will be more on-site parking if they if they're allowed the zoning relief Uh if anybody thinks that anybody living in those apartments is going to uh park in the North Street garage and
walk two blocks up and over uh during cold weather and inclement weather uh it's not going to happen those people are going to be parking and taking the first parking spots that are available out on the street And um that
that's just a fact I mean you know you're not going to see people walking that far during inclement weather We have a lot of days where it's uh it's snowy rainy and um you know I think there's going to be a tremendous burden put on the uh all the residents that are
over there if we don't allow this zoning relief to allow them more on-site parking because it's just going to push more of the parking out on the street And that's basically our you know our choices those two homes are coming down
with or without the zoning relief And I don't know why people on council um aren't looking at that because uh we've already been told that by the developers They're going to need the additional
spacing for um flat parking or exit and entry ramps or some other type of um you know decorations outside as far as flowering or things like that They're not going to keep two old homes next to
a brand new unit like that It's just not going to happen So you know I'm in favor of a lower height five stories versus six stories And I'm in favor of having more parking um on-site than offsite And uh I'm also
in favor of having more people u more more foot traffic on the ground to um visit you know visit our restaurants and our stores So I I will be voting yes for for the zoning change Thank you Councilwoman
Leo Um Director Collins I have a couple of questions Um are are they seeking Alerta or any other tax incentive that would allow us to incentivize affordable housing in that area uh no There there's no lura on the north side anymore That expired um
at the end of last year two years ago or last year Um are we within our right outside of any type of tax incentive to restrict what kind of building they put on there if are you talking in terms of the affordability of the units or No just our land development process in general Do we have any control mechanism
to decide what they put on that property so so when a project comes in for land development I mean we're looking at zoning first Um and then we have their subdivision and land development ordinance If the question is like on the existing seven of the nine parcels you
know if they want to build you know a luxury apartment that is within zoning you know under 150 ft I mean that's they they are allowed to do that They can they can do that regardless of what what happens here tonight Okay You might be
asking me something different No no I'm just uh thinking about thoughts that I was having during this meeting Um when it comes to homes that are beautiful and old but outside of the historic district do we have any control mechanisms to stop them from tearing down homes that
are not protected by HCC Harbor or any other historic protection no I mean I mean if you own a you you could tear your home down I could tear my home down It's if if you're the owner of the property there's nothing that to my knowledge prevents you from you tearing it down building something new there as
long as it's within zoning And so the times when we talk about is demolition allowed or not to your point is um if if it's within the defined areas of either the north side of the southside or the mountain area historic districts um where there's there are greater
protections allowed under state law that would include you know preventing demolition of a building potentially Great Thanks Those were the only questions um I had And I also once again want to shout out uh Councilwoman Larair who actually did most of the like the
yman's effort with this It was uh great to see you out there in action and really uh organizing things to make sure that the community voices were heard It was great to be part of that meeting I'm taking my vote with the full confidence of the questions and answers that we heard at that meeting knowing that the
majority of that community would support the decision I'm making tonight Any other discussion from members of council did you have something Councilman Leer i mean I I addressed my uh concerns were satisfied about um you know neighborhood
engagement Um and I didn't address anything else Um but uh I I recognize that it is a very complex decision um and that many people who may read an
article about this decision will think it's a choice of apartments or no apartments but that is not the choice before us and I am recalling a woman who was here I believe at the meeting where the public hearing was who talked about
um the need to when we are considering zoning and uh urban or community development Uh to think long term when we are taking action
um instead of being reactionary Um and recognizing that if we want to see different limitations or if we want to see certain types of buildings and not others the choice that that choice
doesn't happen when we're voting on something that's happening within our current parameters That choice happens when we decide to look at the whole system and structure itself um and make changes that will impact you know that
will allow future councils to sit here and say oh this actually is a choice about that Um right now we have we have a decision that is pretty clear in scope Um
and if we want more levers to pull in the future or we want other councils to have more levers to pull then we should be looking at developing process um and policy to make th those levers available
That makes sense Um so that being said I uh I my primary concern here is traffic going out onto Garrison and the safety of that Um I really hope that there is a strong
amount of um public input in that part of the land development process um and a lot of conversation about traffic flow um and safety It it is a walking neighborhood
to schools um and it it's a area with a lot of uh families with young kids So um I will be supporting the resoning um and will do anything I can to help
encourage um public input as the land development process continues Thank you Councilwoman Any other discussion from members of council start with Councilwoman Wilhelm Sorry Uh yeah I I really wanted to add
my thanks as well to Councilwoman Leard and Vice President Leo and I know you were very helpful in the process but what I feel that you did um and it was clearly a a lot of work but you you gave the developer the opportunity to do uh
what they said they had done or perhaps thought they had done but as I understand from our conversations there were processes and opportunities and resources that you um let the developer know exist and they
didn't know existed And so um regardless of how the vote goes it's been said already apartments will happen regardless Um my hope is that um thanks to you and your work the process is now
moving in a different direction There is more transparency Lines of communications have been opened Um my hope is uh very much that that it will continue in that vein and that the the developer will see this as an opportunity to
um to set an example Um but but primarily I wanted to just really express my gratitude for the amount of effort that you put into um setting this setting this straight and and making this opportunity available for the community and the developer
Thank you Councilwoman Councilwoman Leo I just wanted to foot stop stomp what uh Miss Larrett said If we want better levers to pull like we as a legislative body have the ability within state laws and stuff like that to create those better levers So we really should go about doing that
Thank you Thank you Any other discussion for members of council i'll just briefly turn to our council solicitor There was a mention of spot zoning earlier and it's uh I just want to turn to our solicitor for just a quick opinion on um just what spot
zoning means We we hear it sometimes as it relates to these kind of votes So just if you could briefly speak on what spot zoning means in the context of what we're doing with this um request on the agenda Sure Spot zoning is a judicial
determination that a zoning ordinance treats a lot or a small area differently from similar surrounding land to the economic benefit or detriment of the the land owner So when you're looking at reszoning that's when it comes into play Um it's usually found where a zoning
action creates an island out of a parcel where it's zoned differently than everything else around it Uh in this case the two parcels that are issue that are at issue are located in the RT district immediately bordering the CB district and the request to reszone them
um to the CB is to the CB So in my view um if this change were made a spot zoning challenge which is of course could be brought anybody can always sue you um would fail because these parcels immediately they're immediately adjacent
to the uh zone that they would be joining So it doesn't create an island It creates a contiguous zone It just redraws that line a little bit So from a spot zoning perspective it's it's not spot zoning I
also wanted to speak briefly on another thing when you're talking about creating levers Um that's that's a good thing to think about and your mechanism for doing that is to make changes to your zoning ordinance because that is what dictates
what is permitted in each zone and a landowner can do whatever they want with their property within the bounds of that of that zoning ordinance So how whatever anybody feels about those two existing
buildings the land owner can if they're they remain in the RT can develop that land for any purpose allowed in the RT they can knock them down If they join the CB same thing Anything allowed in
the CB is permitted You know they can do And you're not going to it's not a question of retaining those structures because that's beyond the scope of municipal
power Thanks Thank you And I'll just comment I mean we we've revisit and I I wasn't here for the public hearing when we had it um think that was all the nights my family was sick but this was before
council in September of uh 2019 I had supported the petition at that time and uh I will be supporting it again tonight Any other discussion from members of council mr Miller please call the role
Miss Quitec Miss Leard I Miss Leon I Miss Wilhelm Hi Mr Callahan Hi Miss Grampy Smith Nay And Mr Cologne Hi
The zoning map amendment passes 52 Shame I'll ask everyone to keep their comments to themselves as we progress through the agenda Resolution 10A Be it resolved by the council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller are hereby authorized to
execute the grant award documents for funds to be received under the 2024 Edward Burn Memorial Justice Grant in the amount of 33,577 and will be used to expand and update the city's intersection camera network Resolution is sponsored by Mr
Cologne and Miss Quitech Discussion on resolution 10A I I'll just briefly touch on uh a couple things Chief Cod I don't have questions that I'm going to ask I don't have questions but I did did just one comment because we did hear during public comment and I I'll always say I I
respect everyone's opinion obviously based on how I vote Uh people disagree with me at times which is u that's part of the process I I did just want to mention as it relates to sort of the opportunity cost of how we choose to use these dollars versus other things that
we could be using the money for It it is worth mentioning as it relates to kind of the the service aspect of serve and protect with the Bethlehem police department While we are using these for camera infrastructure which has their
own utilities as it relates to uh investigations being proactive I mean there's you I could think of a few and anyone could find them in local media times where our camera network has helped um victims of crimes that were involved in certain uh events and and
help solve them and be used in investigative purposes But just aside from what we're using this for our police department does have an entire community services division If I'm not mistaken Chief you could feel free to interject if I'm wrong but an entire
community service division that's sole intent and purpose is to be out and engaging with our community and providing that that community policing that so many of us value and are involved with We have our community connections program which we heard from
Miss Urger earlier and Chief Cot We do have um our it used to be called B Pair now it's called something else but it's the program where members of the community who are looking for assistance related to addiction can walk into the police department turn in paraphernalia
and be referred to uh a treatment program And we still have that in effect Correct Chief K and as it relates to not even just us as a city but the system in which we operate I'm not too familiar with Lehigh County's diversionary courts but Northampton County does have a
mental health court a recovery court for individuals facing charges related to um their own um drug addiction We have a veterans court So there is a there are other systems in place to serve the community Not to say like I said before that this is a perfect system or there's
not always room to improve I recognize when you're allocating any money over here that means you're not putting that money over here but I just think it bears mentioning that we we make efforts to try to be comprehensive in how we spread around what resources we have and
I will be supporting the uh resolution 10A this evening Any other discussion from members of council councilwoman actually chief I have a quick question Who can access our video footage like if like the if we replace cameras who can access that camera
footage is it just internally can external internally in the city department there are some members of public works that chief cod if you don't mind come to a microphone just to make sure the camera picks it up please for the recording So members of the police department the
service center there are a handful of select members of public works that are able to view the city cameras Uh so during a snow emergency can check the uh um in addition to the the boots on the ground out on the road in the plows they
can check the the condition of the roadways Um but it's internal viewing only Okay All right Thank you Councilwoman Lair Um are the video files
uh stored locally or in the cloud so those are local and they're they're written over every so often I I believe there's like a two week loop I remembered you you mentioned the loop I just uh I I couldn't recall if we had talked about local or cloud Okay Uh so
even the um there's not like a software company who could access them even or correct get breached Okay Correct Great Thank you Councilwoman Any other discussion for members of council councilwoman Quitech Just another question about that So but they would be
subject to subpoena No Yes I mean if if they could be Yes Absolutely But again it would have to fall under that that retention time period Okay All right Thank you Any other discussion
yes Councilwoman Leo sorry Uh for our solicitor I have a question about how subpoenas work Uh can they can say say I saw that we had a camera Could they do like a broad subpoena for give me all of your footage or would the subpoena have
to be specific i.e give us footage at the specific times i'm thinking how we do right to know So how does that work that's a very interesting question with a lot of nuance Um but broadly anyone can you you can serve as a subpoena and
if a subpoena or or and then there are mechanisms to um defend against guard against a subpoena to request a motion for a protective order to say you know this this isn't narrow enough I I'm not
turning this over and and let a court decide Now jurisdictionally I've that to to speak more intelligently about the jurisdictional issues I I'm I'm not prepared to do that at this moment but broadly there there are
mechanisms to uh to guard against disclosures Thank you Any other discussion from members of council we'll call the role Miss Quite I Miss Leairard I Miss Leyon I Miss Wilhelm I
Mr Callahan I Mr Ramsey Smith I and Mr Cologne I pass 70 Resolution 10B resolved by the council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller andor such other city officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to
execute an agreement with Garden State Fireworks Incorporated to provide the Fourth of July fireworks display for 2025 Resolution is sponsored by Mr Cologne and Miss Quiet Discussion Call the roll Squite
Nay Miss Leairard I Miss Leon I Miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I Miss Crampy Smith I Mr Cologne I Passes 61 10 C It resolved by the council of
the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller and/or such other city officials is deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute an agreement with Grace Industries Incorporated to provide improvements at Friendship Park Resolution is sponsored by Mr Cologne
and Miss Guuitech Discussion on resolution 10C I'll start with Councilwoman Camy Smith Thanks I guess I don't know if this question is for Mr Evans or Mr I'll call but I'm um can I know we spoke of this before but how is this being funded the 900,000 for the
friendship park it's Collins yeah we've we so we've talked a bunch about the different grants that are going into this project um we received a large grant from the National Park Service through the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation Natural Resources that one was for about 700
$100,000 Um we have about I say $500,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation Natural Resources just a state grant Um there's a little bit of CDBG money going into the project and also I offered to get up and now I'm
forgetting one of the other grants I Is there any So is it all grant money exclusive it's fully fully grant It's fully all grant money and there's there's no match with any of the grants I don't recall Um I believe we have the grant like grants like federal money is matching state money I believe in the instances where that's required Okay And
are we with the federal money are we pretty much guaranteed at this point like is there an issue with it or no so the we are we are under agreement for the national park service dollars Um and we have there's no indication that that is money that would be pulled back at
this or signed We're under agreement Um I actually think the money has already been transferred to the state Um and and we're under contract with the state So great deal And my only other question I know I brought it up before but is in this whole redesign are we looking at hopefully we're doing accessible and
sensory sensitive areas and things like that with the new playground i mean I know it Yeah it is It's fully ADA compliant Okay but also like for sensory you know areas for um you know children that have sensory issues and
things like that I just hope we are if we're going to you know if we're going to put I mean I know it's grant money but it's a lot of money into a whole new playground that um I I believe there's in Sen Park I saw that we're having like a sensory area but you know if that could just be passed I know I spoke to Mrs Evans about
this in the past and I'm sure she probably is on that but I just want to make sure that if we're doing something new that we're certainly looking at that Okay Thank you Any other discussion for members of council councilwoman Leard just excited to to vote for this one uh in support of it It's been a long time
coming So thank you Councilwoman Any other discussion from members of council ditto Thank you Councilwoman Mr Miller call the RO Miss Quiet I Miss Leair I Miss Leon I Miss
Wilhelm I Mr Callahan Hi Miss Grampy Smith Hi And Mr Cologne I passes 70D Be it resolved by the council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller and/or such other city officials is deemed appropriate by the
city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute a use permit agreement with Bedco for the 2025 Live on the Greenway Resolution sponsored by Mr Cologne and Miss Guatek Discussion We'll call the role Miss Quiet Hi Miss Leairard Hi Miss Leon I
Miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan Impy Smith I And Mr Cologne I attendee passes 70 I'll accept a motion a second to consider 10E through 10G as a group So moved Second Motion by Councilwoman Leon second by
Councilwoman Wilhelm Any discussion on the motion mr Miller please call the role on the motion to consider the agenda items as a group Miss Quitech I Miss Leairard I Miss Leon I Miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan
I Miss Grampy Smith I And Mr Cologne I Motion passes 70 Please read 10E through 10G Certificate of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of Pennsylvania legislature Bethleim resolutions are hereby granted for 232
West Third Street to conduct various renovations to the front and side facades 230 West Third Street to conduct various renovations to the front facade and 14 through 36 West Third Street
concerning various details associated with proposed hotel structure The resolutions are sponsored by Mr Cologne and Miss Quitech Discussion on the group of COAs We'll call roll Miss Quiet I Miss
Leard I Miss Leon I Miss Wilhelm I Mr Callahan I Miss Crim Smith I And Mr Cologne I The group passed 70 That concludes tonight's agenda Get home safe everybody