Okay, we are recording everybody, just so you know. Good evening. I'll get the meeting started. I ask that we all rise for the pledge to the flag. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the
republic for 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 Quiet, present. Miss Leairard, present. Miss Leon, present.
Miss Wilhelm, present. And Mr. Cologne, present. Thank you, Mr. Miller. I will note that our city council solicitor, Attorney Stewart, is joining us remote as you see um to advise on any solicitor business this evening. Uh, President B,
I'd like to make a motion to move uh, new business to the end of the agenda. All right. Councilwoman Leon makes a motion to move new business tonight to the very end of the agenda. Is there a second? Second. Second by Councilwoman Wilhelm. Discussion.
I'd just like to know the reasoning behind it. Uh, my my reasoning is that there was a robust a good discussion at the finance committee meeting. So, I'd like to dig into that uh to get through council agenda and then whatever new business council might have be at the end of the agenda so we can get to
council business first. My only concern is just that people usually with new business um people in the audience are here and then we could address their issues during new business. So, I hate to have them have to wait till the end of the meeting for that to occur. Understood. That's my only concern. Mr. Callian, it's
obviously an important um topic to you. Correct. So, why not have it at the beginning of the meeting when everybody's here still instead of when at the end when they all leave and at the end of the meeting when everybody um tunes out on whoever's watching.
Wouldn't we want to do it at the beginning so we can get it out of the way? Well, I I think it's the the I think you're thinking the inverse because the finance committee, we would be getting to that first and then if like public discussion, whatever we would bring up would be at the end. So,
like if we wanted to bring up something about streets or sidewalks or whatever's happening on Southside, that would be under new business as opposed to the council agenda. Yeah. I thought you said you want to talk about the finance committee meeting. Oh, yeah. I I want I just want to get to the council agenda first and then whatever new business
council might have would just be at the end of the agenda, right? I I would just I would prefer to do it while while everybody's here instead at the end of the meeting when people leave. So, but that's just my opinion. Understood. Well, we'll vote on it. Anything else? The only thing I'm saying is um it's not at the end of the meeting, but halfway
through the finance committee um is on the agenda. So, can it be spoken of at that time? So, I would say that's the that's just an option. Yeah, that's I think that was my point. Yeah, it's just the so the finance committee is
just a report as we have always the uh I am aware the finance committee meeting went couple hours long which is atypical and if discussion is going to continue at that length this evening uh I'd be fine with having the open floor at the
at the end of the meeting for whatever you know discussions council chooses to have but again the motion on the floor right now is to move new business to the very end of the meeting. Is there any other discussion about that? Mr. Callahan, I I'd like to make uh an
amendment to it to uh if she wants to talk about the finance meeting, I would prefer that we talk about it when the finance committee meeting is is reported on uh at 7C with Miss Crampy Smith finance committee. So, what what is your what is your
motion? So, 7C is already on the agenda. Yes. So, she wants I maybe I misunderstood. Do you want to move it to the end of the very end of the meeting? No, I I'm sorry. Maybe I I wasn't clear. I I want to move the the part where council has the floor and we can go on for quite some time. I just want to move that to the end of the agenda so we can
get to council business that's on the agenda first. So, in in case that like the finance committee, we would run through the agenda as normal. The only portion that would be moved is council's new business. That's it. Yeah. So agenda
item five, new business will be moved to after the last resolution. Am I understanding that correctly? Council. Yeah. And and nothing else on the agenda would change. So we would discuss everything as it comes out. Understood. Mr. Callahan, do you want to amend or withdraw your motion because I'm not clear on what it was? I I I will
withdraw it as far as the finance part. I mean, if she's okay with discussing the finance committee meeting uh and and the issues that were brought up there at finance, fine. But new business should be at new business and this is why we have it here. I think you're aware of
some things that might be spoken of tonight and and this is why you want to move it to the very end of the meeting when no one's around or hopefully I mean I don't know why I'm not going to assign we're not going to enterain. I'm just going to say it's very strange. This is
this has never been done. Never. and and to make these people stay here all night to hear what's going to be discussed tonight because you know what's coming on and that's why you did this. So no, Mr. Callahan, I'm going to ask you not to assign motive because I ask everybody not to assign motive. I'm not going to assign motive. I'm going to assume I'm
going to assume. So, I'm going to assume that you're you're aware of things that are going to be discussed tonight, which are are very pertinent and real, and I think it's important that all everybody here hears it and not make them hang out to the end of the night to hear it,
especially the people that are online. I mean, I I think that I would agree with you, which is why I want everyone to stay as well as for for the finance committee discussion as well. So, it's not a matter of anybody vacating their own. So, why don't we just keep it in the order that it is? it it's the motion's been made. We don't we don't we
could spend another hour like we have at the finance committee meeting going back and forth, right? And that's what I'm trying to avoid in this particular moment. Right. Councilwoman Leon has made a motion. Want to get the city business. I recognize that there's been a second. We've had I take you're not going to be supporting it, Mr. Callahan.
I would prefer that they all hear everything. Well, and that's why we all get to vote. Councilwoman CR Smith, I'll just state my concern is that um while we can talk about the finance committee meeting at the end of the meeting, um there's some pertinent items for new business that I believe people are here
um and would like to be here when we discuss it and I don't think it's fair for them to have to wait till the end of the meeting for those issues to be brought up. President, understood. Conversely, people are here for items on the agenda as well. And we've been in this situation before where members of
the public who are here awaiting information about a vote that is on the agenda are forced to wait for hours and perhaps even leave before the vote takes place. We could make the same argument again. The motion is on the floor. You know, we have an move forward
with We have Exactly. We have an applicant here. Um so I'm presuming we're going to move forward with the vote. Okay. I am going to ask Mr. Miller to call the role on the vote to move new business to the very end of tonight's agenda. Miss
Leon I. Miss Wilhelm I. Mr. Callahan. No. Missy Smith. Nay. Miss Quiet. I. Miss. Leard. Hi. And Mr. Cologne. I passes 52. So the amended agenda now is new business will be at the very end of
the agenda tonight. Approval of the minutes for the April 15, 2025 meeting. Any comment on the minutes from April 15. Seeing none, we'll move on. Public comment. So, this is public comment for anything that's not being voted on this
evening. As is custom, I ask everyone to respect our fivem minute time limit. We do have six people who signed up in advance. So, I will start with Elizabeth Pizaro, I believe. I apologize if I'm misreading your last name. And I'll ask everyone if you're
comfortable to give your name for the record as our city clerk takes the minutes. My name is Elizabeth Carell Pizaro. Um I'm the president of the Monakasi HOA. Um I have a home at 223 Wesley High Street and there's 52 homes and I'm
speaking on the tenants behalf. We have concerns on issues that we feel the city needs to get involved with. First, the homeless, the tents. The community is expanding from New Street Bridge between the canal and the Lehigh Street down to the wooden match in the railroad tracks.
The dumpsters that you have there is very helpful, but it fills up within two to three days. And the and the trash is starting to pile up under 378 and onto Lehigh Street. We have mattresses, shopping carts, etc. being disposed on our community. We have
safety concerns with the homeless um roaming around the community. One entered my home, which I have a fenced um area, and thank God my son was there, that he needed a bat in order to tell this person to leave. So, this is um
this is very concerning. Um we have um they also have campfires. They use um propanes to um I guess to to cook or whatever. Um and this could be also concerned with because of wildfires. The toe pass, we can't even ride our bikes
over there because they're constantly harassing or trying to steal bikes or whatever, which it has done. Um our it's it's our concern also with our property value going down. Um, can the city do anything with some organization to help
these homeless people? Um, is it a railroad issue? Is it the city issue? I don't know who owns this property, but something needs to be done because it's expanding and it's growing. On a different note, the community, can we permanently have receptacle for dog um
owners when they walk their dogs in the circle near the wooden match area because they dispose the um the the waste anywhere and we're the ones landing up picking it up. As well as music fest, they we used to have trash containers going into our community and
they stopped for the last few years. if that can continue to go into um at least the first few culde-sacs. On a different note, I was hoping that the city can help us out. We have one um tenant um actually one home
owner that the house is o under foreclosure and using their backyard as a um waste um putting all their trash. I have contacted the city health department, the city sanitation and the police department which one of the officers came to one of our HOA HOA
meeting and basically nothing can be done. We have tried everything concerning this and now we're having a a rat and mice infestation. I think the city should help us out with this issue and that's it. Thank you, ma'am.
And there the different department heads are here tonight. And of course, you can always reach out to any member of council. All of our emails are on the city website, too. Contact with Tad Miller, but Oh, okay. Okay. And I have a copy if you need
this. Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Our next person signed up, Anthony Spagnola. I believe that reads. Yeah. Uh Anthony Spagnola, 578 Berries Bridge, Bethlehem. I would like to talk
about tonight about a business privilege tax that we pay every year. Myself, for my business, Sodtoani, 10 West, 4 Street, a Dagio, 530 Pemrook Road, as well as all the apartments for myself,
three of those separate ones is in excess of like $4,000. Pay that every year. In the city of Bethleam, we have at least 5,000 businesses that paid a business privilege tax. So, if we can just do
round numbers will average that they pay a thousand each business. That's over $5 million right in our city. Um, my question is on the south side of Bethleam and I've contacted engineering.
I have a landlord at 10 West 4 Street, Fred P. Rooney. He's the landlord. There's an HOA, the housing association, which is all county. And the apartments which have taken over to Southside are
Americus. The sidewalks, there is a plan in place, and they said that there's bids out that they're going to work on the sidewalk from New Street down to Broadhead. They got $300,000. Now, in my mind's eye, you
have a city masonary person. I don't I can't understand why you want let's call it rally the troops or the city employees workers and give them an opportunity to to allocate give them
those funds so they would be able to you know keep this all inhouse instead of always we're always bidding it out and unable to you know protect our own needs. So, if you've ever walked, take a
chance. Please go over to 10 West Fourth Street. Walk over there. It's the bricks and all over our city, which is great. We Main Street is the number one main street. This is like almost a comical bit where it's like the worst sidewalks
in America. I can't understand that all of you, and I know you're only part-time, and I don't think anybody up there, what kind of job can you do part-time? And I don't mean in a negative way. I myself I would start a fund or whatever we can do that you're
able to put your full effort into it and know the people who are in the city. Like I talked to him today. It's not my job. I'll talk to Chris Su, right? Who's head of that of that department. Another department's the city forester. We have three trees on the corner there that are
dead. They're going to fall. They're going to go down on a truck. It's going to be more of a liability. Now, how many times have you gone by there and you've seen these trees? Have you taken any notice to it? The city forester h, you know, I think she needs
to really look into these these issues or or however it goes. Um, I just wish we could get a plan. I know I love Laura Collins. She's economic development her subsidiary Sarah but we you know we don't need like
consultants John Callahan did it 12 years ago is it is going to change that much that fourth and new is the busiest area in Bethlehem and as well as the other businesses there Tony Silvoy from the goose Jeff from deja vu Mr. Benner
who owns a couple properties there as well Mr. Finnegan, does this fall on deaf ears? Do you do you all walk around the city? I've seen three of you come to my business and when you needed votes, you came in. Then when you got your votes,
you disappear. It's very disheartening. I pay I I that's the greatest thing I do. And also Anthony Spagnolo makes himself money and his friends. So I want to help everybody. I want everybody to be the best version of themsel that they
can be. Thirdly, uh, Far Farington Square up there, Lehi. Do they own that? On a Thursday, you have a food market. Do they all pay a 25 cent business privilege tax? I don't know if they do or if they don't. You know, that takes away my business for
food that have the mort and the mort and and water concrete that I'm working out of. They just bring in their trucks and are selling their foods. And the last thing and I want like the water, it's incredible bill to me that I looked up. Lehi University pays
$477,000 in water. That's all they pay. If you got 6,000 students, another grad students um professors all over. H how is it that minimal? It's a it's for me. I own a Dagio and I pay a base rate of uh $200 a
month. Fire lane one, fire lane two, but that's for another issue. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Our next speaker signed up tonight, Charlene Jenkins. Hello, I'm Charlene Jenkins. I live at 512 Dakota Street, Betham, Pennsylvania.
And I'm speaking about the youth. And I'm reading more and more about how the parks are getting renovated, but the parks that are getting renovated, you're forgetting about the Southside parks. There is the Betham Saints who is the
football field that has not been renovated or changed or even have a scoreboard that works properly for the youth that are so-called not in the upper class to practice or to even have a equipment properly equipment for them
to play in a football field. I'm I'm a taxpayer. I own my own house. I'm reading more and more about the Bethleam Steelers fields getting renovated. I read about the Raiders getting some donations. But what about the
Southside? We all talk about the Southside being a landmark. 378. You come down 378, you go past Southside. We're forgetting about the youth. You don't want to invest in the youth and the youth are going to invest in the
city, which is nothing but crime. You need to give these children something to do. The lower class, which is basically what people are saying is Southside, is not Southside. You got a lot of talent out there, but they have nowhere to go. I'm just asking you to look into the
Bethleam Saints football field just to give a little bit of investment, a scoreboard, lines for the football field, invest in equipment. you rather have the children play in an organized organization or would you rather have
them heading in the street and causing crime? I'm not going to take up a lot of your time. I just wanted to speak my mind because I'm reading more and more and more about the renovations of different parks. Sen Park got a little renovation, but there's no pool.
Everybody goes to Fountain Hill or they go to over to the south or the north side. You want to keep the southside kind of renovated. You got Lehi there. You got the the casino there. What about the kids? What about the youth? These are going to people who are going to
take care of you when you get older. So, if you don't put the investment into them now, they're not going to put the investment into you later. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Next on our list is Joseph Lee. Hello everybody. My name uh did I just
start? Uh yeah, if you am I giving your name for the record? Joseph Lee. Joseph L. Lee. Uh I live on Fifth Street, Southside Bethlehem. So most of you should know me if you're from Bethlehem. I'm the guy in 2016 that was stabbed and
died on Southside and the city completely covered it up. The DEA completely covered it up. It's never been printed in the newspapers. I get called a liar, but I got scars all over my body and I'm missing a kidney about it. I get called some of the most disgusting names by the Betham police,
treated like dog Retaliation, I'm going to ask you to watch the language. Okay. Uh, retaliation is a crime. Okay. I am quoted all kinds of laws and this and that because I'm too poor to get a lawyer. That's the only reason why Bethlehem is not sued. worse than the
John Herkos lawsuit, which is why the privilege tax exists. By the way, city hall need to create a tax because they got sued because the Betham police murdered an unarmed guy. True story. Look it up. That's why you're paying a tax. So, anyways, the Betham police, I
have contacted the chief of police and the mayor. Both of them, mayor, don't answer me back. He's a scumbag. Uh, the chief of police gives me all kinds of runaround. I was I was threatened recently online directly in in actual direct threats with weapons. The cops
came told me because I was arguing back with the guy that wasn't grounds to to sight the guy. That's a group violation of my first amendment rights. My right to self-defense is also verbal in the state of Pennsylvania. It's incredible. But they told me because I didn't have online stop bothering me. They couldn't
do anything. So, right in front of them on my doorbell camera and on police body cam footage, I wrote, "Stop contacting me." The guy continued to threaten me from there six or seven times. I kept calling the police. The Betham police threatened to arrest me if I kept
calling cuz I kept calling every time he threatened me. Then they told him to block me, that I was the troublesome one. He was on my band's website, okay? Making threats. That's the same as coming to my front door. My verbal
self-defense is the same as defending yourself at home. This is ridiculous. Okay, so that's needs to stop. And I am going to come in the next city hall meeting with they wanted me to give them evidence, which the police have evidence. I got body c I got the doorbell footage, all things on camera.
Okay, I got I got you guys. This is ridiculous. But I'm going to bring that pro that footage, but I'm not going to submit it to him in email. I'm bringing it right here city hall next meeting and I'm going to o uh circle everything and show you guys and we're going to have this out because I'm going to report it to the department of justice just like I
did with the stabbing and everything. You guys are lucky I didn't sue the city over that stabbing stuff. It was disgusting. I was standing up to a gang house on the southside and they were calling me cracker honky f a g rocker boy. Okay. And I was standing up to them and they were telling me bunch of
left-wingers that I was the racist one. It was insane. I got tons of footage on my camera. The Beth and police love making fun of me for pulling my camera out and videotaping them. It's crazy. But I've got footage of being escorted as city hall. And and you know the argument is, well, that was different uh
administrations. No, what that shows is a habitual chronic thing, an institutional thing in Bethlehem. And what's doing is it's hating on the poor, just like some of these other people said here today. All right. My man from Soda Sandy, he's right, man. The city don't take care of stuff. The park
stuff. It's nuts. You guys just part you just pocket you pocket crap. You know, you pocket stuff. The poor nothing. Southside kids got nothing. I got a little bit of time. I want to bring up one more thing. Those uh BB guns that people are shooting, the the the little
soft gels. All town has an ordinance again against it cuz they are dangerous. They do hurt. They can create damage. Okay. We I don't know what's going on with Bethlehem. I don't know if there's an ordinance, but we've got kids firing across Fifth Street. These guns, the guns are powerful enough to shoot the
projectiles across Fifth Street. They're hiding behind cars. On cars, which just doing that on cars alone, I mean, maybe I'm out of touch and I'm old, but that's not you. You shouldn't be doing that, you know? You shouldn't be going up touch of cars like that. They're like like it's at the
Matrix behind cars shooting. They're banging off of windows. They're banging everywhere. I don't know what's going on. I can report two houses specifically if anybody would like to contact me. There are two houses that are harboring this behavior. It's crazy. Somebody's going to get hurt. So, I want to put on record here right now so that when
property does happen or somebody gets hurt, the city will be liable because they're aware of the problem. They can't weasel out and say, "We don't know about it." You're going to get used to me coming to these meetings. I'm a citizen. My name is Joseph Lee. If you don't know me, you will know me. Get to know me.
Thank you. Take care. Our next person signed up tonight, Lou Gimenez. Good evening everyone. Uh my name is Lou Jimenez, 625 Pennsylvania Avenue and president of Betham Firefighters, Local 735. On behalf of Local 735, I want to
take a moment to speak about some things that impact that impact not only our members of Local 735, but every resident and visitor of our city. Fire department staffing. Local 735 issued a statement on social media about staffing cuts and
the city's growth both population-wise and in building development that has happened here over the years. I just wanted to be let known that this is not to degrade the administration as we've come very far to build an amazing working relationship. Over the past year, we've
been actively working side by side with fire administration to find real and meaningful ways to improve staffing across the department. This has been and continues to be a collaborative effort. Together, we're committed to solutions that enhance the safety of our
firefighters and ensure we deliver the best possible service to our residents. With more multioccupancy apartment buildings being built and our city growing, we must make safety a priority across all public safety departments. Through these ongoing
discussions, one immediate priority has become clear. It's the need to properly staff our Northwest Fire Station, Engine 9, with one fire officer and two firefighters every hour of every day across all four platoon. Our staffing
needs to be increased in other areas as well. And through collaboration between the city and local and being cognizant of budgetary items, we will keep the safety of our residents and firefighters the number one priority when we look for this when
we work towards this. Engine 9 protects a rapidly growing part of our city. Without that adequate staffing, both our members and the public face unnecessary risks. A fully staffed engine 9 is essential to ensure safe, effective, and timely response when matters when
minutes matter most in a growing area. I also want to take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate the relationship we have with both fire administration and city leadership. We may not always agree on every issue, but we always make the true effort to work
together in good faith. That partnership matters to Local 735. It's what will help us continue moving forward. As we continue these conversations, we remain committed to working collaboratively to strengthen our department, support our
members, and provide the level of service that our community not only expects but deserves. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker, Harry Favorbody. Hello everyone. Harry Faber. We are at a
his a historic juncture. What we do now, what we say here, what policies we reject or enact will be remembered. This is the moment. For 577 days, the world the world has watched a genocide unfold in Gaza. Yesterday, Israeli security cabinet unanimously approved the
escalation of its campaign, including the conquest of Gaza and the forced displacement of its people. We must call it what it is, the annexation of Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of its people. All while we approach 10 weeks of Israel blocking food and water to the entire population. Meanwhile, here in the
United States, fascism is here. On April 28th, President Trump issued an executive order unleashing militarized policing, shielding officers from accountability, and criminalizing disscent. As the Legal Defense Fund warned, this is this is not about public safety. It's about creating a police
state to suppress opposition. Safety and security need to be reframed. Real safety and security is knowing that if you get injured, leave an abusive relationship, or quit an exploitative job, you won't go homeless or hungry. Safety and security does not come from knowing there are more militarized
police in the community. It's knowing that your community won't allow your arrest or disappearing for speaking out against tyranny. Real safety isn't the funding of more police and punishment. It's the funding of structures that will keep us fed, sheltered, educated, connected, and working towards a better world. So, the city of Bethlehem and
Bethlehem PD now face a choice. Will you collaborate with this fascist escalation or will you stand with the people you're sworn to protect and serve? We cannot capitulate to fascism. If we submit to fascism, we are digging our own gra our own graves. There is a war going on to conquer the collective human mind. And
right now, the American people are losing that fight. How do you get people to continue participating in a self-evidently broken system that obviously doesn't serve them? The answer is you break the people. You turn them into addicts. You get them addicted to drugs and tell them it's medicine. Addict addicted to propaganda and tell
them it's media and entertainment. You get them addicted to self-commodification. You indoctrinate them into an inherently self-loathing consumerist mindset and convince them that it's empowering, that they're hustlers, that they're breaking out of the matrix. You get them addicted to swipes and likes, to dopamine hits, to
Netflix binges and Amazon next day delivery, to mileong candy aisles at the grocery store. You get them so accustomed to instant gratification, to easy quick fixes that the idea of pursuing long-term depth or purpose has never or never has time to occur to them. And that's the real key. You
remove purpose. Nothing will turn a human being into a more predictably obedient consumer than a desperate need to fill a void and need for purpose that they were tricked into forgetting they even had in the first place. Luckily, since the war is for your mind, you have homec court advantage. To start
effectively fighting back, you need to pay attention. Pay attention to what you consume. Does it serve you? Does it help you grow? Does it keep you sharp? Does it mean you well? Or does it hurt you? Does it take advantage of you? Does it do you and slow you down? Does it lull you into apathy and emptiness disguised
as comfort and convenience? The same can be applied to ideology. One of the most insidious aspects of our present political economy is how it tells us what to think, how it shapes what's deemed important. This is done simply by publishing or not publishing. Don't worry about your neighbors losing their
jobs and only source of income. Ignore the rising costs of rent and food. Don't think about how our finite resources are being spent cultivating destruction abroad. It's not important. The latest spectacle being uh pushed was the MetGala yesterday. These people are important. Look at their outfits. Even
former VP Kala Harris attended. The theme was tailoring black style. All while our federal government is preparing more illegal intervention on the African continent. I'm referring specifically to that of Ibraham Trayor uh uh the captain of Burkino Faso who General Michael Langley during a US
Senate Armed Service Committee hearing on April 3rd accused of being a threat to his people. The spectacles are important while US foreign policy is treated as if it does not affect you. We must remember the entire purpose of the social construct of government is to benefit the lives of the people, not for
those in government to enrich themselves off the destruction of the planet. This moment demands more than symbolic solidarity. It demands action. So I urge council and this administration to divest from militarized policing and reject federal grants aimed at
weaponizing our officers against our communities. I urge secondly to protect disscent. I urge the council pass resolutions affirming the right to protest. You might not have liked what this gentleman came here and said and how he acted, but he has the right to do that and we need to protect that. And third, we have to stand with Palestine
against this genocide publicly. take a stance. We're named after Palestine. End local complicity by boycotting Israel. We cannot undo 577 days of inaction. But we can refuse to add another day to that tally. The future is built on what we do now. Will the city of Bethlehem be
remember be remembered as collaborators or as the ones who fought back? Thank you, Mr. Favor. That exhausts our list of who had signed up before the meeting. So, I'll go around the room. Was there anyone to the left who want to make comment has not had a chance to yet? Turn to the wide center. Was there
anyone who wants to make comment who hasn't had a chance to yet? Gentleman in the front. Mr. Keratollah. Hi, I'm Marty Keratollola, 813 Lawford Street, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
I'd like to state that going back to December of last year, a member of city council pushed our papers to put me on the front page
as making anti-semitic comments. What has happened is there ain't a chance in the heat of the infinity that I would ever get elected
being considered anti-semitic. My friends who were Jewish backed away from [Music] me. And I had a lot of friends that were Jewish that were working with me. I made a few jokes and I also made a few
jokes at Arts Quest and I for a full house. Nobody walked out. But city council never backed me in getting Arts Quest to have me eliminated as being a racist. So here I am, an anti-semitic racist running for mayor of the
city. That's a joke. But however, the Republican party was going to back me. But I'm a Democrat. I said, "You're not going to win if I change." They want me to ch They wanted me to change to be a Republican. I said, "You're not going to
have a chance in the heat of eternity to go ahead and have a Republican mayor in a Democratic city. Keep me as a Democrat, push me with the Republican party." They didn't want to do that. So
anyway, elected officials It's a great job. You got a chance of two or three people going up against your job to get the big money from the taxpayers. Isn't that great? You could
apply for a job as being a manager of McDonald's and 20 to 50 people are going for the position, but it's easier to be an elected official and take money from the taxpayers. If I was
elected, I wouldn't take any money. I'm not married. I got no kids that I know of. I don't have to send my kids to Harvard to become attorneys to make people's lives miserable. And I don't need the money. I'm well off the way I
am. Being a 100% disabled American veteran, I would have made a stand to serve my country again. and done it for nothing. You don't need to have someone
who's been to Havat to go ahead and be the mayor of the city. But I'm glad we're going to have a woman mayor because I did state at the United Nations gathering in New York City that if women were running the
world, we'd have peace and world unity. Because as men all we want to do is fight. Women they negotiate unless it's that certain time in the month but that's another story. But the thing is but mainly they want to negotiate. Please watch the crass
comments. I was being diplomatic about it or was I being democratic about it? Well anyway but okay the fact remains that women would make I said at the United Nations gathering it should be the law to belong to the United Nations.
You must have a woman leader. And I hope we have a female mayor for our city. But like I was saying before, if you are an elected official and you're working for nothing, you get a lot of perks because no matter what you do afterwards, you
are going to get money. But then you get the perks of all the compensation for your family and everything for all the benefits on top of it. But now look at Donald Trump. Now, a lot of you people don't like him, but the fact
remains once if he quit the presidency tomorrow, he could be in a major motion picture and the no other person could get the job. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Coer, nobody. He would get the job
as the main part. People would come and see the movie. He would make be a million dollar seller. And I got the book that the screenplay for running for the presidency of the world. The part is there. A major part. Google it on on
Amazon. Malibu written by Arty Curatola. A great thing for for Trump. But what I'm saying is elected officials, you don't need to be even getting any money. And I would have been an example. But I'm not going to be your mayor. Thank you, Mr. Grace will be. Thank you very
much. God bless. Is there anyone else in the wide center who would make comment this evening? Mr. Andalics Steven Antalix 737 Ridge. The best government can only be
achieved when an educated electorate selects the best people who are seeking public office. This is what I am attempting to do here. A single party government is not
the best government. Seeking four seats will have six Democrats and one Republican candidate. I suggest that the Republican candidate Joseph Papalowski be elected because the
best governments are usually by camel thereby providing a check and balance on console. On the Democratic side, we have two incumbents and four unknowns.
Usually incumbents are reelected but in this case I suggest caution. The incumb the incumbents are H create and R. [Music] Leon. How well do they served during the last three
years. A simple method to determine this was by handing to all private citizens attending council meetings a form called citizens evaluation of elected bethium council members. Miss Leon was given a grade of
B or 3.2 by the citizens while HQ was given a grade of F or 0.9. the highest and lowest scores of the seven candidate sitting g council
members. Would it be in the best interest of the city to reelect a person with a grade of F? How to evaluate candidates of unknown history for public service? One safe method would be to
select Bethleb born candidates with the longest history of Bethlehem residency. They will possess the spree decor necessary for good service of the four unknowns. I have heard J. Daniels speak well and
intelligently and feel she would be be a good choice because of her southside concerns. I have no personal knowledge of te can tell me Jay Aean mayor. Uh thank you. I think I would start um uh we can do the
administrative order first. I hereby appoint Lucas Wal of 504 Prospect Avenue FM 18 and membership on the zoning hearing board. This appointment through May 23rd. Administrative order for Lucas Woke to the zoning hearing board. Resolution sponsored by Miss Crampy
Smith and Mr. Cologne. discussion on the appointment. I just had a question. Um I'm just wondering because this is a very important board and we're looking at possible, you know, reszoning the city. Um what because I don't see anything on
the resume, um as far as like anything relevant to zoning, what kind of training do new people get when they get on zoning? So for all new appointees to the zoning hearing board um similar to other boards uh they start with uh training and guidance from our in-house staff. So
from the planning bureau. So they'll work directly um with the zoning officer to get the you know basic background materials for the role the zoning ordinance in case the planning commission has a different example the sub the division land development ordinance. Um and then we also um
encourage all new members to go through trainings with the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission. So you are probably familiar with those. I think you often get emails about them as well, but quarterly LBPC does trainings on zoning as one topic, land development, municipal planning. Um, and so our our
zone here and board members go through those as well. Um, in the case of this particular applicant, um, they reached out and expressed interest. We had an initial discussion about not only their um, experience but also their interest. and uh they have attended zoning hearing
board meetings and had further discussions about the work of the board and you know we're confident that they are you know intellectually capable sufficiently interested um and professional to to take on the role.
Thank you. I did reach out and spoke to Mr. book and he seemed um you know very amiraable person and um you know definitely has professional experience in other areas um and admitted that he you know he doesn't have any experience we would like to get more involved so I just want to make sure um you know that
we're having we have people that if they don't have experience that they definitely because it is I know people have been on before said um you know they it's a lot yeah it is and it's it's very rare that anybody who has direct zoning experience is you know living in the city of Bethlehem um and available
and interested in in doing the work. It's a pretty specific area. So, I think you'll see with just about everybody who's been appointed that, you know, um the the specific experience in zoning is often learned on the job. And my only other question is who will they be replacing? Is there someone who's term
has expired that wants to get off or? No, we've actually been um so we we have five positions total and we've had a vacancy for for a while now since I guess some of our other people who stepped down previously. So there's nobody whose appointment is not being renewed. Thank
you. Any other discussion? No, I that that was my question. I just didn't know who who was if it was replacing. So, who is the person that stepped down? I wish I had my list with me. I mean, we've had some turnover. I think um Mr.
Fitzpatrick, who was the chair for a while, stepped down, I want to say maybe a year ago. Miss Lee stepped down at some point, right? Yes, Miss Lee stepped down within the past year or two as well. Um and then we also have two alternate positions open. Um and one of the alternates as well had shut down
from the past couple months. Thank you. Any other discussion on the appointment? Just wanted to put in a word for the for that zoning training um that the planning commission does. I did it in my first year on council and who's been invaluable. Um I found that it was
really really helpful and I refer back to the p the materials from the training quite often. So thank you. Anything else? We'll call the roll. Miss Leyon. Hi. Miss Wilhelm. Hi. Mr. Callahan. Hi. Miss Grampy Smith. Hi Miss Quitech. Hi
Miss Leard. Hi. And Mr. Cologne. Hi test 70. Just um I will then uh I'm sorry. Is there a question on administrative? We're back up just so everybody knows YouTube's back to reporting. So I would then allow obviously um I'm
going to call um Chief Reich up. Obviously, we had a four alarm fire on Friday. Um, and uh, we've been working on that extensively over the last four or five days, especially our first responders. So, Chief Reich is going to give uh, give a kind of summary report.
I think altogether we ended up through mutual aid having 87 different firefighters um, come to the to to the site. Um, uh, and Chief Frank's going to just kind of run through all the different information. I think he was going to reach out as well with a
summary to council as far as what kind of went through and even how things are going forward. But many of us were there for several hours the but not compared to the first responders who were there. I think Chief Wright was there just about all weekend and I know Miss Pimenez and several of our firefighters are here. Um and I just want to publicly
thank um all of our first responders, our police, our fire, our paramedics, our health bureau um who was there helping to check people in. Um, a lot of times if you've never been through this, and I asked Chief Reich, he looked it up with uh uh our deputy uh Mr. Bear. Yes,
this is the eighth fourth alarm fire in the past 25 years. Um, so we have one about every three years um, on average. But it was a situation with our health bureau who was there um, checking people in and not just as far as like pets, but also sometimes you don't realize
somebody left in the morning to go to work and they take their medication in the morning, but then they got to take it again at 6:00 or 6:30 and they're worried about getting back in or not. And all of those kind of details um and all of those kind of actions were being coordinated and Chief Reich was actually obviously helping to lead the way. But
as were our police departments, our paramedics, our firefighters, I think at 1.2 we had 41 firefighters there of uh city firefighters I think was the number we talked about. But overall 87 through mutual aid that we had, you know, one of the things I've learned is when you have a four alarm fire in the valley, they're
always mutual aid calls um because nobody's got 87 people um to be able to do that. But Chief Rex is going to kind of run through some more of those those uh the uh the details. Certainly. Thank you. And first and foremost, I've been contacted by a lot of members of the
public and by council. And really the thanks that we've received goes to our firefighters, the folks that were on the roof of that building fighting that fire, going up five, six flights of stairs to get to the penthouse to battle
that fire. Uh that type of fire is always challenging and very equipment and personnel dependent and that's why it grew to a fourth alarm. What also didn't help is the wind was very strong
gusts at the time and blowing the length of the building which helped push that fire across the roof of the building. Like I said, the real thanks goes to the firefighters that were on duty that day. And I have to acknowledge the assistant chief working that day was
Tony Premmitz. He led the 18 firefighters that were on duty that day. Amazingly, he immediately started coordinating efforts. Uh it was a textbook operation for fireground
operations. We had 18 firefighters on duty. They all ended up at the scene. We had two lieutenant inspectors that were working that day. They were at the scene. Myself, Deputy Chief Bear were at the scene. We ended up calling out 19
firefighters, city firefighters from home and as the mayor said, we ended up with 41 firefighters there. We couldn't do it by ourselves. We had excellent support from the police department. They were going through the building helping
evacuate people out of the building. Two of their officers carried one of our wheelchair dependent residents down five flights of stairs to safety. She couldn't express her gratitude enough to me uh when we were at the evacuation
point and uh that is commendable. Also is all of our paramedics on scene that provided care to the first responders. It was a hot day. It really takes it out of you uh
just breathing an a cylinder of air. It's very dry the air in the cylinder so that you don't have uh organisms growing in the the moist air if it was in the cylinder. So, it's very dry. It sucks water out of you just by breathing it.
And I've read it takes as much as 16 ounces out of your body every cylinder. Not including wearing all that gear in the sun battling a fire and all the perspiration. So, it's very exhausting
and our firefighters when they come out, they need rehab. They need water and items like bananas that often show up at a rehab scene. And our paramedics were there providing that, providing health assessments, checking people's blood
pressure and and so forth, and making sure that our personnel were kept safe, not only to our personnel, but to all the mutual aid departments that also responded. We had seven paramedics, 15 police officers. We had six personnel from the
U economic and community development office. Mike Simonson was there. He brought over housing inspectors. They were there to help. It was a large number of people being a large apartment building. Brought them over to help coordinate gathering people in specific
areas so that we could do a headcount. The health bureau was there with five personnel. They did an amazing job at what they do best and that is helping people. They organized that operation very quickly gathered all the names,
apartment uh numbers, telephone numbers, whether they had uh meds that they needed and how soon they needed that, whether they had a pet, all those important details that we need later on in the call as we make decisions. We also had uh eight firefighters and
officers from the out of town fire department. We work very closely with the out of town fire department. They showed up on scene with their ladder truck, immediately asked what they what we need them to do, went straight to the roof and started working. That's the
relationship that we've built over the last year with them by meeting with them and planning for this interaction going forward. We also had Betham Township sent seven firefighters and officers. Easton, six firefighters
and officers. Hanover Township over to Hampton County, three firefighters and officers. Land to bus, which we used to assist folks that didn't have transportation to get to the hotels. They provided a bus driver and a
supervisor to take those folks there. Lower Saken Fire Department sent four firefighters and officers. Nancy Run sents six firefighters and officers. And the important thing with Nancy Run is they also bring uh air truck, something that we don't have. It's a county
resource that they respond throughout the county providing uh service where they fill our cylinders so that we can continue to do our job. Without those uh air cylinders and without that refilling of the cylinders by that department, we wouldn't be able to do our
job. Palmer Municipal Fire Department sent 10 firefighters and officers and finally the Red Cross sent three personnel to do what they do best and that is help coordinate uh folks after a fire and arrange for what aid is needed.
So with that long list, that's the reason why the situation was successful. It starts with our firefighters and the hard work and efforts that they did and goes all the way down till uh we find housing and transportation to that
temporary housing and meet those needs. Um, is there any questions from We're still on the mayor's report. So, there's no real discussion or debate at the moment, but and I just I wanted to allow to Mr. Simson is here. Um, and I was
hoping that uh Mr. Simson might be able to just kind of like talk about what is next as much as possible. Um, as far as there was a lot of coordination as far as the residents being becoming displaced, a lot of questions of what the future of the building is. Mr. Simonson and Miss Collins have been
spending um you know the last I guess it's Tuesday the last five days um trying to work out and help with a lot of those details about what's moving forward. But I would obviously end that first part of the conversation. Um, and then if people want to have questions about they absolutely can, but I think
it was just kind of good to go through all of it because I do want to just reiterate what the chief had said about the amazing job of our of our firefighters of the, you know, the whole second platoon that showed up, but also how just efficient things were like the health bureau um, coming to be able to
help people. It really was one of those moments where you never want to see, but when you're there and you're watching how um impressive the professionalism is of from our firefighters to our police to our paramedics to our health bureau to to Mike and thinking about what's got to happen with the building to let
people in. Um it it it truly was I would I would use the word impressive as far as what as as far as the the readiness as far as the um personnel is concerned. But m Mr. Simson, if you could just kind of uh talk a little bit Sure. um about kind of where we go from here. Yep.
Thank you. I would too would like to thank the fire department for their valiant effort. Uh it it was really a cost-saving effort, a life-saving effort and on on all fronts. Um but now what happens with the building is now um the early early damage assessment was done
by myself and by uh uh companies hired by the uh insurance companies for the developers or the property owners. So, what we'll go what we'll do now is we'll go through that building floor by floor, room by room, see what we can do to turn power back on, remove walls, remove
ceilings, whatever we need to do to access it and open it up and get it as dry as possible. I've already been through with uh several of the uh re rehabilitation restoration companies, some of the electricians, some of the mechanical servicing companies just to
see where we stand. Um it may be some time. I don't want to say it's going to be open in a couple of weeks. I I we don't know that. We don't know the extent yet because the damage hasn't been completely assessed. We've had some heavy rains over the last couple days which kind of put hampered uh the ability to dry it out as fast as we
would have liked. Um but we anticipate power back in the building within the next few days, maybe a week or so. And then with that being said, the drying out process to begin. Um we've started putting temporary roof on the building so that to keep the water and keep it airtight. So I would assume that once we
start this process and once we can get some power back in and some units stabilized the possibility to opening things up to more people to get back in to get their things to do those kind of things and kind of it it starts the process of the rehabilitation. It will
be some time but we can start slowly allowing people back in and the process there for Mr. Simson as well is I mean he as the building inspector he is I mean it's about safety. So it's not as much as people want to get back in there
until everything is up to code which is the way that we that his office handles everything from a safety point of view people are just not going to be able to to to to get back in there. And obviously that's ongoing conversations as far as Mr. Simonson is concerned u
you know uh Mr. bear who was involved in some of these conversations as well. Um, but it's it's always about safety. That's that's what this is about. People are not going to be let back in there until it's safe to go back in there. Um, and there's a standard that needs to be met that I think the plan as far as what
we heard over the past three, four, five days. Um, is moving in that direction. But the question that we are getting obviously from a lot of people is like when are people going to be able to open? When are the commercial entities going to be able to open? They had to throw out all their food. I believe um just a lot of a lot of lost costs there
and things like that. So it's it's ongoing in a lot of different directions as far as these different kind of trains trying to run on time. Um but I just want to publicly thank Mr. Mr. Simonson and Miss Collins who have been spending a lot of time trying to work out all of these different kind of factors to try
to, you know, do this process in as safe and efficient uh way as possible to move forward to be able to let those um whether or not it's the commercial tenants or some of the tenants or whatever it might be move forward because there's a lot of different factors. If Mr. Clone, I would refer to
you if people have questions for Chief Reich or Mr. Simson about about the fire. I think it would be pertinent on my end, but that's but that's your decision as far as if it's I I don't like to break order with given the circumstances. Yes. Because of obviously the severity of the fire and people have
questions. So I will open it up to discussion just as it relates to questions about you want something else to I apologize. I forgot to flip my page. There are two very important people that we need to also recognize for their efforts. We had the Lehigh
Valley Cart team there. That's a animal care group that came in with their trailer and provided kennel services for residents that had pets that we were able to remove from the building. All the pets were accounted for. All pets made it out safe. We're so happy to
report not only were there no injuries to any residents or firefighters, all there was no injuries to any of the pets as well. and that team came out and housed the pets as we were able to remove them from the building. And finally, last but not least is most
importantly was Northampton Community College. Their security staff, their public safety assisted us. I contacted them to say, "Hey, this is Chief Wright, the city of Betham, and this goes to the partnership that the city has developed
over the year and the community that we have here." Contacted them. this chief, right? I would like to bring about 70 to 100 people in your lobby. Is that possible? We have a big fire across the street. Their chief showed up within five minutes with one of his staff. They
immediately began opening every door on their ground floor. They provided us with space for all the residents, restrooms for the residents to use and also a large meeting room that we could set up a temporary EOC emergency
operations center where myself and several key members as the situation developed such as Red Cross and the management group and so forth, we could meet and coordinate efforts together in one space and without their
uh giving us that space to do that work and to allow the residents someplace to just sit down and rest and it was airond conditioned for them and uh that was invaluable and to have it be so close that we don't need to find
transportation sometimes uh when these incidents happen we don't have that luxury where something is that close we have to find transportation to uh get all of the residents to maybe a high school or some other facility building, but uh the fact that without any
warning, I showed up and asked with this need and they immediately opened up their building and their arms and welcomed us. Thank you, Chief Right. I will, like I said, um relative to questions for Chief Reer, Mr. Simson as it related to the
fire, anything from members of council, sir. Well, I just want to say thank you so much. I think there's no words um to express a gratitude to you and it sounds like to all the hundreds of uh individuals at Anony's that um made this what could have been a real tragedy, you know, not a tragedy aside
from, you know, the loss of the building, but thank God there were no there were no injuries. So, that's uh I really want to express our my gratitude and I think everybody's gratitude for that. Um, and I just want to, you know, I don't I don't want to put you on the spot here, but I know, you know, we've had some issues with staffing and now we have more, you know, more firefighters
on deck like, uh, in the academy and waiting and, um, and given this unfortunate situation and we we saw, you know, what we needed. Um, where where are you at since this fire as far as like feeling that we're okay with staffing or feeling that we might need
to look at that again? I mean, I don't want to put you on the spot because I know you've been through a lot in the last week, but I'm just thinking, you know, this is an opportune time since we've had this horrible tragedy experience. Certainly. Uh, so overall, I just want
to give an overall view of what we've accomplished. I've been in this position a year now and overall we started with a lot of grievances that we needed to work through, a lot of issues that we needed to work through and it's through working
with President Jimenez and his staff and we build a relationship. We started having monthly meetings again where we can discuss issues and make progress. I go to the stations and meet with our firefighters. We sit and have lunch
together. that's where a lot of things are solved, you know. So, uh it's that type of relationship and effort that we've developed where we were able to resolve as many issues and make as much progress as we have in the last year.
So, one of those issues overall was staffing, and that's why we approached uh the mayor and council to uh approve that second um academy, which is something that we haven't done in
from looking back at our records, we hadn't done a second academy in 30 years. So that was a big ask in the middle of the year, but it was truly needed because we were consistently down a large number of of firefighters. So we
needed to replace those. So working with the local 735, we identified that as our immediate concern at that time related to staffing is to get that approval and to fill vacancies as quickly as we can.
Now we've planned for a second academy this year also. So we sent a total of 16 people last year throughmies. We sent eight people so far this year to academy and we're sending
another six in the second academy this year. So that's a total of 30 personnel that we've invested in and provided training for to fill these vacancies as quickly as possible. That's a large commitment from you, from
the administration, as it was over $500,000. I believe it was around $525,000 was spent to uh train those 30 folks that were looking to have by the
end of uh this year. And that doesn't include their salaries. that's just in the training needed for like the academy and rental of their gear and all of those associated items. So our focus was to fill the
ranks and as we fill the ranks is to see how that relates to the number of people each day that we have uh like showing up to fill seats in trucks and then that will give us a better perspective of the direction that we need to go. Another
part of that that I approached the administration was once we work towards accomplishing that is that we could possibly consider doing a study of the fire department and the city. The last time we've done such a study of the fire
department and what is needed and where we can project to grow in the coming years was back before I was hired. And so I think the city has changed a lot since then. The fire department has changed a lot since then. So conducting
that study at some point here in the future which we've gathered information from four different uh vendors that provide such a service and as we move forward we can consider having a study like that done. Um, I would like to say
that Lou and I working together could could come up with a solution, but that's from our perspective. I think a a third party look at the city and our resources gives us a better idea of maybe where we should go. Another aspect
of that is that uh local 735 asked us to gather information to provide to the IFFF to conduct a study and I forget the exact name of the study but GI a GIS study where they provide
feedback on staffing levels and so forth. So, Deputy Chief Bear spent quite a bit of time um going through our fire software and providing gathering all the data that President Kimenez has
requested. We have provided that to them. They've submitted it to the IFFF and I don't have a real good read. the time of when we can expect that feedback from the IFFF kind of keeps fluctuating but uh we'll be receiving
that at some point in the future. So that'll be another data point that we can use. And then most recently, as President Jimenez had mentioned about engine 9, it's just one of the other issues that were kind of on the table
waiting to be addressed and were to that point and we met in April in the monthly meeting that I mentioned that we reinstated and have conducted every month. Uh we discussed that and what that might look like and different ways that we could potentially address that
issue and agreed that we would both sides would review that come up with more information and review that at our main meeting which is May 28th. So that's kind of the overall I know it was a long-winded but I I think that it's
important to show the overall picture of what we've accomplished together. And just to check that that Chief Right because you know basically when Chief Wright took over we were about to have over a two-year period a whole bunch of retirements and essentially we've had almost 30 retirements. So the idea because I think currently right now as
far as showing up to work we're down what 14 14. So even if we have we're paying the people that are in the academy and we're about to send more people to the academy but the plan in 24 and 25 was because there are some staffing questions that can't be answered until we have all of these
positions filled. So because right now understanding about whether or not we have 24 people you know per shift like we don't actually have that number even though that's what the budgeted number is and that's what the planned number is as far as per the platoon. So then the
idea in 24 and 25 was to go to twommies and then after we send the six people I believe next month correct if there's no more retirements and we can't send somebody until we have a retirement but if there are no more retirements from June until December when those six show
up to work we will then be at the full complement of I'm making this up as far as like nonofficers non- desk people 90 firefighters and 90 positions I believe there's one person that's currently in arbitration to be able to get this because it involves potentially creating new officer positions or dealing with
things with civil service or new officer lists. So, it's not a it's not a simple thing. And to both of their credit, they understand that and they're having those conversations that are ongoing now as far as like how do we necessarily fix the structural issue that obviously if you have five people at four platoon and
four stations and 20 officers, all it takes is like one person to be on vacation or one person to be on sit and then you only have four officers and you either have to pay overtime or not not fill the position um as far as like work with 18 or 19 or 20 or whatever that might be. So there's a lot of different
factors that they're working through related to this as far as a structural issue moving forward. Council, I just want to say thank you for all that information. It's very valuable and um thank you so much for being so collaborative and supportive of all the firefighters and you're doing a
great job and we're really in good hands. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Any other questions or comments for Chief Right or Mr. Sh? will I know that we are not able to determine how long it will be before people are back in their homes. Um but I
did see that the management company had um been providing hotel rooms for individuals. Is that indefinite? What is the situ living situation for folks who were displaced? I'm not 100% clear on that. Um, I know from my last conversations with the uh property
owners, it was some some of the uh tenants were being taken care of by their home by their renters's insurance. Some are being taken care of by the Red Cross. I didn't have a clear count on that for myself. Um, I think it's a little still too a little early to tell because insurance companies are still going through the building and doing
looking at contents and stuff. I would assume we probably have an answer to to that question as to where it's going to go probably by the end of the week. Okay. I I don't have an answer to the but I I might have a better clearer path. Understood. I can check in. I did appreciate knowing that the management
company was attending to that as they well should. And um also wanted to add my thanks. I mean, you know, Chief Rick, you provided this memo. I wasn't aware you were going to be speaking tonight and kind of sharing all of the details if you hadn't. I I was prepared to
because I I have to be honest in looking at this sort of blowby-blow account of what happened, all of the individuals who were involved, some of whom surprised me. Um it it is impressive. It is inspiring.
Uh and it was quite moving um to to read um just sitting at home preparing for this meeting and reading this. It really um was deeply inspiring the the coordination, the collaboration. Um I
should be looking at many people in this room um and just really really inspired a deep deep sense of gratitude for everybody who um you know coalesed to to take care of everybody. Um, so thank you
is is an understatement, but thank you, Councilwoman Blair. Um, yes. So again, thank you to everyone involved. Um, it it certainly seemed like a situation where when there's something bad going
on, you look for the helpers like Mr. Rogers says, and uh, you know, there were many of them that day. Um but uh one question I had was we've heard about the support um in many ways being offered to the um people who live in the
building. Um are there any relief funds available for the businesses that are affected? There's insurance of course they'll be going through that process, but is there anything short-term for these because I know there's some small businesses even in there um that are
certainly going to feel the the pain here. I don't know who that I think there's some conversations going on right now and they're trying to do a lot of different things thinking about what's insurance versus what they should necessarily have like fundraisers for or also understanding how long people are
going to be out and things like that. Um I am of the belief and Mike you can tell me if I'm wrong that there is I believe a general belief that probably the commercial spaces may have the opportunity to open sooner than some of the residences would. That's correct.
Yeah, the the obviously the fire was on the top uh the roof and the water damage or the water applied by the fire department didn't saturate the entire building down on the first floor. So, the commercial spaces aren't as taxed as the upper uh residential unit. So, still
they're going to need, you know, a vetting out and and a and many inspections before they open, but they I think I firmly believe that they will be opening before a lot of the apartments. That's good to hear. I wasn't sure how the the water really like the challenge is going to be though is that it's it is
at times going to be connected to what else is going on with the rest of the building because right now I believe that the sidewalk is is are people able to walk through or not? No, this the sidewalk's temporarily closed and it will be for some uh period of time yet and some of the uh you know the
mechanical supply systems and stuff that go into the commercial units run through the building and go off of the roof. So there's some things that we're kind of working around and working with. So it may take some time and there's a possibility that they could be ready to go, but also they might be like we'll wait another couple of weeks until the
sidewalks open or you know think things. So there's a bunch of those different things, but it's uh all of those factors are kind of being talked about and worked through as quickly as possible. Thank you. Anything else from members? Chief Frank, I had a quick question. Um,
again, my thanks as well as everybody else's thanks to the incredible work to everyone like EMS, fire, police, all of you. Um, I look pretty close and seeing the ash spread around South Bethlehem was it was something to see, especially with how old the houses in Bethlehem is.
So, it's not just your diligence at the time, but in the aftermath was really great. My question is about how do the firefighters like what do we do for the firefighters after? How is their mental health? Granted, there were no tragedies in this event, which is great, but there was active fire. So, what what do we do for the mental health of the
firefighters and the physical health of the firefighters in the aftermath of something as as large as this? Certainly. So, as everyday operations, we have all sorts of like mental health
uh assistance or whatever available to our firefighters. And that's from all different forms. is through our human resources department through the EAP program. It's through local emergency servicebased counseling groups that are
available for fire, police, EMS, and then certain incidents if it's a very taxing, stressful incident, and it doesn't need to be large. It could be um some some examples of that. Maybe we had
an incident where a young baby died. Even though our first responders provided extraordinary life-saving methods, uh they still couldn't save that child. We've sometimes had a critical incident stress debriefing team
come in and it just lets folks get together and talk about it. And then there's even beyond that, the IFFF has uh services available for firefighters if they need additional help. So there's
all kind of avenues to address that need should it arise. And then for the physical well-being, I would say we just offer rehab services at the scene. And then we've also through the health bureau and
through ERIC has approved purchasing some fitness equipment at the stations. We have treadmills and things like that to look for their physical well-being as well. And uh so when when you said about like the the critical incidents, is there something specific that triggers
that? Is it like a fatality or is it like the intensity of the fire based on need? We, you know, our officers uh all kind of watch our personnel and our personnel watch each other and our officers watch other officers and if you
see someone that maybe they're just you know off their game to say um you know they pass it on and let each other know or if I hear a call or another officer hears a call that sounds like it could
be uh we've been all doing this a very long time. So, we kind of hear and get a sense for the type of incident that it's like, hey, that was a really tough, really hard incident that uh we'll stop
by and be like, hey, how you doing? Just ask how our folks are doing and judge from there what direction we go. Uh also our personnel could ask you know they can ask HR they can ask their supervisor they can come to me they can come to
their union reps and ask for assistance and we all work together to provide whatever assistance is needed and to add to that just on a very base level like they also take care of each other. I think one of the things that you know Chief Right kind of intimate at but we
see this throughout the city is that they nobody is too strong to talk to their friend or take care of each other and things like that and one of the things that we are very serious about is establishing a culture of mental um mental health and well-being and I think
one of the things that you know and Mr. Gimenez and and the union leadership does a great job of like looking out for each other and understanding that like sometimes like all the guys inside they've known for 10 years or 12 years or 15 years or two years and say like hey how are things going and things like
that and you know there's uh they say they're not just kind of colleagues or friends but they do look out for each other in a way um that's the most important thing is that they care about each other more than just like this person I'm working with and they deserve a lot of credit for that. Thank you.
Thanks, Chief. Any other questions or comments for either Chief Reich or Mr. Simson? Mr. C. Uh, Chief Oh, thank you. I I spoke to you down there. I I was uh prior to uh voting for
you, I had full confidence from the rank and file uh on you. It was probably when after what I saw on that day and I spoke to you down there, it's confirmed. I mean, you guys did an unbelievable job. My my son Cody has live lives on the
fifth floor here, corner unit. Mayor Reynolds, I know we've had uh runins disagreements. Really appreciate what you did. I I know you you you saw him down there. Went to talk to him. Spent some time with I appreciate that from the bottom of my heart. Seriously.
But um I was in a meeting with uh some business people down downtown when when I saw the pictures. First thing I saw was the pictures. Holy Right. She can't handle the language. I excuse me. My son lives literally on on the top
floor. So I lost my wife to cancer. I cannot imagine a kid. I stepped out of the meeting. Luckily, within 10 seconds, I was on the phone. You out? Yeah. I won't. My daughter works down there. She's out.
Good. They're across the street. Um I stayed out of the area. I don't want to go down there. I know there's a lot of chaos going down there. Um was a very busy scene. I waited till the end of the day. You know, everyone had some time.
Um, I couldn't have been more proud of not only the the fire department, the police department, everybody. I I I walked across the street, talked to you, talked to, you know, uh, firemen and uh, I walked back across uh, to the sidewalk. There was people from the
health department there asked me if I could, you know, they had no idea who I was. And I I don't care. I just it was they asked me, "Hey, are you all right? Did you need anything?" Everybody did the right thing. Um, as far as Miss U
Leon's question, I I don't want to speak for the firemen, but the ones I saw, it was they it was like secretaries got done running uh a race. They do this for a living. You guys do this for a living. Not that you're proud of it, are proud
of there was a fire or happy of it, but you guys were on and did exactly what you were supposed to do. And I think at the end what I saw was almost uh because nobody died, nobody hurt was hurt, not even an animal. I I I talked to some of
the firemen there. I couldn't, you know, there was they were exhausted. I I think the one one guy ate, you know, he was there for like maybe eight hours and he was he goes, you know, I I want to go home. I'm exhausted. But I said he said, you know, it was it was a good day for
us to show show the city what we do. And it was, you know, terrible, terrible, terrible fire that exploded quickly. But so I want to thank all of you, you know, um, from the police department at H, the traffic situation, everything. It
it was amazing. Northampton Community College, amazing. I also want to uh say that uh the management company uh own development the owners uh there's don't quote me there's either 94 96 units in
the facility they have 74 units in east um that they're moving the majority of those people to wherever they want to go and they and um Rocco from the boy uh reached out to me and said uh please let
your brother know and and the people down there. Uh if anybody needs a place to stay, he was going to give them $500 uh off on a room or no first month rent, $500 for moving fees and no and an
unlimited time to break the lease. Meaning if at any time when the when the 510 is back open, they could break the lease and go back no penalty. That's really what the community is about to Beth. I mean, it was business owners.
Uh, Al Heffy was, uh, handing out water, everybody. Everybody just joined in. It was amazing thing to see. I mean, it really was. And I just want to thank, um, Growing Development for everything on on Sunday. Um, they let the residents go in and I went down with my son. Uh
they I can't believe two days after this event they had probably like I don't know 100 or so workers in there helping people to carry their their their you guys had let them in that day
late in that first day to get prescriptions and things like that and but then on Sunday let they let him in for three-hour period to get additional things like contacts or you know whatever. So, I was down there helping my son out. I'm 62. I, you know, uh, I
walked up and down five flights of stairs. Numerous times that day, I was exhausted. I can't imagine being a firefighter with a 60 lb, uh, tank on them and, uh, and all the equipment and going up and down those steps all the time. It was amazing thing. uh proponent development did a great job
getting everybody uh in in immediate housing in in uh in hotels and now are working for everybody to get a more permanent housing until uh whenever they can get the 510 flats open. So um I also
saw Mr. uh Crucci down there which I was shocked. U I I actually posted something on Facebook. I said, you know, he was on vacation over in Europe. He he flew back, left his family. He flew back. He He had no idea who my son was. No idea.
And he saw my son coming down with his hands full and he said, "Uh, hey, would you like me to carry, you know, this stuff to your car?" He walks out to the car and he sees this caland drive. He goes, "Are you a cal?" And he says, "Yeah." And he he was doing that just be
not just with my son, with everybody. So, I can't tell you how uh proud I am of not just the firefighters, police department, but the management company and what they're doing to help everybody out down there. It's all about taking care of the residents there. So I, you know, I I was getting choked up talking
about it, you know, because uh, you know, thank God I got a hold my my kid within 15 seconds after I saw a picture of flames because uh, you know, I was uh, really emotional about it, just hearing his voice and knowing,
hey, I lost my wife. That's the worst thing that ever happened. I always feel like I'm invincible. Nothing can stop me. Nothing can hurt me or harm me because I've already had this pain. And the only thing that could ever come close to that is I've lost a child. Thank God that never happened. I want to
thank you for that. So, thank you very much. Any other discussion as it relates to the fire council? I'll just briefly echo my thanks to everybody. I was someone who was at the uh performing arts high school across
the street sent a photo to my office and somebody ran in my office and showed it to me and it was scary there. There were flames come out sitting in office in Easton. So in the moment I I can't even imagine. I think it's one of those things when we look back on it that we all kind of remember where we were. I
know members of council had reached out and we were all communicating. I know a few members of council responded down there and obviously the the coordinated effort not just by our own personnel but as Chief Reich outlined uh people were texting me that they saw uh vehicles
from outside agencies coming in to from all over in wasted city. So while we I hope in in my lifetime and and even that of my daughter that we never have to experience anything like that again uh I show my thanks gratitude for the people that were working that day and did it.
So, thank you. Anything else before I continue on with the agenda? Thank you, Chief Wright. We're still on the mayor's report. Thanks, Mayor Reynolds. Counciloman Francis Smith. Finance Committee met on April 29th at 6
p.m. in town hall. There were seven budget adjustments on the agenda and two items for procedural review. The finance finance committee voted to advance all seven ordinances involving budget adjustments to council tonight for first reading. Procedural review of accounts
payable policy and procedures occurred. Some new policy and procedures are in place. Electronic bill payment is being pursued and a continuous review of best practices and policies will continue. Thank you. Thank you council. Moving on
to ordinances for final passage 8A. An ordinance of the city of Bethlehem, counties of Lehi and Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending the general fund for 2025. Bill number 2020, correction 22, 2025 is sponsored by Miss Wilhelm and Miss Leairard. Any
discussion on the ordinance? Call the role. Miss Leon, I Miss Wilhelm. Hi. Mr. Callahan. Hi. Miss Crampy Smith. Hi. Miss Quitech. Hi. Miss Leairard. Hi. And Mr. Cologne. Hi. S 8B. An ordinance of the city of Bethlehem,
counties of Lehi, Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending the general fund for 2025. Bill number 23 2025 is sponsored by Miss Wilhelm and Miss Lair. Any discussion? Call RO. Miss Leon, hi. Miss Wilhelm.
Hi, Mr. Callahan. Hi, Miss Crampy Smith. Hi, Miss Quitec. Hi, Miss Leard. Hi. And Mr. Cologne, I pass 70. Moving on to new ordinances. Mr. Miller 9A please. An ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehi and Northampton Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as amended
known as the zoning ordinance of the city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania by amending the city zoning map. Bill number 21 2025 is sponsored by Miss Wilhelm and Miss Leairard. Any discussion? No discussion about Council Layer.
Um, yeah. So, I am going to be uh voting not to change this amendment or to change the map tonight. Um, sorry, I've got like I don't know, allergies or something going on. Um but um so looking
at the zoning and um how it was designed um and how it switched uh from back when there was steel space there to when um the current owner uh the applicant
purchased that uh space and advocated for the current zoning. Um, I think that while I can understand the challenges of business development in terms of getting the type
of business you want in a space and drive-ins being popular, um, the purpose of that zoning was to provide a walkable resource for the pretty large, fairly dense neighborhood right there behind it. And particularly
I'm concerned about putting in a business or two that one of the primary goals to make that business successful would be to get as many cars in and out as quickly as possible through a space next to a grocery store in a city where
we struggle with walkable grocery stores. Um I do walk through that area. Um, I walk to CVS pretty often. I walk to the grocery store. I walk to Lowe's. Um,
and I also see a fair number of wheelchairs, uh, like motorized wheelchairs coming through there. I think from a facility up on, uh, Shainersville. Um, and I know it's a busy area. It's not a great area to walk through already. And there's more going
in where Martin Tower was and it's near the highway, but it's still a neighborhood where people do walk to a grocery store and a CVS. So, uh, that's my my rationale. Um, and I I will not be supporting the reason. Thank you,
Councilwoman. Any other discussion members council? Thank you. Um, I also will not be uh voting for this. um slightly similar and also some different reasons. Um I always think about these uh reasonzoning
requests as having a pretty high bar because there was a reason why we zoned this this way in the first place. Um but it also reminds me of the example of um 119 technology drive where the
request was put to us that you know this was the only possible use we were going to be able to make from this um at that time an existing building. This is obviously um an even blanker slate than that. Um, and in deciding not to reszone, we actually uh were able to
give the space and time for something um compatible with the zoning use to come to fruition and create dozens of good jobs and um help with the rehoming of uh semiconductor industry. So, um and the
walkability piece is also a factor. I don't live far from there. Um um I'm down, you know, south of that area, but it's an area that I frequent quite a bit. And uh I do want to leave that opportunity open uh for that kind of
business and not um just flip a switch and and uh and make that decision. So I'll be Thank you. Any other discussion from members of council? Counciloman Francis. Yeah, as I said at the last meeting, um
usually I'm a stickler with the zoning, but I feel that um this is appropriate because within that area, we're looking at going to CS shopping district, and I really see it as a shopping district. We have Price Right right there, which is
already zone CS, so it seems like it's congruent with what is already there. And then you have Lowe's and you have CVS. Um, while I'm for definitely for walking, I have the opposite because I come in from I live very close but from another way and I have to drive because
there's no sidewalks for me to get to this site from where I live. So, um, I have the opposite experience and I I feel it would be good especially um, you know, a restaurant, but I think like a car wash I think is really needed because we really don't have that many
left in the city. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Any other discussion from members of council? Counciloman Leo. I think the deciding factor for me was its proximity to uh the highway. It's one of the last projects that Darlene commented on before she left. Um and I think all the concerns that I have could be
addressed um with the applicant and the administration continuing to work together that anything that has to do with walkability is considered in um that area as it's developed. So I would encourage you guys uh to do that um because that's that's the biggest concern that that there is is is just the walkability of the area. So as as
the project builds is developed, I would just encourage you to continue to consider walkability in that area and make sure that the spaces that are there are safer to walk going forward. Wall I feel similarly and on that note, I was wondering Miss Collins if you
would be willing to uh because it was discussed at the last meeting that pedestrian safety would be um considered, preserved, prioritized. Could you just kind of illuminate for us a little bit how those conversations can continue and and the ways in which that
that could be the case? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I I certainly heard some of those comments from the last um meeting and, you know, had more conversations with our planning bureau and also Miss Heler, who although retired, is still very much a resource
um and and working in the transition period. And I think there's nobody, I think we know more than darling, perhaps the mayor, who cares about walkability and and is really committed to that. So, raise that, you know, comment specifically. And you know, she had, you know, similar comments to you and and
Miss Leon that, you know, in the planning process, um, you know, we can look at and there already are signalized intersections, you know, at 8th Avenue and Martin Court and, you know, we can look at central different design elements, but but really the the traffic
that you already see coming through there is not significantly altered even with a very carcentric use. I mean, you're just very close to 378. You're on 8th Avenue. Um, you know, even the area that is CM, the remainder of the CM
area. Um, you know, I appreciate the point that its original intent was to have I mean, I think it was intended to actually open up and allow more, you know, commercial, you know, planned office, commercial development type
uses, not necessarily have like non-car uses. I mean the the medical office buildings, the bank, um CVS, you know, multiple, you know, those are car uses as well. But, you know, it's all about, I think, coordinating, you know, in design elements to make sure that
walkers are are safe. And I think that's, you know, something that you would you would be able to, you know, work on in this area while still allowing a use that is um you compatible with the CS immediately abuing where you have loads, where you have price, right?
Um and like I said on 8th Avenue where there's artic cars and and near 378 where there's cars um you know so I think you know we feel comfortable from a planning perspective that um it is compatible. LBPC has also noted you know
its compatibility with the area. Um and while I recognize that resoning is is um a big change I think the CNU district is actually pretty unique. Um it's the only it's the only one in the city is here. I think it was originally CM as
Councilwoman Lair mentioned when there was a former steel building and um you know I think the idea 20ish years ago was to develop you know more commercial type uses and I think you've seen that play out in a majority of the parcel and now there's you know over those 20 years
this last remaining piece at the bottom um and closest to the CS district I think it's a sort of funky shape it's um you know, it's furthest from the neighborhood. Um you know, it just it hasn't developed like the rest of it.
It's sort of like um topographically different as well. I think it sits down lower than the remainder of the parcel. So, I think it's just a little bit differently situated um such that the zoning and the intended use here like, you know, really isn't a vast departure
from um what was originally intended or what would be appropriate for the area. was a very long-winded answer, but I hope I appreciate it. Um, and and just to confirm that a a the business has not been determined yet. Um, and a
restaurant without a drive-thru is still committed on this in the CMU district. Yes. In the CS though. So, that's not a guarantee that it will be a drive-thru. Um, and uh I
was going to say something else. I guess that um I do appreciate Oh, that a McDonald's was never discussed. Correct. I don't remember ever hearing that and I just want to make sure that I did not miss something because I I don't want to put things out there that are um you know
perhaps more alarming to some than that is true. Um and so I'll just add thank you so much for that that um you know the the property um there's there's nothing there, nothing located there now. Nothing needs to be taken down. there's not a building that needs to sit
and deteriorate. Um, nothing being built that will sit empty for a while. I I I I just want to comment relatedly, I suppose, that um I do believe there are developers who really want the best for the residents of Bethlehem. I do believe
they're out there. Um, and in this case, um, I appreciate that conversations have happened already to investigate certain businesses. Cloud 10, the sustainable car wash. Um, appreciate those steps and I will will ask or plead that um similar
attention or perhaps even even speedier attention be given to properties, you know, considering develop to be developed that that do have existing properties there that sit for a long time. Um, and that the people walking by
them every day feel that. Um it it really impacts the experience the lived exper experience of residents in Bethlehem or when spaces are built perhaps large spaces that are not filled that those ground floor spaces with with
the signs um saying um you know to to be rented just just generally speaking to to attend to those um those spaces as well as a developer so that uh um you can have a more positive impact on the
lived experience of residents. It it does have a big impact. So, thank you for the attention that's been given to finding a good tenant uh business for this space and um ask that you do the same for other spaces as well. Thank you, C. Any other discussion from
members of council? If there is none, I I will say I'm going to be supporting this this evening. um I hear the arguments for against at the end of the day when I look at the opportunity cost and the impact something that I'm comfortable moving
forward with recognizing some of the changes that we heard u two meetings ago uh about just how the economy has changed, how the market changes and how we look to continue to
move that 8th Avenue corridor forward. So I will be supporting us this evening. Anything else before we call the vote? All right, M. Miller, call roll. Miss Leon, hi. Miss Wilhelm. Hi, Mr. Callahan. I'm
going to be recusing myself. Um, I had a uh I looked through my uh financials when I was not on city council. Uh I guess the council had passed a um a financial um donation um ordinance and the limit
was $500 and that's the amount of money uh I had received a $500 check from uh from um the individuals. So I will repeat myself. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Call. Miss Grampy Smith. Hi. Miss Guate. Hey
Miss Leard. Hi. and Mr. Colom. I so it passes 4 to two with one refusal. 9B, an ordinance of the city of Bethlehem, counties of Lehi, Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending
the liquid fuels fund budget for 2025. Bill number 24, 2025 is sponsored by Miss Crampy Smith and Mr. Cologne. Discussion. Call roll. Miss Leon. I. Miss Wilhelm. Hi, Mr. Callahan. Hi, Miss Grampy Smith.
Hi, Miss Quiet. Hi, Miss Leard. Hi. And Mr. Cologne. I pass 709C. Ordinance of the city of Bethlehem, Counties of Lehigh, and Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending the 2025 capital budget for non-utilities. November 25, 2025 is
sponsored by Miss Ramsey Smith and Mr. Cologne. Discussion. We'll call RO. Miss Leon. I. Miss Wilhelm. Hi, Mr. Callahan. Hi, Miss Grampy Smith. Hi, Miss Quitech. Hi, Miss Leairard. Hi. And Mr. Cologne. I pass
70. 9. Ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehi and Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending the community development block grant fund for 2025. Bill number 26, 2025 is sponsored by Miss Crampy Smith, Mr.
Colom. Discussion call. Miss Leon, hi Miss Wilhelm. Hi Mr. Callahham. Hi Miss Grahamy Smith. Hi Miss Cleuite. Hi Miss Leairard. Hi and Mr. Cologne. I pass 709E.
Ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehi and Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2025. Bill number 27 2025 is sponsored by Miss Crampy Smith and Mr. Cologne. Discussion.
Call roll. Miss Leon. Hi Miss Wilhelm. Hi Mr. Callahan. Hi Miss Grampy Smith. Hi Miss Quuitech. Hi Miss Leairard. Hi and Mr. Cologne. I S70 9F ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehi and Northampton Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania amending the general fund budget for 2025. Bill number 28 2025 is sponsored by Mr. Crampy Smith and Mr. Cologne. Discussion call. Miss Leon. Hi. Miss Wilhelm. I Mr. Callahan. Hi. Miss Grampy
Smith. Hi, Miss Guuitech. Hi, Mrs. Leairard. Hi. And Mr. Cologne. Hi. That's 70 9G. Ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehi and Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending the general fund budget for 2025. Bill number 29. 2025 is
sponsored by Miss Crampy Smith and Mr. Cologne. Discussion. Call. Miss Leon. Hi. Miss Wilhelm. Hi. Mr. Callahan. Hi. Miss Grampy Smith. Hi, Miss Quitech. Hi, Miss Leairard. Hi. And
Mr. Cologne, I 70. And the last ordinance n ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehi and Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the general fund for 2025, bill number 30, 2025 is sponsored by Miss Grampy Smith and Mr.
Cologne. Call Miss Leon. I Miss Wilhelm. Hi, Mr. Callahan. Uh, Miss Quiet, I'm sorry. Miss Crampy Smith, I Miss Quitech, I Miss Leard, I and Mr. Cologne. I pass
6 resolutions. Resolution 10A. Be it resolved by the council of the city of Bethlehem that that the council hereby approves the amendments to the rules and regulations recommended by the civil service board of the city of Bethlehem on April 15, 2025 which are attached to
the resolution as exhibit A and which shall take immediate effect. Resolution is sponsored by Missy Smith and Mr. Cologne. Discussion on the resolution. Call RO. Miss Leon. I. Miss Wilhelm. Hi. Mr. Callingham. Miss Grampy Smith. Hi,
Miss Quietch. Hi, Miss Leairard. Hi. And Mr. Cologne, I pass 60. 10B. Be it resolved by the council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller andor such other city officials as deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to
execute an agreement with J and Bradley Construction Company to install a total of four valves for two projects. The resolution is sponsored by Mr. Ramsey Smith and Mr. Cologne discussion call roll. Miss Leon. Hi. Miss Wilhelm.
Hi. Mr. Callahan. Miss Grampy Smith. Hi. Miss Quitech. Hi. Miss Leairard. Hi. And Mr. Cologne. I pass 6 10 C. Be it resolved by the council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller and/or such other city officials deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are
hereby authorized to execute a use permit agreement with Arts Quest for the 2025 Taco Fest resolution sponsored by Miss Grampy Smith and Mr. Cologne. Discussion call Miss Leon I. Miss Wilhelm I Mr. Callahan Mr. Grampy Smith
Hi. Miss Guate. Miss Leairard. Hi. And Mr. Cologne. I pass 60 10D. 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 Mount Ary neighborhood association for the 2025 Bethlehem Rose Garden Farmers Market and the Rosefest popup event. Resolution is sponsored by Miss Crampy Smith and Mr. Cologne. discussion.
Council just a an adjacent question here. Um I know that there was some conversation about um advertising for this market and the logistical challenges of um that Broad Street where the there had been a banner I think is
way too wide uh to safely put a banner and that the uh newer holes from PPL the metal ones cannot support those kinds of banners. Um, has there just been any
progress with the with um, Mana about uh, you know, how they can more effectively get the word out? Uh, yeah, and Miss Stein has had a lot of conversations with Miss Tulus about this. You're correct about Broad Street being too wide and even if you look at 8th Avenue, there's only one side of the
street that have um, any type of structures to be able to hang it on. And then if you get over to Union Boulevard, um as far as before you get to where all the trees are as like you're going west, there's just not a lot of room to be able to put it either before you get too
close to the um uh um the lights. So there are some different conversations I think about putting up different, you know, of the kind of like North Side of Live style flags on some of the poles and things like that. Um but as far as getting the word out as well, I mean
we've had great success um with some of the things that we've done create c creatively as far as live in the garden is concerned. Um I mean last time I looked that thing had like 20,000 views or whatever. So we offered our um creative sense as well um to man if you
would like us to be able to film any videos or get behind anything like that. it didn't seem like that was necessarily something they were interested right now. Um, but I said, you know, I'm here if you would like me to help out at all in that sense, but we think we're going to be able to get up those uh those those little Okay. Thank you. Any other
discussion on the resolution? We'll call RO. Miss Leon. Hi. Miss Wilhelm. Hi. Mr. Callingham. Hi. Miss Grampy Smith. Hi. Miss Quitech. Hi. Miss Leard. Hi. And Mr. Cologne. I pass 70. Be it resolved by the council of the
city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller andor such other city officials deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute a communications ground lease agreement with Greenlight Networks PA LLC for use of property at 247 East
North Street also known as 248 East Garrison Street. Resolution is sponsored by Miss Crampy Smith and Mr. Cologne. Discussion. I just had a question about this. um about who Greenlight Networks are and sort of what the purpose of this is. Um
I tried googling them and um found a company up in New England that apparently does Wi-Fi or internet or it's basically just one ground space for relay from poles that they have
facilities on. They're not on tower, they're on um poles. Okay. Um, and so are they going to be offering internet service in the city of Bethlehem? I believe so. Yes. Oh, okay. So, a new a new internet provider, right? Thank you. Oh, sorry. Yeah. I
just had another question, too. So, is this where is this located? Is this by Friendship Park area or Yeah. Garrison where the electric building right there. Okay. So, they're going to be putting up new poles or No, they're just leasing ground space. Okay. That's all. Okay.
All right. Second. Thank you, Mr. Call. Any other discussion? Members of council, we'll call the role. Miss Leon, hi. Miss Wilhelm, I Mr. Callahan, hi. Miss Grahamy Smith, hi. Miss Quitech, hi. Miss Leard, hi. And Mr. Cologne, I pass
70F. 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 donation agreement by and between the city of Bethlehem and Bethlehem Aquatic Club Incorporated and
such other agreements and documents as are deemed by the solicitor to be necessary for the purpose of accepting a donation of the permanent pool pavilion structure and memorial pool to be acquired and installed at the expense of Bethlehem Aquatic Club Incorporated. Resolution is sponsored by Mr. Ramsey
Smith and Mr. Cologne. Discussion. Councilwoman Leer, I just want to say this is awesome. Uh, yes, this is I I'm I am very happy to think of a future at uh Memorial Pool that has some nice shade for people to
rest in. So, thank you. Any other discussion from members of council? Mr. Miller, call the role. Miss Leon. Hi, Miss Wilhelm. Hi, Mr. Callahan. Hi, Miss Grampson Smith. Hi, Miss Guatek. Hi, Miss Leard. Hi, and Mr. Cologne. I
pass 70G. Be it resolved by the council of the city of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller andor such other city officials as deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute agreement with Ferdantis LLC to advance plans for modifications to the
city's wastewater treatment plants final clarifier recirculation system. Final design including specification suitable for bidding and construction services. Resolution is sponsored by Miss Grahamy Smith and Mr. Cologne. Discussion.
Call RO. Miss Leon. Hi. Miss Wilhelm. Hi. Mr. Callahan. Hi. Miss Grampy Smith. Hi. Miss Cleuitech. Hi. Miss Leairard. Hi. And Mr. Colum. I pass 70 each. Certificate of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of the
Pennsylvania legislature. Bethlehem resolution is hereby granted for 905 West Market Street to construct a new concrete patio enclosed by stone veneer wall. Resolution is sponsored by Miss Grampy Smith and Mr. Cologne.
Discussion. Call roll. Miss Leon. Hi. Miss Wilhelm. Hi. Mr. Callahan. Hi. Miss Grampy Smith. Hi. Miss Quiet. Hi. Miss Leard. Hi. And Mr. Cologne. Hi. S70. That concludes the
resolutions. So, as we voted earlier, new business. So, we have to talk about rescheduling the next council meeting. I will accept a motion and a second to reschedule the second council meeting in May to Wednesday, May 21st at 7 p.m. here in town hall due to city hall being
closed on May 20th as that is primary election day. Second. Motion by Counciloman Lem, second by Counciloman Wilhelm. Any discussion on the motion? We'll call the RO. Miss Leon. Hi. Miss Wilhelm. Hi. Mr. Callahan. Hi. Miss
Grahamy Smith. Hi. Miss Quiet. Hi. Miss Leard. Hi. And Mr. Cologne. I pass 70. So the second city council meeting for May has been rescheduled to Wednesday, May 21st at 7 p.m. here in town hall. Now continuing on to new business.
Everything business for members of council. Counciloman Leo. I had a couple of questions for uh public works because there were some things that were brought up and I was curious as to um if there is in any internal capacity to help with sidewalks on the south side or like
what's that relationship like between public works and business owners and the sidewalks done specifically just on the south side. Oh well for right now that was the question that was asked. He he brought up the the work on the southside that needs to see down there. Yeah, that's
being done uh via grant that was secured. Uh we've also done in the past sidewalk replacement um of the CDBG programs. Uh other than that, obviously sidewalks are studying property owners
uh responsibility. um as far as like doing the work in house and that kind of thing. I mean our crew we have for example the the bureau that could undertake that project that he mentioned. Uh we have 18 racking files in that bureau and we
haveund 20 properties to take care of during the construction season cutting grass repairing walls rebuilding foot bridges etc etc. So it's it's nearly impossible to take some staff and dedicate them for weeks
at a time to do that project. That's why we bid that type of work out and it is being done by a grant. Um so that's typically when we bid u construction out it's because we don't have either the expertise or resources uh or capacity to
do it otherwise we Yeah. I I was curious about that. And um the other question I have and I'm not sure it's it's about the trees. So I'm not sure if that's you or anyone else within the administration. Um how often are the trees that are within our central business district kind of checked on?
And if we see a tree that is is dead or dying, how do we go about either reporting it as a community member or making sure that the city is getting it taken care of or contacting the property owner disaster? Det sidewalks. We don't go around uh inspecting trees. These are
budding property owners responsibilities as well and we trust that the property owners are maintaining appropriately. However, if we come across a tree that obviously has an issue in terms of um opposing any safety concern or is a dying tree or we receive a complaint, we
certainly follow up with the property owner to address that. Thank you. And I guess that my my last question I guess would be for uh DCEV. Um when we have a business owner who's relatively new, so obviously I know I was talking about So Santi, he's been around a while. He knows how to um manage his property. But
when we have newer business owners, how are we making sure that they're aware that even if they're in a central business district that the city does not replace their sidewalks or their trees so that they can like factor those expenses into their business? And also is there any relief um within the city
for businesses? I mean it's u spelled out in our city ordinances which are also on our website. uh and and quite honestly it's not only in city of Bethlehem
but all municipalities in Pennsylvania and most if not all other states very few states take on the responsibility of care of sidewalks and trees. All right. Okay. All right. Thank you. And just just to add that, council meas often time you would hope that when the small
business goes in that the property owner who's often not the small business like relays to them that the responsibility is their own as the property owner and not the small business owner as far as replacing your sidewalks and things like
that. Most times when you rent a building that property management if it's not like sweeping out in front but as far as the sidewalk the trees like that level of work infrastructure work is the property owner's
responsibility and just because this topic has come up a lot is like there are occasional grant funds that help to be able to do sidewalks. There have been times in the past where and I know that's one of the conversations that's happened downtown as far as some of the
sidewalk improvements that were done in 2015. I believe that was correct Mr. Al like that was done in 2015 but it wasn't and I'm going to get to what the systemic problem is here. That was a cost sharing situation where the city split the cost with grant
dollars and then private property owners necessarily were supposed to match that. But the challenge was is that like we didn't do all the properties because if you owned your property and you were keeping it up to a standard, you didn't need to improve it. So then the people
that weren't keeping their properties up to a standard because we care about our downtown. We then were like, well, we don't want them not to fix this. And it doesn't get to like a safety point of view. It's like an aesthetic point of view. So pretend you know Rachel Leon
you're doing everything that you can to keep up your property which we like and then you have another person John Doe that's not doing it that when the city then did that it was made clear to them as well like it's your responsibility here to keep this up in the future even
if there was this cost sharing agreement moving forward. But the challenge too about that particular project is like we're still owed like $40,000 because there are multiple property owners down there in that cost sharing agreement from back in 2015 that never paid their fair share. So then like the city gets
stuck in that position is like the whole reason why we wanted to do this was from the aesthetic reason. But then the taxpayers got stuck with this $40,000 bill which just is like one of those things moving forward. But also if Rachel Leone property owner is spending the money and and with all due respect
it's usually not Rachel Leon it's you know Leon LLC or Leon triple LLC or RA RL3 corporate LLP or whatever it is. If you're not doing that and like the city
and like if you do your part and somebody else doesn't do their part, then Mike Alcall's in kind of a stuck position here as far as like we don't want some of these property owners that aren't doing what they're supposed to do to keep up the property. But we're also not about to let them pull up anything
that makes it look aesthetically pleasing and put down some type of like stamped concrete or something that's like ugly that people are like, why would you ever allow that to happen? So it becomes a tricky kind of situation moving forward both from encouraging you not to be able to invest in your own
property like on some of these projects. Now, obviously, we get grant funds to be able to do some of them, but just some of the background there. And then obviously, I mean, you own your house. I own my house. Like, we don't have like property owners often call us in other parts of the city and say, "My sidewalk's broken or I got to take the
tree down. Can you help me?" And so on so forth, which is part of the conversation. But an important structural part is the idea that like that cost sharing agreement that went like 10 years ago, it didn't do everybody. It only helped the people that were delinquent in keeping their properties up to an estate value that like the city thought was important. And
then at the end of the day, the taxpayers still got stuck with like $40,000 38,000. Mike, is that what it is? 38,000, I believe. He's a numbers guy. Like 38,000 that we are still owed that then had to go through the whole process of leans and things like that
and properties and so on and so forth. So, and this is not a shock probably that the people that some of the people that still owe the money are also some of the people that have damaged sidewalks that didn't invest in zone. So, so it's just it it is it's like everything else like you can come up with solutions. It's just tough from a
systemic point of view. And that history is I think really important as far as thinking about where you know and how you necessarily apply for those those grant dollars to be able to make that. Yeah. And I guess one of the main concerns that I have and this isn't something to be hashed out right here. It's just a a thought process to go
through is it's it is my understanding that most of the businesses within the central business districts the buildings are owned as you said by these these uh corporations. I I believe I looked it up the other day and out of the 35 properties that were part of part of this um like cost sharing 10 years ago
like only like 10 of them are owned by like Rachel Liam and like there's a whole bunch of them that are owned by corporate LLC's or LLPs or whatever it might be. Like I actually feel for a lot of the business owners because the business owners have legitimate complaints about the idea that the property owners and the people that
they're renting from are not investing in this property and occasionally if there's like a safety reason like the city will go out and try to fix something because we don't want somebody to fall or something in the right way and things like that. But there's people that take advantage of that too thinking that like I don't need to clean my sidewalk. I don't need to do this
because I know somebody from the city will do this because they care about what the infrastructure looks like. So, like I said, it is I I actually have a great deal of sympathy for some of the business owners that continue to ask the people that own the property. Like, we want you to do this for our business.
And some of them are great, some of them are not, as we would say. Yeah. And it's it's it's just a point of concern for me that a lot of times, as has been spoken about on council, that cost then gets put onto the business owner, which I I don't believe it should be, but it is. And then so many times a business owner,
especially a newer business owner, doesn't know what to expect. it's their first rodeo doing these things and you can't always account for for everything. So, it's just a concern that I have that I mean I'll probably ask more questions at a later date, but that's that's all I have for
any other new business from council. Can can I make a comment while while we're on this topic? I'm gonna it's I mean I I just want Yeah, go ahead. So, I I get it. You know, it's it's not the city's responsibility and I understand
it. it's um the owner of the building. Um I just think that you know if you go down there some of the um on broad and and on uh main some of the side it's a hodge podge. I think we talked about that. Some of the sidewalks
are cement which is a lot more durable. Uh some are brick and then some are slate. the ones that are slate, I think they were the original, you know, sidewalk and they by the harbor, they they weren't allowed to change it.
So my only ask is this is that the business owners uh everybody in Main Street administration council um everybody knows that with the number one main street designation and also with the um uh UNESCO um um designation we're
going to be hitting a lot more people on our main street and I think it's really important that we put our best face on so when people do show up to Main Street um that it wows them and it doesn't deter them from ever coming back. Uh I had talked I had a conversation with a
bunch of business owners on the day of the fire. I was actually in that meeting. Uh that was a meeting I was in and they have some asks and and wants and I think some of them are really simple. Uh I it don't I don't think it's going to cost much money. They want to leave the lights on, you know, at night
time. I think we talked about that, you know, a few months ago. Uh leaving the lights on at night time, you know, that are in the trees. That's a simple thing, but um the sidewalks, you know, I don't know that's going to be an issue you guys are gonna have to work out and whether you guys go out to the um the
property owner to fix the sidewalks because I sent some pictures to Miss Collins and I think you got them too and I some Mr. Alcohol there's 17 different pictures of uh of the um uh slate sidewalks that are completely broke and
are are probably going to be a little dangerous to walk on. And uh they you know the 17 I did take pictures of they need immediate repair. So I think um the other thing that came up with the meeting I had is all the property owners or all the business owners down there
and this isn't me saying it. This is them saying it. They're all down 20 30% this year. Every single one of them. Some of them more than that. Uh the most of the reasons why they think is because of the garage which is understandable. Not true. Yeah. I'm just telling you
what they told me. All right. But and and and you've had conversation with them. So they they just feel like and I actually said I said, "Well, you know, we had a really rainy spring." That's it also. But I'm just telling you what they
told me that they're all down 20 30% or more and they're struggling and they don't some of them buildings don't have the money to put into the sidewalks which I get because they're struggling and the three of business told me that
they're I will not mention their name that they're not only struggling they're on the verge of closing down and I think anything we can do as a city to help uh clean the Main Street and Broad Street area. Uh it I know it would be um a
great benefit from all those businesses down there, especially with the with the difficulties they've had with a variety of things, whether it's the rain or the parking situation or whatever, but um I know that they do have a I don't know if they send it to Mr. Mayor, but they they they are going to send you a short list
of things that they do and like to see immediately. And then they have another list of long-term things. And I think a couple of things are the sidewalks of Panthers on the which you guys know about you want to put the players on the lights and then also the uh leaving the lights on at night time for and I think
the lights leaving the lights on at night time would be awesome thing if the mayor just kept them on and I know you had some discussions about turning them off at some point turn them back on and I just think that during the
um nighttime hours with that with that downtown if you go to any major your um area, historic area or whatever when it's um and you go to Fort Lauder, you go to Miami, you go to Stone Harbor, Hamilton, it it just adds a vibe
vibrancy and a mood um that uplifts people. It just makes the downtown look a lot nicer. I think that's something that we could do immediately if I don't know we would have to talk about that to get that done, but So, just to add to that, a couple things is Mr. Ziller and Miss Collins have been talking to the
DBA for months about a lot of these kind of wants and needs. And one of the things that we are trying to talk to them about is like what are the one-time costs versus what are things that need sustainable plans moving forward, things that come up like trolley or things like that. Um, but we are hopeful that, you
know, based on some of our our recent conversations is that we might be able to find some equivalent grant funding to be able to replace the light poles, which will be a huge step moving forward because that will allow for things to be hung on the light poles that can be done now that fix the bases and things like
that. Um, so like we're working on some of that. So, we had sent a memo last week, I believe it was, that I believe um I wasn't at the meeting, but there was a merchant meeting this morning that I believe Mr. gardener had positively um referenced like that looked at a lot of the needs and then we kind of looked at
like is this the type of thing that's like a city responsibility or a one-time or sustainable and then what we're looking for from them is an understanding of like what's the kind of like and I'm making this up obviously but like what's your what's the top agreed upon priority because one of the things that I've been around I'm sure
the same same way is you hear from different businesses that they want different things they say this is the number one priority this is the number one priority this is the number one priority so we have sat down with them before. I went to a DBA meeting, I think it was a month or two ago, and I said, "If you guys want to come up with some type of like strategic plan, like we'll
we'll help the partner on that, but if you want to do it a different way, like it's your DBA. You guys make your own decisions on how you want to do that." Um, but we are hopeful that we should be able to at some point in the next, you know, month or so be able to announce
that we've been able to hopefully find some funding, which is a city responsibility. That's 100% the city responsibility. None of this conversation about is the business owner or not is like the light poles are city infrastructure and city responsibility. Um so that seems to be something that a lot of people are in agreement on. But
more than that, we've been trying to get DBA to focus on the idea that like if you want some of these things, they require some type of sustainable plan. And like the one that comes in my head most is like a trolley that often comes up as a conversation. So you got to buy it, but you have to have a maintenance. Where are you going to park it? Who's going to drive it? all those type of
things are part of a plan that like we will help together if that's been like priority number two or whatever it is. So like that's kind of been the conversation that we've been having. Um as far as like this is a one-time thing or this is if the light lights for for example moving forward and things like
that. Um but we're and Mr. Ziller and Miss Collins are just having almost daily conversations as far as like what's the best way forward in that regard. in in in excusable that um they pay a business tax and I don't know if it's possible that something that during
budget season it would make sense to me that with with uh that you know the designation with the UN all it's probably going to be a a yearly thing that we're going to have to do you know to help upkeep you know the main street
I think you know the idea that they had about the plants on hanging from the lakes is awesome and the lights staying on year round is awesome. But if we could possibly take some of that employ uh the uh business tax uh for those businesses on Third and Fourth Street in
our central business district area and on Main Street and maybe like a lot of that money to two I I think Mr. Yaso I think I think he said it was $10,000, but I think we're going to have to all make a decision at some point. It's going to have to put a little bit
more money into that fund to to help keep that area um you know as bright as possible. Yeah. And I think that's one of the things too that's been that we've been focusing that we've been focusing there question. No, I just, you know, I just wanted to say, ironically
enough, I've had a lot of people come to me, business owners, and they said, "Can't we use some of the business tax money?" And I'm thinking, well, I'm sure we're using it, you know, other ways. But then we had the finance committee meeting last week, and it were saying um that we're over the tax fund is
overperforming and it's double what it was last year. So, I know maybe it's earmarked for other things, but if it's doing so much better this year than last year, I'm thinking, can we earmark some of that money? Because the other thing is um I know money is an issue but with
the designation tourism summer is coming up. So if we don't do things now I know the businesses have said this and I'm thinking the same thing. If we have people come in and we don't have the main street and broad street and the southside looking good. God forbid people come by and be like okay we're
not going to come back. And we want we don't want that to happen. Yeah. And I would agree. And just a couple things to to finish my thought there is Mr. That's part of the reason why I am encouraged um and the parking authority started to put more of their money back into both the DBA and the chamber and southside arts district is
the idea that like if these are costs associated with their downtown that customers are paying to be able to increase how much money is going back into the area. Um and that's something that the parking authority board in particular has been positive about which I think is a real potential going forward. Um, I think that all of these
conversations come down to, and just to answer your question, Councilwoman, is, you know, when we have funds that are running ahead of whatever we budgeted, because we do budget conservatively, it just becomes there's nothing that doesn't stop us from saying like, okay, this is where we are through June. We
think we'll be this way through December if we're moving things. But a couple things to think about is like, I'm just saying this rhetorically. Are we moving as a one-time expenditure? Are we doing moving as a sustainable expenditure? Because as we often say is like essentially every year in January we have a new $2 million problem because
our police aren't working for 0%, our fire is not working for 0%. Our pension goes up. So like a lot of our financial success over the past 20 years has been about that. That's not to say that somebody might not say, you know what, it's a priority. Let's move $50,000 from
here at this point in June or July. It's just something we don't like to do in the middle of the year because you don't know what's going to happen. There are years when those things are running hotter at the beginning or not. We we look at them. Obviously, Eric shares that with people as it's going on, but
that's the only hesitation to be able to do in the middle of the year. Like generally, it's more comfortable to do it during budget time, but like those are obviously ongoing conversations. It just comes down to to piggyback on what Mr. Ker is saying as well is like what
is it that we want to spend? Like if you get $50,000, like what becomes the top priority? like what is it that business owners want? And for a long time there have been mixed messages as far as like some businesses will call and say the number one thing is the planners or the or we want this or that so and so forth.
That's what we are trying to get from the DVA and from those business owners is some type of like coherent priority list that if you decide to move $50,000 to pay for something six months from now they don't come back and and some say oh we wish you spent that $50,000 on something else. Um, but like we've been
very honest with them for months about like these are this is how we would go about each one of these things. We just want to know which of these are your priorities and quite honestly like they haven't always agreed on it. We think we found some progress on like these light poles being something most people agree on. But that's kind of the that's kind
of some of the dynamics as well. But to answer your question, there's nothing doesn't stop you from moving that if you're ahead of budget. You're just being a little risky because you don't know what else is going to come up. And I understand that. It makes sense. I'm just thinking because in the finance meeting we're almost $400,000 above we were last year. So that's pretty
significant. So if we could just sum I get that not everybody will agree but I think we get input from the businesses and then if they can't agree then we have to make a decision what we think is a priority. The other thing I wanted to ask about was um some of the businesses said that there was a public works person like a sign for Main Street and
to do the garbage and things and that that's not always happening. So Kenny goes down there a lot and you know Kenny works on Main Street, but the way like it was designed for Kenny's work is the idea that like he's not it's not his This is kind of my conversation there with Councilman Leon as well. It's like
if you take care of your property and clean up all your leaves and things like that, like that's great and Kenny walks by and he's like there's one brick that needs to be fixed, he'll he'll fix that and so on and so forth. he gets down there to be able to help out. But a lot of the functions that people want Kenny to be working on are
like his like secondary responsibilities there and not his like primary responsibilities because what ends up happening again is people are like I'm not going to do my fair share and I'm just going to let Kenny come through. But there's just too much for Kenny necessarily to do. So like he gets down
there. I think depending on what's going on with other needs, paving it's kind of connected to the fire and so on and so forth. I think often it's, you know, we think it's like three times a week, you know, roughly depending on depending on what else is going on, Mike. Is that correct? Yeah. At least sometimes more.
Yeah. If if we're not down. Yeah. And there are some functions then that becomes county's like primary functions because like the light poles, they're city primary functions. Um, but it is just, you know, it is it is a situation where depending on what's going on, that person may have other responsibilities.
like if we're trying to finish a paving thing, get out somebody's neighborhood or whatever it might be. But can he get down there on a regular basis? I just have two more things to clarify. Uh Mr. Call, so on the south side, because I know the one person asked about the sidewalk, where are the where's the
grant um going to what sidewalks will be repaired on the south side with the grant? Do you know what streets by chance? On four street between the Colombia and Broadhead. Yes, Columbia and Broadhead. Okay, let's be fine. Yeah. And wherever there's deficient sidewalks, not a complete
replacement, right? But like even if there's bricks missing, things like that because that's that's some of the complaints. Okay. And then can whoever is in charge of the forest or can they have the forester look at the trees on South Forest Street because some of them they're pretty big and they're and they I think they are hazard. I looked at
them last week. Yeah. Over by Yeah. And then um on I think Broad Street there's some that they're small but they're also you know they're also broad. Yeah, they're they're small trees but they're I think they're um I think up by Broad and Getter
between Getter and Maine on Broad, but I think it was more up by Getter if they were the deadlines. Okay, that'd be great. Thank you, Councilwoman Eric. Um yeah. So before you go away,
um can the sidewalks or trees uh be included in any of the facade improvement programs? Maybe that's a Colin's question. Like if you need assistance uh repairing, you're a property owner, you have a sidewalk
that's in need of repair, is that considered like part of facade for that? Okay. Um, and those uh you said you can report them. Just to make sure that we're clear that can go through um the
app if someone sees a dead tree. Yes. If someone sees a sidewalk issue, you can either email or use the app or Okay. Um All right. And then um sort of along
those lines, but definitely for uh Miss Collins, um we had talked about um like you had a great presentation about the zoning reszoning zoning processes um that you showed a slide that showed
all the different moving parts that come together etc. And uh somewhere in this conversation there was the discussion of well does the business know that the sidewalk is the property owner's responsibility or things along those
lines. Um and we hope that property owners are telling people but they don't always. Um could there be uh we had talked about maybe putting the zoning education piece out in public like as a little video or a slideshow or
something. um even a PDF to download. Could there also be kind of a basics of property ownership piece put together that goes over like yes, while not everywhere that you've lived are you in charge of the
sidewalk in front of your house in Bethlehem you are. Um and here's the tree process. like and I know we have in-depth brochures on the tree thing, what not, but just like um you know everything in today's world is little tidbits, right? People want easy to
digest um access to information and I'm I'm wondering if we could put some some initiative into getting that information out there in in an easy to digestible this. We absolutely can. It just becomes obviously with everything else going on, right? This is something that Miss
Collins I didn't even have to look. I knew was looking at me about because like this is something I often talk about is like how do we present complicated municipal information as clear as possible so people understand what by right development means what they understand about what the zone hearing board does because all of these different things have like tentacles
that like reach out at different times. So it's absolutely something we can look at. It is something we have looked at. I'm just being completely honest is like there's only so many people to do the work. Um, so then when things like fire comes up or whatever, it hits it hits it off. Um, especially in Miss Collins
department, but it is one of the priorities for me to be able to produce something that is going to be able to answer these questions that's a shared easily and we're working on one for like homeless services. We are working on one as far as development is concerned that
also then people that do understand it like don't have to get into like social media arguments about how zoning works like you're able to be like like share this kind of like flowchart as far as things are concerned and stuff like that. It's just that we with all of the
different things going on we haven't been able to do it. But it is an absolute priority, I think, to be able to get like consumer education from here to here as far as like how these things work, including with small businesses or
property owners or whomever it might be, right? And I I recognize that there, you know, time goes into creating resources like that. I would hope that if the time is found to invest in creating materials like that, it could save time down the road for people who are, you know,
answering a phone call, answering that question five times. Yeah. Um where instead somebody might just see the resource floating around. Can I just can I just add I mean so on the point about like the land development and zoning process that's something that doesn't exist but but also part of the challenge
is getting people to like go to the resources that already exist like I think you'll find in the housing space like you know there's quite a bit of information online about how our rental processes work and what obligations are for property owners and you know covers
a lot of this information and you know maybe we can continue to evaluate if it can be condensed more or are more user friendly. But but I would say rest assured like that information does exist already. And you know likewise there are resources online for small businesses
and you know welcome packets and and things like that. And so um you know I guess there's two part you know challenges that we can continue to think about. It's not only creating the resources but also you getting people to go right to them right like it exists in
the ordinance those are all available website and those are available you know in some instances we send things directly to people and it doesn't get read or digested so and that becomes a big challenge too that also sometimes it's like willful that people will say
well some people are saying or I'm hearing in some places and then we provide all of the factual information and people choose not to retain it and also choose not to share it or not even pay attention to the conversation because it disproves whatever point they're trying to make which is also
like a struggle for us because sometimes like we run out of ways sometimes to say like 1 plus one equals two and things like that. But these are the type of projects too that sometimes we're able to use like community fellows for or things like that. But also these one-time kind of costs are also
sometimes why the most economical sense is not for Miss Collins to stop working on this thing that needs to be done tomorrow, but it's you pay somebody outside a nominal fee to create something that's worth the dollars that doesn't take away from the work that's
going on. And we've had an incredible success with being able to do that where it's not like we need to hire a new person to do this or we need to put one more thing on Miss Collins or somebody there, but rather this is like this is when you make the decision to be able to pull somebody in to work on a project
for six weeks or eight weeks to consult with the city on what the best way is forward to be able to provide this particular thing that then we can turn around and point to and say like that was a good use of $7,000 because now we have this educational tool that tool that we're able to use for a long time.
Sure. Um yeah, I I do understand we're in a world where we're fighting through all of the information overload that everyone's uh getting and you know encouraging people to read something or go to a web page is is a challenge. But
um you know just uh as as these questions came up I was like maybe just something simple out there. Um okay that's my only question for you. I uh only other question is for uh Chief Cut. Um are you aware um or not? Are you
aware? Is there anything you're anticipating imminently as fallout from the executive order on policing that was put out there? But are you seeing any, you know, immediate impacts on how business is
going in your department or, you know, are you aware of things that you're bracing for or nothing right now at this time? However, things have been very dynamic uh coming down from Washington. So, it's something that we continue to monitor,
but no, nothing at this time. Um, does the We've referenced uh several times the Kalia accreditation and uh that that holds our police to a higher standard than many departments. Um, is
that something that the accredititation can help insulate the department in any way from any wild changes out there in the It could. It
absolutely could. I would add to that too. It's like Kalia is about the people that are working for you as much as anything else. So it's not just about the policies, but the training and all of the things that our police go through like you're producing good people. So like the idea that Kalia
has helped us to produce fantastic police officers like that's not going to that that part's not going to change as far as their discretion and their judgment is concerned. We chief is correct. We don't know exactly what's going to happen. But the most important thing is that we have like the best police officers that we can because of
the CLEA training. Like you can't you can't un you can't undo a lot of that. Uh but to at this moment in time recognizing that things can change in a heartbeat. There's no mandates that you're looking at like we have to you know we're now being ordered to do XYZ
thing that we weren't before. Correct. Okay. All right. Thank you. Any other business from council? Councilman. Um I don't have any questions. I just want to um give some thanks. U Mr. Al Call came to the west side and met with
some residents on a block where they've seen um quite a few unpleasant things happen to their cars over the last few years. Um and uh sat down and uh broke bread with folks who I think were just in awe that someone from the city came
and sat down to talk to them. um but also really listened to them and and gave them some very thoughtful responses. I know that Chief Cot was under the weather that night, but um uh Mr. Alcohol, thank you for seeing you follow up with Chief and talk about the pieces that are more on the law enforcement side of things. I just
really appreciate that. I also want to thank you for the help um for the Eagle Scout project that's part of the library, the the uh bike racks um helping to facilitate um getting those fixed up. That's um also really great that that you're um able to do that. I
really appreciate that. And um just again, Chief um Chief Wright, thank you so much. Um I didn't say this during the whole conversation because Mr. Callahan's contribution was so thoughtful and and so glad that his
son is is safe and that everybody's safe, but um you know, working where I worked um I just walked over. I knew there wasn't anything I could do, but I just sort of stood there behind the lines and I didn't talk to anybody. Mr. Reich, Chief Frank probably had no idea I was
even there. I was watching him over in that corner the whole time. Um, but watching the guys um from L2 um and uh and seeing seeing our firefighters work so hard. I saw a police officer interact
with the mother of a resident who um the resident hadn't been there was only concerned that his kitten was in his apartment, took the number of the apartment, made sure, you know, to convey that so that uh that that cat would be looked for. So, um I know that you said that all of the animals were
safe, and I was glad to hear that because I was that mom seemed like her son was very upset. Um and uh and Mr. Simonson, everybody. I just watched it was like this amazingly choreographed ballet of of everybody knowing what they needed to do, doing what they needed to
do, taking care of each other. I watched as the guys, you know, came down and took their their um their oxygen off and the Nancy Run Fire Department handing them water and, you know, it was just it was um something to behold. And I never
want to see it again because I never want to have another four alarm here in town. But I again, thank you so much for all of the work all of our first responders on that on that day. Thank you, Councilwoman. Any other new business remarks? Council Gall. Yeah, I
just said two two two things. Um, so you know, at the finance uh uh meeting, we had a lively discussion about some things. I just want to make sure everybody understood where I'm coming from, right? Um, I wasn't on council at the time. I
think it was the first year of Mr. Reynolds of your of your mayorship. I'm not blaming you. But at that time, our solicitor, I mean, our um controller whose only job is to make sure that the
city is following uh uh fiscally sound financial processes. He found out that uh or noticed, but no one tipped him off on it. It was something he found by researching and
seeing things. He found that a city employee who Mr. Evans is he he worked he worked hand in hand with you just as you did with when with Miss Bl. And you know, you guys are together every day. I'm not blaming you either. But he found it and came to the
administration and said, "Hey, here's this pack of evidence that I have of of something that's going wrong and um the police were called in. He was escorted out as he should have been. He was uh prosecuted and was found guilty." So
that was because of the work that he does and that's his job. That's that's what he is u elected in office for. So, the thing that stumped me because I went back and I watched I watched the video again and um he stated that, you know, he went to
you again uh I guess a year ago and had some concerns about some financial practices that were going on. they he said that in his eyes needed to change and you and I appreciate everything that you guys did with the you know presenting to um the finance committee
last week of how you're going to change it now but my point was all I was asking was this when he came to you over a year ago and asked you you know to address these things there apparently wasn't any response for a very long period of time
after several meetings And I think you had said which I get, you know, that I think your I think your quote was that, you know, sometimes we butt heads on some things and we don't see eye to eye and we're going to have to agree to disagree sometimes. And I get that because there's times up here when we have to agree to disagree on
things with administration also. But having come out of that situation just two years prior or a year prior with the individual uh that was working with you who who was found guilty of of stealing
from the city. Now the controller comes to you again. I would just I just had thought that the we would have been a little bit more hyper sensitive and administration would have been a little bit more hyper sensitive that hey the controllers coming to us again with some issues that he thinks needs to be
addressed and all I asked was uh when he told you about it did you tell the mayor did you notify the mayor and administration and your immediate supervisor about it and you didn't want to answer it and I really went home I said does anybody think This is an unfair question. I didn't think it was
an unfair question. I thought it was a very pertinent question. Did Did you keep that information to yourself or did you notify the mayor? And it was a I wasn't playing gotcha. It was just something like did at what point did everybody become aware of this to fix it? Why did we have to go through a year
according to him a year ago he started talking to you guys about fixing these procedures? I know they're now being fixed now because you guys presented it, but that was a whole year of things that could have gone wrong that I just think,
you know, having had just a year ago uh before when he came and found something that was highly uh unethical, not not on your part, on the individual's part. I just think that when he and that's his
only job is to monitor the financial services of the state. I thought it was a very fair question. Well, when you were notified of it a year ago and then a couple months later and a couple months later, because it was a multiple meetings, right, did you notify the
mayor and and and and your your supervisor, which is the mayor, and you didn't want to answer it. And so, I'm asking it again. Did you did you not when you got when you found out, did you keep it to yourself or did you tell the mayor about it? It's it's a yes or no. I
would I'm not playing God with you. It's just that I just think waiting a year to handle this process that the controller is saying, "Hey, there I got a red light on some of these things here." I think waiting a whole year. There's a lot of
if it was another situation, who knows what could have happened. That's why I was asking. So, I I don't know if you want to answer it now or up there. One second. I I'll just interject real quick. I understand this was a long debate topic about finance. So, I just don't want to hear the same thing repeated multiple times. No, that that
is that is my ask. That's all I got to say. I'm just asking the question, did you notify the administration and the mayor about it? That's all understood. So, and I I will answer this shortly and not repeat what's goes on. It's like Mr. Mr. Evans and financial services
obviously work very closely with the controllers's office. Um, they are constantly talking to each other. I believe the line that was used the other day when they were because I think it was the conversation that I ran Mr. Yaso and Mr. Evans on Friday about the PPNL like late charges that then didn't
become late charges that they were posted, you know, like 72 cents or a dollar two or whatever. And I think the line that both of them like we talked to the mayor about structural problems, about systemic problems and things like this, these issues are not like as far
as like some of this stuff is concerned like it just it it's the things that they work on a daily basis. There were different personnel changes. there were different personnel disagreements between the two parties that I was aware of as far as people within the offices are concerned. Um, but I would say and I
believe and Mr. Sper, you might remind me if it was February or March of 2022 when we were here like fe February when we were here like a month when the situation with Mr. sav civc occurred and that was the situation that was the structural issue that he had
responsibility over like these cell phones in a way that shouldn't have shouldn't have existed a lot of the things that are and I don't want to put any words in Mr. ASO's mouth, but that is discussed between the financial services and the controllers's office is
just what's the most efficient way to do this. Not the idea that there's fraud or someone's stealing or whatever and so on and so like both of those things involve sentences that have the word money, but like it's not really an applesto apples comparison here as far as you know, does
one employee have responsibility here that's signing off on these checks and and so on and so forth. Like those are issues that if they would pop up and Mr. Yasa would say, "Hey, look, like over here in this department, we need to come I'm making this part up. We need to come up with a second check signer or we need
to some come up with somebody so this person doesn't have access." Those are absolutely the type of things that like somebody comes and says, "Hey, look," and once again, I don't even want to throw any department or bureau out there because it's not true, but I think you get my point. Like those type of things are like, "Okay, like what are we going to do to be able to solve that
structural problem in the near term?" Things like efficiencies though in which like how are we utilizing technology or how are we writing checks or if there's a 73 cent late fee like how do we necessarily keep track of that. That's much more of like the dayto-day
operations between these two offices that doesn't that doesn't get to my level. There are things that the controller talks about, as I said, that could be like, "Hey, we should look at this." Or he sits down with Eric and he says, "Hey, look, this is something we need some more controls over because the city's done this for 50 years and it's
not the best way to do it." And I think Mr. Yaso would say that we've really improved the contracting process. We've improved a lot of different processes going forward. But there's a certain level of things that we sit down to talk about and there's a certain level of things that just don't get to me because I don't have time. And as far as the
conversation, which I believe occurred the other day, as far as like the late fees are concerned and things like that, the PPNL 72 cents turned out not to be 72 cents. They gave a credit to us. Those aren't type of things. I mean, I we hired Joe who's a great employee who's been doing a lot of good stuff. He's a real improvement on the person
that was working there previously that no longer works for the city. So, on a structural level, like things are moving forward um I think in a positive way. But to those like individual situations like there is a level it's got to rise
to and obviously if there's a situation like I'll never forget when George came in he said Willie I got I got to talk to you like about this thing and it was 4:15 or whatever and I said okay I'll come talk to you right away about it like there's a level of urgency on those on that situation that like we don't
that just doesn't happen on like this is an efficiency that we're working on between the way in which we necessarily write checks. So yeah. So, so that's the only question I asked is that he had brought it up over a period of a year many times and it wasn't being
addressed and and so I just had asked Mr. Evans at what point did you did you notify the mayor? And I would think that if it was that big of a deal that he had to that the controller had to keep on going back to Mr. Evans about it. It It's not just a minor day-to-day
minutiae thing that they're they deal with on a regular basis. I think I think it rose to a level where you should probably been notified of it. That's all that's all I was asking. I asked him, "Did you did you notify the mayor about it?" And he didn't want to answer it. So, that's all I was asking. I didn't want any bad feelings over it or nothing. It was just I thought it was a
very simple question and and and us as city council, we're that's our job, you know. So, I thought it was a fair question. So if anybody took offense to it, I apologize. Right. I just want I just want to clarify and again I don't want to it was long meeting and I don't want to um continuous but to clarify I
mean just within a week period there were late fees of $120. So that's significant and there was a missed um discount of $1,400. So it wasn't just cents. But nonetheless I think we had a very productive meeting as far as we're
making the changes are being made which is a plus. Um, and there continue to be made and I I review the meeting too because I think people are upset and as I've said is I think as council people we have the right and responsibility to
ask difficult questions and if anything I have to say Mr. Callahan was just asking one question and for some reason it was just being avoided and if anything maybe as a chair I should have made that question be answered but I didn't because obviously it was very uncomfortable for people. I don't know
why, but it's over. We had the meeting. I think that we made some headway and we are um making some improvement with accounts payable and hopefully we'll continue to do that. Thank you. Thank you. Are we moving on from that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. This is my last item
tonight. So, anyways, um this is not an easy conversation to have here, but um I had heard about I was on council. I had heard about this at the time. I saw a postc random and uh
at the time, but I didn't really get into it, but there was a flyer that went out um recently and it reignited my questions about what happened here. So, I just want to I I cleared it with the solicitor uh that I'm allowed to read this because it was also published
already and it's uh a firsthand account. Um so, this is from Lucy Glennon. This is a business owner and a realer in the city. She posted this on her Facebook and also sent it to Lehigh Valley Rails. This is her firsthand account of what happened. This ain't for me. I mean,
I'll read it verbatim. First off, let me apologize for the length of this post. It's a doozy. I'm writing this for many reasons. For the protection of my clients and for my own safety and peace of mind. Let me begin. I'm a realer who probably calls Beth my home both
professionally and residential. I'm quite outspoken in my love and appreciation of the city, its employees, small businesses, communities, schools, and residents. I've always felt that city hall was a great source, resource for me and others to guide us through permits, zoning, and development. And
now more than ever, it's all changed. Now, the mayor and the economic development department have become actual obstacles in my ability to make a living and my clients ability to choose whom they do business with. ethically not what I would expect
from my elected city officials. As you may know, I have three churches and one parking lot listed for sale. The parking lot being a large piece of property in the city that the city has an eye on from for now for over 20 years. These
churches are facing a financial crisis and in order to continue with their service to God, the community and the and the ministry, they have made a decision to sell their properties and merge to a new location. The city has approached the churches through uh the
members themselves, myself and various methods. I personally was told and and informed to inform any and all interested parties that the city was interested in the property and if another interested party had ongoing or
projected projects that they had going on in the city to remember that they would have to deal with the city. I was also informed personally that if there were if their offer was not accepted they could always take the property through imminent domain. The mayor said
this with a chuckle shared with a member of the economic development team. I showed the property to both developers and other nonprofits. Two developers who were very interested and wanted to submit an offer told me in no uncertain
terms that they were told to back away from the city. An additional developers real in insinuated the same. In the end, three offers were submitted. The winning offer was hands down better for my clients in terms of
timing, lack of contingencies, and pricing. The churches, with their attorney's blessing, voted at unity to reject the city's offer and accept an offer from another nonprofit. Fast forward, the churches have now received notice that the Betham Parking Authority will be finally to take the property by
imminent domain. This would be in essence uh potentially create a delay if not a cancellation of the contract to to sell to the buyer and cause a financial uh catastrophe for the church's future. Here are my questions. When did it become okay for the mayor and his
administration to dictate who buys or sells property in the city of Beth? Is the city of Betham now in the real estate business? When did the threat of imminent domain become a weapon? You may you may ask why I'm bring this
to light now. I now fear for my clients uh may be bullied into bankruptcy or financial and spiritual ruin. I worry that my other clients may now experience difficulties in city hall. And me personally, I'm not quite sure what they
can do, but so far I've seen vindictive and unprofessional behavior and can only make one wonder. And she says, "Please share." So, I saw that and I listen, I hope that's not true. Uh, but from talking to her individually, uh, the the
the thought process was that if uh, developers or other people uh, continued to bid on the property that they were going to have problems with their other uh, projects in the city with the economic development department, primarily zoning and planning. So, they
all backed off. And I've had numerous conversations with a lot of them, too. And they basically uh explained the same thing to me. So, I just hope uh that that's not true, mayor, and that at no time uh did you ever uh make those
comments to Miss uh Thank you. I just want to interject just because I kind of I touched on this earlier and just picking up on some of the things that that were mentioned by Mr. Callahan, then I'll let Go Reynolds address it. And and as Mr. Calhan said,
you, you know, talk to attorney Stewart about it, all that stuff. I didn't want to interrupt you, just like I'd interrupt some of the speakers that were saying things I I disagreed with earlier. I I just want to contextualize a couple things because they're relevant to that was listening. That posted two and a half
years ago. That that post was posted December of 2022. since that time. And I'm not going to speak about a private citizen because I I I just don't feel comfortable doing that. But that person has not reached out to me or the clerk's office to my knowledge and we live within a few
blocks of each other. The um you know, we you alluded to a flyer as I talked about earlier, you know, as we're in campaign season uh as state would have it. This is the last council meeting before that. And that particular
um post was circulated on a anonymous what went out to households and city anonymous no one took credit for it uh flyer that went out or you know mailer that went out. So, I think it it's uh historically we've separated politics,
what goes on outside of here on the campaign trail. And by historically, I mean always. Uh even this campaign season, there are people whose names are going to be on the ballot. Two years ago when when my cycle was up previous to that, mayor's races, there's been other contested mayor's races, things like that. We we've done our best to do that.
So, I I don't want to set a precedent. Again, everyone has a right to because I didn't didn't interrupt you, Mr. Ken. But I do think it just bears mentioning that we're talking about something that happened two and a half years ago. Something that was just, you know, on a anonymous that no one took credit for
attributing it to it. It's a Facebook post and I'm not questioning the person's credibility because I'm not none of us are in a position to say credible or not credible. That's that's the nature of why we try not to question people's motives on during meetings because who am I to tell any one of you
or anyone of you to question me what my true motives are. That's just not the way that works. That's why we, you know, try not to make a habit of those things. But in this particular circumstance, just like we heard people advocating for, you know, certain candidates, certain ways for people vote, and you
know, not here to stop anybody, but I just think it bears mentioning that it's a circumstance where to a degree and and believe me when I say I always think try to separate government from politics. And as someone who's elected and sits up
here with seven other elected people, I recognize that. But at the same time also recognize the respect that I have for the institution of city council to when I do run for council. I mean I'm speaking for myself a little bit but just the the privilege that I have getting to sit on the side of this to
hold this gavvel that I seldom touch to have a microphone in front of me that I get to say whatever I want to. So I just think it's it bears for all of us to keep in mind that when we hear you at the next meeting if I if my friend posts something about any one of the seven of
you that I question am I going to come here with it printed out and say well you know this person was witnessed at this establishment behaving this way I think I need to bring it up here because now we're getting into well Mr. How do you know what that is? And again, I I'll defer to to wherever the conversation
goes from here, but it I do think it's very important just to to recognize that that we are talking about something that was referenced as what's going on. Sorry, the But I do think it's important to recognize we're talking about something that was posted by an individual on
Facebook who again I'm not here to question their credibility. It was mentioned uh it was posted somewhere which is a a blog post is not a uh it's not held to the same standards of journalistic integrity because that's just not how blogs work. That's not to
that particular blog and you reference a a flyer. It was an anonymous political mailer that went out as part of the politics of the day that are going on. So I will leave it at that. Mr. Mayor sir I would do you need something sir? I
I don't want to ignore the fact that you're standing at the lectern, but you do you do know we're in new business right now. I need to respond to accus accusations just made against me. There there were no accusations made against Mr. Antalics. So I I'm going to continue. Have you
ever heard freedom of speech? I'm going to continue on with the meeting. I will be I will be brief and just say that Mr. Skyline the there's a lot of misinformation in there, but as far as any threats or anything like that, like those words never came out of my mouth
and they're not true. And I can tell you every single conversation I had um or anything we did at that point included oftentimes both Miss Spezial or Mr. Spur or both of them. And Mr. Spur can add to that as well.
Yeah. I attended those meetings. I was at a meeting with the realtor. Can you talk to the microphone please, Mr. B? Yeah, I was at the meeting. I attended the meeting that we're talking about with the realtor in question and uh mayor never said those legal terms like eminent domain or anything like it. I would remember if he started throwing
around legal terms or what I was there for. I was the lawyer. So, I don't find anything like that. And I think if you think about it a little bit, if city was trying to scare off biders, rival biders, most of the multi-millionaire developers I've
run across don't scare easy, not easily intimidated, not worried about how things they do might look or how they might act. They're usually pretty audacious. That's how they got to be multimotar. So that wouldn't probably have been a approach that would have
been practical. And secondly, major properties here on the south side of Bethlehem. If you're talking about south side of Bethlehem, the 800 lb uranium room is Lehigh University. If you eliminate the land that used to be owned by Bethlehem Steel, which is now industrial parks and
Beth Works, I think they own like 70% of it southside. So again, threatening developers would not have been practical because the main worry would have been it's Lehi that's come out. So, those are just my observations. And
beyond that, um, I'd be reluctant to get into kind of a deposition of who said what, right? This came up two and a half years later. I I don't know why, but I'm always thinking about the possibility of litigation. And if that should come up, I wouldn't want to have a deposition
tonight about right details of who said what. I just I just I I just found it very strange that when any property of those sizes go up for sale, there's multiple developers
bidding on them and they all backed off at a certain point. They all they were all interested and then they all backed out at a certain point, every one of them. And none of them put bids in. The only people that didn't put bids in was Lehi. And I spoke to people at Lehi and he said they they don't quote they don't
care uh what the mayor wanted. They they'll hang on to the property for 20 years and deal with five more mayors down the road. So that's why they stayed in the bidding process. But and that might be why the others got out. Correct. But also
um and it wasn't an anonymous, it was a pack a pack I want from my understanding it was a pack out of uh Philadelphia that uh supports moderate um candidates uh on the Republican and Democratic side. I forgot the name of the I forgot
the name of the pack, but that that's well that's what I've heard. Wasn't anonymous. They have to have they have to have their name on the pack. But the only other thing I wanted to add was that um according to Miss Lennon, uh the resident and business owner, you you
were in the room and then after the mayor left, she said to you, "Are you are you okay with him, you know, saying that?" And I don't think you responded. I think you walked out. Yeah. Again, I'm not going to be with that position
tonight. And I agree with that. Right. I just wanted to get it out there because it is it's out there. People were asking me about it and I had heard about it two years ago. I wasn't on council but I just found it at the time that was very strange and no one on council even questioned I mean he answered it tonight
very clearly right according to him it didn't happen. So that you know I just think someone on council at that time should have probably asked that question. Did the mayor threaten to use planning and zoning against any developer that stayed in the bidding process? that that's all. You know, it
was a very simple question. So, thank you. Thank you everybody. Um I apologize if I misspoke about the anonymous part, Mr. Callahan. Appreciate you educating me on that. Hope everyone gets home safely. Have a good
night. Spray it on the neighbors.