I hope we get your sticker there.

Okay, um, so we're gonna kick off our city council meeting at 6 30, and uh we'll start with uh invocation.

Uh may have a moment of silence.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, uh may we we may we have a roll call, please?

Miss Mota here, uh Santos here, here's Appha here, Mr.

Napoli, here Binder, present, and Mr.

Pongo.

Here's President, everyone is here.

Okay, great, thank you.

Uh, we're gonna start with courtesy of the floor.

Uh, this is uh portion for public comments uh for anything that's not on the agenda.

And uh if anyone filled out a card, Mr.

Hanley.

Uh we have Kyle.

Okay.

Um evening everybody's full name for the record.

Kyle Ropsky with 528 North Burke Street.

I'm chair of Allentown's Environmental Advisory Council.

I just want to make everybody aware of a cleanup that's going to be occurring this Saturday, March 7th at 1.30 p.m., hosted by uh Healing Hands and Homeful Hearts.

We're gonna be meeting at 9th and Gordon Street at 1.30 p.m.

just to do a cleanup around the city.

Uh more information is going to be posted on the EAC's Facebook, um, as well as you can find some more information on the keep Allentown Beautiful page on uh the Allentown City website.

Also want to thank everybody who came out to our air quality event uh last month.

We had a great turnout, a lot of good information, um, and we will be posting a follow-up with some of the results from that on our socials as well.

So thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Uh that's it.

The the two others are for items on the agenda.

Okay.

Sounds good.

Uh regarding contract approvals, we don't have any, so we're gonna move along to minutes of previous meetings.

Uh we'll start with uh February 4th, 2026.

February 4th.

Ms.

Affa.

Yes.

Mr.

Binder, yes.

Ms.

Gerlock?

Yes, Ms.

Moda, yes, Mr.

Bundo, yes, Santos, yes, and Mr.

Napoli.

Yes.

On the 18th.

Uh Mr.

Bender.

Yes.

Ms.

Gerlock, yes.

Ms.

Moda, yes, Mr.

Bungo, yes.

Santos, yes.

Mr.

Napoli.

Yes.

And Ms.

Appa.

Yes.

Mr.

President have seven means and no days.

Okay, thank you.

And communications, um, for visitors to city council.

We encourage you to park in the government deck next door and to see our city clerk for uh a parking voucher to pay for your parking.

Uh old business, any old business.

Okay.

Moving along to reports.

Um, I'll start with um a city council will be holding two special meetings in April.

The Allentown Parking Authority scheduled on April 8th at 6 p.m.

and a NISDA on April 22nd at 6 p.m.

Both meetings will be held in council chambers and open to the public.

Uh budget and finance, Chair Pongo.

Thank you, Council President.

The budget and finance committee met on February 25th, and our next meeting is scheduled for March 25th at 5 30 p.m.

Thank you.

Uh community economic development, Chair Gurlock.

Uh yes, this committee has not met since the last meeting, and the next meeting is scheduled at March for March 18th at 515 p.m.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh human resources administration and appointments, Chair Binder.

Thank you, President Napoli.

Uh the committee has not met since the last meeting, and there are no future meetings scheduled.

Okay, uh, thank you.

Parks and recreation, Chair Santos.

Thank you.

Uh this committee met this evening, and the next meeting is scheduled for March 18th at 6 p.m.

where we'll review the EAC annual report that has been submitted and a presentation of the city sustainability program.

So stay tuned for that.

Okay, thank you.

Uh public safety is Chair Affa.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

The committee met this evening.

There are no future meetings scheduled at this time.

Thank you.

On public works, Chair Mota.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

The committee has not missed since the last council meeting.

The next meeting is scheduled for March 11 at 5 30 p.m.

to review legislation, the city snow clearing policies, administration and committees priorities, and entertaining an initial discussion on creating a volunteer program for snow shoveling for elderly folks, cleanups and whatnot.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

And roles, chambers, intergovernmental relations and strategy.

This committee has not met since the last council meeting.

There is a meeting scheduled tomorrow, uh, March 5th, 2026 at 6 p.m.

It will be a public workshop meeting uh with members of Lehigh County administration along with their board of commissioners.

Uh on the controller's report, Mr.

Glazer.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I have a an accounts payable report, a weekly check review.

It is for the period of 131 to 227 26.

And this report just came out today, so it is hot off the press.

Um during this period, the number of checks and wires that were reviewed were 487.

The total dollar amount was uh just shy of $8,200,000.

Number of manual checks reviewed was six for about $82,000.

Um our first finding is that during the check review, we identified one check for $729.92 that was addressed to a different political entity than Allentown, i.e., it was not our check to pay.

Um we advised the department, they contacted the vendor and confirmed the invoice was not for Allentown, and the check was voided.

Um we recalculated another department's payment sheet and identified one payment for $80 that did not agree with our calculation.

The recalculated amount was $40.

The check was voided and reissued in the correct amount.

We note a petty cash reimbursement weakness.

Ideally, penny cash should be replenished very quickly.

In this instance, um of the invoices were from 2024, and we're just getting around to being reimbursed in 2026.

Um the department was advised that the best practices to replenish petty cash within three months of the expenditure, and most certainly within the same fiscal year.

The requirement for proper documentation is also reiterated.

Um the department acknowledged the advice and will strive to do better.

We don't handle a whole lot of petty cash these days since the introduction of P cards.

You know, maybe we see six or seven or eight reimbursements in the course of a year.

Um I think that's pretty much a good thing.

P cards have really made things much more efficient.

Um there were eight invoices that had the incorrect expense account used.

The departments were revised of the issue and submitted journal entry corrections.

Um there were 19 invoices where we deem them to be untimely payment, and by that we mean more than 60 days.

The departments were revised.

Uh they advised the reasons for the time lag and um went forward from there.

And we had four invoices where the documentation was not attached in Eden, excuse me, in Munis.

The departments were advised.

The documentation was attached, and the department was able to complete its review.

And that is my report, sir.

Okay.

Thank you to our controller, Mr.

Glazer.

Uh moving along, uh, Mayor Turk, you mentioned you had a report.

Yeah, I don't have a written report to submit, but I'd like to share some thoughts with you if that's okay.

Okay.

Uh one, so welcome to Read America Read Across America Week in Allentown.

I'm going to start off on I think an incredibly positive note.

Um Read Across America Week is always the first week in March.

There are opportunities for you as City Council people to read to Allentown school kids.

Um, I think there's still an opportunity this week to go to any of the Allentown School District elementary schools.

I think it does two things.

One for you, it's an incredibly uh life-affirming moment to sit down and read to second graders who uh are just like the vibrancy of the city of Allentown.

It's a great way for you to start your day.

Um makes you feel incredibly good.

But it's also really important for our young people.

Uh, when they have an opportunity to see an elected official like a city council person, it gives them something to talk about.

It makes them feel seen.

And that's one of the most important things that we can do for young people in Allentown in 2026 is recognize their recognize that they're there and that we care about them.

So I encourage you to do that.

I think there's still time this week.

You can connect directly with the Allentown School District.

I think they'll also take readers pretty much any week of the year.

So don't just do it during Read Across America week.

Um reach out and make yourself available.

The kids would deeply appreciate hearing from their city council person.

And they will, depending on the grade level, they'll have really interesting questions for you.

Second graders are probably going to ask you about your favorite color, but the fifth graders will show up and want to know what you're doing to help people in Allentown.

So be ready for a range of good questions.

I want to give you a brief uh trip report.

Uh on the meeting of the 18th, I told you a little bit about initiatives that we had underway here in the city of Allentown to make uh the city a better workplace.

That was coming off of my trip to Los Angeles for the U.S.

Conference of Mayors leadership meeting.

Uh during that meeting, I was able to do two things I want to share with you.

One, I chair children health and human services for the conference.

Uh we advocate for federal support to cities like Allentown.

Um related to children health and human services.

I want to give you a sense of what we face right now.

I'm not asking for political advocacy, but I want you to understand that there are significant impacts facing the city of Allentown as a result of likely cuts to federal funding or changes to federal funding.

The two that were significantly on my radar were the elimination of the ACA subsidies, which will leave people in Allentown and cities across America uninsured or having to make choices about whether to uh purchase health insurance or pay other uh significant bills, essential bills.

Um the impact that that has on cities is that when people go uninsured, it hits our emergency medical services.

The normal doctor's visit shows up in an ambulance for us.

Um so it's something that we must be aware of, and I urge you to connect with your legislators and at least let them know how important health care is to the residents that you serve.

The other one that is of note now is related to the SNAP benefits and the administration of SNAP.

Uh the big beautiful bill, HR 1 that was passed in July of 2025, change the way that states are uh sharing costs related to SNAP benefits and is going to push a significant burden onto states.

Um that will result likely in a reduction in SNAP benefits being made to residents in cities like Allentown and food, as you well know for anybody who's going grocery shopping.

The increase in the cost of food has a significant impact on a family's budget and not being able and facing food insecurity impacts a person's ability to fully participate in the life of the city.

So those are two of the issues that I was particularly focused on at that leadership meeting, but we also received a report on the road to housing bill in the Senate and the House of Representatives housing bill, where we have two bills that are passed that are going to allow for the creation of the production of more affordable housing in a city like Allentown.

There's a reconciliation that needs to occur between the House and the Senate in order to pass those bills.

But we're we're supportive of anything that will help us build more housing.

You all know when you talk to residents that this is one of the most significant issues that we face in the city is the creation of more affordable housing.

So there are positive notes there.

It seems like there's progress being made, but I was able to receive a report on that.

The other thing quickly on the trip to Los Angeles, one of the things that uh having a leadership role in the conference of mayors provides to the city of Allentown is access.

We were uh invited to join a workshop on AI in local government hosted by Google.

Uh, still putting thoughts together related to that, but uh there are if you have not seen a city council people, the impact of AI on the way that you uh serve our residents, you likely will, or maybe you're already seeing it, but you just don't realize it yet.

Uh, people are turning to AI in lots of different ways to help them better understand how to operate in the city, and we need to be aware of that.

So I'm gonna be looking forward to working with city council over the next few months.

We I may be asking you all to develop legislation on how we on that would regulate the way that we use AI as a city.

Um, I'm asking you, if nothing else, to at least start thinking about how AI will affect our residents and things and steps that we can take.

Final thing that uh I just want to end on is a note of partnership.

So over the past couple weeks, I was lucky enough to attend a round table hosted by St.

Luke's with attorney general Dave Sunday, where we talked about the impact of or what things that we can do to improve access to mental health and reduce the impact on the criminal justice system.

Uh later, I was able to attend the state of the county, the state of the county address by uh new county executive Siegel.

Later I was able to attend the state of the county the state of the county address by uh new county executive Siegel we're gonna see him tomorrow I was happy to see counsel represented at the state of the county address and heard some encouraging things from representative or excuse me executive siegel on ways that we can collaborate to meet the needs of our residents.

And I was also happy to see uh the this is still developing but uh during a meeting with President Judge Rikley uh we also had council representation and we're able to talk about things that we might be able to do to assist residents of the city of Allentown uh as they try to navigate life the the point being that we have new faces and leadership roles in partner organizations and they're showing up and they're interested in assisting the city of Allentown I'm glad to see councils at the table for that and I'm looking forward to continuing those partnership opportunities alongside you so that is those are the thoughts that I have appreciate the opportunity to share it I'm happy to answer any questions.

Okay uh thank you we're gonna move along um to ordinances for final passage uh we'll start with bill nine bill nine amends the 2026 uh general fund budget provided for supplemental appropriation of sixteen thousand one hundred thirty six dollars and fifty five uh cents from the commonwealth Pennsylvania uh to the fire commissioner grant for uh hose and NASDAQ okay and this was in Miss Afa's committee yes it was uh okay thank you uh any questions or comments from the dais on bill nine or from the public okay can you call the vote please miss Moda yes Mr.

Pundo yes Santos yes Napoli yes Appa yes Mr.

Bender yes and Ms.

Gerlock yes council president seven years and no names okay next up is bill 11 Bill 11 amends the 2026 capital fund budget to provide for a transfer of four hundred and eighty thousand dollars from the TREXLA operating budget into the works progress administration capital project account in the trixler monument capital project account okay and this was in uh Ms Santos committee yes and it was forwarded favorably to full council okay thank you uh any comments or questions from my colleagues and anything from the public on bill 11 okay mr pungo yes santos yes Napoli yes zappa yes binder yes grillak yes and miss yes seven knees and no nays okay uh bill twelve bill twelve amends the city code part two general legislation chapter six three three Walter Walt Walter Water uh article five water service and changes to add section six three three five three water and sewer rebates by creating a sliding schedule of order and sewer rebates okay and this was uh Mr.

Pungo's committee yes this was introduced and forwarded favorably to council okay thank you uh any questions or comments from the DIES Bill 12 and any questions or comments from the public okay I don't mind if I can just make a quick comment sorry my comment just being anyone in the room just we encourage you to use our city rebate programs this is another great one that you can take advantage of to get some assistance uh in in these times of of high fees and expenses so please make sure to check out our rebates thank you thank you just real quick uh to jump on that um I think that there was a plan to move the rebate section on the page to be a more prominent so I don't know if that took place or not but it um that was discussed at the committee meeting and um Mr.

Zumas in the administration mentioned um looking into moving a more of our rebate programs front and center so that residents could access them a little bit better.

You're talking about the web page yes the city's website yeah we can make that the front like there's a slider bar that we can make a feature so that was discussed but yeah thanks for mentioning that again okay um so we'll call a vote on bill twelve Ms.

Santos yes Mr.

Napoli yes Ms.

Appa yes Mr.

Binder yes yes Moda yes and Mr Pungo yes we're gonna have city's and then meetings okay uh we're gonna move to the consent agenda uh we currently have two on here R 30 and R31 R 30 is the appointment of Jeff Glazier to the planning commission the term would run to 35 2030 and the appointment of Christian Brown to the planning commission that term would run the same three five twenty third okay um any questions or comments from the dais or from the public on these two appointments I'd offer that these are reappointments of existing planning commission members Christian Brown is the president of the or the chair of the Allentown City Planning Commission.

Um any questions or comments from the dais.

Or from the public on these two appointments.

I'd offer the these are reappointments of existing planning commission members.

Christian Brown is the president of the or the chair of the Allentown City Planning Commission.

There's still also an opportunity.

I make the pitch every time.

If you know, particularly a land use attorney, this is one of the major deficiencies of our planning commission right now.

We have engineers, we have architects, we have planners.

The one deficiency is that we do not have anybody with legal experience in land development who's sitting on the planning commission.

It's it's a great to have.

We're okay without it because we do have our uh law office advising, but if you do know somebody, if there's somebody out there who's interested in serving, please uh you can go to the city's web page and apply to be appointed.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, so we're gonna call a vote on uh these consent agenda R 30 and R 31.

Mr.

Napoli, yes, Ms.

Appa?

Yes, Mr.

Bender, yes, girl, yes, Moda, yes, Mr.

Bungo, yes, and Ms.

Santa, yes, Ms.

President have seven years and no names.

Okay, moving along resolutions for final passage, R 32.

R 32 is the appointment of uh Sherry uh broke off bender to the Allentown Housing Authority to term would run to 35 2031.

Okay, um any questions or comments from my colleagues?

Uh Mr.

Bender, go ahead.

Yeah, um though I have no financial conflict of interest with this, um I think it would be inappropriate for me to vote on it given the fact that I'm related to the uh appointee, so I will be recusing myself.

Okay, thank you.

And you have a person that would like to speak on this, it's uh Betty Caller.

Okay.

Good evening.

Um full name for the record.

I'm sorry, full name for the record, please.

Betty Estelle Coller.

Thank you.

2212 West Tillman Street, Allentown PA 18104.

Um, I'm speaking on this because appointing an Allentown City Council member's spouse to a housing board likely presents a conflict of interest or an appearance of impropriety under Pennsylvania's Ethics Act, as it involves a familial relationship and potential contract or policy decisions.

Also the Allentown Code of Ethics dictates that no official shall participate in decisions affecting themselves or an associate, which could include a spouse's appointment.

Excuse me, which could include a spouse's appointed position, even if no direct financial gain is immediate, the situation creates an appearance of a conflict which violates the ethical standards for public trust.

Since council bender was stumping with the mayor before last year's election, this appears to be quid pro quo.

As such, I would ask you all to vote no on this appointment to avoid the appearance of impropriety and to maintain the integrity of the public trust.

Thank you.

Okay, any other um questions or comments from the public on bill 30 R 32?

Okay, call the vote.

Ms.

Appa.

Yes.

And Mr.

Bender has recused himself.

Ms.

Gurloch.

Yes.

Ms.

Moda.

Yes.

Mr.

Pungo?

Yes.

Ms.

Santos?

Yes.

And Mr.

Napoli.

Yes.

Mr.

President 68s and 090s.

Okay.

Moving along.

R 33.

R 33 is a resolution approving the intermunicipal transfer of liquor license number uh 21060 to the Felix Restaurant LLC at 395 South Street of Crest Boulevard in the city of Allentown.

Okay.

So this uh this was a subject of a public hearing earlier this evening.

Any questions or comments from my colleagues?

Okay.

Any questions or comments from the public on R 33?

Okay, can you call the vote, please?

Mr.

Binder.

Yes.

Ms.

Gurillach?

Yes.

Ms.

Moda?

Yes.

Yes.

Mr.

Pungo.

Yes.

Ms.

Santos?

Yes.

Mr.

Napoli.

Yes.

And Ms.

App.

Yes.

Ms.

President have seven years and no naives.

Okay.

R 34.

R 34 approves the submission of the consolidated annual performance and evaluation report to HUD.

Okay.

Any comments, questions from the dais?

Or from the public on R 34.

Okay.

Okay, on R 34.

Ms.

Gurlock.

Yes.

Ms.

Moda?

Yes.

Mr.

Bungo?

Yes.

Ms.

Santos?

Yes.

Napoli?

Yes.

Ms.

Affa?

Yes.

And Mr.

Bender.

Yes.

Ms.

President have seven years and no days.

Okay.

Moving along R 35.

R 35 allows the city to allocate CHOTO funds from the federal 2021 home grant to community action of Lehigh Valley to offset the costs incurred for the project located at 136 South East Region.

Okay.

Any questions or comments from the Dais?

And any questions or comments from the public?

R 35.

Okay.

Miss Moda.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Napoli?

Yes.

Ms.

Appa?

Yes.

She's been there?

Yes.

And Ms.

Gurlock.

Yes.

Ms.

President 7Us and A's.

Okay, thank you.

Uh R 36.

R 36 approves two transfers, 144,723 75 cents in DCED.

And that would uh allow the city to allocate uh Jodo funds from the federal fund and 22,786.79 cents DCED transfer of the positions of the senior planners and planner were created.

Okay.

Any questions, comments from the DIES or from the public on R 36.

Mr.

Prondo.

Yes.

Ms.

Santos?

Yes.

Napoli?

Yes.

Zappa?

Yes.

Yes.

Ms.

Gurlock?

Yes.

And Ms.

Moda.

Yes.

President Feminies and no names.

Okay.

We're gonna go to ordinances for introduction.

We'll start with Bill 13.

Bill 13 amends the 2026 grant fund uh budgets provide for supplemental appropriation of 250,000 dollars from the PA DCED local share account grant.

Okay.

Any questions from the public on our um bill thirteen?

Okay, this will be introduced uh to Ms.

Gerlock's committee, the CED.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Uh Bill 14.

Bill 14 amends the 20 uh 26 grant fund budget to provide for a supplemental appropriation of 400,000 dollars from the PA DCD local share grant account and it's uh money that will be a pass through for the Jewish community center.

Okay, and any questions or comments from the public this will be introduced to uh Ms.

Gerlock's committee CED.

Thank you.

Moving along, Bill 15.

Bill 15 amends the uh 2026 grant funds budget provide for supplement appropriation of 296,878 dollars from the PADCED.

It's a local uh share grant as well, and it will support the Museum of Indian Culture.

Okay.

Any questions or comments from the public?

This will also be referred to Ms.

Gerlock's committee CED.

Thank you.

Bill 16.

Bill 16 amends the 2026 grants fund budget to provide for supplement appropriation of 1 million dollars from the state office of the budget redevelopment assistance capital RCAP grant and funds that are passed through grant that will go to the bomb art school.

Okay, any questions or comments from the public and this will be also referred to Ms.

Gerlock CED committee.

Yep, thank you.

And Bill 17?

Bill 17 amends the 2026 grant fund budget to provide for a supplemental appropriation of 775 uh 100,000 dollars from the PA DCED local share account, and again it's a pass-through grant to the RPG.

Okay, any questions or comments from the public?

This will also be referred to Ms.

Gerlock's committee CED.

Uh Bill 18.

Bill 18 amends the uh 2026 capital fund budgets provide for a transfer of 55 uh thousand dollars from a completed capital project account for the redesign of traffic signal upgrading since 17th and linden.

Okay, and any comments, questions from the public this will be referred to um public works committee, Ms.

Moda.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh bill 19 Bill 19 amends the 2026 capital fund budget to provide for a supplemental appropriation of 45,295 dollars and thirty-nine cents as a result of a payment renewal of tree plannings from the Allentown School District.

Okay, any questions, comments from the public.

We're gonna refer this to all public works committee, Ms.

Moda.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Welcome.

Uh bill 20.

Bill 20 amends uh part two general legislation, chapter uh 660 zoning, article five uses, table 660-4, use table and section 660-38 manufacturing industry group, adding the use category data center use and article 14 measurements and definitions, section 660135 terms beginning with D and Section 660-149 terms beginning with R, adding the definition of data center, data center accessory use and renewable energy.

Okay, thank you.

Any uh questions or comments from the public?

Okay, this is gonna be this will be referred to uh Miss Gerlock Committee CED along with the Allentown Planning Commission and the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.

Uh Bill 21.

Bill 21 is an ordinance relating to the uh city responses to people who are homeless litting outdoors and setting standards and procedures for uh remedying unsafe conditions and protecting the rights and property of homeless individuals living on uh public property.

Any questions or comments from the public?

Uh yes, we do have uh Mary Tomlinson.

Uh good evening.

Good evening.

I'm Mary Tomlinson.

I live at 373 Liberty Street, very close to the Jordan Creek, where a massive eviction of people from their homes happened last year.

And I support Bill 21 and efforts to structure future evictions adequately.

Uh Riley from the conference of churches and Christina from the homeless commission reported to you all a few weeks ago about the eviction that happened and how traumatic it was for folks.

And it was difficult for our whole community, in fact.

Uh surrounding communities have established protocols, including lots of collaboration and intensive supports for the unhoused who need to be evicted.

Uh compassionate protocol that's required by our city is needed.

Warming stations will be closing soon, and the encampments will be growing.

So I hope you will take into consideration this need in our city.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, any more public comment?

Okay.

This is gonna be referred to a special committee meeting.

Uh full council.

Uh, on to bill 22.

Bill 22 amends the 2026 general fund budgets provide for a supplemental appropriation of $15,000 from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania office of the state fire commissioner grant to the Allentown Fire and EMS department for the purchase those.

Okay, any questions or comments from the public?

Okay, this will be referred to public safety.

Ms.

Affa There are no resolutions for introductions.

Uh any new business?

Um, good and welfare.

Again, I'm gonna mention uh tomorrow evening, 6 p.m.

Lehigh County and um city council will be meeting in these chambers uh for a workshop or collaborating on future initiatives.

And thank you very much.

We'll adjourn this meeting.