Allentown City Council Committee Meeting on July 22, 2026
Allentown City Council Committee Meeting on July 22, 2026
The Allentown City Council Committee met on July 22, 2026, to discuss two primary agenda items: Bill 53, a supplemental budget appropriation for a senior roof repair program, and Bill 56, a proposed noise ordinance amendment targeting continuously operating uses and low-frequency hums. The committee voted unanimously to advance both bills to the regular council meeting. Staff also noted that a requested update on the Allentown Works program was mistakenly expected at this meeting and has been rescheduled.
Bill 53: Supplemental Budget Appropriation for Senior Roof Repair
Discussion: Staff presented Bill 53, which appropriates $50,000 from the 2026 General Fund to establish a revenue line for the repayment of an advance the city made to the Community Action Lehigh Valley (CALV). CALV held a HUD reimbursement contract for income-qualified seniors’ roof repairs but required upfront capital to meet roofer down payment demands. A council member inquired how this related to reinvestment funds; staff responded both pots of money were used simultaneously depending on applicant qualification.
Key Outcome: The committee voted unanimously to move Bill 53 forward to the regular council meeting.
Bill 56: Noise Ordinance Amendment (Continuously Operating Uses)
Discussion: Staff detailed the ordinance, which makes two primary changes to Chapter 400 (Sound Levels). First, it establishes a system requiring property owners to hire third-party providers to conduct noise assessments, shifting the administrative burden of enforcement from the city. Second, it targets low-frequency noise (“hum”) by defining a DBC vs DBA differential exceeding 15 decibels, applicable to all continuously operating noise sources. New 24/7 uses would require pre- and post-operation sound studies.
Concerns: The Allentown Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) raised concerns about the burden on existing lawfully established industrial uses that have not received complaints. Council members discussed the potential for unintended consequences, the ambiguity of the term “continuously operating,” and the role of the noise board as a relief valve for hardship cases. Staff noted the city is reviewing its boards for potential consolidation and highlighted existing daytime/nighttime thresholds and the “materially increase” standard within the code’s ambient measurement provision.
Key Outcome: The committee voted unanimously to advance Bill 56 to the regular council meeting.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public provided testimony on either Bill 53 or Bill 56.
Other Business
- Staff clarified that the Allentown Works update requested by council will be scheduled for a future committee meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Okay. So whenever you're uh ready, Mr. Hanlin, if you could just go ahead and read Bill 53. Bill 53 amends the 2026 general fund budget to provide for a supplemental appropriation of $50,000 from community action value and repayment of the Ms. Kissler. This is actually the repayment of an advance. CALV was awarded a contract. The contract was a reimbursement contract for whole home repair for bless you for seniors. And it was basically for roofs. And we had all the uh individual homeowners who were income qualified in the queue and ready to go. When the roofers collectively, I think, due to information on uh budget freezes and the lack of a past budget decided that they needed money down to start the jobs, and CALV wasn't in a position to put that money down. So we had approval from HUD to advance the money to them so that they could put partial payments down to the roofers that they could start the jobs, um, order the shingles or the equipment, and then uh after they did quite a few roofs, they were able to just pay us back that advance and go on a case by case basis. So the only reason this is on the agenda is because their repayment needs to go back on a line, and we didn't have a revenue line for the grant since the grant was going to be a payout pass through only. So this is establishing the revenue repayment and putting it in the appropriate place to pass an audit. Gotcha. Um and as I was reading through, I saw the reinvent. How does this relate to the reinvestment money? We had reinvestment money, we also had HUD money that was going into roobs. People who got approved during the reinvestment days, once that money kind of both pots could work simultaneously based on how you qualified. So we didn't we didn't differentiate. We just said basically do the roofs of the people in the queue who are approved. Here's the money to start the process, just pay us back when you're actually paid at the end of the job. Okay, cool. Uh any questions from anyone. And there are no members of the public. So unless there's anything else, is there a motion to move this forward? Uh motion to move this forward. All right, I'll second all in favor. Aye. So this will move forward to the regular council meeting. Uh next up is Bill 56. Bill 56 means part two, general legislation, chapter 4 and review section for six sound levels by receiving uh loud use to add regulations for continuously operating uses in section four, 107 regulations to add a compliance verification. All righty, uh Ms. Kissler, Ms. Gomez. Ms. Gomez is going to handle um this tonight this evening. Okay. This ordinance addresses two primary things. One, it adds an independent um compliance and verification system for all noise violations. Um it allows the city to require a property owner to go out and do their own noise assessment, pay for that own noise assessment, have a third-party independent provider, provide that noise assessment and bring back the report to the city with recommendations on compliance and an appropriate time schedule. This is, I think, a good idea for all noise complaints, and it takes the burden, the administrative burden of enforcing the code off of the city and onto the private applicant. That way we don't bear those costs. Um the second aspect that it does uh that this ordinance achieves is to add a uh a standard that starts to get at a at a hum. And um the way that it defines that hum is uh it's called a uh DBC versus DBA differential. And uh so DBA is essentially the sound that you can hear. DBC is the sound that you can feel, and then once you subtract those numbers, if the difference is more than 15 decibels, you know that there is some sort of a low frequency hum. So as this applies, it would apply to all continuously operating noise sources and um including any existing uses as written. And also if there's a new use that's going to operate on a 24-7 basis or continuous basis, they'll have to do a a pre-and-post sound study to ensure that their new contributions to noise are not exceeding those existing noise levels or creating unnecessary hums. Um we have received some comments on this from AADC who is concerned about the impacts of this on existing lawfully established uses that may or may not be creating um noise disturbances out there in the world.
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