For the pledge to flag to the flag of the United States of America and the Republic for which it stands.

Under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

It's like the great and powerful odds there.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Mr.

Raymond.

Present.

Mr.

Callahan.

Present.

Mr.

Cologne.

Present.

Ms.

Daniels.

Present.

Ms.

Quitec.

Present.

Ms.

Laird.

Present.

Ms.

Leon.

Prior to consideration of the regular agenda items tonight, City Council will conduct a public hearing.

Public hearing number one, tonight's public hearing will be related to the DCED's 2026 CDBG home funding recommendations.

This public hearing is for informational purposes only.

There will be no votes taken during the public hearing.

In connection with this public hearing, there's one communication.

The Kirk, the clerk will read that communication.

July 13th, 2026 memorandum and proposed resolution from Laura Collins, Director of Community and Economic Development, submitting materials for review by city council during this evening's public hearing for the 2026 community development block grant and home investment partnerships program allocations.

For program year 2026, the city will receive 1,370,309 in CDBG funds and $388,308.10 in home money.

Hello, thank you for having me tonight.

My name is Robert Vidoni.

I am the housing and community development administrator.

So thank you for having me on the agenda tonight.

So everybody should have uh a spreadsheet with allocations.

That's an 11 by 17 spreadsheet.

And you should also have uh PowerPoint slides.

Just uh before we start here.

So first off, I I want to say thank you very much to the mayor, to Director Collins, to Deputy Director Satulo and Deputy Director Ziller for uh all the fantastic support and their their dedication to this job and to uh helping organizations and vulnerable populations in the city.

Uh the community economic development department, a lot of tasks are situated in this department.

Uh we have wide-ranging responsibilities, and one of those is managing all sorts of grant funding, including federal grant funds.

Is that better?

I also want to thank community development bureau staff, our housing rehab staff, and our grant management staff.

Uh, I also want to thank our nonprofit partners.

We are extremely lucky as a city to have absolutely fantastic nonprofit partners that work hand in hand with us to focus resources and help the most vulnerable vulnerable populations in this city.

We could not do this work without those nonprofit partners.

They are really they're in the trenches dealing with all the federal funding uncertainty and all sorts of other funding uncertainties, often with you know inadequate staff, uh, and they love what they're doing, and we really thank them for all the work they're doing, uh helping vulnerable populations.

So before we go through these slides, I'm not going to read every word.

I just want to start out by saying CDBG and home funding are two funding sources that are very difficult to use and to administer.

They're extremely demanding on city staff, and those sources are extremely demanding for our nonprofit partners, whether that's coming up with uh accounting information, various reporting that we're constantly submitting to HUD, uh, and you know, jumping through uh 30,000 different hoops just to spend this fund funding.

So it's very difficult to administer and very difficult, sometimes difficult to spend.

So I'll start out here, our 2026 HUD CDBG and home allocations.

So our 2026 CDBG award decreased by about 3% from our 2025 award, and our home award decreased approximately 7% from the prior program year.

So our CDBG allocation in program year 2026 was 1,370,39, and our home allocation was 388,308.10 cents.

So just as a preliminary matter, when you're looking at the allocation spreadsheet, there's sort of two buckets represented by the two columns to the right.

You have the program year 2026 funding that is put into this uh this annual action plan, and then the other bucket is sort of other sources, which is reprogrammed prior year funding.

So while we are primarily primarily here today to discuss the program year 2026 allocation, the action plan also includes reallocation of previously approved funding and moving money around to uh efficient sources to these particular activities.

So I'll just go through a quick summary here.

So the community development block grant program, it's an entitlement program that provides annual formula grants to fund projects that meet certain national objectives, including benefiting low and moderate income populations, preventing or eliminating slums or blight, uh, or addressing urgent community needs.

Community development block grant funding is extremely flexible.

There are a wide variety of potential uses, all with their own individual rules.

I think there are over a hundred categories of uses.

So it's it's very um, it allows jurisdictions to customize the funding to their particular needs and to the needs of their various communities.

So CDBG funding supports community development activities directed at revitalizing neighborhoods, economic development, and improving facilities and services.

Funds are awarded annually to the city, administered by HUD as a formula grant based on a variety of factors, weighted factors such as housing supply, poverty, and other demographic factors.

I'm not going to go into obviously on an annual basis.

But then HUD also applies a bunch of these weighted factors using these formulas, and then they notify us notify us of our allocations.

It's sort of a rather automatic process.

So grantees here are the city, we develop our own programs and priorities over a five-year planning cycle and through a five-year consolidated plan.

What we're talking about today are proposed activities and allocations that are part of a five-year consolidated plan.

So this is uh one of several hearings where the city collects public input and goes over funding priorities and also goes talks about uh program performance.

So the home program, the home investment partnerships program was established in 1990, and it is solely focused on housing purposes.

So just like CDBG funds are awarded annually as a formula grant based on a variety of weighted factors.

The program funds housing, this program funds housing activities, including without limitation, direct rental and purchase assistance and building, acquiring and/or rehabilitating affordable housing for rent or ownership.

So home funding can go into both you know single-family housing projects and rental projects and variety of other types of activities, but it all is housing related and all targeted to income income qualified populations, similar to CDBG.

So the intent of the home program as discussed, it's to target assistance, uh, increase the supply of quality affordable housing for lower income households at or below 80% area median income, to expand nonprofit housing provider capacity, to strengthen state and local government capacity to provide housing, and to also serve to leverage private sector investment in housing.

As we've heard many times, affordable housing is very expensive because uh you're often putting in a patchwork of different funding sources that are very complex to structure and plan out in these projects.

So leveraging you know public money to draw in other capital to allow these housing projects to be built is extremely important.

So the city of Bethlehem home programs.

Bethlehem uses home funds for activities such as home buyer purchase assistance, which provides loans to help with down payment and closing cost assistance under the Bethelham Home Buyer Assistance Program.

And that is in part administered by a nonprofit partner, CALV.

We also have home activities related to development and acquisition subsidies for owner-occupied and rental affordable housing, constructed and or rehabilitated with home funds.

So now we will go to, let's see, we're on slide nine, the 2026 funding recommendations for CDBG.

Occasionally I'll like uh read out the acronyms.

So community development block grant, there were 2023 funding requests, and we recommended 20 requests for funding.

For home, there were three requests, and we recommended three for funding.

CDBG, we accept applications, usually uh we open applications on an annual basis about a month.

Home applications, which are generally fewer, that's rolling, and we receive home applications all year.

So unfunded CDBG applicates, any any unfunded applicants are encouraged to apply for future funding, subject to future funding availability, and we have a lot of communication with with applicants and potential applicants and applicants that were not successful in a particular cycle, because we really uh there are often situations where an applicant might not have a lot of experience with federal funding.

They apply to the city and to other jurisdictions, and uh maybe over time you learn more about federal funding, which is particularly onerous, and sometimes they come back and when they have more experience, uh their application is uh is reviewed again.

So there is often a lot of back and forth between potential applicants, uh, applicants and um unfunded applicants.

So let's see here.

I'm going to move to just some background.

So when we talk about a program year in CDBG and home world, uh HUD world, our program year starts January 1st and ends December 31st.

So it's not necessarily uh the same thing as a fiscal year, whether it's be it the you know, federal government or the city.

So we are talking about the city's program years.

So we do generally do not anticipate receiving our 2026 HUD funds until the fall or winter.

Obviously, that's subject to various federal funding contingencies and uncertainties, but we do anticipate receiving our 2026 allocations sometime in the fall.

So just a little background on CDBG funding decision factors.

These are just a few.

Um there are many scoring factors when we apply our scoring matrix, and there are many things that HUD will look at when they come and look at these activities.

So we look at demonstrated need for project timely statistics relevant to the beneficiaries that the projects leverage other funding that again they're bringing in other non-federal funding.

HUD cares very much about that.

They want to see a dollar of CDBG or a dollar of home bring in other funding, ideally uh ideally that's the case.

Uh the ability to spend the grant funds in a reasonable, you know, at a reasonable quickly time frame or to start a project, you know, within a year to 18 months.

So we look for quantifiable outcome-based objectives in the application.

We also look for ideally coordination with other organizations and attempts by the applicants to go out and seek other funding and build cooperative partnerships with whether there are their government funders or other nonprofits.

We also in the city of Bethlehem take into account uh target areas.

We have a Northside 2027 neighborhood revitalization strategy area on the north side, and we also have a South Bethlehem target area.

Um, these are areas which are selected through very like previous public input uh procedures and and uh we had to apply for HUD for the the NERSA designation.

So geographic target areas, that's another significant factor.

So now I will go into very short summaries of the recommended activities.

What I'm not gonna do is read the detailed summaries.

Everybody should have access to more detailed summaries.

So if you just in case anybody wants to look, there is a summary document with sort of a narrative descriptions of the projects, and there are red numbers that are assigned to each one of those entries.

Those red numbers correspond to the red reference numbers in the allocation spreadsheet.

So what I'm gonna do is just run down quickly through these the recommended activities and the funding.

So we'll start with one.

This is the City of Bethlehem CDBG program administration and planning costs.

This covers personnel costs, professional fees, studies, and other eligible administration costs.

Just to actually back up here a little.

So there are two significant funding constraints when dealing with CDBG.

And we also have a 15% cap on public service activities.

Public service activities are our most oversubscribed activities.

Sometimes there are you know multiple requests, several hundred percent uh of what we actually can give out.

So you'll see in the upper right hand corner of this spreadsheet where we have these caps calculated out.

So again, for public services, any cat any activities categorized as public services would have to fit under that cap.

And those are the blue activities, and we could only give out 25,546 dollars.

For program admin, any of the activities that are have a type A associated with them, all of those activities cannot equal more than the 20% cap, $274,000 and change.

So now I will get back to the actual activities.

We talked about the CAP constraints.

So now we'll go into the recommended public service activities.

Ummunity Action Development Corporation of Bethlehem tenant advocacy program.

This is focused on tenant education and engagement, landlord tenant mediation and housing referral services.

This is a relatively new program, which we funded last year with CDBG as seed money.

Uh, and this is a significantly reduced proposed allocation because the uh the applicant went out and they got a lot of other funding sources.

They're working cooperatively with other nonprofits, and they are you know working towards a model where they are bringing in more funding and more diverse funding, which is what we ideally like to see.

So that recommended allocation is $15,000.

We'll go to three Bethel emergency sheltering recommended allocation five or $50,546 and change, and that's supporting emergency homeless shelter services, which currently run from November through April.

Prosed activity four, Hogar Korea International, Pennsylvania.

This is focused on substance abuse and counseling treatment services, inpatient treatment for women, recommended allocation $20,000.

Five, Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living Place Program, which is housing counseling services for elderly and disabled individuals at risk of homelessness.

This is a recommended allocation of $15,000.

Six share care, faith in action, volunteer caregiver caregiver and other services for elderly and disabled individuals and their caregivers, $10,000.

The next is number seven, Hispanic Center for Lehigh Valley, Food Pantry Service Support, Culturally Appropriate Emergency Food Services for Individuals and Families.

That's a recommended allocation of $20,000.

Next is eight, New Bethany representative payee program related to fiduciary banking and payment services for disabled individuals and other individuals who are not able to manage their own finances or manage their landlord tenant relations.

This is again designed to prevent homelessness, keep people in their housing.

That recommended allocation is $50,000.

The next is community action Lehigh Valley.

And this is uh providing administration of the city Bethlehem Home Buyer Assistance Program.

So CALV is a vital nonprofit partner.

They work with the city to help administer our Bethlehem Home Buyer Assistance Program, and that is actually funded with home money.

The CDBG money is actually going to the administrative costs.

And what the home money does is the home money actually goes to direct subsidies for down payment and closing cost assistance to support uh single family housing acquisition for affordable housing for first-time home buyers.

So again, uh activity nine, the recommended allocation is $25,000.

We will go to 10 North Penn Legal Services.

This is the housing stability project, legal services for beneficiaries facing eviction and other housing related needs.

Just as a qualifier, these are very, very short descriptions.

These descriptions do not necessarily include, you know, encompass every beneficiary group or every activity that these nonpro these provide partner providers, you know, actually the services they perform.

Again, if you would like to see more detailed descriptions, please look at the uh the summaries and you can always ask questions and we can give you much, much more detailed information.

So now we will go to 11 community action development corporation of Bethlehem exterior rehabilitation and weatherization program.

This funds owner-occupied facade improvements.

Uh the recommended allocation is 66,000.

We have the next activity is city housing rehab grants and loans.

This actually funds city run housing rehabilitation program, which is run out of the community development bureau.

And this is a program which is a owner occupied.

You have to be an owner of owner occupied housing.

You have to be income eligible, like all these, generally all these other programs.

And this includes emergency repair and emergency repairs and there are there are partnerships between our housing rehab program and the health bureau in terms of lead and healthy homes.

And there are a lot of different partnerships which run through the community development housing rehabilitation subunit.

So the recommended allocation for the city housing rehab grants and loans.

The PY 2026 is 100,000.

The total is 150,000.

And you can look at the different columns.

I won't do the breakdown.

People can read if they if they like.

This is a women's transitional group home.

The funding would support facility expansion, roof replacement, bathroom additions, and related ancillary work.

That is an $80,000 recommended allocation.

Number 16, via of the Lehigh Valley Inc.

This is a facility upgrade project.

And this CDBG would be used to support purchase and installation of a genitor or a generator, sump pump replacement, and the total allocation would be 299,000.

The next activity, 17, is uh it's basically it's a joint project, city uh BES, Christchurch UCC, and this is supporting this is uh soft cost design and engineering costs related to an emergency homeless rehabilitation project.

So this money would go to supporting design and engineering soft costs prior to the construction commencing.

The next activity 18, city future projects and grants.

This is an amount that would be available to shift as needed potentially into other projects.

What happens every year is you know, some projects might be ahead of schedule.

There might be certain projects that are behind schedule.

Thing, you know, projects change.

And so we actually having a small amount of funding that could be, especially with the federal funding uncertainty, that can be extremely helpful to nonprofit partners.

So that is that activity.

19 is uh there were city, it would be the city department of public works, and this is site cleanup and safety improvements at a um an encampment site located off center street south of City Hall.

And that is a recommended allocation of $50,000.

The next activity, CDBJ activity, Bethlehem Redevelopment Authority, Blight Prevention and Elimination Program Administration, recommended allocation $25,000.

I will jump now to the home investment partnerships program.

And again, this is federal funding that must go to various housing activities.

So activity 21, this is City of Bethlehem Home Investment Partnerships Program Administration and Planning Cost.

Similar to CDBG, HUD absolutely they they prescribe a percentage that they believe is is necessary and reasonable to run these onerous and extremely complex projects because it is much more than you know, there's project design, there's also years and years and years of project administration, particularly with home, where you're tracking projects, submitting reports to HUD, and these projects take a very long time.

So again, uh, while the home activity 21 is sub is subject to a 10% cap.

Um, so that's the genesis of that activity.

The next activity is a non-discretionary activity, 22.

And that is um the recipient would be community action Lehigh Valley, and they are they serve as the city's uh community housing development organization, which is a home term of art.

It's a type of entity that's eligible for this particular type of funding.

We actually do not have discretion.

We must 15% of our annual allocation to CHODO funding.

So that is that activity and number 23.

That is the recipient would be a Penrose entity.

This is the gateway on fourth multifamily rental new construction project.

This is a 60 units mixed income rental.

And the the total funding within this action plan, as you can see, is 1,488, 173.14 cents.

So those are the projects.

Now I'm going to jump back into the presentation and we'll start on slide 19, which is actually looks like it's page 10.

So I'm not going to go through every slide in detail here.

There's some information on the city's neighborhood revitalization strategy area, which we that runs in a five-year term, which usually runs concurrent to the city's consolidated plan like plan document.

And we successfully applied to HUD to renew the this strategy area and to also expand the boundaries.

The benefits of having this area, there are a bunch of regulatory incentives that make this difficult money easier to use in a more flexible fashion so that we can, but there are to qualify as a NERSA, these areas and the various demographic factors have to meet very strict HUD criteria.

So they looked at the application and they agreed this is an important revitalization focus area.

So the next slide 20, uh, the next actually few slides talk about the city's fantastic housing rehabilitation program.

And while we go into a little more detail on the city's housing rehab program, again, we just because there are a lot of other items here at this meeting, we're not going to go into super detail on all the fantastic activities from our nonprofit partners.

So as you can see, you can read about some of the uh the stats on program performance related to our housing rehab program.

We have longtime dedicated staff who are working every day to help people improve their homes, and it is it's fantastic for the homeowners, it's also fantastic for the city.

It helps our it helps property values, it helps communities.

It's uh it's a great program, and it really with very good production.

So we'll just talk quickly about next steps here.

So what is happening is we have submitted a resolution um for the agenda that would approve submission of the city's annual the the city's proposed annual action plan and these proposed activities and allocations to HUD.

So HUD will will review it.

It's uh comes back to us.

Sometimes it's an iterator iterative process, but what generally what happens is in the fall and winter, provided we have the approval to submit, we would expect this funding to come in.

We could start working with the nonprofits to uh first we have to execute agreements, and then we could work with the nonprofits to actually start putting this this funding to use.

So you could see if anybody has any questions, please feel free to contact us, um, email us, call us.

We are here to help people understand this program.

Again, we if you if you know any organizations that you think might want to apply for CDBG or home, please direct them to me.

It's uh a standard activity.

We frequently talk to organizations and individuals about designing potential applications for the future, even one or two years in the future, because um having that kind of interaction really leads to better uh applications that are uh less risky for everybody involved.

So again, if you know anybody that's interested, please direct them to the contacts that are provided in the last page of the slides.

So those are I guess my final words right now.

Thank you, Mr.

Vidoni.

I will now recognize members of council for comment uh counsel to my left.

Mr.

Clone.

Thank you, Councilwoman Laird.

I just had one question, Mr.

Radoni on slide nine, which is page five of the handout.

You for CDBG, you know there are 23 funding requests and 20 awards.

Do you know of the 23 requests?

How many were new uh first-time applicants?

And then similarly of the 20 awards, do you know how many of them were first-time recipients?

So we do know that you just have to bear with me here.

Okay, I'll pull out my grant application spreadsheet for CDBG here.

So now when we look at applications, uh, it's it's not just by we don't just look at the entity, we also it's the activity that they're applying for the for the funding.

So, in terms of new potentially new projects here or new applicants.

Um it looks like out of the it out of the applicants here, we had three new C D BG applicants.

Out of the home applications, we only have one home application external home application in the pipeline, which is the which is the gateway project.

And again, that's that's a rolling application.

So we did have give me one second.

I will just look give you one more piece of information here.

So it it does look like we had three new CDBG applications, as in the entity did not apply for the same activity in the last year.

And of those three, how many receive funding?

I believe two here.

Okay.

So we actually, so this year we did.

I mean, I I can say specifically, let me just look at the list here.

You're free to use the desk if you need more space, Mr.

No, I I do not need more space.

So we had while we had new activities, we also did have we had yes, we had two new applicants, new programs that um that were funded.

Thank you, Mr.

Vidoni.

And and I just appreciate, and I know historically yourself and your predecessor, the whole department's been great at trying to pair and partner uh applicants who maybe they weren't ready for this type of funding or whatever the case would be with other funding sources, as is outlined in your presentation today.

So thank you for your work with the C D BG home dollars, but also more broadly the work you do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other members of council?

Uh I have one question myself.

Um, you mentioned that there's a three percent decrease in C D BG award and seven percent in home award.

And I realize that that's a more complex formula.

Uh, in general, did all recipients of this funding see decreases across the board?

Like was there a lesson.

I cannot give you a definite answer.

I haven't done that that review.

I believe all of the applicants for these two funding sources at least received some proportional, like similar percentage reduction based on any federal funding allocation reduction.

I can't speak to the application of the weighted factors.

Sure.

So but there were there were fewer federal dollars available as I I believe that is the case.

There were small some small reductions.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh I will now recognize members of the public for uh any comment on the information presented.

Uh thank you very much, Mr.

Fedoni.

Thank you.

Um with the general.

Okay.

Okay.

So uh this comment period is just for the C D BG uh home funding that we're looking at.

Uh there will be other public comment periods.

Uh Sebastian.

Great.

Thanks for the clarification.

Uh, my name is Sebastian from 811 Elm Street, Bethlehem MPA.

Uh, I just want to we've got a lot of information that was just delivered to us by both the CDBG, a lot of funding that's going to be allocated to a lot of different projects throughout the community.

Sometimes these are really large numbers, and it's not really clear exactly what the projects are being vested in.

So I just want to put a word of caution and uh thoroughness in our looking into these projects and when we're assessing them to be assessing them for like not to be glitzy projects, right?

We want our projects to be nice uh and look good, but also to be very practical and address the specifically the needs that are most prevalent in our community.

Um, and also on that fact, uh we also want these projects to be repeatable, or myself, I want these projects to be repeatable, right?

So as we see with grant funding, it is limited, uh it's constantly under threat of being reduced.

So we want these projects to maybe become more efficient, uh economically viable to move forward.

A large part of these initial projects when they get off the ground is that 20% budget allocation for the administrative costs.

We talk about designing proposal, things like that.

We want the projects that we're investing in to maybe reduce that cost moving forward too.

So every time we get grant funding, maybe let's get find a repeatable project that we get when we get that same grant funding next year, that 20% cost of administering it goes down as well.

So we can be putting more money to more units as a part of those projects.

And on a final point uh around uh rent control too.

I don't know how much is maybe uh dictated by HUD as a part of this, but I have heard from members of council and the Bethlehem City that we're constantly looking for to how to increase our uh affordable housing or affordable rents as a part of these projects.

And I would love to see one day where we're hitting like a 30% threshold on some development projects, um, if not even higher with the funding that we're seeing here.

So again, maybe I'm uh not well informed on that fact about how these projects are applied, but we've seen throughout the nation how when you get to levels of 30% affordable housing as a part of any project, it's you know very uh impactful for the community.

So thank you very much.

Thank you.

Are there any other members of the public uh to my left for a comment?

Uh anyone else in the center.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Brian Sweeney, 507 East Fourth Street, also director of operations, Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering.

Um you guys are discussing the upcoming CDBG funding, which BES receives a portion of those fundings, and I just wanted to stress the importance of how important those fundings are to BES and the people that we serve.

Last season, BES was blessed to be able to serve 223 unique individuals for 11,671 bed nights.

That's 11,671 times that someone slept in a safe bed instead of out in the streets of Bethlehem.

Uh 28% were fleeing domestic violence, 46% had a mental health diagnosis, 34% had a disability, and 21% were 60 or older.

Um 59% of the our individuals had a monthly income of $500 or less.

In fact, only eight individuals served had a monthly income of $2,000 or more.

Um 80% of all the folks that we served were from Northampton or Lee Counties.

96% served were from the state of PA.

Five total individuals came from Philadelphia, and eight total individuals came from out of state.

I say that all to say that these are our neighbors.

These people have been from the Lee Valley, grew up here, and are just under some tough times.

So please consider that when you're going over your fundings.

Um, I signed up to speak, but that's what I was gonna say, so you can just cut me off of that.

Thank you so much.

Anyone else in the center uh for public comment on the CDBG funding or home?

Okay, anyone to my right?

All right.

Uh resolution 10A has been placed on tonight's uh council agenda.

So the public hearing portion of our meeting tonight uh is adjourned, and we'll move on to our regular agenda.

Um do any council members have comments on the minutes from our July 7th, 2026 meeting.

Okay, hearing none, the minutes stand approved.

We'll now move on to our first public comment period.

This public comment period is for any subject that we are not voting on this evening.

Uh speakers are invited to uh spend a maximum of five minutes at the podium.

Um, and again, this is for items that we are not voting on tonight.

I'm going to begin with people that uh signed up in advance.

Uh so that would be uh Chris Ann Druust Lustig first.

Uh you can approach the podium.

Hi.

Actually, the pronunciation of the last name is drust lustig.

But that's okay.

Sorry about that.

That's all right.

That's not a problem.

Um actually I expected to see I thought my voice was loud enough.

Um I actually thought that I would see the city of Bethlehem mayor here this evening, but I would like to um thank the city of City of Bethlehem, uh, the members of council, uh, the police department.

I saw that there's a gentleman here from the police department, and I believe from the fire department.

That's the white shirt.

Um, I want to thank the public safety committee and their employees, if there is anyone here, um, the family friends and concerned citizens.

We as uh citizens, we the issue is we have a petition, and I believe that you have a copy of the petition in front of you.

I'm going to read it for the people that don't have a copy here.

And um, there's three pages of signatures um that have 85 signatures, and um, I'll just get going with it.

So the issue is in light of the recent stabbing which took place on the Greenway, and seeing the growing number of homeless individuals finding refuge under the pavilion on the 200 block of the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Greenway.

It is important that the safety and security of the Greenway on the south side of Bethlehem are addressed immediately.

We, the Litzenberger House residents, and that is my resident.

It is 225 East Fourth Street.

We have 101 apartments in that building.

Um, and we requ I we've retained 85 signatures of that uh of that establishment, are calling on Bethlehem Housing Authority to assist in passing along our concerns to the City of Bethlehem Council to ensure the Greenway remains a safe and welcoming place to be enjoyed by family and the community.

Bethlehem Housing Authority has already installed brighter lighting, which improve visibility at night in our building and set up security cameras at strategic points on our outside of our building.

Furthermore, we are suggesting for a plan to address the homelessness in the area, providing support and resources to those in need while also maintaining the integrity of the greenway as a family-friendly space.

The city of Bethlehem should be kept informed of these issues to facilitate interventions.

For that reason, we are asking for the Bethlehem Housing Authority to pass along our petition to the city authorities to emphasize our concerns that will return safety and peace of mind to the Litzenburg House residents specifically who use and cherish the Greenway.

The Greenway should be a place of peace and relaxation for the community, a place where families can walk, jog, and enjoy the natural beauty of our city without fear.

Sadly, recent events have shown that the Greenway has become a place of danger and concern.

The stabbing incident has left the community shaken and Litzenburg House residents worried about their safety when utilizing this public space.

This is not the environment our community deserves.

We are coming together as a community directly to the Bethlehem Housing Authority to act as our liaison with the City of Bethlehem.

We all understand the BHA is not responsible for the safety of the Greenway, and it is it is the responsibility of the City of Bethlehem.

The safety of the Greenway affects us all, and only by working collectively can we ensure a brighter, safer future for our beloved public space.

Accompanying this position uh petition are signatures of our residents who are asking to protect our community.

Please feel free to contact me only as one of the 101 apartments in the building.

Just makes it easier to pass on the information to relay your reply or concerns to the residents.

Um we are asking her, they were asking me to resent to be a representative only as a contact person.

Thank you.

And we all look forward to working together for safety.

And I have brought a few of the residents that came.

Of course, uh, we are governed under Bethlehem Housing, which is HUD.

And uh I have lived there for five years myself personally, and uh it's quite uh a building, it's one of safety, and uh we'd like it to be kept that way.

So thank you very much for your time and listening to what our concerns are.

Thank you so much.

And uh yes, the petition was sent to all members of Greece.

Thank you so much.

Uh David Roof is the next person I have signed up.

Good evening.

Uh many of you might remember me.

I was here for our two marathon meetings we had with uh fire department staffing.

Uh at that time, the last meeting, I was led to believe that there was gonna there was an 84,000 study or whatever was going to be done, it was going to be presented sometime in June.

Well, we're in July, and I was waiting for this study.

No, I don't know if the administration has it.

I don't know if council has it.

I don't know if it's completed.

Uh I don't know if it's being treated like the Epstein files and being redacted because of what uh is in that file.

But uh I think personally as a taxpayer, and although it came from city funds, it's city citizens tax dollars that paid for that study, and we should have full access of it in its in its unabridged presentation.

And at that time, if need be, we can sit and discuss pros and cons.

But I would like to see that study.

Um, but uh we need the study.

We know what the problems are in the city of Bethlehem.

I just saw a morning call.

Uh median housing in Bethlehem is like uh $360,000, and we're the second in the state as far as population growth.

Uh, and yet the fire department staffing is below the 1970 levels.

Well, that I don't need any uh anything to fall on my head to know that there's an issue, there's a problem.

And I'm hoping that this study will bring this to light.

And I personally would like to uh have it publicized and let the citizens of Bethlehem see exactly where we're at with the Bethlehem Fire Department staffing, which is atrocious.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Roof.

Uh the next speaker I have for comment is Janet Barry, I believe that says um earlier this month I stood before the planning commission because I'm very concerned by what I'm seeing happen to Bethlehem.

Uh I'm here tonight to reiterate my concerns, which impact the quality of life of the people in Bethlehem, especially in the East Hills section.

I am upset by the proposal of putting in several homes on Makeda Road, where one home currently stands.

And while that is a decent plot of land, it seems to me that developers are going to be shoehorning in homes into that area.

I do find that to be foolhardy, but I am not someone who sees every piece of land as a business venture.

Now we have the potential for apartments at the intersection, or excuse me.

Um, yes, we have um the potential for apartments at the intersection of East Boulevard and North Street.

This is a residential area, and apartments are going to be shoved in, dwarfing the existing homes.

This will be the fifth approval of apartments in what I believe is about a two-mile radius.

I'm also very distressed at the proposal of a storage unit to be built behind the area of Walgreens.

And I really can't visualize where that storage unit is going to be.

But I certainly hope that homes will not be leveled to accommodate such a business.

I'm sure there are a lot of people who are questioning these decisions, but it seems that City Council is no longer running Bethlehem.

Rather, Bethlehem has become a developer's playground with apartment buildings being put on every corner, despite the infrastructure being unable to support the influx of people.

While zoning may be written to allow for such development, council does have the power to say no and or work with Harrisburg to make positive changes to zoning laws that have been virtually unchanged for decades.

You should be responsive to the city residents who are your employers, but yet you appear more responsive to the developers.

Just because things are zoned a certain way does not mean that you have to approve every single thing.

Another issue of great importance to me, and one where I believe council is falling short, is the beautification of Bethlehem.

Around town, there are signs proclaiming Bethlehem a tree city USA, yet curb trees are constantly being chopped down.

Even though those trees are to be replaced, there certainly doesn't seem to be any follow-through by the city, which I don't feel is doing its due diligence.

Just two weeks ago, the planning commission lamented the loss of trees at the Polk Street project, but seemed satisfied that funds would be added to Bethlehem's tree fund.

We just experienced one of the worst heat waves in recent history.

In fact, probably one of the worst in my lifetime, and or at least I hope it will be the worst of my lifetime.

And it is a known fact that trees provide shade, cool areas, and provide a beautiful aesthetic in our neighborhoods.

Bethlehem and City Council is doing nothing to live up to its moniker of Tree City USA.

City Council, you need to be responsive to the voter, enforce your own rules, and pay attention to what is happening.

Stop kowtowing to developers and start working for the people.

The Christmas city is quickly becoming a city of renters.

Thank you, Ms.

Barry.

I now see uh Gwilmark Mariano.

Thank you.

Hi, good evening.

My name is Gilmark Bariano.

I'm actually from the Philippines and a counselor uh back at home at a fellow young legislator as well.

I'm currently doing a summer program at Lehigh University.

So I came um by myself here looking into understanding how it is like to run your council meeting as in comparison to how we do it back home.

And for the past uh one hour listening to how you do things, it's really impressive how you give the opportunity to the people of Bethlehem to speak out, which we don't have back home in our city council.

So it's something that I will really bring back when I go back to the Philippines uh next month.

And I hope uh as well.

This is my second time in Bethlehem.

I did a uh I did Global Village Program at La University in 2023.

Uh now I came back as a um uh as a residential guide for a summer program of uh the Ayacoka Institute.

And I hope that uh it is also an opportunity to uh establish partnership between my hometown.

I am from San Isidro Isabela, which is a small town just like Bethlehem in the northern province uh of the Philippines.

So I hope that after the session uh I could have this opportunity to probably discuss uh the possibility of um uh sisterhood uh between my city and and Bethlehem, which I truly love uh and I still do love.

Um, this is my second time, but still um it fascinates me how uh how beautiful your city is.

And then at the same time, um, next year also we're discussing the possibility of bringing in young legislators, um, very active.

Uh young um active with the National Movement of Young Legislature, which is an organization for uh young legislators, four tier soldier below.

Uh, we hope to bring them and have this experience, just like I'm what I'm experiencing now uh next year.

So I really hope to establish this strong collaboration between the CTF Bethlehem and the Philippines.

Uh thank you so much.

Thank you very much.

And uh anyone for public comment if you'd like to speak to a member of council more in depth or uh to a member of administration, you are invited to stay until the end of the meeting to do so.

So thank you.

Uh all right, so that exhausts our list of people who signed up in advance.

I will now uh invite those who did not sign up in advance uh to speak on topics that we are not voting on this evening.

Uh so is there anyone to the left who did not sign up.

If you wouldn't mind uh just stating your name for the record, thank you.

Um, hello, my name is uh Rooster Demott.

I'm at 2297 Black River Road.

Um I am uh here as a recently informed and very concerned citizen of Bethlehem.

As of May 2024, the City of Bethlehem Police Department partnered with Flock Safety to install three flock cameras on city streets and open for a community partnership uh using private security cameras.

There was no clear public announcement about this, only basic coverage by local news stations such as WFMZ and the Lehigh Daily.

I was unaware of this installation until 2026 when I offhand noticed a flock camera installed outside by about uh the auto zone at five points.

Chief uh Michelle Kott says the Bethlehem PD is only using the license plate reader aspect of this AI-based technology.

However, camera data is still stored for weeks or months with a company called Gen Tech Surveillance.

Automatic license plate revered are a dangerous, inaccurate, inefficient, and quite frankly, creepy surveillance tool that has no place in Bethlehem, let alone the Lehigh Valley.

They record hundreds of hours of data and store them in a national database for months.

These data are not protected under any warrant of any kind.

Officers are able to access video footage under any suspicion of a crime or incident or under no suspicion whatsoever.

This wide database of video footage has already fallen victim to multiple data breaches being accessed for nefarious purposes, um, including falsely accusing people of crimes and uh alleged pedophilia.

Even it's even in its proper use case, reading license plates, ALPRs flounder.

Flock cameras in Bethlehem have resulted in only three arrests.

And the plates do not use to ID these plates accurately do so only one to five percent of the time.

Despite this, they are being used across the nation to track people, pin crimes on them, and potentially arrest and charge them.

Hundreds of people across the country have already reported being falsely accused of traffic violations due to interactive in the inaccuracies of these AI trackers.

How long until this happens in Bethlehem?

Bethlehem's installment of cameras has been limited compared to compared to our neighbors, and for that I am thankful.

We only currently have three to five sites under surveillance, along with the opportunity for community surveillance through private cameras.

Although I could not find any public data on how many people exactly have signed up for this program.

Alumtown currently has 67 flock cameras.

I could not imagine living under such surveillance.

As your constituent, and these are the words of the ACLU.

I urge you to pass legislation that reinforces the use of automatic license plate readers, ALPRS.

ALPRs are being used to track our movements, spy on our communities, and compile detailed databases on our everywhere we use our vehicles.

And it's far too easy for this data to be misused.

You have the power to protect us from this surveillance.

And that starts with passing legislation to either ban ALPRS, PRs, or create strict regulations that include the following guardrails.

Limiting data retention to hours or days, not weeks or months.

Limiting data by sharing limiting data sharing by prohibiting local law enforcement from providing access to any other government entity unless they have a warrant for a felony crime that is recognized under local state law.

I'm talking about ICE detention here.

Limiting usage to felony investigations, missing persons cases, identifying unregistered and unsured vehicles, and certain limited non-enforcement scenarios, like electronic toll collection.

Requiring annual usage reporting and placing limits on the availability of ALPR data via open records requests, so it cannot be used for troublesome purposes like stalking or embarrassing a person for entertainment value.

Each day these cameras remain active.

Please act now.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Okay.

Anyone in the center.

Wasn't really planning on speaking, but I was a little troubled by one of the comments.

I think it might have been the first one I heard.

And um I'm reading among a lot of things.

I call myself a communist, the socialist.

Uh among other things, I also call myself an abolitionist.

I'm currently reading um abolition geography, essays towards liberation by Ruth Wilson Gilmore.

Really recommend it.

Um, but when we talk about homelessness and crime, uh yeah, these are issues that are deeply rooted in economics.

And um I just want to reiterate that public spaces aren't uh only for those who have houses, those who are uh have have solid incomes.

These public spaces like the green way.

Um being homeless doesn't make you a threat, and you shouldn't be treated as that.

And also the answer to homelessness and the answer to crime isn't mass incarceration, it's not throwing away people and locking away and locking through locking up people and throwing away the key.

Um, so I just want to make sure that we're not thinking that that's like the right answer or solution to any of the systemic problems we have.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else in the broad center?

I guess this light don't work, huh?

Some button on the front, though, Clerk.

Don't work.

My class night.

Oh, I thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, my name's Artie Curatola in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, resident, born and raised here.

Uh I speak a lot about people in power in our city.

And I have no objections with anybody of any race making a living and being having a successful business.

Most of the people that have businesses that are in power happen to be Jewish.

I am not opposed.

I do not hate the Jewish people.

But we, whether we're Jewish or not Jewish, Gentiles, whatever nationality we are.

Read the prophet Hosea in the Old Testament, who's Jewish, who Jesus actually quoted on the Mount of Olives, who spread the word of love over hate, so that the Jewish people would shine God's love throughout all nations to be the chosen people of God.

That is the main focus.

As the press has misquoted me many times, called me anti-Semitic, and saying that I hate the Jewish people.

But for two thousand years or more, the Jewish people can't or won't negotiate with their neighbors in the Middle East.

They just want to kill the innocent brothers and sisters that are there, destroy their lands so that they can own the land and control all of the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Africa, Britain, and are controlling the minds of the people in the United States.

And put our foot down, especially if you're Jewish.

Is there something what?

Uh we've covered this um unfortunately multiple times.

Uh, that while my meter is still going here.

Aware.

Uh, that while comments made by certain public commenters might be deeply hurtful or inappropriate in most settings.

We as I said before, I am not stating that I hate the Jewish people, and I'm not stating it at all.

I'm saying that we need to replace control and power and hate with love, no matter who we are.

Now we seem to have more Jewish leaders in our city of Bethlehem than other cities.

I'm not opposed to that at all.

I don't know why we're interjecting on this, and why you had to interfere with my meter.

I would have gave you a tip if you would have uh been a little bit nicer.

But anyway, the pro the prophet of Osea in the old testament, the terrorist of Israel and the radical Republicans in our country should really go along with that to end the genocide, and we should end the control and the hatred in every city that we live in, especially in Bethlehem, because this is our city.

Um this hatred thing is spreading like a cancer, like a wolf chief's clothing throughout our cities, especially really great in Bethlehem and the entirely high valley.

I could show you where he misquoted me, and you have the records of me speaking.

I'm gonna have to have my Jewish attorney eventually get those records if you don't straighten this matter out with the press.

Umway, it just seems that the radical Jews would rather kill and destroy and ruin a lot of people's lives and considered him anti Semitic, and that's not really your time is up, Mr.

Curatola.

Please sit down.

Well, we should spread the love, including the people with city council.

Sit down, God bless you in case the comment wasn't heard when uh it was asked.

There was a question about what forms of speech can be controlled in our public comment sections.

Unfortunately, comments made by individuals that are not attributing to specific individuals, calling out specific individuals, etc.

are protected free speech, and we are unable, it appears, to um to stop all of them.

There are times when we when we can and have intervened.

Um I am sorry for any harm that that causes uh to people who are forced to hear it.

Um I will now uh invite, yes, go ahead.

That's you, Mr.

Antalix Stephen Antalx, 737 Ridge.

Like Mr.

Fay, I didn't intend to say anything, but this kind person hit a topic that I've been on ad nauseum that's developers taking over, and uh, she was right on target.

If you drive on Fifth Street, Hillside Avenue, Fillmore, Webster, any day this week.

You'll feel like you're in a deserted city.

Why do you would you feel that way?

Because you could pick any spot on those streets to park your car.

Nowhere else in Bethlehem does that happen.

Why does the Southside feel like uninhabited city?

If you'd answer, write it down and let me see it.

Because the simple answer is students are away on vacation.

Come September, you can't find a parking spot because in some cases they're double parking on the street.

It's a busy city.

Who owns the properties?

A company puts big signs rent from us.

Because that company owns over one hundred properties in that area.

They all have yellow doors.

Is that way?

Who made it that way?

The woman is right, City Council.

City Council created that problem.

Very, very simply.

By the definitions in the zoning code by proving the definitions.

Even when further to call that area student zone.

At one time, that was a pearl of the city of Bethlehem.

It's a shame.

Because what made Bethlehem was that type of neighborhood.

As a matter of fact, to amplify that how you've created that.

At some meeting some time ago, I referred to students as transients.

And I was accused by a member of consul that I was making disparaging remarks.

Well, I checked with nine out of ten city developers, and they all 100% agree that students are transients.

So needs to shape up and look at that problem and start revising definitions.

And maybe Bethlehem will begin to look more like a residential city rather than a home of transients.

Thank you, Mr.

Intellix.

Is there anyone else in the Broad Center?

Go ahead.

Terry Kloiber, Grandview Boulevard Bethlehem.

And to quote Stephen, the woman was right.

Everything she said tonight, I I just I wish I had come up with some of that stuff.

You all know we're going to be fighting the Bennett Slot building.

The developer there is planning monstrous, a monstrosity.

Several of you have walked the neighborhood.

Should be walking these areas to see what the surrounding neighborhoods are before you go and allow five and six-story buildings behind two-story neighborhoods.

Well, you don't make them stick to the rules.

Don't go through all this.

We went through the commercial part last time.

We won on that, thankfully.

The curative amendment, I don't even know where that is right now for the length.

I believe he lost on the length, and he has to stay within the length, but he's still gonna go five and six stories behind our two-story neighborhood.

So I really thank you for all you said, and I hope everyone takes that to heart.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else in the Broad Center on something we're not voting on?

Sebastian Zavaruka 811 Elm Street Bethlehem PA.

Uh to the new members of the council, welcome.

Uh my name is Sebastian.

I've spoken in the past around issues of ICE and concern to our community members.

I look to revisit the topic of the welcoming city about this time a year ago.

About this time, a year ago, we had a few incidences of kidnappings in our own community.

We had 17 members of our community kidnapped from a local uh work site here, of which we still don't know all the names of those people who were taken away.

Um we also recently had a vigil this past um Saturday in memory of the two people who lost their lives in the past couple weeks.

Their name is Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero and Lorenzo Salgado Arajo.

I would just like to take two minutes to think about the lives that are lost.

The numbers did not show up in the same amount for these two people who were killed in the same capacity.

Members of council, we've been through this a number of times, and from my memory, the largest opposition to the idea of a welcoming city ordinance was the fear of some reaction coming down on us.

None of that fear has come to fruition.

Why I am pushing for the welcoming city ordinance is that while yes, our police do not participate, that is a voluntary action that is not hard law stipulated and can be codified.

What we've seen over the past few years is the constant precipitous erosion of our civil liberties when we do not protect them to the best of our abilities, and we have that opportunity once again.

Thank you.

Anyone else in the broad center for comment on an item not being voted on this evening?

To my right, anyone for comment on an item not being voted on.

Right.

So is there anyone to my left to comment on an item being voted on tonight?

Hello again.

Uh, my name has not changed in the last 10 minutes.

I am still Rooster Demont, 2297 Black River Road.

Um, there are many resolutions being voted on this evening, which I have my full support behind.

Of course, the Bradbury Sullivan uh Pride uh, which has been approved the last you know decade.

I don't think you guys are gonna vote against that this year.

Um, the multiple that I want to uh focus on specifically are the emergency solutions grant uh on behalf of the High Valley Homeless Service Providers and the Watered Shed Restoration and Protection Program Grant.

Um the emergency solutions grant ESG is of course, as this gentleman said, vital to supporting the uh unhoused population of Bethlehem.

I have done studies on this population with this population.

Um they are well educated, wonderful people who are suffering through some of the worst weather we've ever experienced with no protection.

Um we cannot currently house all of the unhoused people in the city, the small amount that we have proportional to our neighbors in Allentown.

Um so I cannot emphasize enough how I would like this money to be expanded to support these people as much as possible.

Um a safer Bethlehem is a Bethlehem where everyone can have housing that is affordable.

Um, and I understand that Lehigh's presence in Bethlehem has certainly spiked those expenses.

Um, and I wholeheartedly agree that certain landlord companies have a stronghold, which is what's making this difficult.

So expanding programs that support the unhoused population can result in uh a safer Bethlehem for all of us.

In terms of the watershed restoration and protection grant, I uh again would hope that this is approved and expanded.

Um, I cannot emphasize enough how much uh there's a memo here earlier on on the data center approvals.

I cannot emphasize how much uh a negative impact data centers have on the water uh quality of the Poconos specifically, which is where we got our water.

I know that Bethlehem City water has been heavily polluted by the presence of the seal uh city, uh the steel bridge company.

Um, and so we are unable to support our own water, and that is why we have Polcono water supplies.

Um, and so I would hope that the city of Bethlehem would act as a harbinger of protection for these very important water sources uh for its people.

So I would hope that as part of the expansion of the grant for water protection, that we would also look into limiting the expansion of data centers which use this clean safe water and turn it into pollution, really warm and really inaccessible for people who actually need it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else to my left speaking on an item that we'll be voting on this evening?

Okay, anyone in the broad center for items will be voting on Mr.

Faber Hello, thank you.

Yeah, I also wanted to speak about the data center ordinance.

Um I was a overall, I'm pretty Mr.

Faber.

We're not actually voting on the data center ordinance.

No.

Uh that's a communication tonight.

It will go to committee and we'll we will definitely have opportunities to speak on that when it when it does come up for vote.

Thank you.

Uh anyone else on topics we're voting on this evening.

Okay, and to the right.

All right, thank you.

Um that concludes public comment for this evening.

We move on to council business.

Uh, does anyone have any old business as a member of council?

Okay, uh any new business from members of council.

Um I bring to the table uh I will accept a motion and a second, as we've done in the past, uh, due to upcoming music fest and the impact that has on this area.

Um to reschedule the time of the city council meeting on Tuesday, August 4th, 2026 to 5:30 p.m.

instead of 7 p.m.

Uh so do I have a motion and a second?

So move.

Is there a second?

Second.

Any discussion?

The clerk will call the roll.

Ms.

Quyatec.

Aye, Mr.

Raymond.

Aye.

Callahan.

Aye.

Mr.

Cologne.

Aye.

Ms.

Daniels.

Aye.

And Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

Motion passes six zero.

The starting time of the August 4th council meeting has been set for 5 30 p.m.

That concludes new business.

We now move on to communications.

Uh clerk, please read communication 6A.

A July 15th, 2026 memorandum from DCED grants administrator Lori Gillio with an attached resolution.

Ms.

Giulio seeks authorization to apply for up to 1.5 million dollars emergency solutions grant funds from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

This action would be on behalf of Lehigh Valley's homeless homelessness service providers.

The city would act as a pass-through for the funding if it is awarded.

Resolution 10C is on the agenda.

6B.

A July 15th, 2026 memorandum from DCED grants administrator Lori Gillio with an attached resolution.

Ms.

Gillio seeks authorization to apply for the watershed restoration and protection program grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

If received the grant of up to 300,000 would be used to rehabilitate the STEFCO SWAL.

Resolution 10D is on the agenda.

Communication 6C, please.

July 15th, 2026 memorandum from DCD Grants Administrator Lori Gillio with an attached resolution.

Ms.

Gillio seeks authorization to apply for the multimodal transportation fund grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

If received the grant of up to $3 million would be used for construction in alignment with the complete streets plan on Stefco Boulevard.

Resolution 10E is on the agenda.

Communication 6D.

A July 15th, 2026 memorandum and proposed ordinance from Kathy Fletcher, Director of Planning and Zoning.

Ms.

Fletcher summarizes the proposed zoning ordinance amendments that would establish regulations for data centers.

One point of clarification from the memo is that our current zoning ordinance does allow for data centers.

Will be to put restrictions and regulations surrounding them in a more tight way.

Communication 6E, please.

The July 15th, 2026.

Sorry.

It does not, in my understanding, correct.

No vote needed for that referral.

Thank you.

Communication 6E.

The July 15th, 2026 memorandum from City Solicitor John F.

Spark Jr.

with an attached use permit agreement and resolution.

Permittee is ArtsQuest and the event is country fest.

The action is to approve activities occurring from 5 to 11 p.m.

on August 21st and 3 to 11 p.m.

on August 22nd.

This is first street from Founders Without Terminus.

Resolution 10 F is on the agenda.

Communication 6F.

A July 15th, 2026 memorandum from City Solicitor John F.

Spurk Jr.

with an attached use permit agreement and a resolution.

Permittee is the Bradbury Sullivan LGBT Community Center and subpermittee is ArtsQuest.

The event is 2026, Lehigh Valley Pride.

The actions to approve activities occurring from 1 to 7 p.m.

on August 30th.

Premises are first street from Polk Street to the Eastern Terminus and Founders Way between 1st and 2nd Streets.

Resolution 10G is on the agenda.

We'll now move on to reports.

There are two administrative orders.

Agenda item 7B1 is administrative order 14, 0.26-14.

I hereby reappoint Ian Panco of 1939 Heart Street, 18017 to membership on the Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission.

This appointment is effective through July 2029.

Administrative order appointing Ian Panco to the Fine Arts Commission.

The resolution is sponsored by Mr.

Amon and Ms.

Laird.

Is there any discussion from council?

I'd like to make a general comment on both of the administrative orders for tonight regarding the Fine Arts Commission.

I recently had a conversation with the head of the Fine Arts Commission, just exploring a little bit more of what their work is and wanted to just draw light to that for a moment.

Um and wanted to just draw light to that for a moment.

Um we know that there's uh exhibits in this rotunda that they provide.

Um there's the sculpture garden next to City Hall.

Uh, one thing I was unaware of is that um they actually maintain the city's collection of archived artwork and are doing a lot of work cataloging that uh for perpetuity uh within the city.

So um just wanted to bring that up because it was a fact I recently learned, and I appreciate the volunteer efforts of everyone on that commission.

Um the clerk will now call the role.

Ms.

Queatech.

I Mr.

Raymond I, Mr.

Callahan, all right, Mr.

Cologne, all right, Ms.

Daniels, and Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

Thank you.

Uh agenda 7B2 administrative order 2026 13.

I hereby appoint Jill Sperandino of 510 High Street Department 218018 to membership on the Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission.

This appointment is effective through July 2029.

Administrative order appointing Jill Sperandillo to the Fine Arts Commission resolution sponsored by Mr.

Raymond and Ms.

Laird.

Any discussion from council?

Clerk will call the roll.

This Que Tech.

Aye, Mr.

Raymond, Mr.

Callahan.

All right, Mr.

Cologne.

All right, Ms.

Daniels, and Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

Thank you.

Anything else from the mayor's office?

Okay.

Uh for committee reports.

I will now recognize Mr.

Cologne, Chair of the Finance Committee for his report.

Thank you, Councilwoman Laird.

So the finance committee met this evening at 6 p.m.

right here in town hall to discuss three agenda items.

The first was to review a proposal to restructure existing general fund debt.

That was just a presentation.

The council be presented with a parameters ordinance uh between now and the next meeting for first reading, but that was not reviewed at committee.

We just heard the presentation from PFM.

And the committee also reviewed a proposed ordinance involving an adjustment to the capital budget for non-utilities, along with a related resolution to transfer money within the general fund to cover the city's portion of matching funds in order to receive the grants.

Both of those items were forwarded to council for tonight's agenda.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Cologne.

Now move on to ordinances for final passage.

We have three tonight.

I'll start with agenda item 8A, Bill 19, 2026.

Ordinance of the City of Bethlehem, Counties of Lehigh and Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending Article 1731 titled Inspections and Amending Article 119 titled Registration, Sale, and Transfer of Real Estate, the City of Bethlehem codified ordinances.

Bill number 19, 2026 is sponsored by Mr.

Ayman and Ms.

Queatech.

Any discussion?

Yes.

Myself or Mr.

Simon.

So last minute, I'd asked a question about you know when there's a sale.

And I get it, what Mr.

Reynolds said about how if there's this uh a sale of a property, this is on a brand new property, is what I'm assuming.

So I can totally understand it if someone's in the unit and then the property sold like three months later, um, at the time of the sale, if the the unit might not be in the same condition it was when it passed the CO originally you know three months prior.

But when the when the buyer buys when the new buyer buys the property, he has to assume the leases that were originally signed with the property.

Are you following it?

Yeah, so shouldn't the CO also follow the sale of the property?

I mean, I don't understand why I don't I don't understand why the Mr.

Simonson can certainly state too.

Please and I'm not trying to bust any jobs here, I'm just asking a question here.

So I'm only going to get in defense of um yeah, Mike, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah, no, I do.

So if now if I if if the if a rental is someone is renting moves out and there's a new renter coming in, I totally understand it.

That's gonna now got to be reinspected.

But it just seems to me that um if the properties if the property passed inspection and you had a CO, I'm talking a multi-units, right?

Everybody that's everybody that's staying in those units, uh the new owner has to buy also and abide by the lease terms of the original uh owner.

I follow you 100%.

So just for there's so there's different set sets of ordinances for different for rentals versus sales versus so uh we don't do it any longer at the change of a tenant, so it's we're on that three-year cycle for the rentals.

But as far as for um for the transfer inspection that we're talking about here at 1731 and 119, this is at the transfer of ownership of property.

This we don't get involved from a code enforcement or an economic community development or from a city perspective at all with the leases or anything like this.

We're just clearly there to make sure that the property is in the condition that it can be the transfer so that the new owner receives the city document stating that these are the deficiencies or there are no deficiencies or whatever it may be.

Now, uh granted, you know, like you were saying, if it's if the property kind of turns around quickly and then it just was constructed or it's new construction, it gets a CO.

We've already run into the situations where the conditions have changed since a new construction was built to the time it was sold.

So we would go in there.

That's kind of a part of our um both our code enforcement and our housing program where we use these property transfers and and other things like this as avenues to catch up with work that was done on properties that we may not have been aware of throughout the entire process.

So kind of like when people flip houses or anything like that.

So they go in, do this work or undocumented work or or maybe fib on their permits and don't give us the full amount of work that happens.

This is where we catch up and catch some of this stuff.

So one of the things with new construction is we may have to go in and see they may have had um it and we're not too concerned with the change of tenants themselves, but we're concerned with the building itself.

So, like, is the fire system still operating properly?

Are the alarms still working?

Is it still calling out?

Is there there's things that we in list that we go down in each inspection that we do these?

So these are things that are fluid at the properties, and yes, you're right.

New construction is a little bit different than the other stuff, but when it comes to the leases and stuff, we really don't get involved in that.

It's just for the property itself.

So I I totally understand making sure that the properties up to code as far as all the safety things, fire alarms, uh fire suppression systems, all that stuff.

But are we are are we making so I'm assuming it's the same way as someone that sells the house, the the seller has to pay for those things and get those things up to code prior to it being sold?

Not necessarily.

So if if you're to if you were selling a property and we did our sales inspection and there was deficiencies found, you could sell that property to the the prospective buyer as it is.

This is right, and then they're then they assume that responsibility.

And that's what this ordinance change is really about is state law now gives or mandates that they have 12 months from that inspection to make those corrections, whereas previously the city only gave 90 days as part of our sales ordinance.

So this is increasing the time that they have.

So and I'm just gonna throw a number out.

Let's say there's a hundred unit uh property, um, it just opened up it's brand new.

So there's a hundred units.

I understand.

So we're going in and making sure that the fire suppression, all the safety systems systems work prior to a the transfer of the sale, which I get.

Are we then?

So let's say we're in the it just three months ago, uh, it just opened up all hundred units past inspection.

If it sells three months later, are we now charging?

Are we also outside of the safety systems, fire suppression, smoke, and so on?

Are we then going in and and re-inspecting all hundred units again?

Yes, we are.

Yeah, we go.

Well, that's what I don't uh that that's what I'm having a problem with.

It just seems like it it seems like a money grab.

It's it's it's not it and it's a bit redundant, but at the same time, it it's it's also informative for both the landlord tenants and things.

We find things that maybe even the landlord's not aware of that the tenants have done to the to their uh their apartment or their their suite or whatever it may be.

So it it may seem redundant, but it's it's an extra layer of safety.

And then when those properties do sell like that, for instance, that CO then travels with them for their for their uh as part of their rental program.

So that we do assume that as if it's sold immediately right away, like that, we carry that inspection into the rental program.

So we don't go like if they're let's just say like on a three-year cycle, if they sold within three months and then maybe the next eight months later their rental was due because their ward was up, like we wouldn't charge them, we wouldn't do those inspections, we would allow that to to fill in for that that inspection to fill in for that inspection.

Yeah, I mean, that's why I have a problem.

I mean, I I I totally understand if there's a new renter going in, you know, at the time of the sale, the the three th three months ago there was a renter A in there.

The three three months ago, there was a renter A in there.

But if renter A is staying in there with the in that lease is being taken over by the new the new owner.

I think that uh not only should the lease if the lease is being um granted and honored, so should the CO for that one year period.

I don't I don't think we should be able to go in and and and rehit them again on another inspection on another 100 units.

I understand that, but at the same time, we're going in each of those units, like I said, and we're giving the new owner uh uh a document that states what the current condition uh the department that he's purchasing that building at that time.

So uh a CO for a new construction is a snapshot in time, and then three to six months later, whatever it may be, we go in and do another inspection, and that's the most updated version of that building that the new owner's receiving.

So there's no real there's no discrepancy between this in that time period.

So that's kind of two snapshots in time, but they get the newer version.

Yeah, I I just think it's probably uh very few in the between where um new construction three months later actually really needs another whole inspection.

I I know it's not up to you, but that's just what my promise.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Yeah, any other discussion.

Well, I I just want to make sense.

So my only point in bringing this up is we all have to understand something, rental rates keep going up and up and up, and every time an owner gets more fees.

I'm not not addressing you, I'm just saying uh to all of us.

Every time an owner of a property, I don't care if you own one property, two properties, three properties, or a hundred properties.

I'd love to live own a hundred properties.

I know I own three.

Every time I get a bill, and I'm pretty sure everybody's just like me, I invested money to try to have an investment for my kids.

I'm a retired teacher.

There's retirement firemen, there's policemen, just normal people who are trying to get one or two properties.

Every time our expenses go up, we have to then push that on to the renter.

There's no other way to recoup the cost.

We don't get grants and things like that from the state.

So every penny that I get charged, I then I divide it up by 12, and that's how much my rents go up.

So when my taxes go up, the school district taxes go up, inspections go up, every every bill I get, I then have to pass it on to the renter, and that's how our rents keep increasing, increasing, increasing.

Every time that we add another fee or another charge, the rents get higher in the city.

That's all that's just a side comment on my part.

Thank you, Mike, for your any other discussion.

Yes, Mr.

Simonson.

I have a follow-up on.

I'm sorry, before you sit you sit back down.

Yeah, for my own clarification to something you said as it relates to going in and doing the inspection.

So the so a new building is built, let's say it doesn't sell.

I know we're talking about sale.

When would the next inspection be the same owner owns it in perpetuity forever?

You get the the initial clear CO, start renting it.

When do you go in again?

So that could change, that could vary.

And the reason I say that is so we currently do our rental inspections on a three-year cycle.

So depending on the year that that building is built, and then when its ward subsequently comes up, like if it comes, if it's built in, let's say 2026 and its ward comes up in 2027, we're not going to re-inspect that again.

And so I'm sorry, what it's what in 2027?

Built in 2026, and then it its ward happens to come up like first quarter of 2027.

We're not gonna redo the inspections and redo everything again.

What it's gonna happen is is if if it stays under the same ownership, it'll then fall to the next, so it'd be it would come up in 30 at that point.

But three years, like yeah, but now let's say it it sells.

Yes, you said when the so let's say it sells to Mr.

Callahan's uh example six months later, you go in, you do the same thing again, you give the new owner their document.

Is these are the deficiencies, you have 12 months to fix them.

How does that impact when that 2030 inspection comes up again?

It would then be the same thing, it'd be a the three years, or it would it would just fall and back into its cycle.

So if it was the again, if it was to be sold in 27, or even in that matter, if it was let's say it was sold in 29, it would get that three years.

We wouldn't do it again in 30.

We would do it in 32, I guess it would be.

However, that would work.

If you follow me.

So it pushes it out, it pushes it out for three years.

Yeah, it pushes it out.

Once it if it's sold and then it's inspected, or if it's built right at the same time frame that it would be due for a normal inspection, it gets bumped out.

Okay.

Thank you.

I have a question real quick.

Councilmite.

Yeah, if you could please.

What is the cost for a CO inspection versus the tri-year um rental inspections?

So well, CO inspection.

There, okay, so there's two different types of inspection.

So a rental inspection is is uh it's all in a sliding scale.

So depending on the size of the property is going to depend on the fee for the the for the permit for the uh for the inspection.

So what I mean by that is like one to three properties, it's a hundred dollars per property because usually they're single family dwellings and they take us a little bit longer.

When we start getting into like the four to nines or the ten to twenties or the larger, the fee for us goes down for the inspection because we could do more units in a shorter amount of time because usually they're smaller units, one maybe one and two bedrooms, no exterior in some cases.

So our time on property shrinks down, so our fee shrinks down.

Okay.

Now that's for the rental side of things.

Um on a sales inspection, it's uh commercial properties are done by the square footage, and then rental units, like so.

If it's a hundred unit property, like we were talking about, um, the commercial would be done by square footage, and then it's 150 dollars per unit for the sales inspection, and that's a standard fee we have for type of residential sale.

Is it fair to say that the sales inspection is more expensive?

Oh, it is okay, yeah, it is okay, yeah.

And yeah, and also with the residential rental inspections, there's also licensing fees as well.

But there's that that does do not carry over to the sales inspection, and if a sales inspection is done, um by the seller, let's say by the seller, and it wasn't passed on to the buyer.

Um that's buyer wouldn't have to worry about a rental inspection if it was a rental property, correct for three years.

If if it if the property gets uh certificate of occupancy, a clean bill, like if it if there's violations, then the new owner is gonna subsequently inherit those violations, and so they will be responsible for that until that's cleaned up, and then the time frame will start to be pushed out because it it they'll then be clean.

Okay, and if the seller does not, if the seller's selling the property as is, the buyer has to pick up the expense of that purchase inspection now.

Um which is going to be a lot more.

That's all part of their transfer agreement.

I would assume, you know, whenever they talk at the sales table and everything.

So all we know is who the seller is responsible for them, and if the buyer, until they're corrected, if the buyer assumes the property, there then they transfer the responsibility of those violations, but then they don't have to worry about another rental inspection once they clear those violations, yeah.

So they're paying more initially, right?

Thank you.

Any further discussion?

Okay.

Um, just to jog my memory from last meeting.

That this is putting it in line with state.

Yeah, this is state law that it's the 12 months.

Okay, we we uh Bethlehem had shortened the time frame, and we're just expanding to match the state.

Right.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, uh the clerk will call the roll.

Is que at I Mr.

Raymond I Mr.

Callahan?

Night, Mr.

Cologne, all right, is Daniels aye and Ms.

Laird.

Aye passes six one five one, sorry.

Uh okay, eight B bill number twenty twenty twenty-six.

An ordinance of the city of Bethlehem counties of Lehigh and Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the 2026 general fund budget.

Bill number 2026 is sponsored by Mr.

Ayman and Ms.

Queatech.

Any discussion?

Okay, the clerk will call the roll.

Ms.

Quietek.

I Mr.

Raymond.

I Mr.

Callahan.

All right, Mr.

Cologne.

Aye.

Ms.

Daniels, aye, and Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

Pass the six zero.

Eight C bill number twenty-one, twenty twenty-six.

Ordinance of the city of Bethlehem, Counties of Lehigh, Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amending the 2026 capital budget for non-utilities.

Bill number 21, 2026 is sponsored by Mr.

Raymond and Miss Quij.

Any discussion.

Clerk will call the roll.

Ms.

Quietek.

Aye.

Mr.

Ayman.

Aye.

Mr.

Callahan.

Aye.

Mr.

Cologne.

Aye.

Ms.

Daniels.

Aye.

And Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

Pass the 6-0.

Moving on to new ordinances.

We have two for this evening.

9A, Bill 22, 2026.

Ordinance of the City of Bethlehem, Counties of Lehigh, Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending part 13 of the City of Bethlehem Codified Ordinance is titled Zoning Ordinance.

Bill 22 2026 is sponsored by Mr.

Ayman and Ms.

Laird.

Any discussion.

Okay.

Uh clerk will call the roll.

Ms.

Quietek.

Aye.

Mr.

Eamon.

Aye.

Mr.

Callahan.

Aye.

Mr.

Cologne.

Aye.

Ms.

Daniels.

Aye.

And Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

Pass the 6-0.

9B, Bill number 23, 2026.

Ordinance of the City of Bethlehem, Counties of Lehigh and Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending the 2026 Capital Budget for Non-Utilities.

Bill number 23, 2026 is sponsored by Mr.

Ayman and Ms.

Laird.

Any discussion.

Clerk will call the roll.

Ms.

Quietek.

Aye.

Mr.

Eyman.

Aye.

Mr.

Callahan.

Aye.

Mr.

Cologne.

Aye.

Ms.

Daniels.

Aye.

And Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

Pass the 6-0.

On to resolutions 10A.

Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Bethlehem that the city's program year 2026 CDBG Annual Action Plan and its home investment partnerships program annual action plan are hereby approved for submission to HUD by the mayor along with required assurances and clay and certifications.

Resolution is sponsored by Mr.

Eyman and Ms.

Laird.

Any discussion.

Just a again word of thanks for all of our nonprofit partners and the people in our administration who work to get these dollars helping people in the community.

Clerk will call the roll.

Ms.

Quayatec.

Aye.

Mr.

Eyman.

Aye.

Mr.

Callahan.

Aye.

Mr.

Cologne.

Aye.

Ms.

Daniels.

Aye.

And Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

Pass the 6-0.

10B.

Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Bethlehem that $70,672 from account number 0502 hyphen 4-0001 salaries engineering and $71,000 from account number 0503001 salaries streets.

Totaling 141,672.

Be transferred to the general fund to account number 0801 hyphen 42083.

Transfer to non-utility to provide required matching funds for the Green Light Go program grant.

Resolution is sponsored by Mr.

Eyman and Ms.

Laird.

Any discussion.

Ms.

Laird.

Yes.

Um just uh wanted to point out this was what we discussed, one of the agenda items at the finance committee meeting.

Um and the funds will uh help replace all of the LED lights and all of our signal um our traffic signals and also um computer pieces in the controlling boxes that are at all of the intersections as well.

Thank you.

Any other discussion?

Okay, the clerk will call the roll.

Ms.

Quietek.

Aye, Mr.

Aman.

Aye, Mr.

Callahan, aye, Mr.

Cologne, aye, Ms.

Daniels, aye, and Ms.

Laird.

Aye, pass the six zero tenc.

Be it resolved by the council of the city of Bethlehem that the city requests an emergency solutions grant through the State Department of Community and Economic Development.

Be it further resolved that the mayor and controller are authorized to execute all agreements and documents as deemed to be necessary and or related thereto.

Resolution is sponsored by Mr.

Eyman and Ms.

Laird.

Any discussion clerk will call the roll.

Ms.

Quietek.

Aye.

Mr.

Aman.

Aye.

Mr.

Callahan.

Aye.

Mr.

Cologne.

Aye.

Ms.

Daniels.

Aye.

And Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

Pass the 6-0.

10 D.

It resolved by the Council of the City of Bethlehem that the city requests a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development for the Rehabilitation of Stefco Swale.

Be it further resolved that the mayor and controller are authorized to execute all agreements and documents as are deemed to be necessary and or related there too.

The resolution is sponsored by Mr.

Eamon and Ms.

Laird.

Any discussion?

Yes.

Thank you.

Um Ms.

Collins, would it be you or would it be Mr.

Alcall?

Mr.

Alcall, I just had a quick question.

Sure.

So I'm just wondering if the Stefco swale, if this kind of works well with the next item, the the multimodal and the the work on Stefco Boulevard.

Is it is the Stefco swale actually on Stefco Boulevard?

I mean, other than it serves drainage that comes from Stefco Boulevard.

Okay.

But there's independent projects.

Okay.

I just wasn't sure if you know if there was going to be a coordination or effort if the two are funded or if there's no need for that, or okay.

All right.

Thank you.

That was it.

Any other discussion?

Clerk will call the roll.

Ms.

Quiet.

Aye.

Mr.

Eman.

Aye.

Mr.

Callahan.

Aye.

Mr.

Cologne.

Aye.

Ms.

Daniels.

Aye.

Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

Pass the 6-0.

10 E.

Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Bethlehem that the city request a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to be used for construction in alignment with the complete streets plan on Stefco Boulevard.

Be it further resolved that the mayor and controller are authorized to execute all agreements and documents as are deemed to be necessary and or related there too.

The resolution is sponsored by Mr.

Eamon and Ms.

Laird.

Any discussion.

Clerk will call the roll.

Ms.

Quietek.

Aye.

Mr.

Eyman.

Aye.

Mr.

Callahan.

Aye.

Mr.

Cologne.

Aye.

Ms.

Daniels.

Aye.

Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

Pass the six zero.

10 F.

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 ArtsQuest for Country Fest.

The resolution is sponsored by Mr.

Eyman and Ms.

Laird.

Any discussion?

Okay.

The clerk will call the roll.

Ms.

Quietek.

Aye.

Mr.

Eyman.

Aye.

Callahan.

Aye.

Mr.

Cologne.

Aye.

Ms.

Daniels.

Aye.

And Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

Pass the 6-0.

10 G.

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 the Bradbury Sullivan LGBT Community Center and Subpermittee Arts Quest for 2026 Lehabelli Pride.

Resolution is sponsored by Mr.

Aman and Ms.

Laird.

Any discussion?

Yes.

On this, and obviously I'm a yes on it.

I um unfortunately not going to be here, but fortunately going to be with my incredible daughter in Seattle.

Um, so we'll celebrate um our own pride out there this year.

That's all.

Any other discussion?

Okay, the clerk will call the roll.

Ms.

Quietek.

Aye.

Mr.

Aman.

Aye.

Callahan.

Aye.

Mr.

Cologne.

Aye.

Ms.

Daniels.

Aye.

And Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

Pass the six zero.

I'll accept a motion and a second to consider resolutions 10H through 10J, the COAs as a group.

Make the motion.

Second.

Second that.

Gabler.

Uh all right.

Is there any discussion on the motion?

Clerk will call the roll on the motion.

Ms.

Quiet.

Aye.

Mr.

Eman.

Aye.

Mr.

Callahan.

Aye.

Mr.

Cologne.

Aye.

Ms.

Daniels.

Aye.

And Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

The motion passes six zero.

Uh the clerk will read the resolutions and call the roll.

Certificates of appropriateness under the provisions of the act of the Pennsylvania legislature, Bethlehem Resolution.

We're hereby granted for 10H, 443 Center Street to replace existing bluestone and side and slate sidewalk in front of the home that is deteriorating with brushed concrete while maintaining the brick border alongside the sidewalk closest to the fence and installed installing landscape lighting at the rear of the patio.

Resolutions are sponsored by Mr.

Amon and Ms.

Laird.

Any discussion on the group?

Clerk will call the roll.

Ms.

Quietek.

Aye.

Mr.

Ayman.

Aye.

Mr.

Callahan.

Aye.

Mr.

Cologne.

Aye.

Ms.

Daniels.

Aye.

And Ms.

Laird.

Aye.

The resolutions passed 6-0.

With that, our meeting is adjourned.

Get home safe.