The Standing Committee of the Pittsburgh City Council convened on December 10, 2025, with six members present to address public comments, finance resolutions, infrastructure contracts, land designations, and innovation pilots. The meeting featured significant public discourse regarding community safety, historical preservation, and municipal spending efficiency, followed by detailed deliberations on bridge projects, a controversial salt storage facility, and street vacations.
Good morning, and welcome to the Standing Committee's meeting for Wednesday, December tenth, twenty twenty-five. All council meetings will be live streamed on the city's website. And for guest speakers joining us at the table, please do not turn off your microphones. Our first order of business is roll call. Will the clerk please take the role? Mr. Charlotte. Here. Mr. Coghill. Here, Miss Gross, Mr. Laval. Here. Mr. Mosley. Here. Miss Kel Smith. Miss Warwick. Here. Mr. Wilson. Miss Strasberger Chair. Here. Six members present. Thank you. Our next order of business is public comment. I would like to remind all speakers that the rules of council state that comments are limited to matters of concern, official action, or deliberation, which are or may be before city council, and profanity will not be permitted. Please state your name and neighborhood for the record. You will have three minutes to speak. We will try moving to non-registered speakers and then move back to our registered speakers once they've concl concluded their remarks. So we will take those from the audience wishing to speak. If you would wish to speak, you can approach the podium. I live at 715 Mercer Street. That's at the high rise at the top of Bedford. Yesterday when I left City Council, outside on the sidewalk, there was a young man that was calling out with a bullhorn, Carmen Brown, and he was talking about Carmen. I stopped and talked to him. He really moved my heart. But I tried to write something to Carmen. And it says, Carmen, your encouragement. You gave your kind you gave me kind words. A reason of the money that was going to be gone and never returned. Before the homewood neighborhood had a clue. If you don't go down, she called me and said, Yvonne, if you don't go down and speak, there will be nothing we can do to keep Burgess and his scheme from coming true. What Burgess was going to do, he had a church, and um my understanding he was getting a million dollars or a couple million dollars, and it was supposed to be for the community, but what he was getting ready to do was take that money and fix a building that he had for his church. Now I I keep saying, and you just know I do. I believe I believe that church and state were supposed to be separate. But she had called me and said, I can't make it, Yvonne, and I know you go, so go down and speak. And I did, and it was the lady from the planning committee. I remember I spoke to her and I pleaded with her, please look into this, because the community doesn't know. And sure enough, she took the money back, she took it back.