--------- Mr. Sher got a haircut and he shaved. Spiffy. Mr. Spiffy. All right. Council to my left. Ready? Council to my right. You all ready to go? >> All right. Good evening, everyone. We're going to call this meeting to order. Ask everybody to rise for the pledge to the flag.
I pledge algiance 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. >> We have one citation this evening honoring Sergeant.
>> Roll call. >> We should call the role. The clerk will call the role. >> Mr. Raymond, >> present. >> Mr. Callahan >> present. >> Mr. Cologne >> present. >> Miss Daniels >> present. >> Miss Quiet >> present. >> Miss Leairard >> present. >> And Miss Leon >> present. I love how you guys have my back all the time. Just call the role.
Rachel. Um we have one citation this evening honoring Sergeant Dwight Schaefer. I don't believe I see him here today. But we will make sure that he gets this citation. Um moving on to the approval of the minutes. Any discussion
regarding the minutes for last? Nope. Right. The minutes stand approved. Uh we will move on to public comment. The first public comment is going to be on subjects not being voted on this evening with a 5m minute time
limit to allow for everyone to speak. I will start with people who signed up. Starting with John Embardino. John, I'm assuming I'm supposed to be here. Thank you for having us tonight. I don't
want to get into any kind of a shouting mat or get anger or anything like that, but and I hate to be here and the neighbors hate to be here, but we're not getting any results about a garbage situation at 1953 Eaton Avenue. 6 months without pickup. They got a pile that
stinks out and by the road next to the house, a shed that's full of garbage and between the shed and the neighbor's fence has stuff in it. Now, I complained to the enforcement people. Um, they gave them several warnings. I don't know why. And they're they're in
violation at least five or six different codes. The one they should have started with is they don't have a contract. 72-hour notice and they should have been in violation. Weeks go by before anything happens. So finally I called the code officer. He said I got to give him a second warning.
Called the code officer. They finally cited him. I said okay what's the citation for? And where's the magistrate's office? That's right to know. This is not the CIA. It's a simple request. I was a code officer for 22 years. Never had that. You give them the
simple information and you do your job. If you can't do the job, get out of the office. So anyway, I go to write the no, get online, fill out the form, send it in. One day later, they say I'm granted. I can have that information. They send me to a site. It's not there in the
county. Go back to the origin, which is the code officer. I go back to the code officer and say, I would like to have the information on the citation and what magistrate. He didn't give it to me. He just gave me the magistrate's address. Okay, I'm jumping through the hoops.
Okay, I'm going to be legal. call the magistrate. They have no idea what I'm talking about. Can't find a citation or anything. And now I'm supposed to It would help them if I have a docket number or a partial number. How do I get that? Nobody's giving me the information. They said call back next
week. Call it back next week. No idea where that citation is. Has it been issued? Now we get it. [clears throat] In retrospect, it was it was filed. So that had to be the first one for $200. Now, tonight we get a message, I guess,
from you or somebody up here that um there was a $500 fine issued. Well, that's second offense. What happened? I wanted to go to a hearing. So, today, I wanted to have my opinion brought out in court, being sworn in, and give them information. This should not be going
on. They're in the fourth month of having in their office. This should not be going on. I can't believe it that I spent money on my house. We keep our properties up and we live next to a garbage dump. This is not right. If you can't do the job, get out of the office
and get somebody that can. I've never in 22 years seen a process like this. Never, ever, ever. And anybody we called or text always said, "Well, we'll give it to departments responsible." Well, they're responsible. They're not doing anything. Why give it to them? Somebody's got to take this
thing, this bull by the horns. It's just disgusting. I'm I'm sorry to be here like this, but I can't live like this. There's going to be a problem in this neighborhood. They're doing this first bite, and they keep throwing more garbage every day out there, and it stinks. Code officer finally went by a
couple times. I don't know what happened there. Glanced over me, wouldn't stop, kept on going. Neighbor saw him again, kept on gone. No information comes out of this code department to help us out. If we get some information, maybe it would set our minds at ease of something to be done. But no, we got to get
treated like criminals while the person who's doing it gets warning after warning after warning and then parties at night and weekends. It's annoying and it's not going to last. I'm telling you there. I'm mad about it, but I'm trying to be civil. I've been a civil servant for 22 years and I'm trying to be civil.
I'm trying to follow the law, but this is going to come to a head and it ain't going to be pretty. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you very much. Uh, the next person I have signed up to speak is Mark Sager. >> Hi.
>> I was born and raised in Bethleam. Pop was a steel worker. Mom worked at Sure Fit. I went trucking for 43 years. Finally got a nice house and everybody neighbors are decent. We had one person move in and God bless
them. They got a nice house too. But this this like John said, I can't emphasize that it's right in our backyards. Mine, John's, Dan's, Larry's, right across the alley is this dump.
And there's there's varmments running around. I mean, [clears throat] I don't even know what else I can tell you except where sometimes I think I'm a secondass citizen at times. I pay your taxes on time, you shovel
your snow, and the great events we have around here. But after six months, I mean, it's like John said, we're not terrorists. We're just trying to follow a wall
and we have gotten nothing, no results. We're at wit's end and it's like John said, it's going to get ugly and I'll leave it at that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Sager. The next person I
have signed up is Daniel Fertzi Fertizi. Okay, thank you for the time. Uh, I guess they pretty much covered everything that I needed to that you need to hear. I don't want to get too redundant, but my whole feeling about this, which I've expressed, is we live
on Union Boulevard and Eaton Boulevard is the other part of the neighborhood and the alleys in between that. And our feeling is maybe we don't have to pay a dump either. We could just put our stuff out on Union Boulevard. I bet something would happen in minutes for that. Anyway, um we've been getting good
correspondence from some of the ladies, Miss Leyon in particular, and uh you know, I know it's a tough situation. I just hope you guys can uh resolve it for us because in that neighborhood, we do take care of each other. Trees fall, we're there to help each other. We snow
plow the streets for everybody and it's just really sad that this has to happen. It's just not good. There's all kinds of bugs flying around there. The birds are there every morning. Crows. Nobody wants to see this or go near it. And uh if you guys looked at the pictures, it's right
in the street. And there's days when this garbage blows out onto John's lawn and my lawn and I'm sure Mark's lawn and who else knows what. And while don't have a 100% proof, but I know they're picking the bags up and taking them out in the middle of the night and dumping
them in other neighbors yards around the corner from us on Beverly. I saw two of the bags there and uh once somebody told the neighbor that and they said, "They're not mine." They they opened them up and they could see it's the same garbage they have. They don't recycle or anything. Not that long ago, there was a
bag on Katosakqua that was just thrown out in the street and was blown open. I can't say it was there cuz I don't have proof, but all the garbage was in that bag. Is this in garbage? It's in our backyard. So, you know, it's only going to get worse. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Fritzy. The next person I have signed up is Mike Aleni. >> Yeah. >> Did I butcher that? Okay. >> Good afternoon, council. Uh, my name is Mike Albanese. I currently reside or I'm a property owner at 1930 uh West Union
Boulevard. Uh I showed up in solidarity with my neighbors tonight just to express our dissatisfaction uh with the property located at 1953 Eaton A. Uh just by way of further explanation. Uh Eaton and Union is pretty much a triangle and the Genoa
Street Alley runs between Eaton and Union. Therefore, all the backyards on Union Boulevard abut the Genoa Street alley and all the backyards on Eaton A also abut that Genoa Street alley. To that end, the house located at 1953
Eaton has a large pile of garbage. Uh that is leaking into the Genoa Street alley. It's at least 15 20 bags. It includes furniture, uh open bottles of liquor. Uh as you previously heard, that trash pile has been there for at least
six months. For my personal information, I believe it's been there since at least February 20th. And that's also uh February 20th of 2026. That's also when communications at least communications with the city started on that date. Uh you heard from everybody
else. We are still waiting for some sort of resolution. To that end, I I've spoken with my neighbors about what direction they want to go in and what direction we want to go in. You know, with exposed trash, there's kids in the neighborhood that run around that trash.
There's also critters uh be it fox, groundhogs, hawks digging at that trash, exposing that trash. So then we get squirrels and mice which will lead to rats uh that spread such nice uh diseases as bubonic plague, huntovirus,
ratbite fever and lepertosis. Um basically if my dog smells rat urine, it might get lepertosis. And a lot of us are pet owners and we walk our animals in that alley. Uh, so I got to figure out, you know, how to figure out how to diagnose my dog with leptosis and then
maybe take it from there. Uh, I did reach out to the city of Bethlehem Recycling Center. I did quickly send an email there. I have not seen any action uh since I sent that email. So, I'm just up here reinstating my complaints. Like all my neighbors said, it's a
lovely neighborhood. It's a quiet neighborhood. There's families. There's kids. We do all try and take care of each other. Uh unfortunately at 1953 eaten there's just a giant pile of trash and it is uh discouraging, disgusting, off-putting.
Nobody wants to sit back there and and look at this disgusting trash. So uh showed up tonight just to implore city council or implore the mayor just to take some sort of action uh some sort of demonstrable action that you know we can mark and follow uh as citizens of that
neighborhood. Uh that's all I have to say on that statement. my spouse uh Jacqueline is here as well. I'm speaking for her if you'd like to come up. All right. Thank you for your time, council. Uh and have a good evening. >> Thank you so much, Mike. The next person
I have signed up to speak is Mark. I am so sorry. Your last your last name begins with an O. Ozi. Oz. Thank you so much. >> Good evening, council. It doesn't bring me any pleasure to be here. [snorts]
Uh, on a quick note to you guys in the trash, go through the health department, bypass zoning, go for health, health and welfare. Go after them. They'll they'll they'll probably start going after them more, won't do it. You know, just a
thought. Anyway, I'm here concerning the Betham Police Department and the Steel City Gun Club. To my knowledge, the gun club made arrangements for the Bethleam City
Police Department to use it and take care of it and do what they needed to do down there. And they go down and they practice. And that's fine. I got nothing against practice. But I do have a problem with it. on I believe it was the
30th of April. My phone's over there. Um I ended up calling Northampton County uh dispatch about 20110.
I found out that my neighbor also called and she's a young girl with young children and she called and she called her mom who was out of town crying on the phone because when they went down there and I
don't know who it was. I don't know if it was Bethleam or Betham had entertained somebody else down there but it happened two nights in a row. the first night. I should have to I should have got some notes for me. Anyway,
for 23 years I lived in my house in Readington Road, which is about a half a mile from the gun club. Usually September, October, they start doing their nighttime practice and that's fine. used to stop at nine
o'clock. And I'll bet you there's a dozen kids in the neighborhood that got to go to bed 8, nine o'clock so they can get up for school the next morning. All elementary school mostly. So you got to think of them.
And what happened the other night was was just astounding. If they ever tell you that there's a shortage of bullets, don't believe them. because there's not
when they were down there and this went on after 10:00 I I called and then shortly after I called it was close to 10:00 I called Northampton County and the girl said she wasn't happy about the phone call but
she said she would let them know the neighbor girl had Lower Sen Township go down I don't know what happened with them because they never went up to talk to her but after I called and she was supposed to relay the message. All hell broke loose. It was like you were in
Iran or some other war zone. If none of you guys live there and none of you guys experience at night, you should. I'm sure every kid in all their households were probably scared to death and it's sickening and frankly it needs to stop.
I don't know exactly how the city works. I would imagine council and the mayor are in charge of the police department, but somebody has to take control and shut it down no later than 9:00. I'd say 8:00. Some of my neighbors say,
"Ah, 9:00. They got to practice at night." I tell them, "Hey, go rent a building and turn out the lights. There are several indoor gun clubs around." But that's what's going on. And it's been going on for for 23 years. Like I said,
they used to stop at nine o'clock and whatever was in there, whoever was in there the other night, it went on past 9:00 and the second night probably went to 20 after 10. I meant 10:00, not 9, but it it it was ridiculous. I live a
half a mile away and and the girl at the horse farm who called besides me is even farther up the road. And and she called and they're farmers. They're the whole neighborhood's kind of used to it, but it's out of control and you got to stop
it. The citizens that pay the taxes for everything deserve more respect than what they got. And the other problem I will tell you is there were times and I don't know who they were but I know they probably come out of the gun club
because they come out 10 12 cars at a time and they'll drag race up the street and it's closed to the public. So apparently these are police officers having their U-Hawk going up the street until one of them ends up with a deer
through the windshield. More than several deer have been hitting that in the road. I appreciate your time. I hope you do something about it and we don't have to tolerate it anymore. >> Thank you so much, sir. I appreciate you coming. >> Thank you. >> The next person I have signed up is Dan
Skinner. >> I always wondered what these meetings were like. Um, hi, my name is Dan Skinner. Uh, homeowner and resident on the 800 block of Delwood Street, very close to the Elwood Park. Um over the last 5 years, my wife and I have kind of
observed uh an increase in um I guess like traffic violations in the sense of like speeding. And I was wondering to see how we could go about possibly getting on like some kind of docket or city budget, some kind of speed deterrent device, speed bumps that could
be removed in the winter due to plows, but just something to kind of control speed. Uh it is a very heavily visited park, lots of kids in the neighborhood. Uh I am a father of two. So um I was asking some others in the community how to go about doing something about speed
bumps or the neighborhood and they said this is the best avenue. So um thank you for your time. >> Thank you. And I will encourage you to stay until after the meeting. Um this it's a much more formal setting, but as soon as the meeting wraps up, I'm sure plenty of people on council would be happy to walk you through not just the
speed bump process, but other avenues that you might be able to use to just draw attention to that area of the community. So, thank you for coming out. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> The next person I have signed up is Isabelle. >> Hi guys, nice to see you again. Um, I
wanted to thank you for all the updates that were giving me given to me in regards to spray. Uh it seems to have taken a almost a resolve. The night that I did come home from the last city council meeting, I did smell it. Um they
see I was updated and they seem to have caught them in the act um in a way that we're able to uh move forward with hopefully getting some legislation down. Um I did talk to Representative McNeel and she was super nice. So nice. Um so
she gave me a lot of really good information and updates. So, I just really hope that it continues forward. I have updated my neighbors. Uh, they seem to be happy with it. Uh, so I'm just I just wanted to thank you for all the communications that you have given me. I
did have another thing that I wanted help with. I had last time I was here, it was brought up about Sand Island. I went to the park and I agree that it did need some help. Uh, I visited actually right before here.
and uh really happy that there's trash cans near those bathrooms. Um but a lot of the park just seem to need help. I have made a website for to incentivize uh community engagement in like local
cleanups and kind of uh incentivize people helping out as like an event type of forum. So, if anybody could kind of guide a direction, I would I would love that because I just, you know, want to help and we want a cleaner community. It seems to keep coming up. But thanks,
guys. Thank you, Isabelle. And I will also encourage you to hang out after. We definitely have plenty of avenues to connect you with with uh community cleanups and people that might be able to help you with that. Um, that exhausts the list of people that I have signed up to speak, but I will go around the room.
Um, so does anyone on my left want to make a public comment on something that is not being voted on that hasn't had the opportunity to speak? Yes, sir. [clears throat] Hey, Mark. >> Good evening. Larry Kirk,
I tell you, how are you, sir? >> I'm good. We contacted y'all so many times about this trash. I'm going to be reluctant reductant and say it all again. I'm the sublimable message you don't want. So, I am going to definitely find some
way to solve this problem with this trash. We're not quite as bad as these folks, but if you you I'm sure you all went up to your landfill. See the seagulls come down. They're eating, munching. Well, we have crows. We have foxes. I have two big dogs. huge dogs.
They're in a fence and stuff. Now, the reason I bring this up is because these people party so much and I felt sorry for them at first. They came back one day and their car is stolen. Why? I have cameras all over. And sure enough, I had
a camera that saw the tow truck that came down their yard and repoed their car. So, I felt sorry for them. I walked over to their house and knocked. I talked to my trash guy, said, "Hey, Don, how much to pick up their trash? how much it going to cost me? And I found
out I shouldn't do it. And the reason, but I'm glad I didn't. The reason being is because they would have got used to it. It didn't stop. And then I found out there's trash in the barn. There's trash there. It is bad. I don't know how many
times and people we I wrote the mayor myself personally, emailed them and got response. They're trying. We're trying. There's got to be something that can be done. I appreciate it. We would appreciate it. The PR It's It's amazing. Go down there,
you can smell it. And I'm not as bad as John and Mark. They're like right there. But I trash every day is blowing into my yard. And I have a fence and I got a big line of trees and stuff. Well, they're out partying one night and whatnot.
They'd come over harassing my dogs. And I tell the guy, listen, you don't want to get that dog mad because he could possibly go through that fence if he gets his head through there and he comes out. You don't want trouble with that dog. He's going to do his job. He's got a job. He's got to protect his mama cuz
if something happens to me, she ain't got to worry about it. They came in and started trying to fight on my property. They walked up my driveway trying to start a fight. Now, if they can afford to go out and go to the bar and have the bar come to their
house and have this big party in the back of the yard, music you can hear, they can afford to pay for their trash to get picked up. It's bad. If you took your all's desk and flipped it up, the pile would be higher than your desk right now. It
actually comes out on Genanoa Street. It's terrible. Now, I don't know if the city of Betham owns trash trucks. Get an idea. send a trash truck there and charge them for it. Pick it up. I'll even help the guy come over in a little bit, one bag at a time. I'll help him
throw it in the back of the dumpster, please. Sublimable message is now over. Thank you for your time, y'all. >> Thank you so much, sir. Anyone else to the left want to make public comment? Does anyone else in the center want to make a public comment? Terry, I saw you
first. Hey, Mark. >> Hi, Terry Kber. I live on Graan View Boulevard in Bethlehem and we're here on behalf of a traffic safety petition that we have put together. I have a copy for council and
a copy for Mr. Alcohol over there. Um, we're gonna we want to request a traffic study done for um the daily speeding, the stop sign violations, pedestrian risks. I walk we walk our dogs all the time and you have
to constantly watch. Parking on the east side of Grand View is angle parking. Even though they don't angle, they now park head-on. But the point being, when you go to back out of your spot, you look, nothing's coming. you start backing out and somebody's flying down the street and you have to
be really careful. So, it's real hard um to pull out safely without crawling an inch at a time. So, we'd like to ask for is to have this the traffic study to install speed bumps or traffic slowing humps on Grand View and the stops the
the stop sign at Glendale and Florence Glendale Avenue and Grand View and Florence Avenue in Grand View. We'd like to have flashing stop signs put there. I mean, it can't cost that much to put a flashing stop sign there. It runs on solar, I believe. Right. So, this is to improve the safety for
the children, the pedestrians, the school bus riders, and all of the residents in the neighborhood. There's 61 houses on Grand View Boulevard. Three of those houses are vacant. 75% of the occupied houses would be 43.5 houses.
So, that's what we need to get this pushed through. So, 46 houses have signed the petition. Every house except one that we went to with the petition was highly in favor highly in favor of these traffic safety measures. The number of children in the neighborhood
has increased over the years. The number of cars that travel Grand View Boulevard has increased with the majority coming from Central Park Avenue on the west and the Florence Avenue apartments on the east. And most of those disregard the stop signs. The stop signs are either
ignored or rolled through. I have been almost hit quite a few times down at Glendale Avenue as I'm coming down Grand View. These cars just keep coming out and you lay on the horn and oh, okay, I'll stop. And they look at you like you're in the wrong.
The stop signs are mostly ignored even though and even though there's minimal they're ignored even though there's minimal visibility when you go to pull out because of the cars that are parked there. You cannot see who's coming down the street. The stop sign at Glendale
Avenue is also a bus stop for the local children. I reside at the corner of Graan View and Florence where I routinely observe significant non-compliance with the stop signs at both intersections. My deck sits right there. I now have a camera that I put on
that intersection. I sit there and I watch these cars go by and if their windows are open and they don't stop, I yell stop sign and they're like, you know, who's that? Now, every time they go by, they're looking around to see who's going to yell at him again. So, recently, a driver coming from Central Park Avenue from that the town houses
over there nearly struck me, my vehicle, after failing to stop. The only reason the collision was avoided was because I sounded my horn. I had backed down my driveway and went to go down View and he was coming and he was not going to stop until I hit the horn. It's not an isolated incident, but part of a
consistent pattern of dangerous behavior. When I'm outside walking my dog or maintaining my property, I frequently witness drivers who only come to a complete stop because they see me standing there looking at them. This demonstrates a clear disregard for the posted traffic controls. Due to
these ongoing safety issues, I've installed a safety camera facing the intersection to document violations and protect myself in the event of a crash. Given these firsthand safety concerns, I respectfully request a traffic study be conducted as soon as possible. Following
the study, we ask for installation of speed bumps or speed humps to reduce vehicle speeds as well as flashing stop signs to increase visibility and compliance of the stop signs at the corners with Grand View Boulevard scheduled scheduled for paving. I'm not sure when, but it's essential that the
traffic study occurs before that work proceeds. Thank you for this your attention to this matter and for prioritizing the safety of the residents of the and the children of Graan View Boulevard. And I have the petition which I'll give you a copy and I'll give you a copy.
>> Terry, on that petition, did you put like the the specific intersections that you were talking about? It's okay if you didn't. I just >> I think it's all on here. >> Okay. Awesome. Thank you so much. >> Y Spanish, too. >> Oh, love it. >> We love a bilingual queen. Thank you so much.
>> Okay. Thank you so much. That's you. Yeah. Anyone else in the broad center want to make public comment? I thought I saw your hand, Mary Joe. >> Uh, yeah, if we can get it out. >> Mary Joe Mcool, 449 Grand View Boulevard. I want to address the apathy
demonstrated by some on this council and the current administration to public safety. I have spoken out, as many others have, about the lack of attention to the safety of Bethlehem residents. The issue of speeding has been brought to light numerous times. In my
neighborhood, cars constantly speed up Grand Speed on Grand View Boulevard, Broad Street, and Handover Avenue. Stop signs are ignored by cars, school buses, police, and emergency vehicles without operating flashing lights or sirens. My neighbor mentioned this to a Bethlehem
police officer and he was told, "I already I already have my quota for the month." One night, the week before last, I watched from my home a drag race on Grand View Boulevard. One car was in such a hurry that I could not wait for the car ahead of ahead that he attempted
to pass only to have it end up with two cars racing against each other to the stop sign at Broad Street. I fear for my safety and that of my dog when we are out walking along Broad Street and Hanover Avenue. [snorts] Even if we walk a little away from the
sidewalk, we are still taking our lives into our own hands. Numerous accidents always occur happen on that curve. That is why many years ago, Mr. Bennett installed a large grassy area and moved his new cars well back from the street.
Hanover Avenue and Broad Street are I believe are state roads maintained by Allentown and Bethlehem respectively. But I feel municip or but I feel municipalities and states should work together to curtail the speeding. I
previously mentioned a system utilized by Salisbury Township called ENRAD. Bethlehem has recently added two electronic speed monitors to its repertoire. I would like very much like to see them used on West Bethlehem.
With increased development happening, higher traffic volumes will correspondingly happen. While climate action plans are encouraging more pedestrian and biking, there are still those that cannot utilize those modes of transportation. Mass transportation is
cutting routes and times, so that's becoming problematic. Land buses used to run every 20 minutes along Broad Street and Hanover Avenue. They now are reduced to once an hour. The proposed development of the former Ben Toyota lot is several years from completion for
which I am personally grateful for. Bethlehem and Allentown are playing Russian roulette with residents by waiting for this development to proceed and not addressing the current safety issues. The state regulates who can use radar to enforce speeding,
but there are other weapons available in the arsenal. Rumble strips and speed bumps come to mind. consider yourselves informed and please do not wait for a death to happen and a possible lawsuit for neg for negligent behavior. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mary Joe. The next person I
saw was Mr. Shilshshire, 1890 Eaton Avenue. Uh, I almost feel guilty coming up here with a lighter note, but I have two quotes for you tonight on immigration.
They're by the same person, and I want you to try to think who it was, and then I'm going to tell you, of course. The first quote, I in my own mind have always thought of America as a place in the divine scheme of things that was set aside as a
promised land. It was set here and the price of admission was very simple. The means of selection was very simple as to how the land should be populated. any place in the world and any person from those
places. Any person with the courage with the desire to tear up their roots to strive for freedom to attempt and dare to live in a strange and foreign place to travel halfway around the world was welcome here.
Second quote from the same person. [clears throat] America represents something universal in the human's spirit. I received a letter not long ago from a man who said, "You can go to Japan to live, but you cannot become Japanese. You can go to
France to live and not become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey and you won't become a German or a Turk." But then he added, "Anybody from any corner of the world can come to America to live and become an American.
If you guessed Ronald Reagan, you were correct. He's looking better these days. As are George W. Bush, [snorts] George Herbert Walker Bush, Gerald Ford,
Dwight Eisenhower, and even a little bit Richard Nixon. Uh Richard Nixon did solidify a lot of the civil rights gains that happened under Lyndon Johnson. Nixon's
problem was his character. Uh he had no sense of humor. I think any politician, including you all, have got to have a sense of humor. Thank you. Oh, by the way, I'd like to find out exactly
where you are in relation to my [laughter] house on Eden Avenue. [gasps] >> Thank you so much. [laughter] >> Does anyone else in the center have comments that they want to make on items not being voted on this evening? Anyone
to Mr. Antalics? [clears throat] >> [clears throat] >> Stephen Antalic 77 rich I didn't intend to speak tonight so my comments [snorts] may not follow logic but I'll do the best I can but
comments made by the people have provoked some thoughts which will provoke my comments One thing I heard this evening which is very rewarding to hear from a Bethlehemite is that these people spoke
of being neighbors and taking care of each other. And if you talk to a professional city planner, they say the key to the success of any city is single family home owners,
neighbors. I received a phone call some time ago and it's coming back to me. This person had friends over near the armory and in conversations it came up.
A lot of the neighbors are renters, not single family owners, renters. And some don't even talk to each other. They have no interest in anybody else. I'm speaking about the majority. So,
Bethlehem has been cited as a best main street, the best hotel. But where this city is going makes that all very temporary. Why?
Because a secret to Bethlehem has been the single family. And who in my mind is most responsible for that trend? You seven people. Now Bill Sher says, "I'm g number one."
and he's gi number two. So I've attend more city council meetings than anybody else in the city. So I've seen council act in the interest of the city of Bethlehem. Council members then would never pass
the variances that are asked for today because they had the foresight to know that will destroy the city. You have destroy the south side third new street to someone coming back to the city would be a shock. Why the
commercialization? Who did it? You did it by allowing variances where the welfare of the single family became secondary to the welfare of the
developer. which adds credibility to the term. If you want to play, you got to pay. And they've paid and they're in the game. Just look at Third Street. Shame.
So these people who spoke of each other of taking care of each other is very heartwarming to me to hear cuz I was born and raised in Bethlehem and I know that feeling
and if you did a survey of recent arrival in Bethlehem that's gone and the whole most of you are responsible for that. >> Thank you, Mr. Antalics. Does anyone else in the center have public comment
and has not been given an opportunity to speak? Anyone to my right? >> Right now, we're going to move on to public comments on ordinances and resolutions that are being voted on this evening. Um, reminder, it is the same five minute time limit. I do not have
anyone signed up to speak. Um, but I'm going to go around the room. Does anyone to my left want to make public comment on something being voted on this evening? Does anyone in the center want to make public comment? >> Mr. Sh. All right. No, no longer Mr. Nice Guy.
>> Oh, come on. It's not working. [laughter] Show here. >> Wait, wait. Oh. Um, this evening you will be voting on whether to override the Historic Conservation
Commission on the demolition of four buildings for a new and other sevenstory apartment building at 327 South New Street. Although at least two of the buildings contribute to the remaining historical
character of South Bethlehem and there is some left, especially on Fourth Street and not third. I expect that you will vote to override because history does not seem to be high on your list of priorities
even though it contributes to tourism here and the general quality of life. A week ago, I [clears throat] attended a lecture at the Moravian Archives on Moravians and a sense of place because I thought it might have something about
the protection of Main Street. It did not, but I took advantage of the Q&A to ask what was being done to protect Main Street, citing your recent approval of a seven-story apartment building right behind some Main Street businesses.
Only one of the three panelists responded. She is the new I for didn't catch her name. She's the new site manager of the UNESCO World Heritage site and said that and said that would protect the Maravian
buildings. She did not address Main Street as a context for the main Moravian buildings. An [clears throat] attendee of the lecture told me afterwards about an experience in San Antonio. When he looked out his hotel window, he
saw a sign that said the Alamo. He said that if he hadn't noted the sign, he would have missed the Alamo because it is surrounded by urban buildings. as he put it, it is not enough to protect the historic
buildings because something important is lost when the context is obliterated as well as the general equality of of our life, our neighborhoods in the city. We hear a lot about preserving the integrity of our neighborhoods, but not
much resistance is being shown to developers, but that is a subject for another time. Thank you. Does anyone else in the center have public comment on something being voted on this evening?
Uh, anyone to my right? That concludes public comment. Moving on to old business. Do any council members have old business to address this evening? Okay.
Uh moving on um to new business. Uh before I open it up to council, just a reminder uh or sorry, not that not a reminder. We are going to be rescheduling um the council meeting for the Tuesday, May 19th. Uh I should just read this
rescheduling of the Tuesday, May 19th, 2026 city council meeting to Wednesday, May 20th, 2026 due to the primary um the primary election. So, I will accept the motion and a second to reschedule the second council meeting in May to Wednesday, May 20th at 7 p.m. due to
city hall being closed on May 19th, election day. >> So, move >> second. All right. Uh, any discussion? >> I won't be present, but understanding that quorum uh is what counts. I'm just
putting that out there. >> Thank you, Vice President Blair. Any other discussion? The clerk will call the role. >> Mr. Aman, >> I. >> Mr. Callahan, >> I. >> Mr. Cologne, >> I. >> Miss Daniels, >> I. >> Miss Quiet, >> I. >> Miss Leairard, >> I.
>> And Miss Leon, >> I. Passes 70. The second city council meeting in [clears throat] May has been rescheduled to Wednesday, May 20th at 700 p.m. in town hall. Um, so we're going to open it up for new business. I think it's probably best to start with
uh the conversation regarding Eaton Avenue. Thanks, >> Eaton Avenue. Um, I feel like multiple council members might have uh questions about that in the process. So, for my council colleagues, if we can stick to that topic first and then we will go back to council members. So, opening the
floor for uh counciloman. >> Thank you, President um Leyon, not Colon. Um sorry about that. Uh so I have had some engagement back and forth with um one of the residents there and um
she was a maybe a little less um subliminal. U she was concerned and and thankful that things have been done. Um it seems to me based on the conversation the the email conversations I've had with Mr. help Forester is that the delay
has been in a lack of ability to connect with the actual homeowner and then that was resolved. Um and then the homeowner uh said that they would clean it up by yesterday and obviously that passed and so the update we got was that there was
going to be another fine. But um it does sound like there are more nuisances there um beyond garbage, loud partying and and general nuisance neighborhood behavior. Just wondering if you can kind of share with us anything more about
this whole process. >> Um yeah, I'm happy to and I I I believe Mr. Mr. Hobforster has communicated with a few members of council, but just for for everybody being on the same page, I mean, I'll start by saying um trash enforcement does come out of the recycling bureau as of a few years ago.
Um we have one trash enforcement officer who handles about 650 to 700 complaints a year. Um I will say this one is is one of the worst ones. Um it is not though in process being treated any differently than others. you know, some I'll just
I'll you know, kind of explain the life cycle of a complaint as it relates to trash and then kind of talk about where the variation occurs and where this particular cases, you know, but by ordinance um what happens when we receive a complaint about about trash um is, you know, we'll go out, we'll
investigate first, and the first step will be to contact the homeowner and just give a like a verbal warning and see if there's a way in which to just work with the property owner, you know, to get the situation resolved. And a lot of the resolution that we see in these
cases does happen at that point. So, you know, we don't immediately start and say like, you know, we see trash out, it's been out for a certain number of days or, you know, we know that this person >> uh doesn't have a hauler and like just send a citation right away. We we do try first to like work with a property owner and and that was, you know, part of what
we tried to do here as well. >> And just to add to that is like we try to work with a property owner not because of like sympathy or being easy on them. It's just because what happens next is this process. So like the easiest thing to do is try to just convince them that in everybody's best interest would be to clean it up now
because when they don't want to clean it up then we go through the citation process. We have to deal with the magistrate. We have to deal with the rescheduling so on and so forth. So the first time and it's not different than how the police talk to people and so on and so forth is like it's an attempt to try to do this in the least painful least time consuming way possible. So
any type of like warning or conversation is not about like we want to give somebody like the benefit of the doubt. It's not that. it just once you start the process like many things in the legal process it just is then guaranteed to take a certain period of time. So like when we try to talk to them first
it is under this idea that that's the quickest way to resolve it but then obviously if not we go through this extensive process that we have been through that I wish everybody had stayed to hear about. >> Yeah. So as the mayor foreshadowed um when that didn't [clears throat] work then we went to the violation you know
notice part of the process. So between when we first got the first complaint in like midFebruary um we ended up citing them and sending it to the magistrate uh around I believe it was March 19th. So unfortunately when something goes to the magistrate is then
out of our hands and you know some of the information that one of the speakers was asking about was information about who is the magistrate who's handling this and when is the hearing scheduled for and that's not information that we had. And so our response was, you know,
that information is, you know, will eventually be available on the matt, you know, the the the court website. They went, the information was not there. And that's because the magistrate had hadn't scheduled anything yet. And I believe they still haven't scheduled. We have uh reached out directly to the magistrate's
office. We have uh indicated that this is a a you know, a case that we consider a priority. Um I I don't think it's helped very much and that's not not necessarily uncommon, but we are we've we've tried that approach as well. Um but as that process
is going on, we still have continued to try and work directly with the property owner. Um so there is a different tenant than the property owner. Um so I think you know I don't want to get into the specifics of who's engaging in what behavior. Um but we have engaged
directly with the property owner. Um there was recently a promise made that sometime between last Thursday and and yesterday that there would be a hauler out there picking up the trash. Um we've continued to go by the property as one of the speakers spoke, you know,
mentioned um repeatedly to assess the situation. We did go out again today and the the trash has not been cleaned up. Um we have spoken again with the property owner. Um so unfortunately after that happened that we then have cited them again which is our you really
the mechanism that we have by ordinance. Um so there's now is a second um violation letter or violation notice citation that is um also going to make its way through with the magistrate. It's a frustrating situation and you
know sometimes these situations do pop up. Um when there are cases in which there is blighted property, there's questions about ownership, there's not somebody physically living in a property and there are these sorts of nuisance
issues, whether it's with trash, usually not with trash if it's um vacant, but you know, high grass and weeds, these sorts of things. you know, we have small nuisance abatement funds where we can pay a contractor to go out, but there our stance has typically been um and
because we also think within what's written in the ordinance, like we have the ability potentially to go out when there's not a property owner, but it is a different situation when there's somebody living in the property. Um, you know, if we were to call a third party trash hauler, for example, there's a
couple questions that would arise about that. one being the the hauler is going to say like, well, do I have the authority to go onto somebody's private property and pick up their trash? And then the second question is going to be like, okay, well, the city's paying for it, but are we just putting out that
money and that's it and that's the end? um and we lose that money and and some of the challenge there is as I said there are 650 to 700 trash complaints a year and not all of them rise to this level but you know a lot of them do have to do with unfortunately people being
bad neighbors or maybe being in a tough financial position and like we certainly don't have the resources to pick up trash in all those instances um you know when when a situation like this arises. So it is a very difficult situation but we are um very much on top of it with
the ability that we have and the tools that that we have. >> And to add to that when you pick up their trash once [clears throat] if they are people that lay their trash all over the place you're very much then creating the precedent and the incentive and like the weird like disincentive from them to
do something about their own trash. And that's happened in other cities when you do this in the situation Miss Collins like if people think that's going to happen it's likely that they won't do this again in the future. And part of the other contributing factor too and the frustrating thing about the fines and I remember when I was in S council I
learned this the first time like 15 years ago is like like the magistrates end up collecting like 18 or 20% of all fines even when somebody is cited because the same thing it's not our job it's not our responsibility to chase down like this court judgment it is the
magistrate's office and they only have so many people they can send their letters but they don't send people out to be like you owe us $250 generally early. So then it becomes a situation too where people are like why can't we just raise the fines? There are some legal reasons why you can't just say it's like a million dollars for this
citation. But even when we do it and we go through that process, we end up collecting and I remember you know it wasn't Chief God, it was but the previous chief I remember asking for just like a rundown of what percentage of fines we collected over a period of time and it was like one year was like 14% and like 17% then like 19%. Like the
collection rate on those fines to be able to because I had that idea too. is like why couldn't you find these people and then be able to put the money back into an account to help as Miss Collins said to pay for additional trash removal on other properties and the challenge is like you can't guarantee much revenue because like the same thing that makes people not cut their grass makes them
not go to the magistrate makes them not respond to the citation makes them not want to which is why as she said we try to find ways to necessarily you know come to this but this is one that's at the magistrate as the one individual said he had reached out to the mayor's office we had reached out as well got
back to him said this was the process going on. So it is it is a property that we have actively been involved in on multiple levels. Um >> and I will say a case that is this severe when it does get scheduled for the magistrate like these are the sorts of factors that like we will argue in front of the magistrate because there
are magistrates treat these sort of issues differently and sometimes they are more sympathetic and you know we don't always get them to be as aggressive as we might want them to be. But like all of these factors that that we're describing and that we're hearing about from the neighbors are ones that
we would we would make sure to emphasize with the magistrates so that we could get hopefully the sort of resolution that we would be looking for there. So I have a couple of follow-ups on this. Um the first one is um can the neighbors do
they have standing in the magistrate situation or can only the city speak um in terms of um do they have the ability to be there and and and serve as witnesses or testify to the to the um you know how bad the situation is when
it does finally come to the magistrate. >> I I was checking with Mr. Spur. Um I I solic I I do believe we could have neighbors as witnesses to testify at the magistrate. >> Um can I know that they felt some of
them who spoke felt that the code enforcement officer was ignoring them perhaps you know that they needed a right to know in order to get the you know some of the some of the comments from folks. And um of course, you know, there's always more than one side to these things, but um just wondering if
there's a way to keep them engaged even though we don't necessarily have all the tools at our disposal so that they know when when the hearing is scheduled and you know, if there's a way that yeah, you know, >> they can feel that they're being heard
more. I mean, the first thing I I w I will say is I mean, I've read a lot of the email chains myself, and I I do know that there's been pretty robust communication um both over email and over the phone with various neighbors. Um so, I'm not
exactly sure where that comment came from. Um but I suppose like there's nothing that would prevent us when we have the hearing date with reaching out to the neighbors and letting them know when that is. >> Great. And then my only remaining question was kind of spurred by the
gentleman who said, you know, do you have any trash trucks? Can you go pick it up? If we were um a city that had a citywide municipal hauling contract that was paid for by um you know a a fee um
from all residents. Um would that give us more power and more control over a property like this? Um would it be that well everybody is paying for their trash and so everybody's trash will get picked up? >> Well, I would say so the example with
recycling for example for example if if somebody is not paying the city their recycling fee. We don't like drop them from the list of people who get picked up. A lot of times what you see in the trash hauler situation is if an
individual property owner doesn't pay their hauler for like two weeks, then they'll just stop picking up that person's trash and that's how some of these cycles begin. So I I guess the short answer would be like no. It would not be it it would be a different it would be a different situation because we would we would collect unpaid fees
through a different process but likely still pick up the individual's trash, >> right? And recycling is in with the water and sewer, right? So, it's it's everybody gets those quarterly bills, >> right? >> I know that not everybody pays their bills, but you know, most people do. >> It's also a situation, and you see this
in other cities, is just because there's a single hauler doesn't necessarily stop these type of issues because there's still compliance. You have to put your trash out. You have to use the amount right amount of uh trash bins, the all of those things. I mean, you see that in Allentown, um, where they they have many
trash issues in different areas of the city, even though they pick up I is it twice a week? Um, or is it I think it's twice a week. That's part part of the reason why their contract number is so high, but they have twice a week pickups and they're just some of these trash
issues once again is even difficult. Um, especially with things that don't qualify under pickup. Um, and then this these situations most happen as we know happen in like landlord tenant situations where someone says like I'm not getting rid of this whole thing like it's your responsibility but they have
to hire somebody else to come because their trash guy won't take it as well. >> Thank you. >> Any other council? >> Any other council member want? >> I have a question. Um 723 Broadway.
It's a home that was renovated, gutted, and renovated by uh redevelopment authority, I believe. >> Yes. Familiar with the property? >> I am familiar with the property. Yes. >> Sorry. Uh is is it in regards to the the Eaton Avenue trash? >> Yeah. Yeah. I just wanted to give
council the opportunity to do that first and then we'll open it up for everything. Uh, Vice President Lair. >> Uh, so one commenter had made the, uh, suggestion that this could be a health issue, uh, in addition to a trash code
issue. Um, is there something that the health bureau can do beyond what the recycling enforcement officer, trash enforcement officer has done? And is there a threshold that leads to like a condemn a
temporary condemnation until a property is cleaned up where it becomes too hazardous for people to live there because of varmint or whatever. >> So there is a health ordinance that deals with
um like mice and things. I think we could probably look at that ordinance to see if it has different enforcement mechanisms. I mean, historically, actually, it was the health bureau that housed the person who did trash enforcement and it, you know,
that has since moved to the recycling bureau. Um, but I I honestly I don't know that there's like a different enforcement mechanism under the health ordinance. I'd have to look at that. Even if it were the same mechanism,
potentially additional fines levied. >> Sure. Yeah, possibly. >> For those issues. Okay. And then in terms of condemnation, where does that I would assume that it's pretty like severe >> like maybe a hoarding situation is but that would lead to that. But
>> yeah, I mean you'd honest you'd be surprised how many hoarding situations unfortunately exist. Um, and it's like typically a hoarding situation is not enough for a condemnation. >> Okay. >> So, there's a threshold, but we're far
from it. >> Yeah. I mean, and you know, Mr. Simson is aware generally when we have like major problem properties, we work very closely together between the recycling enforcement officer and um, you know, the the housing inspection folks. Um,
but this I mean I could check with him, but it would be it's pretty far from a situation that would actually require condemnation inside the property itself. >> Thank you. Any other questions? Any other questions from council members?
>> Council Mallian. >> So, um, why did they have to go through the the right to know request? That's what I didn't understand. >> I'm I am not sure. I think they were asking for information that we just simply didn't have and we directed them to the to the court. That's that's my
understanding, but I'd have to check in on that part of the conversation. >> The other thing I would say is that, you know, court docket information is publicly available, but they wouldn't be entitled to notice from the court as a nonparty. So, that that was something I think they
were maybe getting at earlier. And yeah, >> I I would just ask that, you know, whatever process they were explaining, they felt like for whatever reason they were getting the runaround. I'm not saying that they were. I'm just saying that that's what they felt like. So, if you guys could have like an internal conversation as far about how how we can
tighten up the, you know, that whole process for, you know, residents. This isn't like this isn't the only area of the city that we've been hearing about garbage all over the place, you know. I mean, we we heard just um a meeting or two meetings ago about um the
uh canal. So, I don't know if anything's been done done down there, but >> yeah, there's been significant cleanups since the last >> I appreciate that. >> We spent a significant amount of money last year cleaning it up, and we've had those conversations with Norfolk Southern, and we continue to have a substantial amount of people down there
like working to to clean it up as well. And think about how structurally up and up and down And it is a lot of different problems as far as and people talk about the unsheltered situation, but you just have people that go down there and you know it's hard to catch people that leave their stuff after they're on
fishing and stuff, all sorts of things, but it is something that we're that we're we're we're on top of from a priority. >> Listen, I appreciate everything you're trying to do with the parks. Really do. I was a health and phys teacher. I know how important especially for these kids
with with all the digital uh things that they're doing. So, I appreciate everything you're doing with the parks, but to be honest with you, if we don't get a a handle of this garbage situation, all the good work you're trying to do with the parks is going to go downhill. And my fear, and this is my
fear, is that this is just the beginning because I think, and I hope I'm wrong, that the economy is going to start getting a little bit worse. This is my opinion just on a lot of things going on in the world. And I don't think that whole situation with Iran is going to get resolved and oil is going to go up.
And as the economy gets worse, people start cutting out bills. And I think that's probably what's going on over there. They don't have the enough money to to have um a garbage hauler. And I'm not sure, I think it was Miss Quiet mentioned about uh a single hauler. Mr.
Reynolds, you and I were on council when that was discussed many, many years ago. Uh it's a tough fight. I'm not sure if the single hauler uh situation if that would get if changed. I don't know if Mr. Sper could chime in on that, but it
it is a possibility of if we did have a single hauler that this could be resolved and if there's a way of having the the fee for the single hauler, not put in the water and sewer, but in maybe in the in the in the tax bill. I don't
know if that could be done. That way, if there's not a payment uh on it, there's an there's um if the property's ever sold, then we get paid back, you know, in whole. So, I
don't, you know, I don't know what the situation is, but I would just appreciate that, mayor, that you you take the lead on this and and I'm not saying if you you can't delegate it, but that you're you're checking up on it because we we need to make sure that this is being handled. >> Yeah. And and I I would tell you after
watching this for for 19 years, there's always been issues with trash. As I said, there's issues with trash in cities have single hauler, there's issues with trash that don't have single hauler. So the process and when the process was made and Miss Collins, what year was it made when it was switched over to Mr. Halper or from the health bureau? Do you know how long ago that
was? >> I believe it was 2022. >> Yeah. So I think it was I think it was done about four years ago. We and it's the same problem with grass and weeds as I was saying before is you know when we get these situations we spend a lot of time a lot of work hours trying to
enforce them and even and a lot of the situations don't fit into this idea that like if you had a single hauler like that would necessarily solve this issue because there still is like a missing step there. We are constantly like self-reflecting on like is there a better systemic way to do this? is there
a better way to save money and so on and so forth. Just a couple of like brainstorm issues. So I'm not saying there's not like an there's not like a full opinion here. Like one of the things that we do know has changed is that there are less and less of the big haulers out there that are willing to
bid on a contract like this and you saw this in Whiteall. You saw this in the city of Allentown. You saw this in other places. what the numbers were that we would have gotten back like 15 years ago for a potential like single hauler versus what it is now when there's only like two or three biders. The majority of the people now that have longunning
contracts with people that are paying $340, $360 a month would pay would pay substantially more than that. And that's even rolling in and that's without rolling in your your uh recycling fee and so on and so forth. So, it's always a conversation and I'm always up for like an intellectual like look at like
is there a more efficient way to do this and so on and so forth. Like we have not seen that it's gotten to a point yet where it necessarily makes sense. But like your point too and we had talked a little bit about this with like parks and like maintenance and program and staffing is like we are always thinking about like it 360 and like the whole
process and it takes one one bad neighbor to have a trash problem like this and really affect everybody's life. So like we do have those conversations. Miss Collins talks to Miss Mr. Halforster and talks to Miss Wenick and so on and so forth. But like when these problems come up in the police, what's the most efficient way to be able to
handle it? So like we know if like you can't handle these situations like you're going to have a problem, but it is it is a bit independent from like park situation. But as far as your point being is like is this something we prioritize? Absolutely. And one of the things that Miss Collins, Mr. alcohol
and everybody should know is like I want to know the things that you chose not to do and why you chose not to do them before I understand the things that you chose to do. So we're constantly having those conversations and in situations like this like I asked to like like a math teacher like see the work like what happened here? We sent this to the magistrate we sent this we communicated
this like I would agree with Miss Collins in this situation and I understand there was bits and pieces of information. And this way it's always frustrating when people don't stick around to have their work checked is like that we communicated what the individual stages were and why we did this at different levels because people had rightfully so reached out to the
mayor's office, reached out to you know trash enforcement and so on and so forth. So, like this was one that obviously we're not happy with the result on so far, but as far as what we've been able to do with the powers that we have, like I'm pretty satisfied that we've been like on top of it, but we're not going to rest until we get
whatever possible resolution we have in trying to make sure that this problem is is solved in whatever manner. >> That's all I ask for is that is that it's not lost in the weeds. It's it's it's stayed on top of and at some point it's it's resolved whether it takes a month or two months. I hope not. Yeah,
there's and and I would tell you this, Mr. K, and I know you've certainly shared your opinions about the administration at the time, but like I think if you watch what I do all day long, it's a lot of checking on whether or not these systems work and being on top of people and paying attention to details and in the weeds that some
people be like, "This isn't always a great use of your time." But I'm like, it's a reflection of whether or not the system works or not. And when there's ways to be able to improve it, like, we're going to do it. And it is the number one thing that I care about is that we have efficient systems that we're self-reflective about whether or not they're working or not. And this is
a complicated one that unfortunately is not easy as far as involving police and everything else. But I I can tell you one thing that we're on top of is like if you ask us about a situation like this and especially an extensive one like this, we can we can show the work because anybody deserves to be able to see that. It's like how do we respond
when something goes wrong, >> right? and and just if there's a way to tweak or streamline the the reporting process of residents and taxpayers reporting this to us and us following through whether it's like a check system, whatever, because it's I mean it
it's it's kind of like having an uh an eviction notice. There's a whole process that you got to go through and if you if they stop paying um their their rent, it literally takes two months minimum to get them out. >> Yes. So, the earlier that we start the
process in in in the official process and and dotting our eyes and in and crossing our tees, the earlier we do that, I think the quicker the the problem's going to get it. >> And if there's ordinance tweaks, we will absolutely come forward with them. Like we absolutely like look at like what works and what what doesn't work. And
like I said, I can tell you haven't watched this for 19 years is like there is a very sophisticated group of people thinking about how this how this works and so on and so forth. Like I'll be I'll be honest with you. Like I want to know whether or not I could go out to some of these problem properties and not like show the address and just show me
like asking these people to cut their grass and clean up their trash. Not for this one, but other ones throughout the city and just basically put that on social media and be like the mayor showed up at your house being like why aren't you cutting your grass for the rest of the neighborhood as a way to kind of like publicly put pressure on people? And like I was told I wasn't allowed to do that. What I'm saying is
like those those are the type of things that like we really are like all options on the table as far as like public pressure and things like that as far as what these properties are because it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous if somebody's not cutting the grass. The amount of time that we have to spend the police have to show like like the amount of time it it just it's it's not good.
So we're we're constantly thinking about ways. >> So what's the proc so they got fined today for $500? >> Their second their second >> their second one. So what's the process if it from here on out is there when is the next fine or when is the next court
hearing or what's how's >> I don't think the court hearing has still been scheduled yet. Correct. >> Correct. Correct. We're still we we're still waiting on the magistrate to schedule and we will be for this citation as well. >> So if they if if the magistrate doesn't schedule as soon as there another fine period like after another 30 days they
get fined again and does that fine go up? I what's just the process of it? I don't remember off the top of my head like what if there's a waiting period and or what the escalating fine dollar amounts are specifically. >> They often are like 250,500,000 but then I think and Miss Stewart might know is
like there's a maximum that you're amount you're allowed to be able to charge by like state law like and it's like an additional per and so on and so forth. But like this is a frustrating thing like we want the magistrate just to schedule the hearing and for whatever court reasons like we don't run the courts like it hasn't been scheduled
yet. Um, but we will continue to to to kind of see what we can do there. Thank you. >> Any other council members want to ask questions about this specific thing? >> Yeah. May I just ask who the magistrate is? >> Has it been assigned? >> I do not I don't
>> it it it's the west side. So So I >> I would believe it would be >> MDJelli. I I believe I just want to confirm on the record that we're waiting on a magistrate to do so and what the magistrate is and so that the community
knows that we're doing everything we can at the city of Bethlehem and perhaps these conversations should also be having with other um arms of of the system um that could help speed this process up. >> I I I would appreciate that, but also
and they do get to be the judge then. Um, so I I would just move I would move carefully on the when how quickly do you determine do you choose to schedule this or not. But I I I think from an operational government point of view that would be that would be the next
step. But judges move at their the pace they choose to move at. >> Are there any other questions regarding this specific topic? Vice President Lar. >> Yeah, one more. Uh, sorry. So, um it understandably people in this neighborhood, which I used to live a
block out of it, um and it it's sad to hear about like they're really nice, uh homes and and a great neighborhood. Um but it's understandable people's tensions are really high. Uh and there
was some comments made that sounded like things may be escalating further. Is it possible just to have like extra eyes in the neighborhood like to be trying to tone things down or anything? Like >> we can we certainly pass along. Captain
Adella was here. We can pass along as far as it being a situation. >> I just don't want to see anybody make a choice that takes us beyond where it needs to be. >> I I I agree and we certainly always encourage people to be able that there is a legal process to follow. Um and you
know sometimes it can be a a lot to ask >> people to do um uh you know conflict or identity resolution about how to deal with conflict. Um but it is something that you know as always we we roll
people in on when when they when they need to know that these type of things are just floating around in case somebody has to respond. >> Thanks. Yeah I'd hate to see good neighbors end up in a bad spot. Thanks. Any other questions from council regarding this specific topic? Okay, I
have a couple. Um, they said that it's a a rental. So, this is one of our regulated rentals. I'm assuming that there's or is there somebody who owns the property and just somebody else is living in it? >> Yeah, I believe it might be like a family situation. >> Family situation. Okay. If it were a regulated rental, would that give us
another arm of ability to go in and like inspect more because of the exterior or No, the regulated rental program only gives us like an ability to inspect for the license which is on a three-year
cycle, but it doesn't change >> it doesn't change things >> doesn't change with respect to nuisances or anything on the outside. Okay, this is just I'm I'm thinking and I hope we're all thinking in in problem solving mode because the the systems these systems tend to work but there's always
one person who escalates it to the place where it becomes such a problem and I I do feel for the fact that six 6 months is a long time and I do have a very real fear regarding um animals that tear up things especially with our our ticks and
stuff. So, whatever type of situation attracts animals into a community, it's just it's dangerous in general, not just for the community members, but for um our our wonderful little critters as well. Uh so, I'm curious. Um these are
all of the mechanisms that we have to put pressure on the property owner. I I can't remember. I didn't pull up the ordinance. Do we have the ability to put a lean on the house and be like, "Yeah, you can't sell this thing or any other form." And I could turn to you as well,
Miss Stewart, if if that's a legal question. >> Yeah. What I would say is looking at your ordination, your fee structure for first violation is a five fine of $200. Second violation is a fine of 500 and third and subsequent are a fine of $1,000, which is the maximum penalty
under third class city code. And what you can do when you get to the magistrate, if you obtain a judgment, >> you can obtain a certified copy of that judgment file with court as a lean against property.
>> Okay. All right. >> Under the law. >> And not that I think that this is always the the avenue that we should take. Some things just happen. But this isn't this isn't an accident. A situation doesn't escalate this bad by by accident. And it doesn't seem like it was an illness or anything. as far as the antagonism
that's going on within that little community. [clears throat] So, I'm >> Yeah, I I would just always transparent is like a lean's not going to clean up the trash, >> though. >> And you know, the idea that somehow like a lean is going to be punitive to landlords in the future doing this
versus the amount of work and everything else as far as staff time and things like that. It's just it's part of the conversation, but like the lean's not gonna get the trash. >> No, I didn't figure as much. I'm just thinking about like the we have had more conversations about
trash than I think we've had about almost anything else other other than affordable housing. It's been affordable housing and it's been trash. Um and there is just a very real appetite for us to do something about trash, not just from the community, but from from council members. Um, like I think this
is a time that we could look at the ordinance um or any other thing that we have that can we can change to create a a better system that works for all of us. I used to be extremely bullish on single hauler. I've been studying trash with the Lehigh kids for about four
years now. I understand um why that might not always be the right situation, always be the right case in and everything. So I but I do believe that we have a very real desire to address the trash situation in in Bethlehem and anything that council can do to whether
it's tweak the ordinance or or work with you guys to see what the internal process is like just to make it e these systems easier for us and that will work. It's it's one thing for us to have dump sites and that's usually the trash that I'm I'm used to and I I understand that. It's another thing to see a
property fall into such a state um and be so close in proximity to other houses that that is the the real concern for me and I would hate to wait another 3 or 4 months to see a resolution and obviously it's obviously Miss Collins you're not going to go out there and pick up the
trash but there does need to be some kind of resolution there. So if there's anything that this body can do to push the needle in a direction we are more than willing and able to to do it is We will we will keep you in the loop. I will tell you that you know I've had
different ideas about ways to do this >> that [clears throat] haven't been researched legally, Miss Stewart. But um like the idea that like if if we gave people a certain period of time to prove that they have a hauler and if they don't have a hauler, we essentially then put them on some type of like city contract and like we bid a contract. But
I'm not sure whether or not we're allowed to do that or not. Once again, that wouldn't solve this situation. But it's just like if you can somehow get people to prove they have a hauler and then the people that don't have a hauler get like multiple warnings like you need to have a hauler by this date or we're going to put you on like the city like
basically like delinquent hauler contract. >> But like this that's a process that to play out doesn't solve this person's trash next week. >> But you know the idea that like you don't go to a single hauler across the city. You basically have people prove that within the ordinance they're able
to meet the current trash or like trash hauler requirements. But then beyond that, if you don't prove that or if you're a landlord and you don't prove that, then somehow like we put you on like a bid contract and then almost create like a public option for a single hauler. Um, so then people have the
opportunity to like buy into that, but like what I just mentioned in two minutes is an incredible amount of work. um and it would take a long time and it's not necessarily able to be able to solve this person's like these type of issues that pop up. Um but once again that's just back to like Mr. Calling's point. It's like that's the level of
like detail that like we think about playing out is like ways to potentially improve the improve the situation. >> That was just the we have spoken about this before and that was where my head was at. I know that there are our thoughts um about how we can handle trash going forward. Again, that won't address this one specific situation. Um,
but I think that there is a certain amount of public pressure that we can apply uh throughout the city when it comes to we are changing the way we see trash just like aggressive driving. Like it sometimes it takes a community of public pressure with trees and speed bumps that say no this is just not the
standard that we hold in Bethlehem. So that's >> and we have 80,000 people. So unfortunately not all of them are going to be like the seven of you as far as their trash is concerned. I mean that's why we have the police department. I mean that's why we have laws. Um but you know absolutely >> 90 days imprisonment that's on the I'm not Yeah I know we're not going there
but that is on in the ordinance. >> Alternatives to the financial penalties which include imprisonment options. >> Yeah that was ill time joke on my part. I apologize. [laughter] So we're >> and aggressive drivers should be um sent
over to my >> Jeez dude hatch hacks. Um so uh I think that will close the that conversation. I will follow up with the community members. I I know that they they have left um but I am in contact with them as is with Miss Miss Quiet. So we will
speak with them. So opening up um to council any new business that council wants to address that is not regarding the eaten avenue. >> That would be me. >> Yes. >> And I actually did want to make a comment on eaten avenue. Um, it seems to
me that the bottleneck is with the district magistrates and it's not just with garbage, it's with citations in general. Um, >> yeah, >> I know firsthand that they literally can take up to a year to schedule things.
And with that type of uh schedule being that far out, there really is no punishment being given to the homeowner in this case for the garbage situation. So, they're just going to continue to do it as long as they can get away with it if there's if we have no other recourse
outside of the district magistrate. So, um I guess I'm thinking is and this may be a question for the solicitor if there's any way of being able to remove the district magistrate
from the process or find another penalty, another way of penalizing. >> No, that is the legal process. The the other thing I will mention because it is in your ordinance um is that if anybody fails to comply
um with the ordinance, the um city can undertake to do the cleanup and the costs of the cleanup plus a 20%
penalty can be leaned against their property. So that's another mechanism and I understand why sometimes that may not be the best mechanism to try and and use, but it's it is there in the in the ordinance. Um, >> and you also have to put city employees
then potentially in the space of doing the cleaning up on private property, which is not a small either union or moral and ethical kind of issue. It's like, hey, we need you guys to go do this. So then you'd have to have like a third party. You're asking for them to pay back. So there's the real potential
that the public ends up subsidizing cleaning up the people which but yeah it's something else we've gone down the road on but in respect to a lot of our employees like it's a hard ask for them to to to go do that as well. >> Okay. All right. Um if we can go back to
my original question minutes ago 723 Broadway. Uh this was a home that was purchased by the city and gutted and renovated very nicely. um and was supposed to be put up for sale as an affordable housing
option. Uh the home was completed late 2024. It's still not up for sale and from what I've been told it didn't pass code. There's some code violations. You know anything about that?
>> Sure. So the 723 Broadway project, it is an RDA project, the redevelopment authority. Um but it we've worked in um partnership with Community Action Lehigh Valley. So Community Action actually owns the property at this point and they have since the fall. Okay. >> And so the um
uh the way that process has played out is it is it is community action right now who's responsible for getting the property in a condition ready for sale. Um there were some uh issues that were noted in the inspection process. I
believe that they are working on um correcting those, but they're they're not ones that were actually part of the RDA city component of the process. >> So, we are we are we are working with though on completing it. >> RDA is responsible for the actual renovation. Correct.
>> Yeah. Yes. Yeah. >> Okay. So, I guess where my confusion lies is that house was taken down to the studs. new mechanics put in, plumbing, electric, everything. And I'm assuming
our inspectors were there every step of the way to inspect things to make sure everything was up to code prior to drywall being hung, all that good stuff. So, I I I'm at a loss as to how pretty much a brand new build at the completion
is found to be out of code when that wasn't found throughout the the renovation process. And it's been sitting for about a year and a half at this point. >> Yeah. And I apologize. It's And I a couple things I just got wrong there. I
was confirming with the people who are closer to the project. So it actually was community action who was responsible for the renovation component and the issues are not like uh I don't believe code on the city side that had to do with the renovations. >> Well, it was code inspections. I mean,
who's aren't we responsible for that? the city >> inspecting during the renovation process. Yes, but there are different things that are inspected along the way. I'd have I honestly I would have to double check and make get the correct details. I can't answer on the spot. >> Okay. Yeah. It's just sad because
granted it's only one home, but I'm sure there's one family out there, >> you know, that will love to >> No, I agree. We we've we've been pushing pretty hard to >> to to to get it moving. >> Okay. >> Yeah. And I Yeah, >> but >> there's also been a little bit there's been a little bit of turnover as well.
at at community action in their housing division which I think has been a component of the challenge that we faced. >> Okay. >> But we let's check with community action to kind of see where they're at because Miss [clears throat] Collins is correct is that who has been working on that project on their end has changed >> um during this period which has been it
happens people leave people get let go but we can find an update and email to you or contact you as soon as we we find out about it. But it is it is something else that we have discussed, but it is community action has been involved in that and they obviously have a lot going on, but we we will reach out and see
what's going on and get you an update as soon as we can. >> Thank you. >> Absolutely. >> Can you follow up with an email to the clerks just that all council has information? Thanks so much. Any other questions? U Vice President, >> we're on to any topic now. >> Any topic. >> Okay. Yeah. So, um I just wanted to make
a general comment that um it's been heartening to see tonight like it's been um numerous examples of neighbors and lots of conversation about neighbors uh coming forward together and supporting each other or representing groups of
people. You know, we had uh neighbor uh back from a former group of neighbors that came to give an update. Uh we've got neighbors working together to try to solve a problem uh regarding the trash. neighbors uh looking out for each other,
talking about the uh gun range question and um you know, communicating with each other about that and then neighbors coming together with a petition. Um and it it's not too often that we see that many groups of neighbors working together, but it seems like it's more
like we see people coming out to represent their own interests. Plenty. Uh but this is awesome to see the group and kind of spinning off of that um the assertion that was made that um and it and it comes up repeatedly uh that only
single family home owners are the people doing this kind of supportive work. Um it it's harmful to the community to make that assumption. Um, you know, and speaking personally as someone who rented for over 10 years, um, as a
community leader and built enormously positive relationships with my neighbors, uh, that still continue and knowing that there are people on council presently and in the past who are renters um, and certainly give to the community. Um, you know, I just wanted
to thank and recognize the acts of community and service and neighborliness that come from all of our residents. um whether they are unhoused, whether they're renters, whether they're crashing with somebody, or whether they own property in the city, I think that we see a lot of of good coming from
everybody. Um so, uh and my question is, uh regarding the gun range, um I don't know who >> Yeah. Okay. The [snorts] podium is like blocking who's actually over there. >> [laughter and gasps]
>> Um yeah. So a couple of questions on that is uh you know first of all is that gun range in the city limits? >> No it is not. >> Okay. Uh secondly are uh do we actually presently have an agreement with the police uh department going to that gun
range to practice? >> Yes we do. >> And does that include after hours practice? >> Uh sometimes. So like uh the residents spoke to uh during the fall we do our nighttime qualifications. So, it is common for us to be we have to wait for the sun to go down. Um, it's an
important piece, but right now we are doing our daytime qualifications. So, for the most part, the officer should be out of there by 5:00 at the latest. Um, it is possible that we held a class there and that class may have
required low light. Um it's not a frequent thing especially this time of the year uh to and during the fall time in order to get all the officers qualified. It takes many days of training. You can't you know you have to have small classes in order to get the
best out of it. So um I'll have to check on it and see if we maybe held a class, >> but I believe he said it was two days. So, it it could have been a a a one-time u two-day qu uh class that we we held on
the gun range. >> Okay. Um and our officers also outside of classes and qualification, is that a spot that our officers go to practice um just independently? >> Yes. So, our officers are allowed to go there and and practice independently. Um
they purchase their own ammunition for that. Um but we would uh pay for any training ammunition they have and and all the um you know different things that we might need to use because we utilize different weapon systems. So we have to have the ammunition and weapons for that. But um
>> for this I really do believe it was probably just a training uh that we held one time and it's it's not a very frequent thing. Um but we can certainly discuss the times that we're we're having these. Uh it's unfortunate that it it you know bother them, but I think
it's something that we can address. >> Okay. Um and just I'm not saying to you know that it needs to be looked in for this one specifically if if you're already looking into whether there was a class, but um is there like a log of when officers are going so that if there were ever an issue to look into like we
would know, oh yeah, the the officers were there training for these hours or this was independent practice or whatever. So are you asking that individually or through the department training? >> I guess it would only be if it's
department business training, right? Like >> So if it's department business, yes, there is a a definite way to track it. Um we notify Northampton County Dispatch that we're going to be out there. We have a number of safety precautions that are in place in case of an emergency. Um
so yes, we we would be able to track that. >> Okay. But certainly somebody could just have a private membership and be going on their their own whenever. Yes. And that's that's the gun clubs. Okay. Um I think that's that's all the questions that I had. Thanks.
>> Any other council? >> Thank you. Not for officer, but just a quick question for Miss Collins, Mr. Alol. Mr. It's regarding traffic. Does is there still the I forget the the formal name. is like a citizens traffic
advisory committee that was uh quarterly or bimonthly. Does that still meet and can you send Mr. Miller where that I tried finding it on the website today or tonight while I was here and I couldn't. I know we've had previous years conversations about making sure it was
posted and uh accessible. So I guess two questions. One, is it still active? And then two, can you send us send Mr. Miller the link to forward everybody? >> Um yes and yes. Uh they meet the first Tuesday of every month at 8:30 a.m. and
I will find out where it is on the website and send the link. >> And that is a public meeting, correct? >> Yes, it is. >> Yeah. >> And just to add to that is we will all have our chance to put our money where our mouth is when it comes to traffic infrastructure when our complete streets plan comes back and takes a look at what
the different things are we can do to treat the streets and try to find a way to physically stop people from speeding and driving reckless, which is absolutely a problem. Um I was talking to one police officer in when he was walking out today at the end of his shift and he told me about how he had you know had problems with three
different drivers today on Stephco Boulevard. Um, so like it is absolutely a problem, but that's going to be a real opportunity for us when that complete streets plan comes back and we both look, we know what the biggest problem streets are, but if they're not penned out roads, how much money it's going to
take us to be able to do physical improvements to those streets, that may be the only way to get people to slow down is make it impossible to to do this because we can't use radar and we can't have police officers catching people everywhere. And we all know there are some streets that work where it's it's almost physically impossible for people
to speed and there are going to be other ways for us to be able to do that, but they're not going to be cheap. >> A drawbridge. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Um so yeah, >> thank you, Miss Collins. Thank you, Mayor Reynolds. >> Any other new business from council members? Um I do want to point out that
we Build Bethlehem is an amazing website that has not only our complete streets program, but 40 and 10. as our community continues to come out to these meetings, a lot of the the things that we're talking about can be found on this this website, the We Build Bethlehem website. Um, so a lot of questions can be
answered there, as well as information that can with avenues that you can get involved in the community. I did have a question for you officer Adello and it was more about when there is a a nighttime training is there any requirement or if there is not a requirement is there any like courtesy heads up to the community that there is
going to be um nighttime shooting gunfire can be um quite a startling thing to wake up to especially if there are children around. Um I I have a kid who went to elementary school did one active shooter drill and decided that we
needed to figure out how to fortify the house to the knots. So, like I I'm very mindful of how gunfire affects people, but mindful of the fact that we do need lowlight practice. That's absolutely a thing our officers need. >> So, the first thing I would say is that we're not the only gun range around
there. There are three, I believe, um, in that vicinity. So, depend >> two, >> depending on where you are, you might hear another range. Okay. >> Um, I can actually hear it from my house. Uh, so I know when my officers are out there. Um but
yeah uh contacting uh individuals outside the city is not just like an easy thing. >> I mean like for emergencies we can use reverse 911 or something like that. >> Um I suppose
we could discuss internally some sort of notification. Um, but yeah, it's it's not always the easiest thing to let everybody know what you're [clears throat] doing and what's happening. Even like with our our half marathon that we do, as much as we try to put it out there,
>> so many people are unaware and it's it's just hard to make that >> communication is very hard, especially if it is outside of city limits. I I completely understand. I think my mind went there because you were talking about giving Northampton County the heads up. So, I was curious if there was a way to use that avenue to increase communication. That's that yeah that's
just dispatch though letting them know um that we're there in case they receive a phone call they you know they'll know that officers are out there training um but also to be aware that if there wasn't case of an emergency um that's where we are and that's what we're doing. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. I'll have
some follow-up questions but not right now. Thank you so much Mr. Officer Delo. All right. So that completes our new business. Um we're going to move on to communications. had >> an April 29th, 2026 memorandum from city solicitor John Fsburg Jr. with an
attached use agreement and resolution. Permit is DK Enterprises and the event is the mom market 2026. Activities will be from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on May 17th, August 23rd, and October 25th in the Bethlehem Rose Garden at 101 West
Union Boulevard. >> Resolution 10A is on the agenda. Communication 6B. >> An April 29th, 2026 memorandum from city solicitor John Parker Jr. with an attached use permit agreement and resolution. [clears throat] Permit is Arts Quest and the event is the 2026
Sangria Fest. Activities will be from 1 to 5:00 p.m. on May 16th. Premises will be First Street from Pulk Street to the Eastern Terminus and Founders Way between First and Second Streets. >> Resolution 10B is on the agenda. Communication 6C. >> An April 29th, 2026. Memorandum from
city solicitor Johnsburg Jr. with an attached use permit agreement and resolution. Permit is the Bethlehem Economic Development Corporation buy and through its initiative Southside Arts District. Subpermites are the Colony Metery and Five Maidens LLC doing
business as Five Maidens Cery Company. The event is the 2026 Live on the Greenway. Activities will be from 1 to 3:00 p.m. on May 24th and 31st and June 7th and 14th. Premises will be the greenway between Webster and Taylor
Streets, including the Harmony Pavilion. >> Resolution 10C is on the agenda. Communication 6D, >> an April 29th, 2026 memorandum from city solicitor Johnsburg Jr. with an attached use permit agreement and resolution. Permit is Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber
of Commerce. Sub permites are the Lost Tavern Brewing LLC and County Seed Spirits LLC. The event is the 2026 Live in the Garden Concert Series. Activities will be from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Saturdays between May 9th and June 27th.
Premises will be the Bethlehem Rose Garden and Band Shell. >> And resolution 10D is on the agenda. Moving on to the president's report. The committee of the whole meeting originally scheduled for February 24th to receive training from the state ethics commission was postponed because
of a technical difficulty. The meeting has been rescheduled for 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12th in town hall. This training session will be open to the public and will meet city article 104. The meeting will be forformational purposes only and no actions will be taken. The only agenda item will be the
ethics training. Um, I have nothing further uh to report this evening. So, turning to the mayor for the mayor's report. >> Uh, yeah. Have a couple administrative orders. Um, the first one is I hereby appoint Lynn Olenov of 2004 Johnson Drive to membership on the redevelopment authority. This appointment is effective
through May 2031. >> Administrative order appointing Lynn Olenoff redevelopment authority. The resolution is sponsored by Miss Leairard and Mr. Aean. The >> clerk will call the role. >> Mr. Aean, >> please. Sorry. Discussion. My bad.
Thanks. No discussion. If I can call the RO. >> Mr. Raymond. >> I. >> Mr. Callahan. >> Hi. >> Mr. Cologne. >> Hi, >> Mr. Daniels. >> I. >> Miss Quiet. >> I. >> Miss. Leard. >> I. >> Miss. Leon. >> I.
>> Thank you. I hereby appoint Christopher Kern of 917 Prospect Avenue membership on the Bethlehem Revitalization Improvement Authority. This appointment is effective through May 2031. Administrative order to appoint Christopher Curran to the Bethlehem Revitalization and Improvement Authority. The resolution sponsored by
Miss Leairard and Miss Mr. Amon. >> Discussion. The clerk will call the role. >> Mr. Aean >> I. >> Mr. Callahan. >> Hi. >> Mr. Cologne. >> Hi. >> Miss Daniels. >> Hi. >> Miss Quiet. >> Hi. >> Miss Leairard. >> I. >> And Miss Leon. >> I.
>> Uh just a couple other uh updates. one is there was the communication, but uh Live in the Garden does kick off for its fifth year here on Saturday. Um 5 to 9:00 p.m. is when the permit is. The music will be 5 to 8. Um but you know, it's certainly been something that um has grown over the past four years. Uh
we can't wait to um for Saturday kick it off again. So um please if you have a chance, come check it out. I know some of you live in the neighborhood. Um, but it's really been an opportunity for us to uh bring people together, highlight all the the physical improvements in the Rose Garden and just really design
something that is um has has kind of centered the Betham experience. On uh May 14th, Thursday, um if you're free, we have the police awards ceremony over at Northeast Middle School from 6:00 to 7:30. uh which is always a great night
as we hear um the letters of commendation that are awarded to our officers for all of the great work that they do oftentimes in stopping small situations from becoming bigger. Um it's one of the only times that you know people in the public get to hear sometimes all of the great work. So if
you do have an opportunity to come out um it's 6:00 to 7:30. It usually isn't that late. Usually about an hour hour and 10 minutes or so. And then finally, um, uh, in 12 days from now, Friendship Park, we have a ribbon cutting. We talked about this the parks meeting. Um, but a project is at the center of North
Side Alive that we've worked for a couple years on, uh, at 3M. So, we have our our block party over there from 3 to 6 on May 16th. We're turning the water on into the water feature. Uh, the grass has come in, the baskets are up. So, it's really going to be a wonderful,
wonderful day there. So, if you have an opportunity to come out, um, uh, we're doing the ribbon cutting at 3:00, but the block party will be going from 3 until 6. And that concludes my report. Um, uh, Council President, thank you. >> Thank you so much, sir. Uh, committee reports. Vice President Lur.
>> Yes. The Parks and Recreation Committee, uh, met today prior to the city council meeting um, Tuesday, May 5th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. here in town hall. Um, the committee reviewed the 40 and 10 parks plan. The session was forformational
purposes only. No votes were taken. Uh the full report is available on the city website for any interested uh people to take a look. Um and the committee extends its gratitude for the significant efforts invested in creating
that plan uh and enthusiastically looks forward to the improvements that are to come soon. >> Thank you so much, Vice President Leard. Moving on to ordinances. We have no ordinances for final passage and we have no new ordinances. So we're going to
move on to resolutions. Councilman Col. >> President, I'd like to make a motion to group the use permanent agreements together. So my motion would be to group agenda items 10A through 10D. >> There's a motion on the floor. Is there a second? >> Seconded.
>> Seconded by Councilman Aean. Any discussion on the motion? >> I would just say they're all use permit agreements, so it makes sense to vote on them once. Any other discussion? Yes, this is something we have done before. So, um All right, the clerk will call the role on the motion. >> Mr. Aman,
>> I. >> Mr. Callahan, >> I. >> Mr. Cologne, >> I. >> Miss Daniels, >> I >> Miss Leard, >> I. >> And Miss Leon, >> I. Motion passes 70. The clerk will read the resolutions and call the roles. >> Resolution 10A. Be it resolved that 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 DK Enterprises for the mom market 2026 resolution 10B. Be it resolved by the council of the city
of Bethlehem that the mayor and controller and/or such other city officials as deemed appropriate by the city solicitor are hereby authorized to execute a use permit agreement with Arts Quest for the 2026 Sang Gria Fest. Resolution 10 C. 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 Bethlehem Economic Development Corporation by and through its initiative the
South's arts arts district for the 2026 live on the greenway and resolution 10D 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 a use
permit agreement with the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce for the 2026 Live on the Garden Concert Series. These resolutions are sponsored by Miss Lair and Mr. Aean. >> Any discussions? The clerk will call the role.
>> Mr. Aean, >> I. >> Mr. Callahan, >> I. >> Mr. Cologne, >> I. >> Miss Daniels, >> I. >> Miss Quiet, >> I. >> Miss Leairard, >> I. And Miss Leon >> I passes 7010E. >> It resolved by the council of the city of Bethlehem in accordance with the
municipal records manual hereby authorizes the disposal of public records in the water and sewer resources department as set forth in exhibit A. Resolution is sponsored by Miss Lair and Miss Mr. Aman. >> Discussion. >> The clerk will call the role.
>> Mr. Raymond >> I. >> Mr. Callahan. >> Hi. >> Mr. Cologne. >> Hi. >> Miss Daniels. I >> miss >> I >> Miss Leairard >> I >> and Miss Leon >> I passes 70. Um [clears throat] >> I will accept the motion in a second to
consider resolutions 10F through 10H as a group. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Uh motion by council a second by council cologne. Uh any discussion? I will just say that these three, we have four uh
certificates of appropriateness. We tend to group together ones that are not as [clears throat] controversial. There is one that I think there are questions about. So, I've only grouped or I've only requested three grouped together that are standard um COAs. Any other discussion? The clerk will call the role on the
motion. >> Mr. Raymond, >> I. >> Mr. Callahan, >> I. >> Mr. Cologne, >> I. >> Miss Daniels, >> I. >> Miss Quiet, >> I. >> Miss Leair, >> I. and Miss Leon. >> I passes 70. The clerk will read the resolutions and call the role on the resolutions. >> Certificates for appropriateness under
the provisions of the act of the Pennsylvania legislature Bethlehem resolution are hereby granted for 10f 15 East 4th Street to install new fabric with new logo graphics on the existing aluminum awning frame and also install
new window and door decals as signage for a new commercial tenant. Resolution 10G, 25 West 3rd Street to install three new signs on three different facades. And resolution 10H, 306 South New Street to replace existing glass transoms above
two entrance doors with metal ventilation louvers. These resolutions are sponsored by Miss Lair and Miss Mr. Aean. >> Any discussion? >> The clerk will call the role. >> Mr. Aean, >> I. >> Mr. Callahan,
>> I. Mr. Cologne >> I >> Miss Daniels >> I >> Miss Quiet >> I >> Miss Leard >> I >> and Miss Leon >> I passes 7010i I >> certificate of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of the Pennsylvania legislature Bethlehem
resolution is hereby granted for 327 South New Street to demolish all four existing structures to construct a new sevenstory mixeduse building with groundf flooror retail and tenant amenity space. Resolution is sponsored by Miss Lair and Mr. Raymond.
>> Right. Before I open it up for discussion, the reason I removed this one from the the group is because this is regarding a demolition that the HTC, correct me if I'm wrong, the HCC recommended the demolition of of this
site. Um, it was my understanding that this was something that had already been decided. So, if you want to talk us through a little bit what we're looking at here. Um, I believe that they had already been g given permission to demo. So, I just want to make sure we know
what we're looking at. Now, I don't have the historical uh background on on this um in that I wasn't here in June of 2021, but there is a note in the HCC's um written recommendation that says that
this COA uh replaces a previously COA, I mean, previously issued COA supported by the HCC on June 21st, 2021 and subsequently approved by council um that identified what structures could be demolished and what facade was to be
retained along with overall shape, massing, size, scale, and proportions. HCC is now recommending the um demolition of the existing historic Italian facade at 321 323 South New
Street, which is one of the structures to be demolished. Mhm. >> Um because the new design uh appropriately references that facade through massing scale all all of the things that um that they look at. So
>> and they also note that there are technical challenges involved with retaining and integrating this facade into the project. So where I struggle a little bit understanding this is is that the
structure was being knocked down and now it's it's adding a facade that was going to be retained. So just that's my own limitation in terms of being able to picture that. >> Um >> but that is what this uh proposed COA does.
>> Okay. So it's just um kind of expanding the scope a little bit of the prior approval. >> So rather than amending that approval, you just it's like repealing an ordin repealing
and replacing an ordinance. >> Okay. >> You pass a new COA. >> All right. So before I answer my questions, I want to open up to council if anybody has any questions. Councilman Cole. >> Thank you, President Leon. I just want to kind of give a little more historical
kind. My understanding is we passed a COA 4ish years ago. We're given a certain scope. It was retaining the facade. The applicant submitted a new application to the HCC. There is a provision under 1714 on
reasonable economic hardship. It was reviewed in that it would be not economically feasible to kind of adhere to the original COA. So they requested to demolish the facade. Am I summing
that up correctly, Miss Collins for more or less? >> Okay, >> thank you for that. >> Yeah. No, and that's so that's my understanding is I I remember we had voted on this a couple years ago. They were going to retain some of that. Now, it's not going to be retained. And
again, article 1714 is the establishing ordinance, which if you read it, it has the unreasonable economic hardship provision in there that I believe was referenced in the hearing for the COA
and that the board was unanimously um recognizing the hardship approved the new conditions as are in front of us tonight. Miss Collins, please correct any where I have misspoke. >> No, that that is all correct. Um, there
was a COA in 2021. The project has since changed in a couple of ways. Actually, in 2021, the project was nine stories tall. Um, it had more units. It can levered over the greenway. And for a variety of reasons since that time, the project has changed, including that we
didn't want them to go over the greenway, even though the HCC had had allowed that. Um, and also the project has now come down two stories. So, it's seven stories, doesn't go over the greenway, so it's a little bit thinner. Um, but also in that time in working on
the design, there's a few design features that have changed, including that of the four structures, one facade was like meant to be kind of like saved and incorporated into the new building. And along with some of these other changes, that the that facade could not
be retained. So that was a part of the overall discussion and yes the argument that they made was both about the structural integrity of the facade and also the economic hardship argument. But so unanimously um the HCC you know allowed those changes from the original COA but yes
the original COA did include demolition of the structure. So there's not really new demolition. It's just some design features and not saving the facade. >> Thank you Miss Collins for the historical background. Thank you, Attorney Stewart, for your words, too. And I'll just conclude with I'll be
supporting this tonight and affirm what the HCC had unanimously supported. >> Any other questions for members of council regarding this COA? Vice President Lair. >> Yes. So, um there's more detail that
sidebyside compares um the existing COA that was passed and the newly proposed one. Um and it it is concerning to me. Um one thing that I'm
wondering um is the active COA was dated June 21st, 2021. It's now 2026. What was happening in those almost 5 years? Um because I my concern is is
this a slippery slope of demolition by neglect where >> the demolition was approved in >> right but the facades right so if there would have been measures taken to live up to the spirit of the COA 5 years ago
to preserve the facade like did the facade degrade enough in that time >> and I want to be clear it's not that they were saving the entire facade so there are four different and only only one of them it was actually a >> a fairly small component of the overall
design. So what happened in those intervening years like a number of design changes the project is you know like it's one that we want to see happen right like these these buildings were approved for demolition at the time because they were in bad shape at the time like that's
>> that's it's not um it's not a situation in which like we were going to like they were going to retain all of the structures and then it has since been you know they've they've fallen into disrepair. I mean it's it's a block that is a priority block to be redeveloped.
>> Um and so a few of the changes I mean they all they >> they come from a variety of different >> and there were also changes that had nothing to do. I mean the ownership group kind of changed somewhat and I don't necessarily want to reveal every conversation we've had with them about those things but it's we're going to put
our plans in now but then this person's out this person's in like different things went on as far as that's concerned. There was a separate conversation having to do with the canon lever portion as far as like this is getting into this idea that some of it came up publicly is like are you paying
for air rights? Can you go over different spaces which we had made clear to the previous group that like no matter what the HCC says these are real development issues that we're going to have conversations about that led to then potential redesign of the building. And just while I have the microphone,
it's like some of the history too is like at one point the building was 104 feet and then it came down to 88 feet which is when which was also nine stories which was the ninestory building that the HC approved back in June of 2021. So [snorts] this one now is and I appreciate that they started using our
Walnut Street garage height that you have to give different height based on what the the ground is as far as slope is concerned but this one is like 76 and a half 77 as far as what the height is averaged out or whatever. So, it is substantially shorter than it was that they had recommended before. Um, which
is another piece of it. But the delay, Councilwoman, I I don't did not have to do with them. Sometimes it does, and I think you know me well enough to know like I' I'd say that, but there were a lot of other issues that had nothing to do with their design that kind of slowed
down this particular project. >> That's helpful to know. I guess my my question still stands of even not thinking about this specific site but including it. If um one of our historic preservation boards
says a certain element of a structure must be maintained in a new proposal. Is the property owner obligated to make a reasonable effort to maintain that
element in between the proposal being approved and the the actual project happening? Or if it falls down in the meantime for any reason, there's a delay for literally any reason. Is it just
guess that didn't happen? like do they have to try to maintain it? >> I'm not going to speak from the legal side of it as far as like understanding what their legal requirements are. I can tell you that those are things that we are sensitive to as far as like
understanding and making it clear and saying like these are the type of things we'll support if there's any public conversation or not. But from the time and and I would start too and this goes back to the trash guy as well is like private private property owner like private property owners have a lot of
rights as far as their property is concerned as far as like what we're able to force them to do or what we're not able to force them to do. But in this particular situation, like I don't know of something that necessarily in this situation would say like you approve a project in like June of 2021 and then
you wait a certain period of time like to get approval for whatever your new project is at some point. If you wanted to not have that and do a new project, you would have to go back to the HTC, which is essentially what they did here. But I will tell you from our administration's point of view is as Miss Khan said, like we do want to see
it get redeveloped. if they'd come back and they said we want and like the HTC had said we want to recommend that this like stayed we weren't gonna say not like we wouldn't say not to do it like we would very much follow them as far as that recommendation or not
>> and and I also want to add that um so the the original proposal that was approved in 2021 like there was an interest in in saving the facade and and as part of their overall financial plan but they would have had the opportunity at the time to also make an economic
hardship argument which would have been hey it's really difficult to save this facade and and here's the financial cost and it is too much to bear. Um but the project was different at that time. It was taller. It had more units. we were at a different point in the construction
world and like over the intervening time and holding on to the property like those are financial realities and challenges that the project faced and they made a valid under the ordinance economic hardship argument in conjunction with the argument that it is
like structurally like the integrity like anything anything could be saved for a certain amount of money but the combination of the structural integrity is such that is like it's going to cost a lot of money and it that's an econ economic hardship on the overall project
and you know from the HCC perspective they then evaluated that which they are allowed to and you are allowed to under the ordinance um and unanimously recommended like approval of the re red
remodeled or or redesigned project. >> Okay, thank you for the answers. I have a question. Um, so the buildings back in 2020 [clears throat] 2021, you had mentioned they were in bad repair. Were they condemned at all at
that time? >> I [clears throat] do not know. I was not here at the time. >> Yeah, that predated. We'd have to like look that up. I think it was a situation where, and I'm talking a little bit off the cuff here, so we'd have to like look up what it was. Previous administration, previous department, things like that. Miss Carner's not here. Their solicitor
is not here. The mayor's not here. So, but I believe that they started thinking about this redevelopment project. They had then told their tenants. We were leaving at a certain period of time. >> The city worked with, I believe, two of the tenants to go find new locations for
their businesses. And then at that point, they had closed the properties. So, nobody was leasing or renting them. So, at that point, there was no active people in there. I don't we don't know what they necessarily did and I don't
know if we have any requirements there if somebody's not we have requirements when somebody has to go in there but as far as like whether or not they had like turned off the electricity or anything like that I don't know because I think they have all been vacant since then if that answers your question. So, and it
did partially, but my concern with that building and any other building that's been sitting idle for years is the structural integrity of it >> and the potential for it to collapse within itself or outward and [snorts] potentially harm people, other
buildings, homes, things of that nature. >> Yeah. So, >> so do we have um an ordinance, a law of some sort that states that if a building, if I purchase that building, those group of buildings
today, and I know that they're structurally not stable, >> is there anything that the city has to tell me I have um 12 months to get it shed up? not necessarily starting the renovations, but at least to get it shared up so it's no longer a danger to
anybody or, you know, I have two or three years to get construction underway, anything of that nature to keep the property from, you know, falling apart, literally similar to what happened on Main Street. So that's not
something we want to see, you know. [laughter] So is there anything in place >> if you're talking about situations where properties are vacant, right? So the the standard is different if somebody is occupying a building residentially or commercially than if the if the property is vacant. >> So you know of course the the code sets
out requirements for people to ha like inhabit a building >> or to to occupy it for commercial purposes but in this instance when it's completely vacant the standard by which we would get engaged is much higher. So, like,
you know, if a if a building is, as you're describing, like literally falling down and interfering with a neighboring property or something, that would be a situation where we would we would potentially get involved. Often what happens though is if you've got a building that's completely falling
apart, if it's not interfering with its neighbors, the most we might do is require, you know, that you fence it off so it's not a nuisance, so people don't get into the property. Um, but if it's not causing a problem necessarily to neighbors or or a danger in that regard,
like there's not really much that that we would do with an unoccupied building. We get into a related problem we talked about with the trash where sometimes buildings do and people don't want to pay for them and then you potentially have to because we've done that before too as far as like the redevelopment
authority and other people are concerned to much criticism from people necessarily paying to bring down a structure that is uninhabitable and the people aren't doing it or aren't moving it. And there's other places too where we've asked people to fence it off and then it's falling down and then that
becomes a situation too. We're like you need to do something about this and we will contact them. This is not that situation though as far as these buildings are concerned. There are other buildings that are falling down that we become much more active about and Mike Simson and the building code and so on
and so forth will get engaged at that point. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other discussion for members of council? Uh, the only question I had was for attorney Stewart and um I I believe that this this COA will pass one way or another, but if it weren't to pass, does
it just revert to the previous COA that allowed for demolition anyway? >> The previous COA passed and it stands, this is seeking to replace it. >> Okay. So, the demolition stands anyway. The only thing that would be changing is the preservation of I think it's Pat's new stand, which is the facade that
would be be saved. Okay. So that I think that's the context that's necessary to understand is the the demolition stands regardless of the outcome of this evening because the demolition that was approved years ago. Um so if there's no further discussion from members of
council then I will ask the clerk to call the role. >> Mr. Raymond >> I. >> Mr. Callahan. >> Hi. >> Mr. Cologne. >> I. >> Miss Daniels. >> Nay. >> Miss Quiet. >> I >> Miss Leard. Nay,
>> Miss Leon. >> Nay. Passes 43. That concludes this evening's agenda. Get home safe, everyone. >> Jesus, that was close. >> Wow, Rachel played it close to the >> vest to the end. >> Did you think it was going to be that close? >> I just I think they should preserve the facade. I don't think it's that big of a
deal. >> I had no idea. I had no idea. Heading right to Part: 2
this idea about how we build places together for us to share. And I know several of you are at the 40 and 10 um uh release night. So, I will we will try not to repeat everything, but we do have a similar presentation to the one we did
that night um that we're just going to kind of go through as as well. And you know, we very much start off and I think all of us are familiar with the fact that we currently have some real like class A um like parks amenities in the
city of Bethlehem and um between Memorial Pool, Fairview Park, uh Sen Park, the Rose Garden, like we've worked very hard uh and Mr. Alol has been doing this for 30 years across four administrations to build public spaces that reflect this idea of investment.
And you know, I think it's important that we start at the beginning about like why do we care about this and who are we doing this for? And a park is one of the places that we're supposed to share. We're supposed to share literal space, share conversation, share the sense of community. And we want parks to
represent the diversity of our of our community. So parks are not designed for only wealthy people. We are designing parks. We're designing our uh amenities for everybody to be able to come and to choose to want to come. Not that it's a
last resort to use, but rather like this is a place that takes tax dollars and invest in a common space for people that live within the city of Bethlehem, no matter who they are. And and and and I know that is a that is a belief that all of you that are here currently share
about what the purpose is of the public good. Um, and also I won't repeat this too much, but uh just as a reminder, uh 12 days from now, we are cutting the ribbon on Friendship Park. Um, so one week from Saturday at uh 3 PM, we are
kicking off our annual block party with a ribbon cutting for a truly transformational project. And I know um uh Councilwoman uh Lar, you have been uh intimately involved with North Side Alive over the years. Um but it's a
project that we have spent um a couple years now seeking the grant funding for working through uh you know Mr. Alol and his team deserve a tremendous amount of credit and working through all of those different logistics as far as surveys and rights of ways and understanding
where utilities are. But 12 days from now we're going to cut the ribbon on what is just going to be a fantastic park with a water feature. And one of the things that we're trying to do, similar to as we've talked about with Broad Street and other other areas, is basically just kind of set a baseline
for what is possible when everybody is kind of moving in the same direction. Um, and uh, we'll talk more obviously that day about Friendship Park, but it's going to be a huge day for us. Um, it's going to be a huge day for the for the neighborhood. Um, and you know, it's
it's an example in Dutchco Park. I was just checking in with Mike um is going to be done sometime within the next month which is a big part of our choice neighborhood. It was our initial implementation project um having to do with that $500,000 choice neighborhood planning grant that we got through the
federal government. And I think all of us have probably driven by there hundreds if not thousands of times. And we've you generally don't see anybody in there. And I think in all my times going to the Boys and Girls Club over all the years when I was a kid and as an adult like I don't know if I ever saw one person like hanging out in that public
space. And as we are working through the overall choice neighborhood plan, um that's really going to be a great project. And one of the things I think it was last time that council had voted on the resolution having to do with the uh the the some of the planning dollars having to do with Stefco Boulevard. Um
and Dutco is going to um hopefully help to build some of that momentum and that people are going to drive by there and see people there and understand that it's not just an institutional space, but it's a place where people go and we're hopeful that that has an effect on some of the traffic issues in that area.
Um but that's an area that we are we are looking at um in depth coming forward. Um so why do parks matter? I'm going to turn this over to Kathy in a second, but you know, once again, as you know, six of the other people in this community that understand this, there are park these are parks for everyone. And we
very much look at our our most important job is how do you build things for everybody that build connections between people and create common experiences. It's very easy in this job and in other jobs within the government to respond to
self-interest and to respond to the loudest people and we very much look at our park system as the opposite of that. We are grounding the idea the concepts of equity. We are grounding the concepts of opportunity and we are grounding the concepts that this is about the entire
city of Bethlehem and this idea that like when you go to a park like people generally have the same experience which I think is a positive like you can't buy your way into a better experience in a park. It is shared by all of us and I think all of us have experienced that in different ways. Um and we're excited to
talk about where we are going over the over the next year and over the next 10 years as well as a city. And with that being said, I'm going to turn it over to to Kathy and Corey to kind of talk about the next stages of the of the plan. >> Thank you. So, you know, this was really a communitydriven process and we'll
really go over that as we uh progress through the the next slides, but this screen is really to show you, you know, what we heard from the community. And just to highlight a couple of them, there's beautiful, accessible community.
You know, parks are a lot of things to a lot of people and we really needed to keep that in mind as we moved through this process. So, um, in case you didn't know, we are looking to do 40 parks in the next 10 years. Um, and we were grounding them in
some core goals as we were identifying what our priorities were, how we were actually going to be implementing this. And just to highlight those, um, we are looking to connect our parks to have accessible places for play, to increase
active recreation, strengthen our programming, create climate resiliency, and then look into our maintenance and invest in that. Oops. So I wanted to walk you through what our
process was and it took a little over a year to do this. Um but again wanted just to highlight how much in community engagement happened and how we were bringing the community along the entire time and we are looking to continue that
as we are implementing the plan. Each year when we are bringing out new parks to actually go through design and construction, we will be doing additional community outreach just to make sure that everything that was established in this plan is still accurate still still the direction that
we want to go. So just to highlight the process um started with data analysis looking at existing conditions talking about you know issue areas things to think about addressing and then going into you know
different phases of planning and really that's just the level of detail that they're looking at each park trying to align goals with uh the community's you know needs that were identified and then all the way to the final report which is
now online and live and you can look at. Um so through this time there was a steering committee um we met three times as well as three virtual public meetings 15 popups
um and there was a survey as well that had great responses. So again, this was, you know, a big undertaking by both our staff as well as um the consultant that we hired, but because community engagement was such a
core value for this project, we really wanted to make sure that we were meeting as many people as possible and hearing from them as we developed this plan. So, I was lucky enough to be part of the community engagement and um I figured we
could mention some of the key takeaways for you um that we heard during that process. So, uh the community told us loud and clear that they really do like nature-based experiences. They also favor play and exercise and sports and
recreation. Um for the community values maintenance and care came across as number one. Uh second to accessibility and connectivity. So you know both goals of this plan to you know have ADA access and connectivity to our parks and then
obviously taking care of what we already have and then what we will be gaining in the future. Um Sand Island and Monakasy Park were mentioned as as the top parks. So not surprised there. you know, they're are larger larger parks. Um,
I'll get to it in a minute, but they're classified as regional parks in this new plan. And so, they're really trip generators. I would say they're destinations people want to go. And so, it's no surprise that they showed as as the top mentioned parks. And like I
said, maintenance and care was the number one community value. But you can see other parks as well include Westside Park, Clear View, Rose Garden, Sawin. So, some of your more well-known parks um were were definitely mentioned more than others.
And so, speaking to the park types, um we organized the parks into three different park types starting at the top with regional parks. These are typically 10 acres or more offering diverse experiences. And so, that's what I sort of mentioned
when I mentioned the trip generators. So like you know Monaka Park, you have the dog park, you have the ice rink, the swimming pool. People will travel from all over for those sorts of amenities because they're sort of unique to that park. Um and then stepping down in
scale, you go to the anchor parks. So they're sort of doing exactly what they sound like they would do for those communities. So they're medium-sized and they have a strong focus on playing sports, but they really are like second to those regional parks. It's like the
park you go to in your neighborhood that has a little bit more than maybe that pocket park. Um, and so, you know, I think a good example is obviously the new friendship. You know, it'll have a splash pad that's sort of unique. Um, so that's sort of the anchor parks there,
the medium-sized ones. And then the smallest in scale would be the community parks. And like I mentioned, they're smaller size and typically they serve residents in walking distance of the park. So there might be a there might be less variety of an experience, but
people typically go to that park for the experience. So um you can see sort of how it ranges from the largest parks down to the smaller ones. Um and Deco Park is an example of a community park. Um you know, obviously we've seen Deco
Park in some of the comments and I think we need to remember Deco Park is a community park. So, it's meant to be walked to, meant to be used by the students walking to and from school. Um, less of a park that generates people coming from outside of the area that the park is located. So, just to kind of
paint that that into an example for everybody. And so, as I was sort of summarizing all of that, what I really was speaking towards is the idea of a network. Each of the four distinct areas in our city is part of its own network, but it
really it's part of one large network, but it's a subset network, I should say. So there's four areas, northeast, central, south, and west. And so within, let's say, for example, the west side, you would find one of likely every sort
of park amenity that we would want to have, uh, maybe minus like a, you know, an ice skating rink. Those are sort of unique. That again that speaks to the regional park draw. Um but you would find one of each of something in that network. And so the idea behind that is
people would not have to travel too far outside of their neighborhood in order to access something that they would want to access. And so it's really meant to be smaller networks within this larger network. And I would just add to that is and
that's really important for planning purposes because when you're thinking about basketball courts, you're thinking about we have people that go to our parks that could be three years old, could be 70 years old, and we want to make sure that people have opportunities to come use our public space in whatever way they want to do it. So, as we start
to think about planning and as we really dive into the details, we we're thinking to ourselves is like you obviously don't need to build a pool at every park. You don't need to build like a fullcourt basketball court at every park. So, you want to be able to create a kind a a kind of sector of parks within the four
different areas that allow us to be able to offer all of the different type of amenities. So, like you're not driving five miles to find a baseball field, but you might have to drive half a mile because like you just can't build everything in in in everybody's neighborhood. But it's really important when it comes down to efficiencies and
how we necessarily connect it and signage and things like that um that we're not going to talk super a lot about tonight but are part of our long-term plan is like how do you connect these networks within. So for example in South Bethlehem, how are utilizing the greenway to be able to get from like park A to park B or from
neighborhood A to neighborhood B to be able to get to this other amenity that's not there? Thinking about it as an integrated system rather than just like a one-off. And that also adds back into our theory that we want people to be looking at all like if if you build a park, if there's a new park in your neighborhood and it's not my
neighborhood, like that's still a win for me because like we are trying to get people to understand that it's not just about what is in your neighborhood, but it's about what's in all of these neighborhoods and how do we connect each other so we're not living necessarily in silos.
And so speaking to some of the experiences that we considered throughout this plan, um we can dive into the five different sort of themed experiences, I'll call them. So nearby nature is sort of exactly what it sounds like. So think of like a sulen park. You
know, you have a lot of ecological restoration. You have a lot of multi-purpose lawns, some some ball fields, trail enhancements as they come through the park, but also connecting to, you know, our our regional trail network and, you know, just the idea of lush shaded parks. So, really
connecting, you know, with nature. Um, playful places um are more of that like children's active play, you could say. So like wellness loops, anyone could really use those I guess but inclusive play, you know, that's specific to the play equipment. And then nature play. So
how do we sort of >> tie in, you know, some more natural elements into the play? Maybe uh working with the existing topography for instance or just as an example. Um and then for cool zones, you have splash pads, pools and aquatics, water
fountains, water bottle refill stations. Um fit fields and comfortable courts. Again, you know, you have your ball fields, soccer, a pickle ball, tennis. Um and then you have your gathering spaces, which pavilions and uh community
gardens, restrooms, and performance and event spaces. So those are the sort of the five different experience categories that we considered when we were um talking about improvements for each specific park. So in addition to those experiences that
really are focused on capital improvements, we also really looked into programming and heard a lot from the community about what they liked, what they would like to see more of. I'm sure many of you have attended a park programming event whether or not you
realized it was under that. Um there's things like movies in the park, music in the park, as well as the summer park program. Um, but what this plan also allowed us to do was really hear what people wanted in their parks as well as better set us up for um, embracing
partnerships and really making it easier for outside organizations in addition to our own staff to still be utilizing these parks and these amenities um, to their greatest value. Um, and then the second piece um, is
really the maintenance. you know 40 year 40 parks within 10 years is really a big undertaking. So really needed to kind of fact check check ourselves and make sure that what we were proposing was really feasible. Um and you know looking at
areas where we can maybe lighten the load on maintenance, look at other areas where in order to achieve what we need to do we might need more more um people to cover it. So really trying to um be smart in you know what we're proposing
to make our parks you know look feel clean >> and it and it's very intentional when we think about as it says up there and that if you look at the plan which is available you know through we build Bethlehem in the website is like we really have minimal amount of staff that
cut the grass like they are doing other things and you know Mike could tell you exactly how many you know acres we have to cut and some parks get cut once every 10 days. Some other parks are cut every 3 weeks depending on what the schedule is and how often they're used and things
like that. But one of the things that came up in the plan was obviously this idea of like care and maintenance, but we never about just like the one-time capital expenditures. You've heard me say it at Nauseium is the idea that there's difference between one-time and recurring expenses and it's important to be able to think about those. In this
case, we're obviously going to talk about the one-time capital, you know, investments, but also like we want to make sure that we're not setting up a situation. And I'll give you one example is, you know, whether or not it's the Rose Garden, the new friendship park, like when you create like the windy paths, like people love that. Like that
is much better than some of the more kind of like institutional ways of creating paths in a park. But somebody's got to clear snow if need be. It takes more time to cut the grass around there. as far like all these different types of issues are really important in the
planning phase. And one of the things I want to give Kathy and Corey and Mike and Laura and Jody everybody credit for is like we've really tried to break down not that silos ever existed but just bring everybody together. So when we look at something like a park, we are looking at it from the public works point of view. We're looking at it from
the community economic development point of view. We're looking at it from our offic's point of view, from the council point of view. We're really trying to take a look at what are all of the different issues that we necessarily need to plan for. Um, and that's one of the things that this plan really does is it doesn't just call for investments. It
calls for a different way to do things within city hall as far as having more conversations. So, people are working, you know, across floors, across departments to think about what are the potential opportunities there and how is everything connected. And one other
piece on programming is I think many of us that grew up here probably remember the days when you know you would have a park leader that would be at the neighborhood park from 9 to 12 in the morning and 6:00 to 8 at night Monday through Thursday. Um and that model is really changed about how people have used parks. But this idea of programming
is really important because while capital expenditures are one way to reflect investment, so is maintenance and so is having any type of organized and structured event there. You don't need to have one there every night. But even if people are going by and you're like there's great that somebody's doing
something in that space. It gives people this idea that is a correct one that like it's not just about you build the swing set or you build the park, but you're also thinking to yourself, how are people utilizing that? And one of the things Kathy mentioned is we're constantly and I think all of us
probably know between, you know, swim teams and things like that. We have outside groups that use some of our facilities now, but like to the average resident, it doesn't matter if the city's running that programming or an outside resident or an outside group is like something is going on at that park that's structured. And that is something
that we're trying to increase in the coming years is being able to find ways to increase that amount of structured like programming both in-house but also externally as a way to continue to have those connections between neighborhoods and their parks and and and us. Um, so
how are we going to improve these parks in in 10 years? You know, we feel it's very important to commit to a goal, which is why we came up with these 40 parks in 10 years. Some of those 40 parks that we know, the Rose Garden, Fairview Park, they've really seen their line share of improvements. It doesn't
mean that there's not going to be additional maintenance and things that are going on, but they're just not there. We have some parks that there's not just quite as much to do as there are in other parks. Um, so we very much want to commit to a goal. We want to plan and we're going to talk more about
planning in a in a moment. We're going to decide how to pay and this is very much in the weeds. Um but I think we know that when you get a grant and I also do want to do want to mention I should have mentioned before is like we were able to do this planning through a grant that Representative Samson and Representative McNeel got from for us
about two years ago um from Pennsylvania DCED. Um so then we hired Omnes who's a Lehigh Valley based firm. Many of you ha uh uh know the fantastic people with the ammies to come in to do this work. But this this planning grant and all of this work was done with their um with
representative Samus and representative McNeel's support and we want to we want to thank them. But when you get a grant like the process by which and we've had these conversations and you know Colleen could tell you and Friendship Park's at the top of the list. It's like it's one thing to get the money. It's another
thing to understand how long that's going to take to necessarily be able to build the park and that can be a frustrating thing for us and that can be a frustrating thing for me. Um because when somebody says when is this park getting done like we have an estimated schedule but we have to go through all the grant agreements. We have to go through all these different things
having to do state and federal grants sometimes can slow a project down. So, when you decide how to pay and I want to thank city council for when um the majority of you voted um to people that did not vote for it or not here um voted to be able to make the transfer from the
general fund into our capital fund. like you allowed us to pay for this first set of parks with our own general fund dollars, which as you're going to see is going to allow us to shorten the period by which it took us to plan to do all the engineering and most importantly allows us to keep promises quicker
because people rightfully so if they ask when is this park going to be done and we say we have it's a pretty terrible answer to be like we have the grant but we're filling out the grant execution agreement and then we have to put out the RFP and then we have to do the construction and then we have and people are like what are you talking about? So,
what we've been able to do thanks to that city council transfer to be able to when we didn't borrow money last year and we're able to use the general fund, the onetime revenue to pay for onetime expenses, it allowed us the opportunity to keep promises quicker and build more momentum. And I wanted to just talk for
a moment and some of you have heard this before but it's really important because I think most people still don't understand is um this idea of like a grant-f funded process is just can take like 36 months between when we come here asking for a council resolution to
support our application and then we get it and then we have to enter into contract and all those type of things. like we can skip a lot of this as I'm going to get to a second when we obviously already have the one-time uh uh revenue to be able to make the one-time expenditure. Um I think it was
last meeting the meeting before when council voted on our grant application for um the planning dollars for Sand Island Monoxy Park. Like that's a great example of I think we applied for $250,000 $250,000 from the state. like we're not going to say no to that, but
like applying for that before we want to do the plan makes sense as far as like setting expectations and things like that. Those aren't necessarily construction dollars. Those are planning dollars that we're going to try to get through through a grant. So what Mike has done, what Laura has done, what we have, what Kathy and Corey have done is
we have essentially taken this process that was 36 months plus and we have we've brought it down to about 24 months if we are using our own dollars to be able to build the park. And one of the things we're trying to do here is show what is possible when we use our own
dollars to then be able to create public pressure, increase that idea of accountability for us, for city councils, for future mayors, for future city councils to show people like if you we use our own dollars, we can build parks faster and we can build more of them. and what we have here. And right
now, you know, we announced in uh at the beginning of April at our parks meeting, this first set of parks that we're working on that Corey and Kathy are going to talk about in a moment, but we were able to put out that RFP for final design and engineering that we are currently reviewing who the people were
that were responded with the idea that like every year going forward, we can announce new parks that we are planning in February of one year, go through the design, the community engagement, all that stuff in that year and and bid the project the next January or February or
March. Get the person under contract, get the group under contract, build it during like the middle of the summer into the fall and be able to deliver that finished park substantially finished by the end of the year, which is a nobody else is able to do that because people aren't able to use their
own dollars on this. And we are going to continue to use grant dollars when we need to. And some of the bigger projects we have absolutely are going to um require grant dollars. But so much of people's distrust with government is an uncertainty about when projects are going to get done. And that's nobody's
fault. Well, maybe people that put too many regulations on how to spend money, but it is not really anybody's fault around here that we can't give straight answers. And this will allow us the opportunity to be even more honest with people and be able to say like if we announce this in February, we have a
plan to be able to get this done by the end of the following year. And obviously a huge part of that is con the continued support of city council to continue to fund um the projects as they move forward. Um but a huge first step was taken last year when you guys passed the budget and voted for that transfer
because it allowed us the opportunity to put those those dollars in there. I know I'm preaching to the choir in this one. Um so um this choir I'm preaching to. Um so I'm gonna turn it back to Kathy and Corey to kind of talk about how we chose parks for phase one. >> Yeah. So I can take it take this slide.
Um so obviously first and foremost it was based on community feedback. You know who was who was the ones showing up to the meetings, who was you know making their voice heard. Um some parks had you know more engagement than others. And so
I think you know starting there. um as we mentioned throughout the process was key for us like the community values and lived experience is really something that that we hold as sort of the highest value. Um, additionally, we again back
to Cathy's point of like that analysis part of the timeline, um, we did pull the environmental justice areas from the PA's environmental tool and so, you know, areas that were historically underserved were identified. Um, places
that need ADA accessibility to the park. Um, so we'll just we just classified that as access because really if it does not have ADA access then there are certain people that are not able to access that park at all. And so starting with can people of all abilities access
the park? Um, additionally safety and security. So you know is there outdated play equipment? Um, is it safe for them to use? Um, and that also gets to like the age and use.
You know, is it a well-loved park? Um, chances are it might need improvements faster than one that is is less used. Um, and just, you know, such as like lessening just like the sorry, the the impact. I'll go to the impact. And then for impact, it's like lessening
maintenance. Is it um less likely to be vandalized? can we sort of um like have multiple goals align? And so we sort of used all of those various items um as we were prioritizing the parks for phase
one here. And so many of you already know, so I won't ask you to do the drum roll, but um 40 and10's first parks are going to be Bernie Fritz in the northeast, Madison Park in the south, and Clear View Park on the west side. Um these
parks do all have something in common, and that is that they are anchor parks. If you remember the discussion about the park types, um so it's, you know, the ones that sort of are, they're not a regional draw, but they're not a small community park either. It's like right in between. They are geographically
diverse which is a good thing. You know, we wanted to sort of spread the wealth and they all include various forms of active and passive play. Um the mayor already spoke to the idea of the request for proposals that is um ongoing right now as it relates to
design and engineering services for these first three parks. Um, and then as we already mentioned, we'll be doing additional community outreach this summer at the three parks just to verify the plans that we produced just last
year are still valid. Um, and you know, we want to make sure that the the improvements are what the community wants to see. So, you'll find us at those three parks um at some point throughout the summer. And and just to add to that is I believe that our goal
is to have that contract for the final design engineering on next council's agenda. >> Um so that's that's the goal is to be able to uh send it over to council for the next uh for the next council meeting just as a heads up there.
>> All right. So um we can dive into Bernie Fritz here first. So, um, Bernie Fritz is in the northeast geography of the city, uh, north of Washington Avenue, west of Lynden, east of Center, just by the Memorial Park Cemetery there. Um, it
is named after the late playground leader, teacher, and coach who devoted his life to Bethlehem youth. Um, and we obviously continue to honor his legacy today at Bernie Fritz Night. Um, and Bernie Fritz Night this year is being held on July 29th and that will be one
of our popup events uh for the Bernie Fritz design concept. So, we will be there that day. Um, get getting feedback on this design that you see here. Um, and just to walk through the design a little bit, I know it's probably hard to see printed and on the screen. So, um,
we'll tr we'll continue the tradition of active play, um, featuring updated fit fields and comfortable courts. We will add a splash pad to Bernie Fritz, um, which will also be accompanied by a water bottle refill
station. Um, and then introducing some new playful places, including natural and universal play, and just sprucing up the gathering spaces a little bit. the the um park building there. Um potentially getting a bathroom, a
working bathroom in there and more of those well-liked swing benches um that everyone really liked uh through the community engagement effort. So, >> and and I would just add to that is these are what the goals are, but an important part of our work here, and
this is why you go through the engineering and design is figuring out what's feasible and what's not. And I'll give you just an example is like the goal would be to put a splash pad here, but until we actually go through the process of the like seeing the infrastructure and the engineering and things like that and allowing the
engineers, you don't know whether or not that's going to cost $250,000 or $700,000. So we are very much trying to both take we are listening but we're also always honest with people that there are certain things that people want that
there are concepts that we can investigate and we're going to try try to stay as true as we can to that but there is no way to figure out whether or not you can do some things until you go through and do the engineering and some of it is subservice and things like that to see whether or not things are feasible. But one of the reasons why we
wanted to do the plan this way and build this very kind of organic group is because we wanted to be able to have those conversations with people and just be straight up and say, "Look, look, our goal is to be able to do this, but until we go through and see what the estimates are, we can't tell you for certain whether or not we're going to be able to
do it. And unlike having a grant where you get a grant to be able to pay for something, and then if it's more than that, you can just I can go find the money." Since we're using our own money, it is money that potentially could be spent on another park. So, like we're going to try to be smart about balancing all those different things. And yes,
there's going to be points where there's going to be a difference between like a splash pad is worth it for $250,000 and a splash pad is not worth it for $800,000. Um, and I just wanted to that was a good example to kind of think about is like we're not going to spend money unnecessarily when there's that
money could go somewhere else and go even further because there are other parks to do. So, we're going to balance all those things together. All right. And then we're going to take a trip over to the south side here for Madison Park. Um it's located by Wandot
Street um and Ontario south of Broadway um up there sort of up the hill. Um as the area around Ontario Street developed to house Bethlehem steel workers, small pocket parks like Madison were carved out to serve the local community.
Additionally, this was the location of a former elementary school. So, it was sort of carved out for that first and then uh became a park once the school was torn down. Um for residents, the park is near and dear spot known historically for basketball courts uh
which have been a hub for local game and community gatherings for multiple generations. So, we want to continue that active play tradition, uh, with updated basketball amenities, um, updated universal play equipment,
uh, refreshed pavilion, um, and getting to the mayor's point, uh, we did we did propose a splash pad here along with the water bottle refill station, obviously housing a former school on this site. Again, getting under to the point of the
utilities, we'll have to see where everything is, but um essentially those are the various um proposed improvements coming here. Uh like I said, there's some street trees. Um obviously repaving the sidewalks around it is a big thing just to get them um you know, in better shape. And I do believe they are ADA
compliant, but the you know, it's a little uh little rickety there. So, just refreshing those a bit. And that's a good comparison as far as the splash pad is concerned from like an equity point of view is because if you look at Clear View, which we're going to talk about in a minute, it's next to a pool. And if
you look at Bernie Fritz, you're probably about a half a mile away from Memorial Pool, but if you're looking at Madison, like there is not any water that is close, and you're either dealing with um Yasco, which is not particularly close, especially for kids crossing line and things like that. So that's another
example that if you're looking at the infrastructure and you're looking what the costs are like it may be a situation too where like a and once again I'm making up numbers I have no idea how much this actually costs but like $400,000 here is a different choice than $400,000 at Bernie Fitzger at Clear View
because of the equity concerns and that is something that we're very much centering in making these in making these determinations. >> All right. And then lastly, um, on the west end there is Clear View Park. Um, it's east of Pennsylvania Avenue, south of Katosaka Road. It was established in
1960 as part of the postw World War II uh, residential expansion in West Bethlehem. The park's role grew as sort of that community anchor. um with the opening of the adjacent Clear View Elementary School in the mid 1970s and will remains
one of the most heavily used neighborhood parks in the city due to its direct connection and central location within West Bethlehem. Um so coming to Clear View, um our new improvements and amenities like nature-based activities um that take
advantage of, you know, the large green space that we have there, universal and natural play equipment. Um, to the mayor's point, an added splash pad. The idea behind placing the splash pad at the park with the pool was equity. You have a free option, you have a paid
option. And so that's just uh giving you sort of a snapshot as to why decisions like that were made. Um, so the added splash pad, updated basketball, updated tennis, um, introducing pickle ball. I I think there's pickle ball on the tennis courts already, but they would be
actually pickle ball dedicated courts. um and a general refresh of park amenities like benches, trash cans. Um and then the pool house will see receive some improvements as well as the pool house parking. So that is as of now the
recommended improvements to Clear View. And then as Corey had said, um we're going to kind of have the the big community feedback community meeting at Bernie Fritz on July 29th. The meetings at Madison and Clear View are still being worked out as far as what dates
they would be, but the the the will be in June or July. Um Madison is one that may take we may try for multiple popup meetings like our goal with both Madison and Clear View. And if you've ever been in Bernie Fritz night
before, you know, we get all sorts of different groups to come out. We get the police, we get the fire truck, we get, you know, paramedics, we get different groups from the city to come out. Is, you know, we would want to have similar type nights at Madison and Clear View. The kind that are designed for entire
families that would be able to come. We've talked about having our health fan there as a way to necessarily help to bring people out for some health services, but we really want to make it community focused because we're trying to build these parks in a way that it doesn't matter what your age is that
like this there is something at this park for you. But one of the things you probably know, and I've learned this with a young child, is that, you know, if you look at like Bernie Fritz or Clear View, because they're bigger, it's easier to be able to plan as far as what the different uses are on the same space
because there's just so much more land. Like the Madison conversation, and we have this at different parks that are just smaller, that are in middle of urban areas. It is a conversation that needs to be very intense and constructive with this neighborhood
because it's much more difficult to separate uses. And you often see this with just what you have as far as a basketball game going on next to a playground, next to a place where people are relaxing. That's harder at smaller parks. So, you kind of have to decide
what do we want this park to be. It's harder to have four, five, six, seven uses at a park that is that is smaller like Madison. So, this is the intentionality that we're looking at as far as like how we necessarily do this type of planning and really kind of setting the stage for what we're going
to do in the future. And the last thing I would say and then we would open up for questions is one of the other things we announced and as I said we talked about this couple couple weeks ago when everybody voted for the uh uh grant application. um DC&R who has been a fantastic partner for every city
recreation project um for the past 30 years um saw the 40 and10 plan they have tremendous confidence and Kathy and the uh and and our all of our department heads and they reached out to us and they said we'd like to sit down and talk about how we necessarily can help. So,
what we had sent to city council a couple weeks ago was this idea to be able to get some planning dollars to do master plans for not just Sand Island, which we're going to take on in 2027, but also Senakasi um to be able to do three regional parks
with one planning grant that will allow us, which are not these kind of 22-month type processes. Doesn't mean we can't do things. doesn't mean that somebody's not going to go fix the climbing gym or put in new swings, but as far as master plans, I mean, all three of the regional parks are going to be multi-million
dollar endeavors to kind of update those and things like that. But we're really excited about what the Sand Island master plan's going to going to be. I mean, the current Sand Island was built, it's one of the few projects built before Mike Alcohol was here in in 19 I think it was 1990, 1991 that that that
when it opened then when Mayor Smith um and it just needs needs an update and there's a lot of exciting conversations that can be had there as far as like there's only one thing that I know is not moving, that's the ice house. Um, but when you look at where the tennis courts are, you look at where the playground is, you look at the
basketball courts, there's a lot of different potential there to open up the water a little bit, um, to be able to turn that into even more of a destination, um, that that represents and as Kathy had said, um, Sand Island is the number one used park we have. It is the biggest kind of regional
destination we have as far as the most people coming down. It's the middle of our city. Um, so we're very much trying to center that going forward. Um, and you know, we are, as we said, we're cutting the ribbon on Friendship Park. We got Deco Park coming up. We have a lot of exciting projects going on here.
But that kind of gives a little bit of flavor uh about 40 and 10. And um, I would just finish by saying thank you again to council. And I know some of you have been there longer than others, but we are only in this position because for 30 years, we've made long-term wise
financial decisions. Um, and we have spent onetime revenues on one-time expenditures and we don't spend onetime revenues on recurring expenditures. And because of that, we are in a place where we're able to invest in our parks in a way that nobody else is. And that's
that's a big credit to to to you for for voting that way and being responsible. And with that being said, that will wrap up our presentation. Thank you, Councilman. >> Thank you very much. Um I'll first uh ask if anybody else from the
administration has any additional comments to make. Okay. Uh so I am going to ask our committee members um committee member who is here uh if you have any questions or comments. Thank
you chairwoman Leairard. Thank you me for presentation. Sorry I was a few minutes late and full disclosure I haven't had a chance to read the final report yet. It's on my to-do list, but I do appreciate that it's not only accessible to council, to anyone following along. It's on Web Build Bethleam. So, I I will make time to look
at that. So, some of the questions might just be what's in the final report. I don't necessarily need, you know, to get too in the weeds right now, but I I will before that just thank everybody for the work that went into it. I know I'd reached out to Miss Collins and the planning department early on just kind
of with some feedback about my part of town and I know some of my family went out to some of the community meetings and Mayor Reynolds your point about that access to a park and enjoying a park. It really whether I rent my house, own my house, rent the apartment behind my
house, have family staying with me, have family move in with me, everybody in the neighborhood, everybody in that part of town enjoys these resources equally, has the same access. And just now that the weather's getting nice, we see it. My
brother and I spent about two hours on the greenway on Friday and it was nice to see how many people were out there as we walked end to end and I educated him on what I could remember about what's coming down, you know, down down the road. And uh he reminded me about the
bald eagle nest that we made made a a stop to see. But I I did want to just a couple questions. If we could go to the park types slide for my reference, there's a star or asterisk. What does that represent next to some of the park
names? I may have missed that. >> That's if it's in an EJ zone or not. >> Environmental. >> Environmental justice. >> Okay. Thank you. No, no, no problem. Thank you. >> And then in the final plan, does it identify each
park exclusively and what a potential next 10 years may look like for that individual park? So there there are maps in the plan itself that identify what existing amenities there are and what anticipated
amenities there could be based on all of the factors, you know, what network it's in, what neighborhood, if it's um so kind of balancing that equity and accessibility within that. So the maps
themselves show that and then um as you go through the plan for like the experiences etc. There's some tables there as well. >> I I guess I'll jump just to what my question actually is because people ask me the old poll at Sulen Park. Obviously, as we talk about um
installing certain amenities once we start moving earth and seeing what utilities look like, we don't know the feasibility, but it explores what options or what potential there is in all the parks. >> Yeah, fair. Thank you. >> And then there is reference to potential
staffing needs over the next 10 years. Okay. And I could again some of the stuff I could look at. >> Yeah. Yeah. And just on the staffing piece is there's both like kind of like the potential programming staff, but also from like Mr. Alcohol and Maintenance point of view. And some of it is going to come down to how much do
we and I'm just making this up is like do we want to see the grass cut every 10 days or are we okay with it being cut every 14 days? And like are those dollars spent better spent somewhere else? But like thinking about what we're okay with as far as like maintenance people and I'm once again just making this up is if like say hey look we want
to add two more people to cut the grass um because we think we're not cutting the grass enough like that matters when we think about what design we're going to put into it. So everybody wants grass. Nobody likes blacktop. We some of our parks are very institutional but they also kind of built that way under
this idea that like it would cut down on future maintenance costs. Um, but that's at one of the things that's been at the top of our list and and Chris Su and everybody within Mike's department has been actively involved in those conversations because we want to build things that five years from now, 10 years from now will still look fresh and
vibrant and things like that. So, it is it is included in there, but some of those longer term uh conversations are ones that we need to that we still have to we're we're going to just build out as we move through the years. >> Okay. And and then the last question I
had was does the plan involve I know many probably nine years ago there was talk about selling potential city properties. One or two may have been um little neighborhood parks. Does the plan involve taking any parks out of our park
inventory? >> We did not we did not in include that. there's there'll be more conversation about what the potential uses are and like as we talked about before is like where does it fit into the amenities of this particular network. Um but it is not something that we are currently we
are currently considering. >> Okay. Thank you Mayor Reynolds. Thank you everybody. >> Uh recognize that committee member Callahan has arrived. Uh the presentation wrapped up um but if you were able to look at the plan online or
uh questions. No, no, I'm good with it. >> Okay. Um, so we have three other council members present. Um, and I would like to invite you to make any comments that you have. I see Councilwoman Quiet. >> Thank you. >> Um, I also was um, thinking about the
maintenance piece and what really stood out to me was the 50% of the time is used for leaf removal um, and really um, thought about the ways that that could be changed in some way. So I I see opportunities in in understanding the
data of where our maintenance staff are deployed and and what their time is being used with. So I really appreciated that being part of this plan. Um the only question I really had was about the current RFPs for the first three and wondering um are you looking for one
construction manager to sort of take on all three? How how was that kind of parallel? >> So there would be two different contracts. one having to do with the final design engineering and Mike you can interrupt me at any point here and it with that one the contract that we'd
be bringing to council in a couple weeks the goal is to likely hire one firm to do the design and engineering as far as efficiencies are concerned as far as the ability to be able to reach out to us obviously you know there's going to be just we can figure that part out the construction piece we're not positive
yet ideally you would hire one firm to be able to do it because there would be economies of scale as far as buying materials and things like that, but we're not we're going to have to we're going to have to see whether or not somebody has the capacity to be able to to do that. Um because that is a lot of
work over the same period of time and you need to have enough employees that aren't working on another project um to be able to do that. And you know, there's a lot of successful firms out there that do it, but the successful firms often bid on multiple jobs and they multiple places. And you know,
we're trying to minimize obviously how long that takes. So, but that's one of those things that we are going to kind of learn this first cycle through and see whether or not we're we're almost positive that we're going to want to hire the same people to do the final design engineering because that we think
makes absolute sense. The construction piece is one we're going to kind of determine as we go on whether or not we think one firm has the capacity to be able to do all of that in essentially like the same like four or five month period. Thanks.
That was all I had. Okay. >> I have a question. Counciloman >> Daniels. >> Yes. Um the 40 and 10 is it's an awesome awesome idea. Uh parks definitely
are the uh the holding place for a lot of our communities. You know, gathering places. The kids of course love them. I grew up at Madison Park. that was the the park near my home and the programming back then as you spoke on earlier was phenomenal. There was kids
there that were playing games with us and you know throughout the day and unfortunately we don't have that anymore. We love to be able to bring that back. Um but my question and I I have some confusion here. You mentioned Sand Island, you mentioned Monakasi Park
and then these three other parks. So Sand Island you were saying would be 2027 >> for the master plan and what what city council had approved was actually master planning dollars for Sen Monaka and Sand Island. >> Okay.
>> When we had initially planned for our master planning process in Sand Island for next year, we had not yet had the conversation with DCNR where we were we were going to be able to apply for the same pot of money. We thought we were only going to be able to apply for money to do a plan for Sand Island, but the
same grant would pay to be able to do master planning for Sen and Monocasy. But that's just the planning. That's not the implementation that would come after plan the plan is done. >> Okay. So, as far as the planning and implementation for these other three, like when would the first part go
underway potentially? >> Yeah. So, that's so that's what we're reviewing the RFP for the design. So the concept plans were put together through the community feedback and engagement process when we did 40 and 10. So right now we are reviewing the RFPs. So then
theoretically and we can send you like the month-to-month schedule and send it to TAD to get it out. But those this year is going to essentially be planning and then next year is going to be construction with the idea that we're going to be done by the end of next year with construction for Clear View,
Madison and Bernie Fritz. So this year is going to be engineering, utilities, community engagement, send all that stuff over, can bid the project January, February, get them under so they can then do their construction from the middle of the summer through the fall.
>> Okay. >> And be done by the end of next year. >> All right. Um the only and I'm glad to see Madison in there. I would have loved to have seen Yasco in there. Um, and the only reason why I say that is because Madison and
Yasco are the two primary parks that most people and children use on the southside. The other parks, um, I don't even know why some of them are even parks at this point. Um, and actually since I said that, Enix Park on
Pawne, uh, it's an afterthought, uh, to be honest with you. And I believe that was the wording in in an old park study that was on the website at one point. I haven't been able to locate it recently
where each park uh was basically given uh what's the word I'm looking for? They were they were >> like prioritized. >> Exactly. To that Yeah. Um, and Enix was
one on the low end along with a number of them on the south side. And I I have to bring up the southside because I live on the south side. Um, and of the parks that have been improved within the last four, five, six years, the southside
hasn't seen much of anything as far as capital improvements are concerned. There was a couple hundred,000 put into Sen to shore up uh some issues due to flooding down there. Um, but outside of that, unless I'm wrong, I haven't seen any rural improvements to any of the parks on the
south side. >> So, there's obviously been the greenway continuation, which is kind >> I don't consider that a park. >> It is it is I understand if it is a it is a public space. It is by definition a park. And um but however we design it,
however we want to define it. Um but there's also been a lot of money that's gone into Yasco as well um as far as the basketball courts are concerned. the splash pad, different things as far as the pool is concerned >> wi within the last several years. But I will tell you that Yasco and Kathy had
or Corey had referenced the fact that Madison is like an anchor park is like Yasco is obviously an anchor park there as well. Um and it's also one that we've been heavy on helping with the programming with swimming lessons and things like that through Yasco. Um but it is going to be another one that will be that will be talked about um in the
in the coming coming months in the coming years as far as like what it is that we necessarily could could make some make some investments in because that is one that that is one that came up in the community feedback as well. Um, and one of the things that came up in Yasco was as much as it is the capital improvements, it was the
potential for programming potential for how do you get more kind of supervised uh, programming there and I know that's something Anna has been focusing on with CD CADCB and things like that. So like that's actually Yasco is a good example of one that there are capital
improvements to be made but the programming piece of it is like what's going on on a day-to-day basis there is the type of thing that we don't necessarily need to wait to spend capital dollars on which is part of our ongoing kind of programming conversation both internally and also externally as
far as like thirdparty groups coming in. But as far as one of the other things too that we're actually talking about now and we have a meeting coming up on is like the idea of being able to have more I almost want to say kind of like flexible programming leaders. So like in the pools for example like if pools
don't have enough lifeguards there's like substitutes or we move people over there. So the type of idea is like if we have two or three summer help programmers that we currently don't have now is like do you send somebody over to Yasco for four or five days in a row to help to like organize programming things
like that. Those are ongoing conversations that we're having. But like the programming piece at Yasco is one that has come up a lot about how can we do more supervised organized activities which isn't going to have to wait for any type of plan for us to do. We're just actively talking about that now.
>> No, the programming would be awesome. Uh definitely. Uh but just as as far as the actual park itself is concerned outside of the the pool, um the basketball courts that I did notice were patched up um and painted last summer, I guess it
was. Um they have a splash pad that halfway works. Um but there's really not a lot of play equipment there. And I think for the most part it's because of that >> huge rock >> rock. Uh yeah, I I guess getting rid of
that would be a bit much. Um but yeah, I mean something um needs to be done with that park. Um it's I I've spoken with children there with their parents and most of them are pretty upset with the way that the park
is set up currently. And I I know you can't do everything for everyone all the time, but >> u it just seems that >> most of the improvements are on this side of town, you know, at a tune of 78 million and the southside is getting 23
$400,000. >> Yeah. >> So when we're looking at equity, >> Yeah. >> it's not there. I I would tell you at least during my kind of 20 years here is between the improvements that we've made to Sen Park and I will tell you and as you've said is like by definition the in
South Bethlehem some of the kind of defined parks and defined areas are just not ne by like the urban kind of landscape is not necessarily the same as some of the space in other areas. But between Sen, I think the greenway alto together is going to cost about $20
million over like a 20-year period between Yasco. But it's part of the reason why we have prioritized Madison in an area where listening to people in the neighborhood as well. And you said, and I lived in that neighborhood for several years, 20 years ago as well, is it it just it's one that people feel was
not a lot of there wasn't a lot of interest in, which is why we prioritized it as far as the first one is concerned. Um, but the more funding that we have, the more parks we're going to be able to do. Um, and I do want to give credit to Anna Smith who has really focused on this programming piece over the past couple of years as well. And we've tried
to work with her and work with the recreation bureau as far as increasing the programming, increasing swim lessons, increasing basketball, increasing things like that. Um, and you know, we've seen some some there, but there's always there's always more to be able there's more to be able to do. We built a skate park, um, which continues
to be busy um, 15 years ago. um which is really kind of the first of its kind. Um so we're we're trying to make we're trying to make as many investments as we can in different areas and and we'll continue to do that. But your point on the programming especially Yasco is what I think is kind of like the thing that
we can focus on the most in the short term. >> And as far as Madison is concerned, I actually received an email um from a constituent uh neighbor up there who complained of the slide being broken. Um
there's a blue uh swing on the swing set. This large blue swing. I've never seen anything like it, but they they're saying it's dangerous that kids are falling out of it. Um I went up there yesterday to take a look and the slide is actually boarded up, so you can't even go on the slide.
>> Okay. >> Outside of that, there's really not much other, you know, play equipment up there um for them to deal with, for them to work with, play with. So, if you guys can take a look at the slide. I don't know if there's something
you can swap out temporarily. If there's an old piece of equipment somewhere you can move in there temporarily, >> we can we can certainly >> that blue swing that >> we can certainly take a look and see see where it's at. And >> I'm assuming the city was already up there if it's boarded. Yeah, I I don't know about that particular slide or that
particular swing, but I do know that one of the things that we're working on as well is um that there is an annual kind of maintenance fund that helps to replace fix these things and that's kind of operated that's been going on for a while. So, it's if you show up to a park, it's not necessarily a brand new
park plan and things like that, but there's a new swing set or something was broken and things like that. So, we can absolutely do some research to see see what that kind of history is and if there's any temporary improvements before the park is kind of done in like the next like 18 months, but we'll we'll absolutely look into that.
>> Thank you. >> Something to add to that if you do find something. Right now, we are going around the parks checking on various things and when someone brings something to our attention, we appreciate it because then we can go address it. So, with there being 43 parks, it's hard for us to catch everything. So, we do look
forward to So, anytime you want to email. Um, >> please let us know. Send pictures whenever it is. >> Send pictures. >> I actually I have some pictures. I'll send them over to you. >> They really do get get on to. So, if there is an issue, we we will check it out and take care of it.
>> Replacing something right away. Sometimes it's hard because when you have just a slide, you know, a couple years ago, just to give you an example, um there was a tube that was broken >> and that's what it is actually. It's a tube. What and what um happens with the
tubes is you take them out. We had to look all over the place to find just that piece. So, it's not as easy. So, we do our best. We have to make it safe. Sometimes we have to do >> take it off and get the two >> two um safety panels there. But we we do
our best to replace it. Just sometimes hard to find the um pieces that you don't want when you need them. >> Okay. Yeah. Because the woman that emailed me, she was upset because she has to take her grandchildren to Fountain Hill. >> Yes. >> I'll take it. I'll run over tomorrow.
>> Thank you. >> I have this is also the period of time where a lot of our parks people are going out there to put down new mulch and things like that. One of the things that happened this year that is the worst is when you get those, it's great for people, but when you get those real like warm days in like March and April
before our maintenance guys have the opportunity to go out there and they're doing other things during the winter. So, they can't go out there to like check a slide in January or February because they got other stuff going on. So, when they get to it in March with the amount of people we have that are working on this, it sometimes is like sometimes we don't necessarily discover
what has broken in the last month or so. But, I mean, if it's boarded up, sounds like there's some type of plan. So, we'll get to that information then as soon as we can. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Councilwoman Leo. >> Uh, just a couple of of quick things. I also did want to call out the uh the programming um and give a big thank you
to Corey as well well as everyone. You were there for the public and green space committee meeting that happened just recently where there was a portion of this that was presented to the public and green space committee and there were tears. Um there was like we're seeing a culmination of activism that's taken place over a couple of years when it
comes to not just water in the park but the idea of cooling stations um a cooling station as like whether it's a water fountain or a splash pad in places that are just hotter um in Bethlehem than other areas. So these are are incredible things at uh public or public
and green space. We also threw our support around the Southside Sluggers, the the shooting stars, whatever they're called, and the the um swimming program in Yasco. So, the need for programming continues to be there, but there is a big push for it, and I really appreciate that. Uh the other thing that I wanted
to call out um was a bit about uh Sen Park. I know we've had conversations about Sen Park. I I don't believe um a pool would ever make sense there again given the flood plane and everything, but the investments that have already been made
there. I live right behind Sen Park and seeing that park be so alive and it is very alive um on the weekends and at week nights. So, it's really good to see this. Um, you talked about the pace of grants and I think part of our community
frustration as well as elected frustration with bureaucracy is you join to do good things and then you realize good things take 15 years and you hope that you can do a good thing and that the council after you will continue to value it and hold it. Um, so to be able
to cut that level of red tape to see something done immediately, um, is not just refreshing for the community, but it's refreshing for public servants who get exhausted with not making traction. Um, so appreciate the the thought process and and yes, also council plays
its role um in doing the support, but being able to walk the path together where we're actually making progress is a really really good thing. Um, so I just wanted to call that out again. And the other thing was Duck Go Park. It's funny to me. I've heard a lot of conversation regarding that park recently because so many people didn't
realize it was a park and it was like what is the city doing putting a slide there and it's like actually it's always been a park. Um drove past that place multiple times, never knew it was a park. So as the city continues to change, it's really good to see like our parks becoming parks, people being able to call them out as parks. Um and
prioritizing the way the public uses the parks, whether it is water, whether it's cooling stations. Um it's just this is a net positive. The only cons like the only concern that I have which continues to be a concern. We've talked about this before is it's 40 and 10 and there is
not a single elected term that is 10 years. So I hope that the councils and that come after us, the mayor that comes after us continue to value this work and do it to completion so that we can do 40 in the 10 years that it would take to do it. >> Thanks C council president. And I would
tell you is the good news is we're going to be able to get most of the big projects done in the next four years. Um so 40 and 10 as you talked about and the projects we're going to talk about in the future between the master planning for the big parks and then also those anchor parks. Um some of those other
community parks just take less investment as far as like a capital dollars amount. Um, so we're very much focused on what are we able to do over the next we said like think of this as like cycle one where we announced the first set of parks in like April of 2026
is that we should be able to get a lot of those done in a way and especially through different funding that we're thinking about over the next couple of years that we are basically making those promises and starting starting the starting the train in a way that like it's not going to be able to be slowed
down. I have one thing I want to say um in reference to Sulen Park. I just want to respectfully disagree with the the pool situation and I know I've been told before that the possibility of a pool going into Sulen
because of the flooding um is nil to to never. Uh I guess I would like to see why that would be the case. how much flooding has taken place and why that area of land couldn't be built up to accommodate a pool before we knock it out altogether. And I and I think I
think that's part of the reason why we've hesitated to make any temporary decisions as far as what to do there is because that's going to be this one of the centerpieces of the master planning for the community and for everybody is like what do you do with that and also what is feasible and as far as like once
again I'm not saying that this I'm just thinking about the different options. Do you fill the park in? Do you try to turn into a splash pad? Do you take the fence down? Like what do you you know do you try to rehab something there and turn it into something else? I think that would be the centerpiece of the master
planning conversation which we don't think is our right necessarily to go in and do something that then makes the master plan conversation more limited or more difficult to do or take more. And let's say that like we just said, "Hey, we don't want to look at this anymore and we choose option A." And then by choosing option A, we've taken option B,
C, and D and made all of them $500,000 more in the future. Um, which is why we're so excited that we're going to be able to do this this master planning for Sock and Monakasi and Sand Island at the same time. >> I can't wait to see it. Uh, you know, because Southside we only have the one pool, Yasco. >> Very small pool. >> Yeah.
>> Um, so yeah, I would just love to see a pool back at Sulen somehow. >> Maybe I'll pay for it. >> I I was a lifeguard there. I was a lifeguard there for four years. I loved I loved being a lifeguard there. >> Okay. Um, so I think that that is
everyone's uh comments from the rest of council. Um, I want to echo the thanks and kudos for the hard work on this. Um, Omnes did a great job uh and I think it's a really good example of um us as a
city leveraging our local experts um where it's a consultant but they are from our general community and and did a fantastic job. Um the announcement event uh or the reveal event was great. It was wonderful turnout. I was so glad to see that and
glad to see people bringing their children to uh you know experience what civic engagement can look like and get excited about the parks. Um and then some of the uh programming that's already started like the walks. Um I actually have a family member who went on the first one and signed up to go on
the second one which I think is right now. >> Yeah. Uh they're they're down there on Sand Island I think. Uh, so he said. So, uh, you know, I I heard great things about it and I'm glad to see that and very glad based on public comment that we had here at council and concerned emails about water fountains and bottle
filling that that's in the works already for these first few parks. So, um, you know, thank you. I'm hoping that as the public engagement events uh for planning those first three continue that um or get started uh there could be either
canvasing or mailing to the immediate addresses um not necessarily the property owners but the people who live there if they're renters uh to be able to come and you know definitely participate >> and that's one of the plans and once we get the firm under contract um but this
next stage and we've talked about this before is like you hire somebody from the outside because you either need the expertise or you don't have the time. So, one of the things that Omnes was good at was being able to help us to do some of that community engagement. But now these community engagement moving forward is going to be Kathy and Corey
and everybody within their own department, talking about housing, all that kind of stuff. But it includes neighborhood solicitation, reaching out to people, talking to, for example, at Clear View, Clear View Elementary School, whatever the different institutions, you know, Anna's been involved up there as well around Madison. So trying to get to all these
groups with enough time period but that involves the neighborhood as well. >> Um cool. So uh I had a couple of other questions. Um 40 plus in 10. Uh how many parks are not included? How many properties that are
technically considered parks are not included in the 40 and 10? It depends what you define as a park as far as as far as like public space is concerned versus what is a park or what? >> That was actually a follow-up question. Is Payroll Plaza considered a park? >> Oh, yes,
>> it is. Okay. Is that included? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> It's it's there under the community park. >> Cool. >> So, yeah. What is it? Seven. We spent a lot of time in the beginning of this deciding what are we going to include and initially payroll plaza was
not considered a park but we talked even the memorial um the steel workers memorial is considered anything that is a gathering space we've added as a park >> great >> so yeah the 43 is pretty much as comprehensive as you're going to get
>> that's great um when we're looking at the data about uh how many hours are spent with leaf removal and mowing and clearing snow on paths and so that's more as we add more paths. Um can we explore like you you said okay maybe we
mow every 14 days instead of 10 days for example can we also explore do we actually need to collect all the leaves some I know we do because of the gutters and everything >> um but could there be areas especially if we're doing uh ecological restoration
where we can actually cut out >> bigger portions of that or say this for the winter is not a cleared path Are we I don't know if we're allowed to not clear like a internal park path and say this is for snowshoeing in the winter.
Um >> I like where your head's at. Um I would tell you that I think it would depend on we'd have to have like a legal conversation about what signage you need and so on and so forth. But it hits at a bigger point is like how sustainable do
we want to be? And what ends up happening, and I don't care about this cuz I don't mind explaining this to people, but we have some of these areas that are like no mo areas. Yeah. And you know that minoxy and things like that and some areas around like stream banks and things like that. And some people
understand what it is and other people look at that and say like and that contributes to their like the city's not taking care of the care of the maintenance of the parks. Like no, no, this is intentional that we're choosing not to do it. But there's also balancing acts. I'll tell you like there's one place in the city where you don't allow
that where we don't mow and people in the neighborhood said kids go back there to drink underage. So like you're balancing those factors but the idea about like doing this in a sustainable manner. Some of it comes down to like what are people just willing to deal
with as far as like the complaints are concerned and whether or not we're okay with explaining what we think is the problem or why we did that intentionally or not. And like I personally don't have a problem explaining it or I don't think we have a problem explaining it but it's something we just get feedback on
because different people have different feelings than that but I would tell you that like our minds are very open to that. >> Great reference to not just >> right oh across the city that's throughout the city. Okay.
>> Good to know >> of the time. >> Good to know. Um and then the only other uh could we consider uh in looking how to implement the plan would be in cooling stations um or cooling features. Um could misting
stations or were they looked at in uh those uh features like as possibilities for the different parks? because I'm thinking about maybe it does come up that it's not um feasible to do a splash pad where we would ideally like to or maybe it's a park that is near a
senior center and they're not necessarily going to be going in the splash pad. Maybe their grandkids are but it's going to be 95 degrees and humid in a largely unairconditioned neighborhood and they would benefit from a cooling like a misting thing like they have at the amusement parks. Um is that
on the radar? I think everything is a consideration and one of the things that we're looking to do as far as talk to different whoever the firm is is come back to us with different options. Okay. And like what is possible and what is not possible. Um so absolutely if it exists it will be considered as a
possibility. >> All right. Um right I think that that was all of my questions. just thank you again and thank you for taking the time to be here and go a little bit more in depth with um this committee uh outside of that public uh presentation that we had a few
weeks ago. So um if there's nothing else, I'm going to give us about 5 minutes until we dive into our full council meeting. So uh this was forformational purposes only and uh we did not make any decisions or votes tonight and this meeting is adjourned.