City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. so so you

items that I want to make sure that we have opportunity to go and ask questions if we have any and get any clarification that we need so we feel confident we'll go into our main meeting so if if council wouldn't mind taking a look and seeing if we have any questions on the for the final readings final passage They're pretty straightforward with the final passages. Three appropriations. And then we only have one item under our first reading.

Yeah.

I did ask under new business for the mayor to have some of her team come down and just review. We had done a study session, if you guys recall, on the Erie Outside City of Erie Comprehensive Recreation Parks and Open Space Plan, but it had been earlier in the summer, and so it's before us today to vote on the resolution. So if we had any questions or wanted to review or go over that, I believe we have Jacqueline down here or someone from the...

Yeah, Cooper's here from planning. Yes? Yes, Cooper's here. So if there are questions.

Since you made the journey down here, would you just give a brief reminder for council?

Yeah, of course. After the study session that we held in June, we did make a couple of additional edits to the draft of the plan, and we posted it for a 30-day public comment period online. We didn't get... overwhelming number of responses but we did get some feedback during that comment period and the major themes in those comments were about environmental conservation and so many of the updated recommendations in the plan had to do with amending the zoning ordinance to allow for additional conservation districts there were some other additional comments about safety and the importance of educating the public about the plan which is something that will definitely look into once we have a plan in place

Does anybody have any questions for Cooper regarding the plan?

I don't have any questions. Thank you. Very thorough and very well done. And I'm ready to vote on it.

second that sentiment. This is a long time coming, but the public was, I felt, really engaged and got a lot of input on this process. So thank you, I think, again, for demonstrating what it looks like when we engage the community so that this becomes their plan and not just a plan that we've all decided that would be best. So I appreciate all the work that was done by the Department of Administration here.

Thanks. I just want to echo that just for the simple fact that we've been working on this park and recreation plan the whole time, but on council. It's been over four years, so I'm just Happy to see more than just one or two parks actually getting done a year, because I know we always intentionally try to do one on the east side and one on the west side, but to have a plan to be able to get actual grants from the state is going to be a lovely thing, because as a third-class city, we're able to get unlimited grants for parks and recreation, and I don't think we've been tapping into that potential, especially with these spaces being community spaces.

Thank you. I think you get to leave the hot seat, thank you. Does council have any other questions on any other agenda items that we've seen before us today? I did briefly start, before Kaka started, to talk to the Mayor about where budget season is here. We'll have our first part of the conversation starting next week, where we'll start to review the police budget. But I wanted to just kind of open up to the dialogue with the Mayor around setting up some of these study sessions and then also get council's input. I would like for us to start sooner rather than later, being that we've got new members of council, this first time with this administration. I don't like it when it's rushed, but that way we have time and we're all voting with confidence. We've got some really big decisions to make, and so wanted to start, I guess, some of that conversation as well.

Thanks, Dr. Titus. So, I mean, I can just give the dates we have set, and then Council can let me know where you'd like to go from there. So, as Dr. Titus noted, so the 10th, next Thursday, we'll be presenting to you a draft of the police budget. That was at the request of Dr. Titus to ask for that a little earlier than the rest, so we're working on that one first, and we'll have that to present to you during next week's study session. And then the other kind of date of note is you'll recall PFM will be here the 24th, the last Thursday of September. And then in between those, I'll be having the rest of my meetings with Lisa and the department chairs to get their budgets together. So by the end of September, I would expect we'll have all of our department budgets and all the presentation from PFM. So when October comes, I guess I would leave it to you, Council, to let us know what you want when. And I'm quite sure that after September is over, we'll be in a position to give you what you need in October and beyond. So you tell us what makes the most sense for you.

What we've done in the past is kind of break it down by a lot of the departments. Sometimes we'll have a couple departments that come in at a time. And that is helpful. It's helpful, though, when we also get the information prior to coming into that study session so we can start to review and then come in with those questions. I do like at least the two study session model. That's my preference, but I want to open it up to council so that we can start planning how would we like to see this broken down, what's most beneficial for the way all of us process so that we can also be transparent with the public.

So I guess I would say you have two study sessions scheduled for September. So if you want to keep to that and schedule two in October just to give you plenty of time and then get, you know, I think what I hear you saying is, yes, that's nice, but don't walk into the study session and hand us the budget. We want it in advance.

Yeah. At least it's very hard for me to get all the numbers, those big numbers, right, and have to process them while we'll also dialogue about it.

BREAKING IT DOWN THAT WAY ACTUALLY DOES SEEM LIKE IT WILL BE EASIER TO DIGEST ALSO FOR THE COMMUNITY, THAT WAY THEY KNOW WHICH DEPARTMENTS WE'RE SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON. BUT I ALSO LIKE THE IDEA OF GETTING THE INFORMATION BEFOREHAND, BECAUSE MOST TIMES WE GET THE INFORMATION AS WE'RE HAVING THE SESSION, AND THEN IF WE HAVE QUESTIONS, WE HAVE TO FOLLOW UP AT A LATER TIME. SO IT KIND OF, LIKE, DRAGS THINGS IN MY PERSPECTIVE. BUT SOMETIMES THAT'S NEEDED.

I'm getting to be like a dinosaur. It feels like I just still like paper and all the electronic stuff is cool, but when it's dealing with numbers, that's probably more for our staff than anything. Lori, I like our stuff in paper. I can have it right in front of me. And the more meetings that you have will always be, not meetings, but the more sessions that you have, would always be beneficial to me and I'm sure Marilyn as well, being new to any processes.

So then I guess what we can start to do is I'll look at how they had it structured before and we'll see what maybe makes sense. And if we're okay with keeping that two model study session in October, we'll have a better, and I'll get everyone's input here, like what would make sense for us, make sure that those nights match up for everybody. And then that will tee us up really nicely to go into November to have a few more. And then we're not scrambling, especially if you guys recall last year, two days before Christmas Eve, we were here still doing budget meetings. So I'd like to not do that again.

And just be mindful that some departments don't need to be by themselves. Like, we can put two or three together because that's something, too. Like, the departments that need to be focused on, like the police department and the public works and the bigger departments that, you know, take a little bit more time to go through their employees and then also their expenses. But I just know that there's three or four departments that really could be together because of how small they are and how quick everything is. Like, the solicitor's office is pretty straight and narrow. So, yes. Absolutely.

And then I think, too, then what we'll commit to is if you're doing a Thursday study session, the Friday prior, we'll have you a copy of whatever we're going to review. And hearing Council Horton, we'll ask the city clerk to help us with providing paper copies. So we'll make that commitment. So the Friday prior, you'll have what you need. So you have almost a full week to review. Wonderful.

Dr. Titus, may I just digress a little bit, too, away from the budget? But I believe that when we have opportunities to be intentional, we should at least look at or consider it. I'm looking at the contracts under item number one, Frank Media. I know that there are minority media companies in existence, too. And I know that we do the traditional posting of bids or whatever, but there are opportunities to have some intentionality. And those, I'm not going to call them minor contracts because they're big contracts in our community, minor and some. But I'd like to at least get some of those media companies on the mailing list or whatever, so they can be considered or at least put forward a bid or a proposal for something like that. I mean, an auto theft prevention media campaign, unless it's a billboard or something that's, you know, something I probably could do at home with my very limited resources. skill set. It's an opportunity, though, so at least we should be considering those type of things. Thank you.

I think it's another opportunity, too, to help the public, just to kind of walk through the process of where do you go to look to see what bids or contracts are going to be out there and posted. No, I appreciate that sentiment.

If I'm not here to represent anything If I am here to represent anything, it's a different way of doing things because status quo clearly isn't working or hasn't worked for the city of Erie's residents in the past. In fact, I think status quo is the killer of hopes and dreams, and I think status quo in peace progress really for where we're at in this in this particular dispensation and time so that everything that I do here going forward just I kind of wear it on my sleeve know that I'm doing things with intentionality and they're pretty well thought out and it might not make sense to anybody but me but I think it makes sense to a lot more people than me and that's why I was elected to put forth those things and And so you can't run on change and then come here and be status quo. And I'm here to tell you I want to represent change, and I really think you all do too. Thank you. If I'm a dinosaur, Ed, you know you're a relic.

Any other questions or thoughts from council members on today's agenda? I do want to, again, pull note that we have two study sessions this month. So we will have one on the 10th and on the 24th. So the 10th we will look at the Erie police budget, that rough draft stance of it. And then on the 24th we will have PFM here to go over the packet that we were given, but then to go into more in-depth where we can ask a lot more questions. So that will tee us up really nicely as we go into our budget study sessions. They're going to feel like buddy sessions.

Can I just take this opportunity also, Dr. Titus, to thank our solicitor, Attorney Check. I know a lot of times that's a thankless job, and I realize the volume of work that you put out Over at the county, we have two solicitors, one for the executive branch and one for the legislative branch. And just to be able to service both bodies is commendable. And I want to take the opportunity to just note that.

Well, if we don't have other questions, we can go ahead and take a little extra time to get the room reset that we hustled to get set up. We'll undo it.

so so so so so so so so Bye. Thank you. so so Bye. so so so you so so so so so so

Roll call for the City Council meeting of Wednesday, September 2nd at 9 a.m. Councilmembers Titus?

Here.

Brzezinski?

Present.

Flores? Here. Horton?

Here.

Pol? Here. Shaw? Here. Troop?

Yes.

We had a little bit of a spill issue, so we're going to just have to grab a towel. All right. Pay no attention to what's happening behind the curtain on the left of the stage. We will go ahead and stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, starting with a moment of silence.

Dr. Titus, if I may, thank you. I would, to think of today, Sister Maria Assumpta Rousa, Sisters of St. Joseph, who was 89 years old, and she had passed away August 31st in her 70th year of religious life. So that's remarkable service. And a friend, Pete Grzwinski, who passed away on Sunday or Saturday night of accident on an e-bike in West Springfield. And for the driver as well, because that's a nightmare. Thank you.

Thank you.

Touching agents to the side of the universe.

Motion to accept the minutes from August 19th, City Council Meeting and Bills for Payment on September 4th and 11th, 2026. Members Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Hull? Yes. Shaw? Yes. Troop? Yes. Titus?

Yes. So I believe there are no presentations this morning. Is there anybody here to speak on a repository sale? Come up to the microphone.

Sir, when you're finished, could you go into the clerk's office and give her a copy of your license? Of course. Thank you.

And there should be a list of questions that are up at the podium there. Yep. And those are the questions that we, if you could read those and then just answer those for us. But if you wanted to just say your name and then the address of the property as well.

Okay. I'm Cristiano Ferrari. I'm from Las Vegas and my company is CJ Ferrari. I actually started the purchase of six vacant lots and one duplex a couple weeks ago and that's why I was called here. So the first question is, is the property vacant or does it have a structure on it? So Supposedly be six vacant lots, but few of them have some kind of structure on it, probably from the previous owner, as a background, backyard, some playgrounds. So few of them have that, and three, four of them have nothing, just trees and high grass. And one has duplex on it, okay? MY PLANS AND INTENTIONS FOR THE PROPERTIES. SO THE LAST YEAR I'VE BEEN REALLY MERGING TO TEX PROPERTY SALES. SO I'VE BEEN STUDYING A LOT ABOUT THIS. AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS NOT EVERYBODY KNOWS ABOUT HOW THE PROPERTIES ARE BEING SOLD, THE REPOSITORY LIST, AND MY INTENTION, OF towards profit, but also brings the properties back to the productive use, right? Responsible ownership, paying taxes, and maintaining the lots, and developing whatever I can do to help the city also grows. So that's my intention. The condition the properties are in, they vary. right ones have a big rest I have the pictures I visited myself the last probably year I've been in Erie seven times already I can fly in in one day it's a four-hour flight so I can if anything that needs to be done I'll be here in one day or or something like that do i leave near the property no i live in las vegas but again it's a four-hour flight i came yesterday uh... night and uh... i'm flying today uh... how i'm going to provide maintenance of the property so uh... The last, I also already have a property in Erie on East 22nd, which I purchased on a judicial sale and got granted the deed a couple weeks ago. And I'm maintaining the property with relationships that are already made with a real estate agent, some companies, the construction companies that, you know, have provided services. So that's my... basic, my relationship group and growing, moving forward. If this is something that I'm going to be able to do in Erie, I'm going to have these people around and partners to work with. Okay? And have you confirmed that any plans made for the property comply with all codes? So we... me and my wife that basically do all the researches. We called the zoning department, we called everybody, and the information was that that's nothing that doesn't allow us to build or any violation on anything yet, okay? But if we got granted, then of course we're gonna have to go through the process and see what it needs to be done to bring it up back to code. And yeah, no, I didn't have any code violation in the last three years. Okay. Go ahead, Councilor.

I have a question. You said that one of the, I don't know, one of them is a duplex. Do you have renters living there currently, or is it a vacant?

So that's the problem. I didn't want to... Step in. So the only thing I did, I took pictures on the sides. It looks empty, but also I saw a cat on the window and I saw some belongings. And that's my questions like, is that any way that I can ask somebody to verify this? Anybody living there? How that works?

Well, if it's on for the sale up on the repository sales, it should be vacant.

It doesn't look.

Are you able to give us the address? Do you have the address for that?

1122 Wayne Street. So I, again, I went there, I looked around, I didn't want to, you know, try to open any doors or anything like that because I know that's... Councillor Flores, Dr. Titus.

Yes. Just because it's on the repository cell does not mean That is vacant. The landlord could be losing it? Well, even if there's not a lease agreement, you just don't know who's living there. We just don't know. If it's someone who may be deceased, it could be a family member that's been served, notice, notice, notice. But we, you almost have to send somebody out and make sure that nobody lives there.

Yeah, if I may put a point on that, I've been doing this in the last six months and I've encountered some situations also that when you buy from the repository, there's still people living in it because many factors could be applied as, you know, somebody deceased or nobody knows about that property and, yeah. But I don't have the way to knock the door. So if you guys can help me out.

If you just leave the address and make sure our clerk has someone from our, I'm sure we can send someone out from our code enforcement. And if it's on the repository cell, I would go out on a limb and say that they already have extensive records of trying to make contact. with someone, which still doesn't mean that someone hasn't taken residency, as to your point.

Of course, yeah. And who is the person that I can contact? Or somebody contact me? How that works?

We'll get your contact information after. We'll have you go fill out information with the clerk's office. And then we'll do some internal discussion around this. So we won't vote on anything today. So there's still information that has to go with counsel. And then we'll get some back to you as well.

And I just have one more question. You said that you do own a property in the city that you have tenants as of a few weeks?

No, it's a vacant lot.

Oh, so it's a vacant?

It's East 22nd Street. East 22nd, okay. Which I purchased on the judicial sale, the last judicial sale in January.

What's that address, if I may inquire, on 22nd Street? I know it's not a structure.

No, it's next to it. What's the adjoining?

Is it between German and Holland is my interest.

I have the parcel number, and I have the address the next door, which the owner of that house, it was the owner of the property as well. And both properties went to judicial, but he paid it back to house.

If you would just provide the address that way, I can tell you what block it is or the block that I'm interested in. The block I'm more interested in is probably the 2 to 300 block or the 3 to 400. I mean, excuse me, the 1 to 200 block. Actually, I think it's the 2 to 300 block.

So the property is next.

Quite a few vacant lots there. We own quite a few of them through our land bank for redevelopment.

So 1253 East 22nd is the lot next to the corner, which the old owner was Jeffrey.

I know exactly. It's over by McKinley. McKinley. Park or Pennsylvania Avenue, I think, or Brandis is the 1200 block over there. It's a park not far from the park there. And the school, McKinley, I know exactly where you're talking about. Yes.

Sir, did you say you just put the bids in on these properties?

Yes.

I don't think that we've gotten the information yet to have council review it.

Yes, I got this list from Pamela.

Okay.

And that's the reason I'm here.

Okay.

So this is, I started this two weeks, three weeks ago, two weeks ago.

All right.

Yeah, and then she sent me the...

So we will follow up, make sure that we've got the applications that have been completed, and then we can be in touch once we get that information here as council. But we won't vote on anything today. We still have to look at all the packets.

Of course, yes. And I also have all the receipts that the... Oops. So all the payments that I already did. Okay. Thank you.

We'll have our clerk in the clerk's office take copies of everything for you. You can just walk right through the door. She's in there. Thank you so much. Right through that door.

Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Titus, I just want to enter into the record, too, because the duplex, you have a situation where it may be someone living in one and not the other. or they both could be occupied or unoccupied. And I just want that to be duly noted as well.

We'll look back with the administration to make sure that we go especially over with code and have that checked out. Thank you. Is there anybody else here for a repository sale? Anyone else here to speak on a repository sale? Anyone else to speak on repository sale? OK, at this time, then, we will move into public comment. So when you come up to the podium, make sure that you are signing in. It's over here, this little desk over here, printing your name clearly. And when you come up to the podium, you state your name clearly and the municipality in which you reside. And note that you will have five minutes. We will have a timer go off, so please be mindful when that timer goes off, your time is up. Once you're signed in, go ahead.

A little bit of a frog in the throat, how that goes.

Can you hear me? Yes.

All right. What concerns me is these e-bikes.

Could you just state your name? David French, Lower East Side. Thank you.

These e-bikes who choose not to use the bike paths, they insist on using the sidewalks, and when you see them coming, it's not that big a deal, but when they're coming behind you, they seem like they want to get kind of close to you. And I've been in a couple pretty bad car accidents in my life and survived them, but I'm getting a little frustrated with it. A lot of these people that have the e-bikes don't have a driver's license. That's why they got these. So I think the regulations need to be expedited because there's already been some accidents. The bus drivers are kind of tired of the whole situation, and I'll leave it at that because... It's a technology that is really getting out of hand, and I don't want to see anybody get hurt. Thank you so much.

Thank you. And usually we don't do the public comment back and forth, but I do think that this is an important, actually, public service announcement, that the e-bikes still are required to follow the rules and the laws regarding a motorized vehicle. It's not happening. Correct. But that's more for e-bike riders to be aware that they... are still expected to follow those laws and that they can have consequences when they don't. But absolutely noted.

Thank you so much, Paul.

Thank you.

Dr. Titus? Yes. I'm not sure, because I thought I read somewhere it has an engine on there. They're considering that you do have to have license, driver's license, to be on the road. And I'm not sure that the public is even educated about that stuff. And we're educating... We have a contract on here to educate about auto theft. Maybe we ought to do a campaign about e-bikes, too, before some of our residents get really, really hurt out here. I think that summer's coming, and we've been blessed not to have as many motorcycle fatalities as we've had in years gone by. But I fully expect, without an education campaign of some sort, right down to proper research, wear and how to protect yourself with protective clothing. We're going to see a rise on those type of things.

It was actually covered on the news last night or the night before that there's more injuries of adolescent and young adults based off of the e-bike because they're getting hit. They're having upper body injuries. They're having to have broken arms, broken wrists, and they're not wearing headgear. So they're having a lot of concussions. So it's up. And a lot of the pediatricians on the national level have brought alert to this issue. So I'm not sure what we're doing. I know that they recommended that even though your older kids don't want to wear a helmet, please encourage them to wear a helmet when they're riding these e-bikes because the injuries are severe.

I actually think I see more of those on the road than I do pedal bikes nowadays, which I'm very proud to say that I still own and hope to get back riding soon.

Duly noted by all members of council, and I don't want to get us too far away from public comment, but I noted and even put a little asterisk in ink because this is something that we do need to and have needed to address for a minute. Any other members of the public who would like to make public comment are here to speak?

Good morning. Cindy Treiber, born and raised in Erie, currently living in Edinburgh. If I may first just ask whatever God's spiritual entity you believe in, can you please be praying for our military over in the Middle East right now, including my loved one? I wanted to talk to you all about the Council for Police Review Collaboration, whatever we're going to be calling this, It is my understanding, and I really would love to be educated on this because I don't know that I have found maybe the correct information, but whenever we have a board that is being created, it is typically created by the council under an ordinance. I do not recall an ordinance being presented or passed on a specific police collaboration review board. So I just would like some clarification on if that has been done. I'm pretty good at the research, but I know that I am a little bit stressed right now, so I may have missed it. So I'd like to know how we created a board without that being done. I also have some questions on that board, including who is allowed to sit on the board, what parameters as far as their education, experience need to be in place to be on the board. how applications were submitted, how the selection process was submitted, how the demographics have been chosen, where those demographics are from. Are all persons representative? Do we have veterans on that board? Do we have women on that board? Do we have new Americans, African Americans, different other cultural groups on that board? Do we have persons who are no longer law enforcement, who may be retired, who can speak freely about things that they are concerned about or that they see without the ramifications, possibly, of union or FOP or bargaining right pressure? Also, it is my understanding that when we have a board, that information is public. And we should know all of the aforementioned. We should know who, why, what, where, when, and we should know it before the meetings happen. So I'm very confused as how we have such a very important topic that we have been pressing for over 10 years that has actually been mentioned in several lawsuit settlements as a Part of this settlement should be that we have a police review board, but we are not talking about any of those things publicly. For me, it is like the action should correspond with the intent or the importance of the event. And I don't see that happening. And that's concerning to me because that says to me that it's actually not that important because we're not doing the due diligence to explain. So I have those questions. I personally also feel that there should be people outside of the city on that board, whether they be subject matter experts, non-profits, a consultant. If we have money to bring in consultants for everything else, I feel like we should be able to bring a consultant in, maybe from COLA or Nicole on on how we are going to do this board and what powers we have that there's plenty of organizations in Pennsylvania I know for a fact that would be willing to help So I just like some clarification on that and I really would like for that that board to stop until the public is Given the information that they are owed since We're the ones paying everybody and voting for everybody. My second concern is, Mayor Daria, if you don't mind, when you had originally talked about the policies of the police, I know and we have met that it is not It's certainly not anyone's intention to speak down to the public, but I wondered if you had considered using the verbiage that you used may have been offensive. It was offensive to me, and I consider myself pretty intelligent and educated. When we say to the public, you know, even myself found these policies to be hard, to understand with the legalese. So we want to basically dumb them down for everybody. So my concern is that the population that is having the most interaction with the police is the new American and African-American communities. I don't know if it's the best approach to say, hey, I'm smarter than you. You're not as smart as me, so let me dumb this down for you. That population and many others are being so over-inundated, whether it be because of high saturation or not. I think we need to get more information, not less. Like, let's have a town hall and get more. And let's stop treating people like they don't know what they're doing. Thank you.

Thank you. We can address and answer these comments during our liaison reports. Is there anyone else here to speak to or for public comment? Anyone else to speak during public comment? Anyone else to speak during public comment? Okay, we will go ahead and move on.

Ordinances for final passage. Council File Number 16629, Official Ordinance 49-2026, an ordinance appropriating a sum of $10,000 from unappropriated and unanticipated revenue to be received from a community partnership grant administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which is DCNR, and providing it for the expenditure thereof. Sponsored by Council Member Schaaf, seconded by Council Member Titus, that Council File Ordinance Bill No. 16629, and now known as Official File Ordinance 49-2026, be finally passed by City Council. Members Brzezinski?

Yes.

Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Hull? Yes. Schaaf? Yes. Troop? Yes. Titus?

Yes.

City Council read and adopt and pass Official File Ordinance 49-2026 by Yay 7, Nay 0. Council File Number 16630, Official Ordinance 50-2026, an ordinance appropriating the sum of $25,000 from unappropriated and unanticipated revenue for the expenditure thereof. The contribution is from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, acting through the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, PHMC, and from the Keystone Historic Preservation Grant. Sponsored by Council Member Schaaf, seconded by Council Member Titus. The Council File Ordinance 16630... and now known as Official File Ordinance 50-2026, be finally passed by City Council. Members Brzezinski?

Yes.

Flores? Yes. Wharton? Yes. Hull? Yes. Shaw? Yes. Troop? Yes. Titus?

Yes.

City Council pass Official File Ordinance 50-2026, finally by Ye 7, Nay 0. Council File Number 16-631, Official Ordinance 51-2026, an ordinance appropriating the sum of $25,000 from unappropriated and unanticipated revenue for the expenditure thereof. This contribution is from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, acting through the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the PHMC, from the FFY 2025 Certified Loan Government Grant. Sponsored by Council Member Schaaf, seconded by Council Member Titus. The Council File Ordinance Bill Number 16-631, and now known as Official File Ordinance 51-2026, be finally passed by City Council. Members Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Hull? Yes. Shaw? Yes. Troop? Yes. Titus?

Yes.

City Council pass Official File Ordinance 51-2026, finally by Yay 7, Nay 0. Ordinances for first reading. Council file number 16632, an ordinance appropriating the sum of $88,823 from unappropriated and unanticipated revenue for the expenditure thereof for an $88,823 grant from the Department of Justice fiscal year 25 JAG program local solicitation for police equipment. Sponsored by Council Member Horton, seconded by Council Member Schaaf. The Council File Ordinance 16-632, having been read, is hereby adopted on first reading by City Council. Members Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Poole? Yes. Schaaf? Yes. Troop? Yes. Titus? Yes. City Council read and adopt Council File Ordinance 16-632 by Ye 7, Nay 0 on first reading. We don't have any old business, so Council President, this takes us to new business.

At this point, I would ask for a motion to move the balance of the agenda.

Motion.

Second. Any separations?

I'll separate one just so I can make a comment about it. Which one?

The new business number one, the recreation parks and open space plan.

Any other separations? That's it, Lori.

Move in the balance of the agenda. Members Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Pohl? Yes. Schaaf? Yes. Troop? Yes. Titus? Yes. Resolution passes. Yay, seven. Nay, zero.

Right now, can you make a comment?

Or wait? We'll wait until she reads the action plan.

This is sponsored by Council Member Titus, seconded by Council Member Shaw, that the proper city officials hereby formally adopt Erie Outside, City of Erie Comprehensive Recreation Parks and Open Space Plan as a shared vision and practical roadmap for maintaining, improving, investing in Erie's parks to better serve residents today while preparing the future. Thank you.

Discussion I just wanted to bring this To the communities awareness. We have been working on this plan for the last three or four years I know when I first came on the council I was invited to the community centers and asked to come and look at playgrounds and and just see the conditions in which our young people have to play in, and it really disheartened me. It made me sad to see that even our playgrounds were run down, and our kids really don't have much to look forward to. So I really pushed to make sure that we're making our community spaces more representative of what we want to see Erie as. So I'm happy to see that the community participated in surveys. We're able to formally adopt this plan and then go to the state and get grant funding to help increase our remodels of all of our parks over time. So it's just a great plan that I think the community is really going to be able to enjoy during our spring, summers, and falls. Thank you.

Any other discussion?

Thank you, Dr. Titus. Yes, I am looking forward to this. I was very interested in the outside park plan and love that they are being used. I went to the Land Lighthouse Park with Ms. Pohl last week and very nice playground opportunities there for the children as well as a beautiful view. Yesterday, the daycare facility on State Street had the children playing a ball type of game out in front of, on Perry Square, and it looked like they were having a great time. But I liked how they also broke down the median age of children people who use parks and how they're foreseeing seniors in their senior years using parks as well because that's so important on the quality of life. I actually have a friend moving out of Mill Creek down south because she's in her senior years and she has found a place near her family, but they focus on senior community and senior well-being. And this Erie Outside Park Plan really has done a great job of recognizing all the people using the parks. And I also liked how they put the history of it. Andrew Ellicott was one of the first surveyors in 1795 who did Perry Square, Gridley Park, and Wayne Park. Because at that time, too, they were looking for civic-minded open spaces. So they built upon the history of our past and now going forward to the future. And that the last park plan hadn't been... since 1993, which as we well know is more than 30 years ago. So thank you for everyone who put their stamp on it, effort into it, and did the research. Thank you.

Any other councillors?

Yes, Dr. Titus, thank you. And thank you colleagues Schaff and Flores for your comments. Wow. I've been here all my life. I didn't know the city had 32 parks. And that was the first thing that blew me away. And some I've never been to. I'm soon to be a little older. But one thing that I do want to say about the plans from Erie Outside and that they're plans for the future. But when I look at park number five, which is Perry Square East and West, my colleague to my left can appreciate it. There are some right now things we need to take care of about our park. It's embarrassing to have a park catty-corner from City Hall with no restrooms, no public restrooms. And I've walked through there at least once or twice. a week. There's that wall that runs diagonal along there. I call that Matthew's porch because I see some of everything in the net up in there. It's a lot of good people, a lot of brokenness over there, but surely in the center of our town square we have statues of our fallen officers and statues of our heroes of years gone by. We can't have a public restroom or a point of decency. You've got to know where you're at. You've got six high-rise buildings down here in the 16501. They don't deserve basic decency. And we're spending money on a lot of things. And we do have a budget coming. And that's one thing that should be non-negotiable is our public works. We have children, people bringing their kids to play in the fountain as I did as a kid when they used to have bathrooms. Imagine that. So I'm really disappointed, and that's one of the first things. We have the festivals. They bring the porta-potties. They got some pretty good ones now. that you can put up with wash stations. You can lock them at night and clean them or whatever at a certain hour, but surely we're a better city than this. Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other comments from any other council?

Dr. Tice, I was just curious, this might sound like a silly question, but with the research that the, I don't know, the companies are doing with the parks, do they have information on like how parks can be used like in the wintertime? I mean, I don't know. You know what I mean? That's like time that they're unused. Do cities have ways of using the parks in the wintertime? Are there things that can be done, like events? I'm not sure if other cities do that, but that's just a curiosity.

I do recall, just to, I guess, jump in and answer that that was actually put in quite a bit of thought and process with the new updates that we got, especially during our study session, was how to activate during the winter. Because we're not getting any cooler summers, and we're certainly not getting any warmer winters. So I know that that was part of the plan as well. Point well made. If Council is okay, then I will go ahead and call for the vote on this.

Members Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Pohl? Yes. Schaaf? Yes. Troop? Yes. Titus? Yes. Resolution passes. Yays 7, nays 0. I believe this takes us to committee reports.

All right.

We will go ahead and start with Councillor Poole.

I just have a short report this morning. The past couple of weeks, the O&E and Fire Pension both had their monthly meetings that I attended through Zoom. They're doing well and ongoing except for a few passings of retirees. It's always a sad thing to say goodbye to that when they're taking off the pension rolls. It's all right. I attended on the 21st of August, just a couple Fridays ago, Ainsworth Field. They had like a fundraiser because they want to update it, redo it, because it's in horrible shape. Since they knocked down the school in front of it, they used to have all kinds of, activities there through the years and growing up not too far from there I used to spend a lot of time around there at the tennis courts things like that and it's good to see them trying to revive it and hopefully not only the school district because it is owned by the school district that the city can partner with them a little bit and I mean not monetarily but you know put get together and bring that back to life and have activities there again and even, you know, maybe Little League or, you know, anything that'll bring that back to life a little bit and bring the history back to that area. And I do, I think about the military often because it's in the news daily. I have many relatives that served in the service, and one recently after 9-11. And you worry, and you pray. And I continue to pray for all the military, no matter where they're stationed, but mainly where everything's going on right now. That's it. Thank you.

Thank you. Councillor Toome.

Thank you, Dr. Titus. I'll just keep it brief today. I just really want to thank Erie Events for coordinating Jim City Soul Night last night for the city. It was relatively short notice that it was put together, and it was really well attended. Everybody had a great time together. Before, in one of these meetings, I talked about the city having wins, and I think that the city walked away last night feeling like they had a win together, you know what I mean? a very diverse crowd, and it felt like, people felt like it was a victory. So thank Erie Events and the bands that participated, the sound crew, and all the community and vendors and things that came together rather quickly to make that happen. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you. Councillor Flores?

I'll have a brief report. I just wanted to acknowledge that with us having our students back in school, for us to be mindful of them on their journey to school and on their path home, I also wanted to make sure that people are aware that the city did announce the next couple of heritage festivals we will be having through the month of September. But also there are a few more heritage festivals that are going to be winding down the season for us. So these are a great way for us to build community with one another. We all come from different places. Unless you're Native American, you migrated here from somewhere. And for us to respect one another's views and our heritage and our culture is a beautiful thing. That's what makes America a melting pot. So we just have to be mindful on how we're interacting with one another. A lot of us are carrying heavy weights, especially with some of the negativity that is on social media. We have a lot of toxic views on social media that people feel really brazen to say to people behind a keyboard, but yet when they see you in person they really just look at you and give you a dirty look and that's about it. So I just want people to be aware that unless we're Native American, we did migrate from somewhere. or the foster on slave ships and bondage. So just acknowledge the true American history and maybe we can move forward because right now things are at tense times. And when we are at war with other countries and we have a lot of things going on at home, WE NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT OUR COMMUNITY IS WHAT MAKES US BEAUTIFUL AND THE AREA HAS ALWAYS BEEN WELCOMING AND ACKNOWLEDGING EVERYONE'S HERITAGE. SO PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU MAKE IT TO ANY OF THESE FESTIVALS THAT ARE GOING TO BE WINDING DOWN OUR SUMMER SEASON BECAUSE IT IS A BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCE TO SEE EVERYBODY ENJOYING THEIR CULTURE. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU. COUNCILOR BRZYNSKI.

THANK YOU. START OFF BY SAYING ZAVAWA WAS A, ONCE AGAIN, A FANTASTIC WEEKEND. Yogi Berra used to say, nobody goes there anymore because it's too busy. Lines stretched over a block to get some go-wumpkis or pierogies or potato pancakes. Everybody was happy. Everybody was having a good time. And it does bring the community together, which is a beautiful thing. With that, let's be reminded that the German Fest on Old French Road is this weekend, I believe. And the Great Irish St. Patrick's one is someplace around the 20th of September, I believe. So keep it in mind, and if you get a chance, go there, because you're going to see smiling faces wherever you turn. Thank you.

Thank you. Councillor Horton.

Thank you, Dr. Titus. All the meetings are starting to run together for me. I don't know if it's a redevelopment or zoning. I certainly did not attend the Blighted Property Review Board or the Land Bank meeting, I believe. I've watched online. The big takeaway is that they want to do a housing development on 22nd Street, which is why I was asking the gentleman where at. The redevelopment, Mr. Snipper and his staff have done a great job Jake and the building inspectors who did all the necessary paperwork. I'm continuing to learn about the processes of acquiring and blighting and selling properties and placing them on repositories. So it's been quite a learning experience. But again, the big takeaway is they want to build, they have had like 40-something lots up there. It sounded like 20-something, but They're going to take six or seven of those lots and turn it into housing. It's supposed to be quality, affordable housing. I won't get into the numbers of it because it's still mind-boggling to me. But that's what's on the horizon. Anyway, I think that I would like to really just take the opportunity to just thank some people. Really, I want to start with thanking my colleagues. I know it's been a difficult year and we've taken in quite a bit from the residents but we've really turned out some really good product too with the help of the executive branch and Mayor Devlin and our solicitor. A lot of the questions that come to us from that podium are not questions that I care to even try to take an answer and I would think that you all would not either but We have a very capable solicitor, and those type questions should be directed to him. And they're all valid questions, but I am glad that The mayor has initiated a process to at least address some of the things that the community is asking for. And one thing that I know to be wrong is to stand by and do nothing. And so, Mayor Devlin, I want to thank you and your staff. And Lori, I hate to start naming people because you have so many very capable people who are all contributing. None of the work gets turned around by one or two or even a few people, but it's a team approach. And finally, I'll add that it was a great night last night. Kudos to Mr. Troop and kudos to Mr. Pine and the Erie Events for holding such a great event. It was a wonderful night. I believe last night we probably had, we in Erie, Pennsylvania, probably had some of the best weather anywhere in the world with the nice lake breeze blowing up off of it and soft tones of music, which always seem to bring people together. And I counted a win, and this city always needs wins. So thank you again. And that concludes my report.

Thank you. Councilor Shaw.

Thank you, Dr. Titus. I've been in conversation with Nick Pilatos, who currently has 2,000 signatures, to open up the Southeast Erie Post Office. We met with Congressman Kelly and Hopefully there will be some action on that and he encourages everyone to write to the Postmaster General because this, in his research, has been going on not just in Erie but throughout Pennsylvania. There have been some post office closures and If you are concerned about your service, definitely contact as many people as you can because the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Odessa's Place, thanks to Carol Troop and her team, gave out many back-to-school supplies and was very helpful to the people who came to her the doors of Odessa's Place ready to go back to school as well as the Bluecoats and Daryl Craig with their back to school bash at Perry Square and they had an excellent giveaway too and Angela McNair um did one on sunday as well and there were even other places so anyone who contributed and volunteered and donated in any way thank you very much for what you've done the ainsworth field i did attend that i hope the erie school district does a great job with their renovations that they want to do because again the Ainsworth Field has so much history behind it and it would be wonderful to see that place restored. Thank you to Matthew Falcone who checked out some trees in South or North Erie. David French today had mentioned e-bikes and my friend Pete Grzywinski, who I met in 2018 in Perry Square, died over the weekend. And I just can't imagine the family and the driver's family affected by that. That's one of my greatest nightmares, especially in the evening. while driving because, like David French mentioned, there are accidents waiting to happen. They can come up behind you and you think like you're going to get run over at times. And I hope that everyone starts Following the rules as far as their own safety and the safety of others Friday night for those people looking for things to do Frontier Park continues to have a music series there and It's quite enjoyable It's near the leaf building, so it's not like on the Blues and Jazz Fest side where they have the Frontier Park. It's closer to the slides and the hill, and it's quite enjoyable. I attended the Erie Water Authority meeting and the Erie Sewer meeting as well, and Ms. Flores had mentioned earlier about the pediatricians and the increase of accidents and I watched the same thing and it's actually 671% increase from Yes, it's quite alarming. There was a father who gave his 12-year-old child one and ended up with a horrific injury that took a long process of surgical healings, and there was an expose on that. Thank you. Have a great day.

Thank you. So I will start in really quickly with the two authorities that I attended on August 26th. I was at the Erie Airport authority meeting, wanted to announce that they had two executive sessions, one on August 5th, one on August 26th, to discuss personnel and real estate matters and also complete their evaluation of their their executive director. At this past meeting, their executive director did get a salary increase, so that was approved unanimously and voted on by the authority. Also, they have negotiated through two different union contracts, and so they are solidifying those. They've reached agreements on both of those, which it's great for everybody involved when we're able to go ahead and wrap up those union negotiations. They also appointed the board member that we had seated who will be joining and officially seated on the board at their next meeting. You can learn more about just the time and location of the airport authority meetings on their website. I was at the Erie events authority meeting. On the 27th, just to notify that there has been some changes in the times, but the next two meetings there will also be change in location due to events that are happening at the Convention Center. So to just please check out their website. The public is permitted to attend authority meetings, so just to note to go on to their website so you know where those are happening. Overall, there has been some changes in the tax revenue around hotel taxes, and so they are seeing some revenue increase. Some of the discussion that I want to make sure I brought up here continues to be around the zoo and how they are structuring it. They are currently seeking out consultants on developing a master plan. And that will lay out the whole entirety of the property. And the public will be asked for input. So I'm asking again for the public to make sure that we're paying attention to that. So when we are developing this master plan that the whole community gets to have their voice heard. They're looking at the vet center. They need to have the vet center up and have movement on that for the accreditation process. But also the CRIZ authority is looking to support that, which I'll come back to in a second here on that. But overall, they are moving. The Eerie Vents always has a million things going on, but they're really starting to move in and how are we going to lay out the zoo and how is that property going to be developed. And so I think it's important for all of us to pay attention to that and have our participation in that. I ALSO WROTE A NOTE IN HERE THAT I WOULD LIKE TO BRING TO COUNCIL FOR US TO DISCUSS, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO INVITE THE CRIZ AUTHORITY, I KNOW WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS WITH THE MAYOR, BUT THERE ARE SO MANY PROJECTS THAT ARE MOVING VERY QUICKLY, AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE FULLY UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS OF HOW THESE PROPERTIES AND THESE PROJECTS ARE SELECTED. events being selected and they're already a tax exempt authority want to make sure that we fully understand how the money is coming in how the money is going out as a council because these projects impact us they impact the community and so I know we're heading into budget season but for us to be also having that on our radar as well so we can start to plan to extend that invite and maybe plan out when we can get them here There is the date change for the housing town hall that we'll be hosting with the city. It's moved now to the 22nd. It's going to be at East Middle School. The event itself, the town hall, goes from 6 to 8, but the doors will open at 5.30 p.m. for a resource fair, and so that residents are able to come in. There will be two different kind of tracks. There will be actually three things that are happening. The county is going to be collecting some of their data around their housing assessment and their projects. So for community input there, we'll be talking to homeowners and some of the resources available to them, but then also tenants and renters so that they can know their rights and resources available to them as well. So 922 East Middle School. And then to also address the e-bikes comment that we heard, There is an enormous safety concern. We've seen even in New York City where they actually sued some of the people who were selling the e-bikes. I would caution all of us as we approach these to make sure that we're doing it through a lens of equity, as oftentimes e-bikes are the only means of transportation to the economy and various things. And any rules or ordinances we create will inadvertently impact certain groups of our community more than others. Not saying that we shouldn't, but just saying as we do this that we'd be mindful. And then I will, Challenge all of us on council to pay attention to what's happening with flock cameras. There's national discussion happening, but now there is a very loud state discussion that is happening. And this has bipartisan support at this point to move in the direction of blocking or limiting as the software is incredibly dangerous. And so I'm working with some other local advocates to get legislation that we could review, but also that might be a mute point if it comes in front of... Our authorities and with that I will mic pass because we got the timers going for us Thank you Lori for doing that to ask the solicitor to address the comments made around Boards and authorities noting that we do not have one that has been codified around the police and safety Obviously there's

The boards that everyone knows about that are enacted through the different ordinances, and you can find those on... Those are the easy ones, like the Planning Commission and Zoning Hearing Board. However, the mayor, through her executive power, is allowed to form or unform advisory councils, and those advisory councils would then be at the discretion of the mayor for certain topics. For instance, so the one that's being referenced is an advisory council through the executive arm, and so that is... prerogative to get experts or opinions through that manner. So that's what's going on right now. Now, obviously, there has been a lot of discussion of doing like a citizens review board or a police review board type of commission or board that would be enacted by ordinance. If that was to be created, that would be at the same rules as, say, the planning commission or the zoning hearing board. Bylaws will be enacted and that sort of thing. The mayor and and it's not just mayor Devlin doing this mayor Schember also had advisory boards that were in place And so sometimes those boards, you know go away or they continue when a new mayor comes on Thank you

Go ahead. Sorry. Passing notes up here to make sure that I go over everything that I was supposed to go over. Control, if you want to go ahead and share your report out.

Hi, we are always working hard in the controller's office. So I just want to give you an update on the things that are going on. We just attended a very valuable workshop and team building exercise last Friday for all of our third floor staff. I want to commend Lori, the mayor's chief of staff, on a well thought out, well organized, and extremely productive session. I know good things will come out of this workshop for us. I am also working on several projects right now. I have formed a committee to streamline policies and procedures related to our bills paying process. So our first meeting on that is next week. We're going to draft a mission statement and kind of outlay the process and see if we can make it easier and better. And I'll give updates as they're appropriate on that. And I want to remind everyone, this wasn't mentioned here today, and I apologize if it's outside my boundaries, but I want to remind everyone of the Labor Day parade on Monday, the 7th, at 10 a.m. I will be marching with the Teamsters, and it's a great day, beautiful parade, and it celebrates labor as we should on that day. And as always, I want to give a thank you to my staff for their continued hard work and commitment to excellence in our office. Kate, Kelly, and Meg, you all do a wonderful job. Thank you so much for everything you do. And that's it.

Mayor.

Thank you, Dr. Titus. I want to start out this morning by thanking the planning department, who maybe has stepped out. Jackie Spry and her team for the incredible work on the parks plan that it's been noted today was a long road and they just did an incredible job. So I want to thank them for that. Just want to note a couple of other things. We did hold a Celebrate Erie debrief internally last week to talk about what worked and didn't work for Celebrate Erie so that we can begin planning for next year. And on that note, it's not too early to start planning for next year. This morning, actually, I'll be holding a summer debrief meeting with all the partners that we funded for summer programming. So that's through our CDBG dollars and also our parks dollars to have a conversation about how the summer went, what obstacles they found, how the literacy initiative that we started this year worked, so that we can really begin immediately starting to plan for next summer, because I think we have a lot of areas that we can improve there. Just a couple of notes on scheduling. So we did announce Welcoming Week. We held a press conference the other day. I want to thank Murtada Al Saad at Al Medina Supermarket who hosted us on Parade Street for our announcement of Welcoming Week. That is coming September 10th through the 19th. And a couple of, there's a huge amount of activities going on that week. There's educational activities, festivals and things. You can find all of that on our website. But a few Things to note there, of course, Fiesta in the Square will happen on September 12th. And that is something that we do in coordination with our Latino community. And then also the New American Jamboree on September 18th. That will be the first time that that event will be held in Perry Square. And so those are two events that really are marking a welcoming week as we celebrate that here in the city of Erie. I do want to address the e-bike education, the comments today. We have actually done some social media education on this topic, but hearing the comments today and your comments, Council, I think we need to do more there. So heard and noted, and I will take that back to the to the MOCA team and see what they can do there. Also just talking about a couple of other dates, certainly Patriot Day, 9-11 is coming. I was in conversation with the county executive yesterday. There is a county ceremony planned on the morning of September 11th. I think it begins at 8.30 down in front of the memorial there. So I'm sure more information will be coming, but I just want you to all be aware that that hopefully is on your calendars. Also today, the Sons of Lake Erie, of course, are having their event. We're very grateful to the Sons for all the work they do around conservation. We all know Mr. Kissel is a passionate advocate. We appreciate all the work that all of them do. So I hope I'll see some of you there for their annual fish fry this afternoon. And then lastly, uh, just want to put a few more words around the solicitor's comments regarding the mayor's council on community safety and trust. Um, this is in line with the other councils, for example, the mayor's council on, on disabilities, the mayor's council on new American affairs. There has been a longstanding tradition for mayors to have these advisory councils. However, I do want to remind the public as we've discussed, I think a few times that the work we are doing is to codify something that can be passed by ordinance by council so that the work long outlives this administration and all of you. So as we have said I think a few times the council the group that has been brought together is advisory in nature. They are helping us to first have really really difficult conversations to build some trust and then to work together on the codification of something that will be long lasting. We have been very clear that the group that's together now might not be the group that's together after codification, but it is a start. To your point, Councillor Horton, it's some action that we felt needed to be taken to begin this work. So I am happy to have conversations at any time about that council, about its priorities, about how people were picked. So very happy to do that and would welcome those questions at any time. And with that, I think I will close my comments. Thank you.

thank you so just again to remind the public we have a study session next thursday uh... we have the housing town hall another study session at the end of the month that will happen between this study session and then our city council evening meeting uh... and so we are ramping into that budget process and this is really what we want THE PUBLIC ALWAYS PAYING ATTENTION, BUT THIS IS WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO START TO SEE RUBBER KIND OF HIT THE ROAD AND SOME BIG CHANGES THAT WE CAN START TO DO TO WRITE SOME SHIPS IN THE CITY. AND WITH THAT, WE WILL GO AHEAD AND CALL. SORRY, GO AHEAD.

YES. STUDY SESSIONS.

interest you and our colleagues in the mayor's office in putting together a study session on community benefit agreements, since you mentioned the CRIZ. And everybody's going to try to come through here and push those projects. Everything's going to be priority. And I kind of look at it like we look at it in terms of Internet safety. When they say, hurry up, quick, and do something, it makes me pause. And we should demand more of a return on investment for the things that we're putting on the taxpayer. And so I'd like to convene or work with you in the administration in convening a community benefit agreement thing. I think the time is now.

Agreed.

And we should be able to codify some of that even within our zoning structure. So thank you.

Thank you. All right. With that, we will go ahead and adjourn today's meeting.

City Council adjourns at 10.08 a.m. Members Titus, Brzezinski, Flores, Horton, Full, and Schaaf, and Trude.