City Council - Regular Meeting

Let's call this Altoona City Council meeting to order Monday, July 13th at 6 p.m. We now have a moment of silent prayer. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Linda, would you take the roll call, please?

Councilman Beatty?

Here.

Councilman Butterbaugh? Here. Councilwoman Klinich? Here. Vice Mayor Ellis?

Here.

Councilman Ickes?

Here.

Councilman Kelly is absent. Mayor Pacifico?

Here. Our presentation is going to be postponed until next month. I want to announce that council had an executive session to discuss personnel and real estate. And with that, we will now open the floor for public comment. If anybody would like to address council, please come to the podium, state your name and address for the record, and please keep your comments to three minutes. The floor is now open.

Well, after this weekend, I was absolutely blown away. for what the city did, police department, fire department, Chris, Altoona Mayor, there must be other, Mayor, you must have been involved some way. I just couldn't believe the crowd in The police department, how kind they were to people, giving them information. Same way with the fire department. And I was just blown away. And I got to give a, you know, kind of regretting, but... Norfolk Southern, they really come to the front. They are arrogant, and they are arrogant, for sure. No question about it. When Conrail was formed, I had the opportunity to come here in April 1977. There were six or seven other places that I could have chose to come, but thank God that I come to Altoona, Pennsylvania. Thank you.

Thanks, Dan. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Tony Dealey and for nearly 41 years I've lived at 100 Wordsworth Avenue in the city of Altoona. I need to bring to the leadership of what we showed everybody last week is a great city. to take charge of addressing a situation that exists that's critical and needs immediate attention. There is a terribly dangerous situation of falling trees. They could be falling while we're here right now. It's a little bit of a neighborhood sport to listen for the cracking branches. And it's the right of way for an undeveloped West Holmes Avenue that was never developed into a street, covered with utility lines and a lot of really enormous trees that are starting to fall down. I think the main trigger was, besides their ages, a couple years ago, the Water Authority had to do some sewer line work, and even though I met with them and objected that they were going to disrupt the routes here, they assured me they'd meet with me and would discuss what they were going to do. Well, they got the work done while I was away for a week. Next year, enormous tree in front of that person's house. Bam, down. Thankfully, nobody got hurt. If the little girl would have been on her swing, she'd have probably been an obituary. Two years later, enormous tree up on the hill right now. It's down at about a 45-degree angle or so because it's slowly taking down other trees that are on this hill. The real disturbing thing for me is that the trees that are potentially going to go down could, well, at an absolute minimum, could destroy our house, let alone kill us. I am not complaining about anybody here. Nate Kissel and Steve Walker and a couple other people I've talked to have been phenomenal. I think they do a tremendous job. They had somebody out there a couple weeks ago taking care of a dangerous tree situation. They're great. It's a huge piece of change. And you're not going to pull half a million dollars out of thin air. But if it's not addressed, if you're lucky, you'll get off with $300,000 or so in property damage. If you're not lucky, people are going to be hurt or killed. And Penelope's aware of the situation. I know Nate's been working with them. They're dealing with other issues as well. This massive treaty needs to be laid down. But they're not going to do it just by, you know, through luck. inaccessible, something has to be done because the tree guy that was out there from Pentelec pointed out to my wife and I one large tree after another that is either dead or dying and uprooting and splitting. We're going to have a major problem soon. I hope that's not me. But, yep, so I hope to hear from somebody with some active response. This is, I mean, it's like this, folks. We're on public record now. If they start coming down hurting people without reaction from the city, To my dying day, I will do everything within the legal system to make your lives a living hell. My grandchildren's lives are at risk, and this needs addressed. Please take care of it starting tomorrow. Maybe talk about it this evening before you go home. It needs dealt with. Thank you very much.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the Council. I submitted a $1,000 bid for 1314 North 4th Avenue. Excuse me, could you give your name and address, please? Yes, my name's Franklin Reed, Jr. My address is 113 West 11th Avenue. The address I'm speaking about now that I placed a $1,000 bid for is 1314 North 4th Avenue. I believe this property has real value and I want to continue investing in our community. I was born and raised here. I own property here. I'm a local landlord and I operate a small business that serves residents throughout the area. I also want to be transparent about my plans for the property. Next month, I have a zoning hearing regarding my existing properties that are adjacent to this property. And if that application is approved, I plan to incorporate the parcel into my business property as it continues to grow. If the zoning application is not approved, I would then explore building on the property in a manner that complies with all city requirements. Either way, my intention is the same, to improve the property, invest in it, ensure it becomes a positive asset for the neighborhood rather than sitting vacant. I respectfully ask the council to consider not only the plans being discussed today, but also the fact that I have made a substantial higher offer of $1,000 compared to the other bid of $250. I believe my offer reflects both the value of the property and my commitment to this community. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Devin Saylor, 1515 25th Avenue. Guys, I just wanted to come up here again and just talk, maybe even start a dialogue as it relates again to the homeless ordinance that was passed here or the urban camping ordinance rather that was passed here just several months ago. For me, there are things within this ordinance that I can agree with, like people laying within the doorsteps of businesses and so on. I think that's a fine part of the ordinance. But for me, what I don't get and I can't get behind is an ordinance that could potentially criminalize someone for doing the crime of sitting on the sidewalk or laying on a bench. For me personally, I don't see the value in that. I think you're really just making a bad situation for somebody potentially worse. My understanding is that this has not been enforced yet. And to be honest with you, I don't understand why Why put forth an ordinance if you don't intend to use it or if it's not going to be in use or in effect? So for me, I think the solution here in my in my mind would be to repeal that section of the ordinance in the not so distant future. And in addition to that, provide more public amenities. I think it would help a lot with, you know, having more benches. I mean, I don't see too many people sleeping on benches, but in the event that there was someone there. Maybe it would be advantageous to have more seating options for people as they traverse downtown or any other of the highly trafficked areas across the city. In addition to trash cans, which is something I've talked about in the past because I think it really helps with litter, provided that you have the staff to maintain those trash cans. And if I may just add one more thing to it, I think the city of Altoona has branded itself a city of hope. And I think that if we want to be a city of hope, if we want to give hope to people, then we have to offer them as many opportunities as we possibly can, and for our homeless community as well. So with that being said, I would ask for the council to consider repealing sections of that ordinance and working actively to provide public amenities. And also, maybe I'd read the article. I don't know who did the article. Was that you, Bill? uh but uh you know if i could inspire some people not just here because obviously you guys are doing the work i don't disagree with that i don't think the city does a horrible job at dealing with homelessness uh but as a community if we could work to see these people out in the community and help them uh and not just walk around them so uh

I got two homeless people removed off the street Wednesday. What did you do for homeless people?

Right. Well, Matt, I just.

Other than trying to flood the streets, the sailor for the 10th city campaign is just immoral. While we're actually, the mean city council is actually helping homeless people get off the streets. You're trying to put as many people on the streets. Like it's just not what Altoona wants or needs.

Can I have my 10 seconds back? Sure. Okay. Yeah, Matt. Again, I didn't say the city does a bad job when I even ended that by saying that I don't think the city necessarily does a horrible job of doing that. I just think that that ordinance in particular, isn't really benefiting or helping the problem in any way, shape or form. And you know, I've went and I've fed the homeless and I've done things within the community. Maybe not in the past couple of days, but I've definitely done that before. So I think that's a very bold criticism to make. But I appreciate it.

Well, a bold criticism is the council is just walking around the homeless people while you're fraudulently pretending.

I believe. No, no. I believe maybe there's been a misunderstanding. No, there's not. No, I'm saying.

We completely understand this situation.

No, I think you misunderstood what I had said. I wasn't saying that you guys walk around them. I'm just saying that. That's exactly what you said. No, I'm saying I think that there are people within the community, including myself, you know, inspiring other individuals to go up and not just walk around these people when we see them in the community.

And people deserve better than to be handed a sleeping bag or a tent. They deserve better. Thank you.

All right. I appreciate it. Thanks.

Autumn Temple. I live on North 4th Avenue in Altoona. I'm here today to express my support for Frank Reed and his repository bid for the property at 13, 14, 16th or 13, 14, 16 North 4th Avenue. You're probably all aware of Rafe Bailey. He left our city with numerous eyesores. I happen to live beside one of Rafe's previous rentals. I have to say the new investor has done nothing to improve the property. It's still an eyesore and it's vacant. Frank purchased land previously owned by Rafe. Having lived on North 4th Avenue for the past 25 plus years, I have to say that this piece of land located beside the land that he submitted a repository bid for has never looked as nice. It demonstrates his thoughtful investment in our community and an opportunity to bring new life and improved appearance to the neighborhood. Frank has committed to community improvement. He's the owner of two rentals that are maintained while both on the interior and the exterior. He also lives less than one mile from the property at stake and is committed to the area improvement. I respectfully ask that the board to consider the positive impact the proposal can have to approve the bid for 13, 14, 16 North 4th Avenue. I believe it's a sound decision that will benefit the neighborhood as a whole. And I thank you for your consideration. And I also want to say you guys did an excellent job with the train stuff. You know, the eyesore on Cheston Avenue, our trains will all be gone next week, and the people that were here will not really see the business at Norfolk Southern, but the city in itself and your employees. Like, you did an excellent job. So thanks.

My name is Harriet Gaston. I live at 302 2nd Avenue in Altoona. The reason I'm up here is I have noticed for many years when I'm on Pleasant Valley Boulevard at the Weiss Market and then I turn to go up that mountain, the South 5th Street from Pleasant Valley Boulevard to about Crawford, is narrow, much more narrow than when you pass Crawford going down that hill. I have a Nissan Sentra, but if I saw two F-150s coming down, I think one of them would be in the ditch. one going one way and one going the other way. So if it is just throwing out there, if eminent domain or whatever policy to widen that street, I think would be helpful to those of us who are using that to get to somewhere, whether it's the homeowners or someone, as I said, coming off of Weiss Market.

Ms. Gaston, I'm sorry, I didn't catch the street that.

South 5th Street.

South 5th, thank you.

Is there any more public comment? Okay, seeing none, we will close the floor and move into the resolutions.

Item is approving the minutes of the Altoona City Council meeting held Monday June the 8th item be is approving a contract for police services with the Altoona housing authority for the period of June 1 2026 through June 30th 2027 and authorizing the city manager to execute all documents and for the city clerk to test you same item see is approving the submission of a multimodal transportation fund grant application to caught the Commonwealth Pennsylvania Department of community and economic development for the 7th Street Streetscape Project with a total project cost of $1,066,919.84 and a 10% local match of $106,691.98 and a grant request amount of $960,227.80. Six cents and further authorizing the city manager to execute all documents in the city clerk to attest to same item D is approving a repository bid in the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars for property located at 13 14 to 16 North 4th Avenue to John 4 of Apple Lane and further authorizing the city manager to execute the taxing district form. Item E is approving a repository bid in the amount of $1,000 for property located at 1314 to 16 North 4th Avenue to Franklin Reed Jr. of 113 West 11th Avenue and further authorizing the city manager to execute the taxing district form. Item F is approving a repository bid. There are a few bids in the amount of $1,000 for 3175-77 Spruce Avenue, $1,599.36 for property located at 1513-1515 North 6th Avenue, and for property $2,699.97 for property at 417... to 19 South 8th Street to Chloe Demange of Long Beach, California, and further authorizing the city manager to execute the taxing district form. Are there any additions, deletions, or anything that needs to be pulled for a separate area?

Yes, I'd like to pull D, E, and F. D. F speaks for itself. D&E, I did get to speak with both of you a couple times today and had some excellent conversations. And what you have is a situation where two different well-intentioned people, unbeknownst to one another, purchase properties around this property. And so there's good plans by both, but there is some pending things going on with the Zoning Hearing Board as was aforementioned. So I would like to suggest that we table D&E and take the opportunity to sort it out. Let's see what the Zoning Hearing Board says And let's see if we can't sort this out in an amicable fashion rather than just make a vote now that, you know, we don't want to do the wrong thing. We don't want to take any chances one way or the other, you know, respectfully. And so if we could table D&E and then I also pulled F as, you know, for the same reasons I always do.

Okay. I'm going to call for the consent vote first on items A, B, and C. Okay. Councilman Beatty?

Yes.

Butterball? Yes. Councilwoman Klinich? Yes. Vice Mayor Ellis?

Yes.

Councilman Ickes? Yes. And Councilman Kelly is absent. Mayor Pacifico? Yes. And the consent vote passes 6-0. Then we have motion by Councilman Butterbaugh to table items D and E. Is there a second on that?

I'll second.

These resolutions were motioned by Councilman Butterbaugh, seconded by Councilwoman Klinich.

I have a couple of questions. With us tabling this, does this impact Mr. Reed's time before the Zoning Hearing Board at all on his properties? It does not?

No, because that's other property.

Okay, I just wanted to clarify.

Yeah, the Zoning Hearing Board he's involved with has nothing to do with this property.

Okay. Then why are we tabling it if it has nothing to do with this property?

Because he doesn't know what they're going to decide about the other one that's beside it yet.

He's going in front of the Zoning Hearing Board for property contiguous to this one?

Yeah.

All in favor of the table say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed?

I'm opposed.

The vote passes five to one. Okay. That's it.

Okay, city manager updates. Well, I'm sorry.

I need to do item F. I almost forgot item F. Can't forget F. So you asked for that to be pulled for separate vote. Item F is the approving the repository bids for Chloe Demange of Long Beach, California. Councilman Beatty?

No.

Councilman Butterbaugh? No. Councilwoman Klinich? Vice Mayor Ellis. No. Councilman Ickes.

No.

And Councilman Kelly is absent. Mayor Pacifico. No. And the vote does not pass.

City Manager updates Chris Thank you everybody that made the kind comments about the city staff involved in all the work for the big boy event I'd like to personally thank All the city staff because it literally touched every single department in the city to make this event successful as it was I think one of the bigger takeaways and Adam and Nate can attest to this, was the ability to stand up the incident command post for four operational periods. It's not something that we get to do on a normal basis. We're fortunate that we're not in a disaster prone area, but the ability to sit at the table with our county partners, our local municipal partners, and our state partners, I think puts us in a much better position that if we do have a full scale event, that we've made all the connections and we know who the players are that we're working with so thank you to everybody and thank you for the county and all the municipalities that worked hand in hand with us for a successful event

Thank you. Okay. Council discussion. Yeah. So I'd like to first start by saying two weeks ago we had the July 4th race, which feels like forever ago now. That went really well. We had a great crowd downtown on the night before. The race went really well. And then, of course, this past week we had tremendous success with the big boy visit. You know, we welcomed 75,000 visitors to the city. Everything went smooth. Everybody had a great experience here. Police, fire, hats off to you guys. All of the first responders, codes, Nate, Rebecca, I know both of your departments were working full steam ahead, pun intended there, to make this last week really special. Jamie did an amazing job on Main Street printing out business guides, making sure that all the hotels had those so that all of our visitors knew what was going on in downtown. Everything everything ran smooth. Everybody that was here all the comments that I've seen on Facebook from our out of town out of state visitors have a wonderful experience. I saw a lot of comments of people talking about planning return trips. So that's really positive and we're glad that we could deliver on that. I kind of spoke ad nauseum on this already to bill and other reporters but um yeah i'll kind of just end there so with that councilman nickus

Thank you, Mayor. No, definitely a fun July, if you will, here on America's 250th in the city. Fourth of July race, I had a chance to run it this year. I ran the 5K this year with my son, who's seven, who happened to get third in his age group. So it was nice to see. I have a picture of the mayor handing my son his gold medal as he takes the podium. So thank you for that.

How far behind him were you?

I made sure he pulled ahead. Big Boy was a tremendous success. Truth be told, I really do have regrets not going to see the train at the staging areas, but we were able to be at an undisclosed location Saturday morning. with a couple of other thousand people. And we had some really nice views that day. People from South Carolina, Mississippi, just really amazing to, you know, kind of take a step back in time and realize the nostalgia and the effect that the railroad had not only on the entire world, but especially Altoona, PA. I definitely think it's worth pointing out that although, you know, the county was, I guess, you know, this is part of a county planning event. kudos to our staff people city manager police fire public works, etc. Ultimately the boots on the ground if you will was the city. So thank you for for your work and all of this and definitely hoping hoping I mean big boys welcome in Altoona PA at any point in time. But it would be nice for us to have an annual or or every other year event involving the railroad. Here because clearly there's a tremendous demand for it, and then I believe this weekend is Hoops Fest Downtown Altoona, which I believe is Saturday all day, so I believe it's the one of the largest three on three basketball tournaments Not a basketball guy, but obviously we'll have a lot of people in downtown and I am about that so And this year they got Dick's Sporting Goods as a presenting sponsor.

Oh nice.

That's great Real great Real quick question regarding staff on one of the items of public comment here. The situation involving, is it, sir, is your last name Dealey? Dealey, is that how you say it?

Yes.

How long have, just curious, what's the timeline been involved in kind of communications with him involving this?

The timeline on the trees right now?

No, one second, sir. Just curious, how long have we been in dialogue with this taking place? Ballpark.

This is actually the fifth tree that has come down on our property alone. And I actually have the book that shows it on my property right now. that isn't being dealt with that we're going to have to deal with. We've spent thousands and thousands of dollars to get these trees removed once they fall on the property. This is the second tree that has taken out my fence and almost taken out my dining, you know, my sunroom. It's still laying there and, you know, I'm like, that was spending my money to take care of something that should be done.

And the only consistent message over four decades that I have received from the city is that, hey, it was an unopened right away. Half of it's your responsibility, half of it's the neighbor's responsibility. Well, there's a lot of legalities. a lot of documents have to be filed, a lot of turning fees are going to have to be paid, a lot of people have to sign off on all this in order to acquire a title on a piece of useless ground because there's a gas line, a water line, a sewer line, and all the utility lines going through above. And you're telling me that I'm responsible for my 30 feet of that, and you're telling my neighbors that I should start suing them because these trees that are falling are on their side of the right-of-way. And we want to go down that road. That's fine. I'm like 41 years worth of back rent from the water authority, the gas company, the light company. You know, this is all I have. I get no zero consideration for anything that goes through that unopened right away. Yet I do get in the reason that it's my responsibility to maintain it. You know, you guys started dropping the ball now 40 years ago when I cleaned up a small landfill there, bagged it all up, and asked public works. Could they send a truck out to pick it up?

Sir, I understand your frustration, but I've been here for six years, and I've never heard of this. So that's why I'm asking questions. I don't want, I don't, I appreciate your frustration. I'm just trying to gather information, okay?

After three years of being told that you're,

understand that but you but that's fine but you also come in here and then you know smash us saying that you're gonna sue the hell out of us if there's an issue so well I'm trying to get a response to you that's all Nate can you share your piece of the information please

So we came about this about 3 weeks ago where we had a tree of the hazard tree came in through. He now I guess and it wasn't from Mister deal it was from is from a neighbor. And so Steve and I went on looked at and it was split and it was a hazard tree was it with was kind of like bordering the unopened right away, but it was also sort of on the streets. And so we talked to Rebecca about it and we have a hazard tree ordinance It needed to come down, so we just took it down because there were wires everywhere. It was going to end up being a mess, and it was going to come down. It just did that overnight. So, I mean, we just sort of happened upon this about three weeks ago. I believe Mr. Ocker was out, called in. Yes, he was. Very nice man. They talked, and then Steve forwarded them. him onto me, and then we had a conversation about three weeks ago. So we went out and looked, and he is correct. There's a substantial amount of large diameter oak pine trees in an unopened right-of-way that has... And the consistent answer, like I said, for four decades was, no, it's your problem.

And that was reiterated a couple years ago.

And it's the piece that wraps around the back part of the property. I was looking on the app.

It runs from Ruskin down over. So what we had talked about was just, you know, I needed to do some more digging into it to see what utilities actually did exist in that right of way. So I pulled, I had the Water Authority send me some mapping and then we got some stormwater mapping. So that's where We got to on this and also panel like they I had talked to their force there to come out and take a look at it and see what he thought because there was a tree that had come down onto the lines and then they ran into a bunch of stuff down east and you know cruise just went that way. So that's kind of where we're at.

So there is the possibility at some point we may have a partnership of some kind of help via utilities or something of that nature.

Perhaps. I think Penelec typically just takes care of it once it comes down, you know, when it gets to that point. It's a secondary line. It's not a primary line. So they don't typically force secondaries.

Thank you. I've reached the point I pay people to mow my lawn. And I've had to tell them the part of the unopened right away that I've been maintaining for four years. I had to tell them to quit mowing that part of the lawn. Because if you're mowing a lawn, you don't hear the tree snap and fall. I've stood there and watched it happen over the last few weeks. So it is, you know, this tree that's leaning, you know, it's, you hear it cracking and moving, it's gonna come down, and it's probably gonna hit somebody's house. And there's dead trees, the 50-foot tree that's laying across our fence that, again, I haven't heard anybody volunteering saying, hey, that's on my side of the right-of-way. I'll take care of the bill for you. It's the little sister of the other half of the tree. The big brother is up there waiting to fall, too. So this is urgent. And I'm just saying, I've had 40 years of no. I'm done with no. And if I have to be obnoxious and aggressive and say, yeah, I'll tie you up in court all I can, With no apologies.

Thank you, sir. As Councilman Nicklaus pointed out, I know this is the first I heard of this issue, too.

I understand, because the city's policy, the state mandated that the regulation of this comes to the city. So they pass the buck to you folks. And the city says, well, it goes to the people who are on the right-of-way. So they pass the buck to us. And I know there was a court case a few years back where a tree fell and hit somebody's car and though it was all settled out of Cape Court and nobody knows what the details were, but it was evidently the city, the insurance company, and the homeowner maybe that were all involved in that. And it's just, you know, come on, we gotta be open, we gotta say what needs dealt with, we need fixed. And I have been incredibly, More encouraged and more optimistic in the last few weeks about this because of talking to Nate because of talking to Steve Walker it's just I think you guys, like I said, I don't expect you guys to say, oh, hey, we can get 500 grand here, no problem. I'm saying I want to be part of the solution. I want to help. If you need letters written, if you need neighbors to turn out, if you need phone calls made, you know, stuff like that. I want to be part of the solution. Does this not? It's not fine. And I need your help. Okay.

Well, I assure you that Mr. Kissel and his staff will follow up on this. And if they don't, please don't hesitate to call any of us.

I have no doubt he will. I was a little snippy this morning, perhaps, because I had forgotten that I had just lost sight of the fact that you guys were consumed with some...

Thank you, Mr. Daly. We appreciate it. We've got to move on, though. Okay. Thank you.

You guys ask questions, and I'm going to answer.

Appreciate it. Thank you.

Are you sure? Are you done now? Let's get this back on the track. Yeah, ditto what's been said. well our manager got an earful from me friday afternoon before all the train stuff was even over like just uh thanking uh our staff and our man the mayor uh these guys have been just so involved over a number of months uh union pacific norfolk southern uh a couple of things that really impressed me was just seeing how well everybody worked together And to see how well the first responders from the city and from the township, the folks from the county and just how well everybody worked together to do that. But I think one of the coolest things was also seeing all the people come from everywhere. to our our area and and one of the things that just really impressed me the most like like this past week and weekend i got to see visitors admire things that those of us who've lived here our whole lives take for granted and they and they got to come here and we got to see them you know and admire that stuff with us and so that that was a real blessing there too uh also uh on another note to switch gears here i would like to thank our uh police department and i know the mayor and some council folks have been working on this i visited with the neighbors up at izzy park they came to the last council meeting and things have subsided there it has been peaceful there and the neighbors were really pleased to see just normal basketball games going on normal kids playing in the park and everything being much more peaceful and so thanks a lot for all the effort put in there and I believe that's everything thanks a lot for all your work guys you guys rocked it to say the least

Thank you.

Yes, I'll start with thanking the staff and the entire staff that it takes everybody to be involved in what occurred here last week. So thank you to all of you. I also want to point out that there is hoops fest this weekend. And I believe the following Saturday is the junior civics Association Festival in Juniata. So that's all I have.

Thank you. Councilman Beatty.

I got a chance to talk to quite a few people that were in town for the event, for the Big Boy event, and I was really pleased with how orderly and how well the visitation was scheduled over at the viewing point over on Rose Yard. Union Pacific in the city and the fire department, the police department highway, everybody did their part in Jamie of course did a great job with the downtown. I really like the fact that the flowers were up, everything was well trimmed. I mean the city looked really good and I think that it was an all out effort. I did get a chance to talk to, um, the engineer from the big boy at Dickens and, you know, explained to him that, you know, my grandparents both worked in the railroad and there's a lot of history here that we all appreciate. And I wanted to take an opportunity, the K-4, if we could get it restored, we could run it a couple times a year and do these type of excursions. And I think that it would be in the community's best interest to really step up and get that taken care of. The Railroaders Museum, I think, did a beautiful job on the coordinating of the banquet out at the Blair County Convention Center. Dave Butterbaugh and I went up to Horseshoe Curve on Saturday morning. And there were people there from Connecticut all through New England. There were people from, one person from Norway. That's probably the one that won the furthest away.

They might have jettisoned from the World Cup for a day and tamed Altoona, but we'll take it. We'll take it.

But, you know, people were just so excited to see, you know, it run up Horseshoe Curve. And it was just a beautiful morning. Everybody just acted kindly, you know, needing any direction. You know, I think they were really impressed with the citizens, and I'd like to thank everybody for their hard work. Thank you.

Councilwoman Klinich.

So I'm last but I'm going to echo everything that everybody said because I went early Friday morning and took my granddaughter and daughter-in-law and it was so organized at Rose Yard and just to see the people, the amount of people coming in And it was so impressive. I just want to thank everybody that was involved because it was so nice. to see all the people in our city, and not only just the people coming in to visit, but the businesses that also got involved, and people were wearing Tom and Joe's big boys t-shirts, and they, I think they sold out, and they had to order more, and it was just nice to see that in our city, and I just appreciate everybody and every effort that went in to making this such a great event. Thank you. Thank you.

And yes, speaking on the economic impact piece, I started doing a little bit of non-scientific sort of data collection from local businesses and all of the reports from everybody has been really positive and everybody saw a real uptick in business this past week, so that was cool. Questions from the media? Bill, you're up.

Can somebody explain to me the location of the place that Mr. Dealey was talking about where the trees are falling down? Okay. THE ALTOONA POLICE CONTRACT WITH THE ALTOONA HOUSING AUTHORITIES, THAT'S AN EXTENSION OF AN EXISTING ONE, RIGHT?

YES.

And the 7th Street project, Nate Kissel, that's, yeah, two Nates. That's a twin to the one that was already just recently done, right? And that's supposed to be, is that likely, if you get the money, that would be likely done next year?

My guess, Bill, it won't be awarded probably until spring, so it would probably be a 28 project.

Okay.

28. Yeah. Not this year coming next year.

Okay, what are the odds of getting the money?

Well, pretty good.

You get it was the same same program, right? That got gave the money for the one that just got done?

No, the one the one that just got done is all city finance.

Oh, okay. Okay. I'm not sure who to ask this, but the repository bids, the first two that got tabled, aren't they for the same address? Yes. How can that be? I don't get it.

Well, no, you had two people bidding on the same property. Oh, OK. Yeah, you actually have two nice people with nice plans that actually bought property around it. And now they're both bidding for it and they have their different plans. And so rather than make a decision tonight, let's let's let things settle because, of course, he's waiting for a zoning hearing board decision. on a property next to it so that may depict what happens next so rather than make a quick decision and take any chances let's just whoa up and make sure everything's done right

Okay. Well, the two, the rival developers have the other properties that they're interested in are two separate properties, right? Yeah, both other properties. But they're both nearby but separate? Yes. From this one single property? Yes. Okay. Got it. And then I'm not sure who to ask on this. What led to the Isolino Park improvements and improving the situation, I guess?

We just had extra patrols going down there different times of the day, making contact with the residents, that kind of thing.

And you think it's like permanently better now or at least long term better?

We'll keep up with it.

Bill, we also had a discussion with Mike Hofer from CBRC and asked him to go out and make some recommendations. So we're waiting on that.

To make recommendations, like what kind of recommendations?

On what he thinks we can do to better secure the facility out there. There were some suggestions made by the folks that were here, and we want to get his opinion of that as a professional.

Do you mean like change the landscape there?

Or the way things are structured?

Just the configuration of it. It is disconnected, really, if you think about it, because... It's two parcels separated by, that are on two different blocks that have an alley run in between them, you know, so, yeah.

Oh, I didn't know there was, I saw the one after that last meeting. There's a second part of it?

Yeah, there's a basketball court on one end, there's an alley, and then there's like a taut lot. So we want to take a look at that for safety purposes.

The basketball court's on Oak Avenue, and then you have like the taut lot on Maple Avenue, and then the alley in between.

What was the trouble on both of them are just on.

Yeah, but but also to you know throw some more thank yous at our police department. This has been trouble like I know they've had some over by the school with you know, and things like that there's been other areas to so their work is really been citywide on these issues. It's not just as the part that was one good thing that came of their work, but they've done a lot of work on some of this other stuff. And some of them, you know, has been the same typical round up the usual suspects just doing the same thing at various places.

Yeah, we would be, I think it's fair to say that obviously the, you know, the successful arrests of some of these perpetrators have been probably the biggest assistance. So thank you.

Yeah, we've had conversations too, Bill, with the school district because they were seeing it. They're obviously seeing it, so kind of working with them to figure out a game plan here.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Meeting is adjourned.