Good afternoon and welcome to the Pittsburgh City Council Standing Committee's meeting for Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

Our first agenda item is roll call with the clerk please take the roll.

Mr.

Charlin, here.

Mr.

Coghill.

Ms.

Gross.

Mr.

Lavelle.

Mr.

Mosley.

Here.

Ms.

Alanetro.

Here.

Mrs.

Warwick.

Mr.

Wilson.

Here.

Ms.

Strasberger Chair.

Here.

Seven members present.

Thank you.

Our next order of business is public comment.

I would like to remind all speakers that rules of council state that comments are limited to matters of concern, official action, or deliberation by counsel.

Profanity will not be permitted.

Please state your name and neighborhood for the record, and you will have three minutes to speak.

Dr.

Ronald Lynn Miller, downtown neighborhood.orm.com.

The primary teletext I use in the United States is 412-969-7997, and you can contact me 24-7.

In the Global Intelligence Society, candidate for president, 2028.

Initiative three focuses on local government primacy.

They really are not mathematically or lexically sophisticated.

And I think they really need to understand mathematically how to deal with an XY coordinate grid.

Our people are being graduated from the Pittsburgh Public Schools who can't really interpret a graph on an XY coordinate grid.

This is just basic, not proficient in performance.

And lexically, how do you how do you de decline a noun?

How do you conjugate a verb?

This is something that they find very difficult to deal with now.

The USA, which includes the PPS performance in the program of international student assessment.

There are zero for USA and five for Asia.

We're not doing what we should do with them.

Thank you.

Apologies.

Is Chief Ikahana Halmakina?

Okay.

We will move on to our next speaker.

Dylan James Basiku.

Hi everyone.

My name is Dylan Bisescu.

I live in the South Side Flats District 3.

I'm here to speak in favor of Bill 0288 and 0289.

As a member of the Pittsburgh Democratic Socialists of America, we're strongly in favor of continuing the progress that was made by passing Bill 0286.

Right now, city employees are already restricted from actively cooperating and sharing information with immigration and customs enforcement.

And these two bills would take this progress further by restricting city employees from granting access to city controlled spaces and would restrict the ability of ICE to stage and carry out immigration enforcement activities and raids and kidnappings on city controlled property.

This is no different than if a homeowner owning private property said you cannot conduct your activities in our home.

And the property of the city is the city's private home, and it should not be letting ice into its home.

I live right above the Emilianos on the South Side, and over the last few months, that restaurant and a number of other businesses in the South Side.

I see you nodding your head, Councilman Charlotte, and I appreciate that that you've seen that this happening yourself, have been closed or reduced their operations due to the fear of immigration raids, kidnappings and brutalization in my neighborhood, mere hundreds of feet from the ICE office that casts a pole over the South Side.

It's disgraceful, and the city should have no hand into letting those people into our homes, into our neighborhoods, into the city's home.

We should have no part of it in the city of neighbors.

And so as a resident of the city, I appreciate everyone standing up and passing bills like 0286.0288 and 0289 to make these protections even stronger and make it clear that ICE is not welcome in Pittsburgh.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our final register speaker is Bernadette Mosey.

Okay.

Hi, this is Bernadette from Beachview.

Um this is continued from this morning, wherein I shared with you and shared pictures of a one-inch unacceptable, one-inch unacceptable screws used to mount an ADA shower wall mounted bench, thus expecting a wall tile to hold up at your elderly and disabled persons at the Oliver bathhouse.

The conversations post the fall revealed more unacceptable, abhorrent info.

You see, I was not, I repeat, I was not the first to experience a shower bench perfuffle, nor was I the second or the third to experience an ADA shower bench fail at the new Oliver bathhouse, downstairs and or upstairs.

Another person and a staffer said possibly not certain, not the first, that the downstairs seat that I fell from.

But definitely said to upstairs, okay, for the sake of argument, let's say that that's all hearsay.

Let's pretend I was the only disabled senior who was first to fall from an ADA bench mounted with a one-inch screw to a bath tile, not a stud.

Again, with a one-inch screw causing bloody bruised upper arm and bloody thigh staff tended to.

But if multiple repairs have been have happened since March, where are the work order requests?

Why was council not made aware?

We need to know who inspect inspected the work?

Who signed off on recent work orders keeping you all in the dark?

Did they cut cost orders on grab bars mounted to walls?

Did they use one-inch screws there too?

What about rails to climb in and out of the water?

Bring them in.

Where is the oversight?

All that money that was put into renovating the Oliver Bath House and one-inch non-compliant screws were used for your seniors and disabled and expect wall tiles to hold them and keep them safe.

Shame on the whole bunch of workers and contractors in any department minimizing or silencing shoddy work.

No excuse at all.

Inspect and fix, inspect and fix.

All of you take a screwdriver and go and pull one screw out of the wall and see and see what the measurement is.

Anywhere, randomly at the Oliver Bathhouse.

Thank you.

Have a good day.

Thank you.

There being no further registered speakers, we will now take comments from those in the audience wishing to speak.

Good afternoon.

My name is Yvonne F.

Brown.

I live up in Katie Rivers, Tires in the Hill District.

And I'm back this afternoon to please ask you again.

Will you counsel, especially the president, to demand that you meet with the police and if possible, get in touch with Mark Brittley, who has the take he was in charge of take the fathers to school.

See, what I'm trying to tell you is these fathers is gonna be in the school to talk to the children.

If we can get the police and the fathers to talk together, the fathers would know what to say to the children.

And also, with them fighting people on the bus, my dog daughter got a thing, which is they beat this woman down.

Kids, teenagers, and the older man went to help and they beat him down.

When they showed the woman with her cane, she was saying, all you see them fight me and nobody help me.

Do you understand?

People are not gonna help if we get these men.

So if those children are one of them boys grab them, start to beat on somebody, the man can grab them and hold them.

We can't fight them teenagers off.

No one can.

I know I can't.

I would buy them, but I can't really fight that well.

But we need, why can't we stop it?

Why can't we get the police to sit and talk to the fathers?

The fathers are going into the schools.

The fathers can talk to the children.

These are fathers, dark-skinned people talking to dark-skinned people.

Some people don't like white people.

Some kids don't, some parents don't.

But if you got a white man and a black man standing together as a unit, then maybe the children will look if you don't look to the black man, look to the white man, but look to someone who's trying to tell them.

Do you understand we're losing a whole generation?

Children are killing each other.

The cops are killing our kids and people.

I'm coming down, but not for me.

I'm at the end of my life.

But please help us.

Help us.

And you can because you make rules.

You make the rules.

I come down and I tell you different things, but you make the rule.

Please have the police talk to the men that's going into the schools, please.

The one man said he's that period.

He said, I'm gonna make it on the PA system and tell them we know what you're doing.

So you can do it too if you talk to each other.

We ain't talking to each other.

I'm doing a whole lot of talking.

Yes, on the phone, looking and making me like I'm a fool, but I'm not.

I'm not.

I've lived a long time.

I have went to any school that they said was free.

My father taught me education.

That's what you need.

Education.

They can't take it from you.

Like when I was speaking it, turn my head, Mr.

Krause.

Turn your head to the front.

I had to look to the front.

Come on now.

I took public speaking.

I was taught to look around.

Thank you, Miss.

I can just look at one person or look straight.

Thank you, Miss Brown.

You just got to do better.

Please, please.

And time is expired, Miss Brown.

Please, I'm begging.

Lady, help us save our babies.

Next speaker, please.

Are there any further speakers?

There being no further speakers, we will move on to our standing committee's agenda.

Our first committee is the Finance and Law Committee.

Supplemental new papers.

Bill 450 resolution amending resolution 79 of 2026 to increase the maximum principal reimbursement amount of the approved issuance of general obligation bonds while maintaining the approved maximum aggregate principal amount.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of Bill 450, please say aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation.

New papers, Bill 420.

Resolution authorizing the issuance of a warrant in favor of Mary Ellen DeMarco Ruby for a single payment in 2026 and an amount not to exceed $5,000.

And full and final settlement of litigation file in the common police court of Allegheny County.

Second.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of Bill 420, please say aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation, Bill 426.

Ordnance amending and supplementing the Pittsburgh City Code Title II fiscal Article 9 property taxes by creating a new chapter 269.

Real estate tax exemptions for construction or adaptive reuse of buildings on Pittsburgh's north side.

Motion approved.

Second.

Discussion.

I'm sorry.

This has to be hold.

Councilman Wilson.

This must be held for a public hearing.

So motion of hold for cable cast public hearing.

Second.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of holding Bill 426 for a cable cast public hearing, please say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation.

That moves us on to invoices.

Is there a motion on invoices?

The moved.

Second.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of invoices, please say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Invoices are approved.

That moves us on to P cards.

Is there a motion on P cards?

Motion to approve.

Second.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of P cards, please say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

P cards are approved.

That moves us to public safety and wellness committee chaired by Councilman Coghill.

Supplemental new papers, Bill 462.

Resolution directing the director of the Department of Public Safety and the Chief Bureau of Police pursuant to 211 of the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter to provide council with detailed violent crime data.

Disaggregated by age group, single years of age in location, no less frequently than quarterly.

Motion to approve brief discussion.

Second discussion.

Yeah, I don't have any.

I just defer to you, please.

Yeah, um, yeah, thank you.

So um I well, actually, I motion to amend, first of all.

Some amendments.

Um, yeah, so this was we this is something that we put together very quickly this morning.

So thank you to Sean Carter, and we have just a few amendments.

Um, so you know, with the um the discussion around the the curfew and you know the 3 p.m.

to 11 p.m.

curfew and um requirement that that folks under 18 be chaperoned by someone over 21 in market square.

Um, well, first of all, I will say I I am you know at at first blush, I am very uncomfortable with that policy.

My own kid goes to, you know, I have a teen who goes to school downtown and walks through market square.

Um, you know, not only does this feel highly unwelcoming to families with teens.

Um, it also seems questionable in terms even of enforcement.

I don't know that there'll be like a private security.

What are we checking IDs?

Like, you know, how how is this working?

My understanding is it's on an event permit.

At any rate, um, all of that said, you know, I I certainly understand there has been lots of uh talk in the news.

I know we have a post agenda coming up with Councilman uh Mosley, just about the issue of of teens in in our public spaces, sort of these team gatherings.

Um it's an issue that I have dealt with in my district on a much smaller scale than downtown, but you know, at the Murray Avenue bus stop.

Uh I think that we have actually had lots of success in that, it's an ongoing, you know, something that needs to be managed in an ongoing way.

But um, with our REACH folks and our um city police and also our community groups hosting um you know cookouts periodically close to this bus stop.

I think that things have been going better than they were.

Um, you know, we have really great programs like safe passages, you know, working with our with our teens specifically in the schools, um, but but one thing that I noticed um this morning as I was thinking about this is I wanted to know, you know, I you know, you're looking on Facebook, and there are all these comments about everything that's been happening you know, and in these, and I and and so I Googled like teens, Pittsburgh, Market Square, you know, you know, sort of trying to get a picture of the actual incidences themselves, and I kind of realized that I couldn't, right?

Like there was I I saw the one incident that we spoke about already at council um maybe about a month ago where the police told us they were able to disperse the kids in a matter of seconds.

There, of course, was a very severe incident on a PRT bus recently, but I realized that I don't I, you know, we don't have a picture.

So we're talking a lot about violent crime, we're talking a lot about kids, and um while I recognize that there, you know, folks, there are lots of feelings around that.

I think that we really need some numbers, and so what this is is the request that the that the public safety department provide a quarterly report on violent crime in the city, um, that you know indicates, you know, as as well as the location, you know, what the crime was, whatever the location, also the age of both of the the um, you know, the accused, I suppose, and the age of the victim, just so that we can really have some data, right, rather than sort of anecdotal conversations about about um, you know, this sort of broad brush issue, we actually have some data around that.

I think that that'd be helpful just in general, right?

Just for for the city overall, for council, uh, not just to have to kind of rely on news reports or um or you know periodic calls if something particularly bad happens in your district from your commander, but actually have a report every quarter of the violent crime in the city and and you know, the age, and and specifically since we're talking about kids, you know, the age of the folks involved.

So that's what this is.

Um, happy to I mean again, we really just pulled this together this morning.

I would appreciate you know, thank you to Sean Carter for his help, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Councilwoman Gross.

Thank you.

Um, so yes, Councilwoman, we just saw this for the first time on hard copy on the desk in this morning, and because we're having a double session today, so I haven't had chance to talk to you about it.

Um, if this data is available and can be summarized, I think you know it's something that is um important for us to understand.

But I um the first thing for me that comes to mind is that I think we formed the first gender equity commission nearly 10 years ago, um, and that commission has been asking for data by gender from city departments, including police data for 10 years and and hasn't gotten it.

So I I would ask that gender also be added.

It's been a citizen commission request for 10 years nearly, and we want to make sure that we don't neglect to distinguish.

So I think that's important.

It's also um I think one of the things that we're hearing in public comment in these chambers just today, and also from uh feedback from the public, uh kind of confusion, or or competing claims that these are city kids who are the perpetrators, or they're not city kids who are the perpetrators, and maybe it varies by gatherings in different neighborhoods, or it's maybe not only is it kids, and I just think that that just the location of the crime, but also if we're giving demographic data about summarized, of course, we don't want to do any identifying characteristics of people, right?

But if we're adding up kind of like these people are in the 18 to 25 year age range, but then there were these other crimes perpetrated by people in the whatever 45 to 65 year age range, um, that we because it says age of victim, um, and I think it's age of perpetrator as well.

Um, so I would like to know at the very least, again, we don't want to do anything identifying.

So if we ask, if we said the like location of a specific municipal municipality residence or something, it might be too, even if it has to be summarized to being, you know, a city resident or non-city resident.

Um I think it would be informative maybe on both the perpetrators and the victims, right?

Because we also hear this claim up um by some people that it's uh problem because it's visitors who don't want to come and if we're if we're looking for information that's gonna help us make better policy.

I think those two things I would ask for.

I would ask for um gender, maybe a victims and perpetrator, and I would also ask for place of residence, um, at least even broadly, other city residents or not, because I think it would be informative.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Further discussion.

I didn't get a chance to ground truth this, but it's my recollection, and maybe others remember better than I did, that there was formerly a dashboard with I believe some sort of disaggregated data that uh at some point 2021, 2022 was taken down.

And to the extent that I think this is a quarter at the very least quarterly, but I think the gold standard should be a dashboard.

So I just wanted to state that publicly.

Like if we could just get the dashboard back on the public safety website, or even in coordination with the Western PA data center, um, that would be even better.

So I'm glad that this is at least the minimum though.

So thanks for introducing this.

Councilman Wilson.

Yeah, I'm on the violent crimes dashboard right now.

So it's up, is that one of the yeah.

If you go to Pittsburgh, dog, gov safety.

I don't know.

I can um let's see here.

But yeah, my understanding is all the data is here.

So this sounds like you would like someone just to um filter and then send it to council.

Yeah, I think it would be helpful, at least for me as a member to sort of get you know a periodic report that's like, you know, this is the picture, and then and then we have, you know, we could have a post agenda have someone come to the table kind of go through, you know, for us for the public.

Safety, I mean, backslash safety, backslash police, and backslash police dash data dash portal.

And I think it would be pretty simple for anyone to if it is like the dashboard, you should be able to just simply um you know have all that have all that available.

Yeah, my hope is that this isn't a complicated thing that we have this information that this isn't a big lift for public safety.

But I mean, obviously we can talk about that once, further discussion.

Council President Laval.

No, I'm this shouldn't be a big lift at all.

Um my understanding is they have the data, even when we attend the Stop the violence board meetings.

They present the data of here's where the violence has been occurring in the city, et cetera, et cetera.

So to just simply be able to bring all that data together and give council report, that shouldn't be a heavy lift.

Thank you.

Second round, Councilwoman Gross.

Thank you.

Yeah.

So I appreciate uh Councilman Wilson kind of giving us the login for it or the um website address.

I do see data for victims by sex and I don't see perpetrators, but this is the page that says uh it says demographics.

So I assume it would be here if anywhere, but and I don't it's not on the dashboard for the perpetrators, but that should be easily added into the report.

Yeah, and then I don't see at least it you know, easily or right and readily.

Um it says by neighborhood, I think that's by the incidents.

Um so again, if it could be within or outside, um and councilman uh warwick just aside said we don't need to try to live edit this, we can just make the amendment for Tuesday.

It'd be helpful to I think for us to uh no since it's since it's a such a core part of the debate and what the public is themselves kind of debating back and forth.

Um I'm really curious to see that added.

So thank you.

I appreciate it.

Thanks, Councilmember Warwick.

And just sort of another note, just as far as as you know, really including the ages, because we are talking about children here, and I am very uncomfortable with the sort of demonization of our kids overall, uh, for the behaviors of what I assume are a small few.

Um also this notion that our that our children are a danger to to sort of the city as a whole, it it just it echoes a bit of uh the sort of narrative that we saw around our unhoused people and the danger.

Now that's not to say that there were not incidences where you know an unhoused person or or possibly unhoused person, you know, committed a crime that affected uh, you know, someone just a random stranger on the street.

That certainly does happen, but the reality is with our unhoused folks is that the people who are most at risk are the unhoused, right?

Of you know, that are in the most um uh so when we talk about our kids and we talk about you know being worried about it's it it's really our kids, right?

That that you know are the most affected, I think by violence among kids, and I think that's something that we lose sight of uh in the in the narrative, certainly in the news.

Um at any rate, and we do have lots of wonderful partners all around the city that are doing great work trying to uplift our kids and make them feel valued and make them you know help them know that they are that we care about them here at the city of Pittsburgh.

We care about all of our kids, and uh anyway.

So I just want to just just all that to say um let's let's put some numbers behind the feelings and and really you know, then we can really understand what the situation that we're dealing with.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Further discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of bill 462, please say aye.

Hi.

I'm sorry.

We need to go back and actually vote on the amendment, because there were amendments that were made, and then um and then we can vote on the final bill.

So is there a motion to would you like to amend by substitution or amend the bill?

Why don't we add it?

Because if other members think of something they'd like included between now and Tuesday, then you let me know and then we can update for final vote.

Yeah, but you'd do that Tuesday.

Right.

So this is amendment by substitution, okay.

Okay, so amendment by substitution, please.

Yeah.

Second.

Second.

Discussion, seeing none, all those in favor of um amending Bill 462, please say aye.

I'm aye.

Any further discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor of Bill 462 as amended, please say aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation.

Defer papers, bill two eighty-eight.

Ordinance amending.

Would you mind reading these together?

Sure.

Thank you.

Ordinance Bill 288, ordinance amending and supplementing the Pittsburgh Code, Title VI, Conduct.

Article 1, regulated rights and actions by adding Chapter 630B, prohibiting immigration enforcement in city owned or operated spaces, and amending and supplementing the Pittsburgh Code Title V Traffic Article 1 Administration Chapter 503 Enforcement and Control by adding section 503.21 prohibiting immigration enforcement and city owned or operated spaces and bill two eighty-nine ordinance amending and supplementing the Pittsburgh Code Title VI conduct article one regulated rights and actions by adding chapter 630C protecting community spaces.

Motion to approve second discussion.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Now that I to have them read together, I have amendment by substitution for each.

So I'll first say that this was the members first saw this now is it almost four weeks ago, I think, when we first introduced these bills.

Um and we held these because we knew that the law department had suggestions.

I also had a request from Councilman Coghill to coordinate with another one of the advocacy groups, the Hispanic Development Center.

Um I talked with them.

I also shared these amendments with them on Friday and got an email back that they're supportive of them as well.

Um and so I'll I'll just say that these are the amendments that the law department helped us with.

Um so these are the ones they asked for.

Um everyone's supportive of them, and the administration is supportive, so I'm just really grateful for their help with the language.

Um so I will motion to amend by substitution.

Um and again, they're on the yellow pages in front of you.

Um Bill 2026, 0288.

Can I do them in one motion?

And Bills 2026, 0289.

Need a second, second, discussion.

See, Councilmember Warwick.

I just want to so um madam clerk, could you uh update this so that I'm listed as a co-sponsor just for the sake of you know who who did the work on the bills?

Or for both of them.

We're on there as both of both council member gross and myself as sponsors, but this really the work on these was done by by her and her office.

So co-yeah, thank you.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Further discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of amending by substitution bills 0288 and 0289.

Please say aye.

Aye.

Amendments, uh, amendments pass.

Any further discussion on bills as amended?

Seeing none, all those in favor of bills as amended, 0288 and 0289, please say aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation, that moves us to public works and infrastructure committee chaired by councilwoman Salonetro.

Supplemental new paper, Bill 447, resolution authorizing the mayor and the director of the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure on behalf of the City of Pittsburgh to enter into a supplemental agreement or agreements with A.

Liberoni Inc.

for costs associated with construction for the Sylvan Avenue Multimodal Path Project, providing for the payment of the cost thereof not to exceed 1,871,810.97, a net increase of 139,306.84 cent, reimbursable at various rates.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of Bill 447, please say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation.

Deferred papers, Bill 300.

Resolution providing for the issuance of a warrant in favor of a Felino Construction Inc.

in the amount of $481,320 for the purpose of emergency snow removal at various locations in providing for the payment of the cost thereof over one year.

Motion to approve with discussion.

With discussion, Councilwoman Salonetro.

This is a bill that I've held in the past.

We were waiting for additional information from Felino a little bit more detailed on the invoice.

Um I got some of that information today.

Um I have not had a chance to disseminate it yet.

Um so I'm going to ask to hold for another two weeks to give us a chance to do that.

Second.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of a two-week hold on Bill 300, please say aye.

Aye.

Bill be held.

New papers, Bill 414.

Bill 414, resolution authorizing the mayor and the director of finance on behalf of the city of Pittsburgh to enter into an agreement or agreements or amendments thereto with various parties for the purpose of accessing city property while certain rural road crossing at Lockway East and Lockway West.

Council District 7 are being upgraded or removed at no cost to the city.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Discussion.

Councilwoman Gross.

Right.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

I'm actually a little confused over this bill.

I feel like I've had a lot of bills come through in my district in your in your committee, Councilwomen.

So I appreciate you being too easy to work with.

But this one, similarly, Councilman Mosley and I, it's right on our district line again, and we did um some conversations with the property owners.

And the last I heard, the property owners were still not comfortable with what I think it's the railroad was asking for.

Um and so that was you know, that was I think when the bill was introduced.

I heard concerns with them, so it was just last week.

It's been a very long week.

Um so I would love to hear back from those.

We did a it was it's been going on for I think since last year, like we did a site visit and we had the Army Corps on sites, we had county.

No, we didn't have the county there, we had PWC there, we had all of the landowners there.

Um, and so uh I'm not I'm I don't I'm not comfortable that the residents are comfortable.

Um so I would I would want more time.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Further discussion.

So do you mind if we hold it?

Yeah, can we hold how long would you like that?

No, thank you.

Okay, motion to hold for two weeks.

Second.

All those in favor of a two-week hold, please say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Bill be held for two weeks.

Uh that moves us to 415.

Bill 415.

Bill 415, resolution amending resolution 866 of 2025, which authorized the mayor and the director of the Department of Public Works to enter into a professional service agreement between the City of Pittsburgh and Studio Zoo for costs associated with the Homewood Park construction project for the construction administration schedule extension and transfer of fee from reimbursable expenses by increasing the total spend by 48,000 for a new not to exceed amount of two million one hundred thirty seven thousand eighty-two dollars and thirty cent.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of bill four fifteen, please say aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation.

Bill 416.

Bill 416, resolution amending resolution 201, effective May 14, 2022, entitled Authorizing the Mayor and the Director of the Department of Public Works to enter into an agreement or agreements or the use of existing agreements between the City of Pittsburgh and Clevon Design Associates Inc.

for the professional landscape architectural services for Sheridan Park 1 phase 1 design.

The total cost not to exceed $300,000 by increasing the total allocation by the amount of $10,945 for a new total of $31,945.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of Bill 416, please say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation.

Bill 417.

Resolution providing for an agreement or agreements with A.

Morante contracting Inc.

for costs associated with the construction phase of the Smithfield Street reconstruction project, providing for the payment of the cost thereof, not to exceed $6,672,202.56.

Motion to approve with a discussion.

Second.

Second, with discussion.

I don't know if there's anybody here that can talk to that.

I just I just want to make sure.

Thank you.

Yep.

Good afternoon.

Jeff Skellikan, Director of Ferdomy.

Uh for the Bill 40417.

Um this is a uh specific construction for Smithfield Street in downtown Pittsburgh.

Right.

Um it's an 80-20 split.

Um we are receiving federal funds and the local funds.

Um local funds be 1.3 million dollars and the rest will be federal funded.

Uh the limits of the project are gonna be from Forbes Avenue to 6th Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh.

Um we're gonna probably get be able to hit notice proceed within the next two months.

You'll see construction probably at the end of summer.

That was really what I wanted the public to know that this is an eighty-20 split between Pandot and the City of Pittsburgh, and you know that that's a large number uh to absorb that doesn't have a good explanation as to why it's so large.

Yeah, it's 80 percent federal funded um 5.3 million, something like that, quick math.

Okay, that's it for me.

Thank you.

Further discussion, council member Coghell.

Thank you, madam chair.

What are they doing, resurfacing Smithfield?

Is it a whole new rebuild from um Forbes to six in downtown?

You know, lighting everything.

New lighting, new road, new roads, better roads, um, sidewalks.

Yeah, full reconstruction.

Nice.

All the way from you said it was um Forbes two sixth.

Six, okay.

So like Burlington Coat Factory.

Yep.

Right down here.

Yep.

It's like three bucks, yeah.

Good.

Okay.

That's all, thank you.

Thank you.

Further discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of Bill 417, please say aye.

Okay, aye.

Resolution authorizing acceptance by the city of Pittsburgh for dedication of certain right of way in and around North Avenue and Brighton Road in conjunction with the bridge reconstruction, there too at no cost to the city located in a 20 second ward.

Motion to approve.

Second discussion.

Discussion.

Anyone here speak to this?

Why don't they get Councilman Cog a little release them?

I'm back.

Sorry.

Sorry.

I mean, um, this is for Norfolk Southern.

This is for this is actually their project.

This is to replace one of their bridges.

Um right now the property is city parks.

What we're doing is we're converting the property from city property to a right-of-way so they could construct the bridge.

Is this the pedestrian bridge or is this the no this is the door?

So the pedestrian bridge is supposed to be completed before we're starting construction with that this year.

Okay, you'll see it soon.

Great.

Our thanks.

Yep.

Thank you.

Further discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of bill four eighteen, please say aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation.

That moves us to land use and economic development committee chaired by councilman Wilson.

Deferred papers bill eight ordinance amending and supplementing the Pittsburgh Code, Title 7, Business Licensing, Article 7, Article 7 Service Businesses, adding a new chapter 768, short-term rental housing.

Uh motion to approve discussion.

Second.

The discussion.

The further bill's primary sponsor.

Thank you, Councilman.

Um, if members will recall that we have a uh zoning bill that comports with this at the Planning commission, that is slowly making its way through.

Um so it hasn't had its public hearing there yet, so I'm guessing it'll still take maybe six weeks or more.

So I think we'll we'll we want but they kind of go together, so I'll just motion to hold this one six weeks.

Second.

Discussion on the motion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of a six-week hold, please say aye.

Aye.

Bill be held six weeks.

That moves us to recreation youth and senior services committee chaired by Councilmember Warwick.

Bill 419 resolution authorizing the issuance of a warrant in favor of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy located at 317 East Carson Street for the reimbursement for horticultural and forestry work completed in Allegheny Commons.

August Wilson, Emerald View, Highland, and Riverview Parks in the amount of 250,000.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of Bill 419, please say aye.

Affirmative recommendation.

That moves us to innovation performance asset management and technology committee chaired by Councilwoman Gross.

Bill 408, resolution amending resolution 119 of 2025, which authorized the mayor and director of the Department of Public Works to enter into the professional services agreement or agreements with RouteSmart Technologies Inc., which provides trash and recycling routing optimization for the purchase and implementation of navigation software that will provide term-by-turn directions to environmental service drivers through November 30th, 2027, by increasing the total amount by 113,280 for a new total not to exceed 360,407.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Discussion?

Discussion.

Councilmember Charlotte.

I believe at least Chris and not sure who else is here to discuss this.

Christopher Mitchell, Project Coordinator for Environmental Services, working on the Route Smart project.

And on Montreal Public Works.

So I just out of curiosity, if you can tell us a little bit about what this project is.

I know you've been working on uh optimizing and and kind of rerouting the uh environment service maps for for some time now.

Curious where that stands and and how this uh software works.

Sure.

So the city of Pittsburgh has used Route Smart for decades now.

It's made all of the routes for our garbage trucks, recycling trucks, uh snow plows, um, and street cleaners.

Um I came into environmental services a couple years ago to optimize the recycling and refuse routes.

Um as I was working on it in the first year, the old version of ARCIS, which was what Route Smart was working off of as an extension.

Uh Sun said that it was decades old as well.

It was going away, a new uh ARC map pro was coming out, and Route Smart moved to a uh browser-based system Route Smart Optimize.

Um, in this uh transition, we were able to move away from the paper binders that we have used for 20 years.

The last time we have updated our our uh refuse and recycling routes was 2007, and so a lot's changed since then, and they've had the same paper binders since 2007.

Um, as brought in to uh optimize those, but now um with this new software we had the chance to move away from paper binders, which um obviously guys driving these big giant trucks around the city are not looking at as they drive.

Um we had the finally the chance to replace those with turn-by-turn navigation tablets.

Uh that meant that we were going to use Route Smart for creating the routes, and that gets pushed over to SmartSuite, which is the app used on the tablets.

Um, in this process of moving from one end to the other, um I think there was some confusion as to how both of these systems were going to get paid, and that's why we're here today to make sure that the smart suite side of it is paid as well as because before I think we thought Route Smart was taking care of all of it.

Or there was some confusion there.

But we are um have these tablets already in use in some of our trucks.

We've been running them on the recycling routes for a few months now.

And if everything goes well, we are likely to have near fleet-wide implementation with all the tablets in all of the uh refuse trucks as well as soon as Monday morning.

And I guess so.

But I was curious how the optimization project is going.

Um I know there's just like a there's a huge disparity between uh areas where there are more houses that there than there were before, and some of the routes are very fast.

Um and unfortunately, the way that environmental service is set up, there's a huge incentive to be on the fastest route and on the shortest route.

Um and I'm curious if we've if we've uh how far along we are in uh fixing that disparity.

It's a great question.

So I I was brought into this about uh two and a half, three years ago to do that, and then all these changes were made.

We've been working all this time just to get our routes as they are run right now into this system.

When I came in, our data was very bad.

Um the information we had was very bad.

We had to start from scratch.

So I've been uh working route smart to get up to date to how we work now.

That is been what I've been doing for the past couple of years, and we are at that point basically as of this week.

Um, so I have yet to create a single new balanced route.

But if we go live on Monday or the week after, depending on if we hit any hiccups, then we will have that fleet-wide implementation.

That'll be the first time we can finally move towards optimization, which is really what this software is made for.

Uh we've kind of been pushing a square peg and a round hole trying to get our current routes into the system as they've been running for the past 20 years.

It's been very hard work to go that way.

But once we actually have it in there, like we do as of right now, um now we can open up the flight gates and say that give us new ones.

This is the finally the time where we can optimize.

We have a couple ambitious plans for changes that I'm not at liberty to discuss uh fully at here today before we get a few uh ducks in a row, uh, but uh that work will be delivered before the January 1st when our newsletters go out as to these new routes, what they're gonna look like, if it's gonna change anything for the people uh who put out their their trash and things like that.

Um but we do expect to be a lot more balanced by January 1st.

Great.

I think that balance is really important.

Yeah, I know that it will will ultimately save us money because you know, some of the longer routes, but also um, you know, uh the the thing that I complain about all the time is just the incentive to get done as as fast as humanly possible does not always mean that everything, especially on the recycling routes that everything gets in the back of the truck.

Um so I'm looking forward to looking forward to that being implemented, and I hope that with all this in here that that this is it becomes easier for you to um to make even smaller changes uh quicker, you know.

Absolutely.

That's gonna be one of the biggest advantages to this system.

We don't have to wait 20 years to update these anymore.

We can do it in a day.

Just we we see that this is a little wonky over here.

Why not just move from one route to the other?

We can push that out the next day.

It's going to be a lot more nimble.

And um I think that um our drivers who have been using the tablets already really like them.

And there is a good chance that they wouldn't, you know.

Um, but uh we're really pleased with the adoption by our drivers of this technology.

It has uh proven its use to them already, and um if they don't have a tablet, they come ask me.

They really like using it.

Good, good.

Go ahead, all right.

All right, uh well, thank you very much for for all the work on this, and thanks for coming to the table today.

Sure.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you for their discussion, Councilwoman Gross.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

So we're just waiting on paying the bill.

Um there was some confusion over, we we had been paying Route Smart, and uh there's it seemed to be some confusion that Smart Suite was a separate bill.

Um so uh Smart Suite came around and said uh you might know more about this than I do.

I try to stay out of the money.

Yeah.

Well, no, because I actually I don't do procurement for the department.

But I only write the legislation.

However, what happened was, from what I understand.

Uh Route Smart originally was one contract, and these upgrades required two separate platforms.

One being the in truck platform and the other being in all kinds of that's why use and what we're also doing is taking both of those contracts and sunsetting them in 2027 so they line up together so we can put it out to bid as one and fix that.

Um but basically, yes, we were supposed to sign two different contracts for this company, and seems we have only signed one so far.

So we are paid to date on the one that is signed, and once you approve this and the other one is signed, we it's we will pay.

Okay, yeah.

And so my colleagues, I didn't get the briefing on this beforehand, apologies, it's been a crazy time, but so um, route smart, kind of like where we're sitting, you know, when you're sitting here in the building, you can see all the routes and you can change the routes.

Yes.

But then additionally, in the kind of like two-year process of saying like we're digitizing the data.

So basically, we might as well have then the route changes not be printed out into a binder.

We might as well have them be digital on a tablet.

And that is this route.

That's smart suite.

Smart suite.

Um, and so that's what I'm saying.

Obviously, there was confusion because they sound there's actually two different companies, but they sound much the same.

Um, but I'm also kind of just fascinated that the goal was to make the routes less disparate.

Yes.

So, like what is the how long is the like longest ones or longer ones?

I spent about six months over the summer uh riding our recycling routes, testing out these these tablets, and I think about the longest one I was on was 10 hours.

Uh, and uh I know with garbage pickup, when the truck fills up, you know, it has to drive to Imperial or to Monroeville.

Um how does it work with recycling?

Is that just like you drive until the truck fills up?

Yep, and they go down to Hazelwood to our MERF there.

Um our refuse routes, um, these these both the refuse and the recycling routes were made in 2008.

Um a lot has changed in recycling, especially with online shopping, with the amount of cardboard people have, um, with our blue bins that we have distributed.

So pretty much all of our refuse routes gets done earlier than our recycling routes.

Because there's less landfill.

Well, because there's a lot more recycling, a lot more participation in it.

And uh so the refuse routes have stayed about the same time, but the recycling routes have lengthened.

Yes, and um that the they were designed that the refuse routes at the time that they were designed, uh there was less recycling.

So they could go through a lot quicker.

So there might be twice as much homes that is serviced by a recycling truck than a refuse truck.

Sometimes three times as much.

Because how could there be more?

Because if if there's three uh routes right here of refuse, then the recycling truck would have a route that covers all of that.

Yeah.

It is much larger space, and at the time they were collecting a lot less, so that made sense, but that has changed so much in the past 20 years.

I got it, I'm following you.

Um and so you now have it digitally.

But how you could you say you could change it every day.

Yes, but you have not changed it yet.

No, that is starting after we wanted to introduce the software, this hardware to our drivers with the current routes in them so that they didn't have to learn a new route and a new technology at the same time.

So we wanted them to be able to do the routes that they know, the way they know how to do it, but introduce.

Oh, here's a screen, and it's showing you everything that you're doing.

It's showing what you have left, it's showing this and that.

That way they get comfortable with the technology before we throw it.

And also you can test the technology.

Yes.

You can see whether it's right or wrong.

It's the same route you've been doing for 20 years.

Yeah.

I will throw a pitch to the power of interns because we prioritize some of our intern budget and they were in the trucks.

They did help us out.

So a healthy intern budget goes a long way.

Nice.

Good.

Yes, duly noted.

Diddly noted.

So I can't say I am a little fascinated by this because I do think way streams are changing.

God knows there's a lot of interest of myself, and I think some other constituencies on having, for example, municipal curbside compost pickup, which is something some cities have been doing for more than 10 years, that I've personally seen.

But it would be a whole completely different routing calculus, right?

So you know, let alone all the other kind of obstacles to doing it, different fleet, different, you know, employees possibly.

So um but now we have these kind of routing capacities, and we know where the pickups are, and then we have it both for the landfill waste and for the recycling.

Yes.

All in this software.

Yeah, so 100,000 homes that I have placed dot by dot over the course of years, is in there now and it's the most accurate it's ever been, and it's been a lot of work, but I'm really proud of everybody who came together to make it happen, and um I'm very confident in it where I was not confident in this data a year or two ago.

Got it, got it.

Good to hear.

And then, so just out of curiosity, and then and then I'll stop because you know, I'm supportive, I'm not um to all the bill or anything, but when you know I have a lot of new construction, still in my district.

So, and not just multifamily, right?

There's still like people rehabbing or filling in um new housing, and so how does it get added when there's fairly easily.

Uh, building permits, occupancy permits.

Like, yeah, what do you do?

Uh mostly that's going to be uh there's not an automatic process as far as I know.

Uh most of these changes are going to be through people reporting back, hey, this is here now, add it to the system.

That's our drivers, our foreman, things like that.

I'd love some sort of advocate.

The very next bill on council agenda is Councilman Charlotte's housing dashboard.

So there will be up to the minute also digitized data on where something has just been built.

FYI, that's the very next bill.

So I'll stop there.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

Further discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of Bill 408, please say aye.

I'm affirmative recommendation.

Thank you both very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That moves us to Bill 427.

Ordnance amending ordinance supplementing the Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances, Title 1, Administrative Article 7 procedures by adding a new chapter, chapter 173a, housing data dashboard by amending the chapter number to conform to the numbering in Article 7 of the Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances.

The new chapter shall be numbered 162A.

Motion to approve.

Second discussion.

It's uh with the discussion, Councilmember Charland.

Uh just real quickly for members, we've already passed this legislation.

This is a renumbering.

This is uh kind of a my bad.

Uh I we wrote the legislation and did not uh we had the wrong number.

So we're just changing the number on this legislation.

Um planning is still working on it, but I want to thank the clerk's office and Sean Carter for putting that out that that we uh made a numbering mistake earlier in the year.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Further discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of Bill 427, please say aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation that moves us to intergovernmental and educational affairs committee chaired by Councilman Mosley.

Deferred papers, Bill 385, resolution adopting plan revision to the city of Pittsburgh's official sewage facilities plan for 3634 Penn Avenue at no cost to the city.

Motion to approve.

Second discussion, if you don't mind, Councilman.

Discussion.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Um we held this for one week last week, and I call the firm to um finish their planning module because the planning department still needs forms signed by them, and I left a message at the architecture firm ready and get them.

So I'll give them another week.

Um I've got to get all of the things that planning needs before we pass the sewer module.

If you don't mind, so if you don't mind, I'm motion to hold one week.

Thank you.

Second.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of a one-way hold for bill three eighty-five, please say aye.

I uh bill be held one week.

New papers, bill four oh nine.

Resolution adopting plan revision to the city of Pittsburgh's official sewage facilities plan for two seventeen through two thirty nine Halkett Street at no cost to the city.

Motion to approve.

Second discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of Bill 409, please say aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation, Bill 410.

Resolution amending resolution 571 of 2021 in order to authorize the mayor and the director of the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure on behalf of the City of Pittsburgh to amend the cooperation agreement or agreements with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy for maintenance of plantings and other planting related infrastructure in the public right of ways throughout the city of Pittsburgh at no cost to the city.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of Bill 410, please say aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation, Bill 411.

Resolution amending resolution 297 of 2025, providing for a reimbursement agreement or agreements with Pittsburgh Water for costs associated with the Smithfield Street Phase 1 project, where Pittsburgh Water will be responsible for paying 100% of the actual expenses involved in certain work to be described in the agreements and an amount not to exceed 123,000 and further amending resolution 924 of 2024, effective December 18, 2024, entitled Resolution Adopting and Approving the 2025 Capital Budget, the proposed 2025 Community Development Program, and the 2025 through 2030 capital improvement program by increasing Smithfield Street Phase 1 TIP by 123,000 dollars.

Motion to approve second discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of Bill 411, please say aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation, Bill 412.

Resolution authorizing the Pittsburgh Land Bank to acquire all the city's right, title, and interests, if any, in into the publicly owned properties in the 12th ward of the city of Pittsburgh, designated in the deed registry office of Allegheny County is block 125A, lot 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 133, 0 Lincoln Avenue, and Zero Mayflower Street, Council District 9 at no cost to the city.

Motion to hold for one week.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of a one-way hold for Bill 412, please say aye.

Bill be held.

Bill 413.

Bill 413.

Resolution authorizing the Pittsburgh Land Bank to acquire all the city's right title and interest, if any, in and to the publicly owned properties in a 15th ward of the city of Pittsburgh, designated in the D Registry Office of Allegheny County is Block 55 P.

Lots 15, 0 Chatsworth Avenue, Council District Number 5.

Lot 16, 0 Chatsworth Avenue, Council District Number 5.

As zero Mononga Halo Street, we have lots 45 57 58 60 62 64 67 68 69 70 and 71.

And block 56B, Lot 37 at 0 Berwick Street, District 5 at no cost to the city.

Motion to approve.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor of Bill 413, please say aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation.

That exhausts are standing committee's agenda.

We do have meeting announcements.

Next week, council will hold its regular meeting and standing committee meeting on Tuesday, May 12th and Wednesday, May 13th, respectively at 10 a.m.

To register to speak at these meetings, please fill out the sign-up form on the council meeting webpage by the deadlines.

You might also call the clerk's office at 412 255 2138.

Is there anything from members?

I would like to motion for another post agenda.

Uh post agenda on the ACFRA, the annual comprehensive financial report.

Second.

Discussion.

Seeing none, all those in favor?

Aye, aye.

We will get that scheduled.

Anything else from members?

Seeing none, we'll take a motion to approve the minutes and adjourn the meeting.

So moved.

Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Meeting is adjourned.