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Record of Proceedings

Allentown City Council Public Safety Committee Meeting - March 4, 2026

Meeting Portal — Wednesday, March 4, 2026
BodyAllentown, Pennsylvania
SessionMeeting Portal
DateWednesday, March 4, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:06

I also agree.

0:11

All right.

0:12

Well, I'm gonna start the uh conversation.

0:18

Any meeting right now.

0:20

So we can have three quiet.

0:22

Uh Mr.

0:22

Helen.

0:23

Um Miss Moda Santos and myself are here along with other people from the council.

0:30

Okay.

0:31

Uh here and uh one boat.

0:34

So I'm gonna start the meeting now.

0:36

Uh you want to read the bill?

0:38

Uh Bill 9 amends the 2026 general fund budget to provide for a supplemental appropriation of 16,000 136.55 uh cents from the Commonwealth Pennsylvania Office of State Fire Commissioner Grant to the fire department to purchase one and three-quarter uh fire attack hose and nozzle compliments.

1:00

Chief, would you like to elaborate on that?

1:02

Uh I will Deputy Chief A.

1:03

Hart, good evening.

1:04

Uh this is just to supplement the cost of ongoing uh replacement of old nozzles and hose.

1:11

Uh, we're trying to update things.

1:12

We have nozzles from the 90s that aren't functioning well.

1:15

We're trying to update them.

1:17

So we asked for 30,000 or 25,000, I think, and we got 16.

1:21

So we'll take it.

1:23

Okay.

1:25

That's it.

1:26

That's it.

1:26

That's an easy one.

1:27

Quite a good question.

1:29

Is that the cost of one hose?

1:31

No, uh, one nozzle's up to like $1,800.

1:34

One nozzle.

1:35

One nozzle.

1:36

And we have like 70.

1:39

Oh, yeah.

1:41

It just adds up.

1:42

The hose is about uh each section of hose, like 75 feet is a roughly 900.

1:49

Wow.

1:49

Yeah, they're big nozzles.

1:51

Yeah, well, they're pretty basic.

1:53

It's just crazy to think that it's that expensive, but like everything else.

1:57

Any other questions?

1:58

You alright?

1:59

Yeah, that's good.

2:00

Thank you.

2:00

Any questions from the public on the nozzles?

2:05

All right, Mr.

2:07

Hanlin.

2:08

Um, oh, can I have a vote, please?

2:10

I'll make a motion to move this forward favorably.

2:13

Oh, we'll like to second.

2:14

And uh, can I have vote?

2:17

Oh, say aye.

2:18

Aye.

2:19

Aye.

2:19

All right, this will go uh favorably to council as a whole.

2:24

Could I just give you a quick announcement on something that I'm not sure that was shared with the council, and that's that tomorrow at 9:30, we'll be holding a press conference at the Allen Tong Fire Academy.

2:35

Well, for gallery testing, it's a cancer screening that's being provided um by gallery, and it's actually being in collaboration with Leah Valley Health Network and Jefferson Health, and we're basically gonna be speaking to that.

2:46

It'll be myself, uh the city of the city uh administration and the local will be speaking.

2:52

Um this would be tomorrow, yeah, at 9 30 at the at the fire academy.

2:58

Uh oh, the awfully high street.

3:01

I just wanted to make sure that you guys were aware of that.

3:04

Thank you for letting us you know be aware because usually they don't they don't let us they don't let us know things ahead of time.

3:12

I mean things have to change, really.

3:15

And it's not on you.

3:16

Um I just want to thank you for saying something.

3:19

No, I will apologize.

3:20

I should have sent something a little bit sooner.

3:22

Once we knew for sure that this was gonna happen, I think we should have been able to share that with you also.

3:25

So my own.

3:26

Yeah, but this is not this is not your department.

3:30

It happens all the time.

3:32

And I just think that we're lacking communication.

3:35

We have to do better.

3:36

Simple as that.

3:38

But thank you for letting us know.

3:42

Anyone else any comments?

3:45

Anything else that you have to add?

3:47

Okay.

3:49

And I enjoyed the meeting.

3:52

I think I did ask for public comment.

3:55

Uh she was gonna speak just in general comment about South 10th Street.

4:01

Oh, I'm sorry.

4:02

Yes, that's right.

4:04

But I did ask for public comment.

4:06

Okay, come on up and uh hello, my name is Denise Hauser.

4:14

I live at 1331 South 10th Street in Allentown.

4:18

My house is on a hill from Uniata down to Tyoga.

4:24

Now it's a 25 mile an hour zone, and then Tyoga is 25 miles an hour from South 9th to Lehigh Street.

4:34

Well, July 5th, I'll be there 21 years, and each year it gets worse and worse.

4:40

They're doing 50, 60 miles an hour.

4:43

They ride dirt bikes, which are illegal in this city.

4:48

They put little kids on the front, they zoom up and zoom up and down the hill.

4:53

Motorcycles are a really big problem.

5:00

And I was thinking about speed, you know, like on uh I think it's Graham Street and uh South Albert, they have those speed bumps, and I said, Oh, they're not gonna dig up these streets to put those in.

5:11

But then two weeks ago I came back from Florida, and on coming down uh Irving Street, I'm like, oh my god, what are these?

5:19

And my brother said these are the new removable speed bumps.

5:24

I guess they're soft speed bumps, they're they move.

5:28

You don't do anything to the ground.

5:30

I guess they just set them on the ground, and I'm like, oh my god, they would be so great for my street because we're getting more and more children, and I mean small children in my neighborhood, and people just they don't care, and I don't know what to do about this.

5:47

I figured if we had these, it would slow the traffic down the first one of these kids gets killed.

5:54

And you try to talk to the parents, they don't care because they're the ones that are riding their little kids around on dirt bikes with no licenses, you know, license plates on them.

6:07

Even the motorcycles in the neighborhood don't even have license plates on them.

6:12

So I thought I would come here and ask you guys what direction I need to go in.

6:17

How would I go about getting this done?

6:20

I I'm I'm at a loss at this point.

6:23

I don't know, and we have actually have a stop sign, they don't even stop for the stop sign.

6:28

I'm I don't know what to do anymore.

6:31

And this has been going on, like I said, this is my 21st year at this address, and each year we get more and more kids and more and more people, and it just keeps getting worse.

6:43

And just a couple of weeks ago already, it's it started with the motorcycles, and I'm like, come on, and the snow melted, and now they're zooming up and down Tayoga again.

6:54

I don't know what to do.

6:56

Um can I have her card?

6:58

What I'll do is uh this has my chief of police and we'll have a this is your number and where is the problem?

7:08

Uh 10th, 10th, South 10th.

7:12

And then Tyoga.

7:13

You want me to mark that on Tyoga.

7:16

It's at the bottom of the hill.

7:19

All right, I'll have a conversation with the chief of police and we'll get we'll get in touch and see what we can do about that.

7:25

Come by and walk, I don't know, one other thing.

7:28

Uh on the corners, you have a fire hydro on this side, and there's no yellow lines.

7:37

The cars are parking all the way up to the corner.

7:40

Not that I don't know if I need to do anything about that.

7:43

But when you come down to the stop sign, you can't even see the cars coming up Tyoga because everybody has an SUV.

7:51

So imagine an SUV here, and you're trying to, so you're like have to inch out your car all the way.

7:58

I know it's basically in the city though, there's always like a white line or a yellow line for not parking all the way to the curve.

8:08

I guess most likely have to be painted.

8:11

Yes, that's what it is.

8:12

Yeah, uh, yeah.

8:13

You're saying they're parking right at the end of the corner.

8:16

Yeah, but yeah, right to the end.

8:18

Have you called parking authority on this?

8:20

Yeah, okay.

8:21

Been there, have done that.

8:23

Yeah, that doesn't.

8:24

So what you're saying is that he doesn't have like uh a white or yellow line.

8:28

No, so yeah, that's probably got faded, right?

8:31

Maybe that's that could very well be.

8:39

Oh talking about it.

8:42

But I just thought I would appeal to the city council, and hopefully you guys can do something.

8:49

I got I tried streets department, they pushed me off to engineering and engineering pushed it off to their supervisor, and I said, Well, I'm gonna try city council, and they tell me, well, it couldn't hurt.

9:03

Go see them tonight, so that's why I'm here.

9:05

And I want to thank you for the time you've given me, and you all have a great evening.

9:10

We'll try to help you out.

9:12

Okay, thank you.

9:13

Thank you.

9:16

Is there anything else?

9:18

Anyone want to speak anything on the you do?

9:22

No.

9:25

On the public safety committee meeting.

9:28

We see no other.

9:29

Okay, now it's adjourned.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
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Public Safety██████████████████████████████████████38%
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Summary of Proceedings

Allentown City Council Public Safety Committee Meeting - March 4, 2026

The Allentown City Council Public Safety Committee met on the evening of March 4, 2026, with members Mr. Hanlin, Miss Moda Santos, and others present. The committee addressed a budget amendment for fire equipment, a community announcement, and public concerns about traffic safety on South 10th Street.

Discussion Items

  • Bill 9 – Fire Department Equipment Grant: The committee considered Bill 9, which amends the 2026 general fund budget to appropriate $16,136.55 from a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of State Fire Commissioner grant for the purchase of 1¾-inch fire attack hose and nozzle complements. Deputy Chief A. Hart explained the funds would supplement ongoing replacement of outdated nozzles (some from the 1990s) and hose sections. The department requested $25,000–$30,000 but received $16,136.55, which they accepted. A council member noted the high cost of equipment: one nozzle up to $1,800, and one 75-foot hose section around $900. The committee voted unanimously to move the bill favorably to the full council.
  • Press Conference Announcement: Deputy Chief Hart announced a press conference scheduled for March 5, 2026, at 9:30 AM at the Allentown Fire Academy (Auburn Street location) to discuss a gallery testing cancer screening program offered in collaboration with Lehigh Valley Health Network and Jefferson Health. A council member expressed frustration about a persistent lack of communication from city administration on such events and thanked Deputy Chief Hart for the advance notice.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Denise Hauser, resident of 1331 South 10th Street: Ms. Hauser described chronic speeding (50–60 mph in a 25 mph zone), illegal dirt bike and motorcycle use (often without license plates), and children riding unsafely on South 10th Street and on Tioga Street. She requested installation of removable speed bumps (similar to those recently placed on Irving Street) to protect children in the neighborhood. She also noted that cars park up to the corner near a fire hydrant because faded or missing yellow lines, blocking visibility at a stop sign. She said she had contacted the Streets Department and Engineering without resolution. The committee took her contact information and committed to speaking with the police chief about traffic enforcement and to exploring the speed bump and parking line issues.

Key Outcomes

  • Bill 9 was unanimously approved by the committee and will be forwarded to the full City Council for a vote.
  • The committee will follow up with the Chief of Police regarding Ms. Hauser’s traffic safety concerns on South 10th Street and Tioga Street.
  • The press conference on firefighter cancer screening was officially noted for council awareness.

Meeting Transcript

I also agree. All right. Well, I'm gonna start the uh conversation. Any meeting right now. So we can have three quiet. Uh Mr. Helen. Um Miss Moda Santos and myself are here along with other people from the council. Okay. Uh here and uh one boat. So I'm gonna start the meeting now. Uh you want to read the bill? Uh Bill 9 amends the 2026 general fund budget to provide for a supplemental appropriation of 16,000 136.55 uh cents from the Commonwealth Pennsylvania Office of State Fire Commissioner Grant to the fire department to purchase one and three-quarter uh fire attack hose and nozzle compliments. Chief, would you like to elaborate on that? Uh I will Deputy Chief A. Hart, good evening. Uh this is just to supplement the cost of ongoing uh replacement of old nozzles and hose. Uh, we're trying to update things. We have nozzles from the 90s that aren't functioning well. We're trying to update them. So we asked for 30,000 or 25,000, I think, and we got 16. So we'll take it. Okay. That's it. That's it. That's an easy one. Quite a good question. Is that the cost of one hose? No, uh, one nozzle's up to like $1,800. One nozzle. One nozzle. And we have like 70. Oh, yeah. It just adds up. The hose is about uh each section of hose, like 75 feet is a roughly 900. Wow. Yeah, they're big nozzles. Yeah, well, they're pretty basic. It's just crazy to think that it's that expensive, but like everything else. Any other questions? You alright? Yeah, that's good. Thank you. Any questions from the public on the nozzles? All right, Mr. Hanlin. Um, oh, can I have a vote, please? I'll make a motion to move this forward favorably. Oh, we'll like to second. And uh, can I have vote?

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