City Council - Regular Meeting

.

to even be counted. And so those demographics will probably need a targeted focus campaigns to assuage some of their fears. Thank you.

Thank you.

Do we, and I know this is early on and we're just now kind of looking at it, do we have a I guess like the thought process around like, how are we going to start the engagement process or a program in mind or committee that's forming?

Yeah. So, I mean, I think the intent is to go back to the door to door model. I mean, you know, I think you all remember, um, the kind of door to door work that was done in 20, I think it was the summer of 2018 perhaps. Um, and I think that's the model that we're going back to. So to your point, council Horton, we cannot show up for the census and just expect people to talk to us and give us all this information. So the intent is to train and create teams that will be deployed throughout the city. We have lots of outreach information we can give them, build those relationships as we're providing them with services and connecting, so that when we do come back for the census, they know us and they're ready to answer the question. So it's about building the team now. That's the intent.

Just to kind of echo a little bit of what my colleagues have shared, too, knowing, especially within marginalized and oppressed communities, that there is a strong fear around being honest, and there's also an erasure of a lot of the identities around being counted. So I think just the education with that component, too, and also might spark some questions around how are we going to capture data that this census isn't intentionally not capturing. For example, trans people are not captured on the data, but we know they exist. I mean, I'm here. But how do we, as a city, make sure that we're still capturing the information about those? Thank you.

I guess I should note that our team is going to Philadelphia for training on this. So this isn't us making this up as we go. That's why we got the grant. So we have funding to send them and have them trained with best practice here.

Wonderful. Thank you. I am excited to see how early we're starting with that, too, because this is going to take a long on-ramp to building up. Any questions as we look at the old business item? This is where we had the public hearing on last time, and I wanted to just make a note that we have members of the administration here, to answer any questions if we had any follow-up questions anything we wanted to flush out they will not be present during the the meeting so if we had any questions we wanted to ask about us voting on this and approving it now would be the time as we have the staff here who've been working on it I don't want to speak for everyone on council but it was my understanding that with the conditions that were laid out that council felt comfortable moving forward with this one Yes, please.

So when I was drafting this, I used the models from the Scottsdale Hotel and the Market House projects and then incorporated what was already kind of in those so we're consistent with our waterfront conditional use approvals and incorporated what was discussed by public comment and by our witnesses. So really the goal, so to use living landscape material, which would include a regionally native planting materials where they could, That was the wording we've used before. One was to incorporate reasonable bird or wildlife sensitive measures to protect nature. Next was there was some testimony about it was unknown what wildlife, raccoons, deer, et cetera, lived in that area. So they would consult a wildlife expert to either capture or remove whatever animals they can. Part of their presentation was they had exterior lighting along the driveway, but that was also something we incorporated in other projects. I incorporated our same language. Further, there was talk about how there is a fence, but it needs replaced, it needs updated. So there's a requirement that the fence should be in good condition, needs to be maintained, and the cost of that is on them. And then further that they have, they were adjusting their initial plan. They were trying to get kind of get some square footage on top of one of the bluffs. They agreed to pull that back. So what I put in here was that they need to be able to actively, it's part of their business practices to preserve the bluff because that's a requirement of the zoning code. And also they're not to be doing work stuff or whatever on the bluffs. And then also to, if they needed any signs, that's what section 333 of the zoning code is for. So they would go to the zoning hearing board. They didn't mention anything about signs, but in case it pops up, it's covered. And then also just to comply with all of the other federal, state, and local laws. So this is the first step in this process. Next, they would then submit different plans to the planning department under SALDO to go forward in the next several months. So that's kind of the high-level summary.

Councilman? I think that was a 25-foot offset from the bluff or something like that. I'm pleased to really support this project. They were responsive. And the east side needs a win, man. You know, and this looks like a win-win for everybody, so. Yeah, welcome to the east side, to the nine ships.

I was encouraged when we had a couple of the residents who came out here to speak up with their concerns. I actually submitted a letter, one submitted a letter of support after some of those concerns were addressed. And so I think that goes a long way to show.

Well, as someone who lives on the Lower East Side, I won't speak for the mayor either, but we'll take all the wins that we can get. And so we want to encourage development. contrary to what it looks like sometime up here. We will always put the citizens first, but we do truly encourage and welcome development in the city of Erie. Thank you.

Dr. Titus, can I just let Council know, also for Council's knowledge, I had lunch last week with the Nine Chips owners to talk with them about their hopes to add all these jobs on the east side, and I spoke with them specifically about how and what kind of jobs and how they were going to do it, they were very engaged in that conversation, made some connections for them to members of the community to help build the pipeline. So I just want to say, above and beyond this process, I truly believe that they have that intent and they've already shown that. And I think this can, Councillor Horton, you got it exactly right, be a huge win for that community. So they have really shown themselves already to be engaged in that work.

Wonderful. Thank you. Are there, as we look at the new business, we have several of the repository sales that were presented to us last time that are now before us for a vote.

I had a question. Did we ever get any information as far as code enforcement finding out about the house if it was occupied?

I actually don't know.

I don't know that we did. No. I'm sorry. We can follow up on that. Was it one property?

Well, they want to buy multiple vacant lots, but I believe only one had actual structure on it, and they weren't sure themselves if someone was living there, but it did look like someone was living there.

Councillor Flores, you are absolutely right. That's our miss. Do we know which one of these it was?

Which one? I can't remember if it was the 739. I just remember people taking notes at the last council meeting.

If you'd like to table that one and have us go out, I mean, we could. I'm just offering that. I apologize. That's our miss.

I just know that based off of the repository letter information, I think the 7838 is the one that has the structure on it, because it specifically says I would like to improve the property and bring revenue back to the city. And then when I look at the note for the repositories for the other address, which is the, it doesn't really tell me that there's a structure there.

Yeah, I think if you want to be safest would be to table all of the ones by Mr. Ferrari, because all I know is it's one of them.

Right.

And without some sort of confirmation, you could be voting on the wrong one.

Right, which is my fear.

So that would be one possibility to table two through.

I'm going to echo the same thing that I echoed at the county. It makes me sick, even though I know the state of the property, to see properties leaving local control for $250 a pot. And so it's going to be really, really compelling. Whether you table it or not, I'm probably going to be a no-brainer. on those group sales going forward.

I just want to be very, very open with you.

And I want to be consistent with what I've been for the last three or four years at the county. And so I wear it on my sleeve. Nobody has to even guess how I feel about them. I'm probably going to be a staunch now.

And I guess to keep us making sure that we stay within, looking at our attorney, stay within the, The parameters of our advisement, I will also be voting no for many of the reasons that we have discussed under the advisement with our solicitor. So if there is a desire to table, we can move that direction. I think that there, I don't know if there is an ability to even pass. So if we're going to delay a no vote is, I guess.

I mean, if you all want to table it, I'm just telling you now, I won't do that. I think that's a great suggestion, too, by Council. So just move. Okay.

If that's the, yeah, if we would like to, if the majority of Council would like to have these pulled and put on the next one, we can do that.

Mr. Titus, we'll commit to getting more information. We apologize. Yes, please.

So then this would just leave, again, resolution number one under new business, because that's a separate repository sale. That's a separate entity that's looking much to the same concerns which we just discussed, but it's a different entity.

And I don't believe that that, does that require a motion for us to pull it, counsel? I don't think, I think here at the caucus level we could just pull it. I want to be consistent there as well.

So we will be pulling then items number two through eight are also a figment of our imagination until next meeting. Thank you. So then, Mike, when we go to new business, we will go from item one directly to item nine, would be item two. Yes. So we will have then items three and then four should we pass the wave of rules and pass the motions for the two contracts. So listen.

We've kind of gotten through most of this already, but just to the two contracts that are being added, I get it, where it's being transferred to and where it's being transferred from. But can you just again tell us, I know it's all storm related, can you again just tell us what it's for? Yes. Not looking for complete itemized, but... Just because I'm slow like that.

I'd actually ask the mayor to kind of give us a big overview of everything, because this is a lot of money that's moving. It's about $3 million, I think.

Again, I won't speak for the mayor, but she did say that she would give us a breakdown as time goes. I'm just sitting here, and if I'm just voting for a million dollars, I haven't heard one iota of what I'm paying for.

I'm prepared to give that tonight, and I can answer that question as part of it. Is that okay?

Yes, ma'am.

But is it time to do that now, Dr. Titus?

Yeah, so this would take us back up to the ordinance number one and ordinance number two to kind of expand on that million dollars and that $3 million so we know what that's for.

Great. I think for brevity's sake, because I don't really need a... Pre show, I think that when it comes up. Uh, for 1st, the 2nd motion, when you go to discussion, I think it'd be appropriate. So those ones that we could ask the mayor to inject that at that time.

And if unless she just wants to do it, unless you just want to do so with that 1, though, there are 2 other contracts that aren't connected to those 2. So. What I'd like is to go over the ones that will be on our agenda and then we can go over the ones that will be in the motion.

And Director Jason Savers, he's here to discuss those two add-on contracts.

So let me ask this then. I don't know if Jason can stay the whole time, so shall we allow Jason to give the updates on the two add-on requests?

And again, I don't get off into the weeds on it or whatever. Just like a couple bullet points, and this is what it is.

So I've prepared a report on the storm. So if it's okay with you, Dr. Titus, and the rest of council, I would just like to give that to you to let you know what we've done. And then at the end of that, I'm going to talk about why it's relevant to tonight's agenda items. I'll do that briefly. And then if Director Sayers has more to add, he's certainly welcome to come up. So with your permission. Okay. So obviously, I just think it's important that council... and the public have a brief recap of what we've been through together in the past two weeks. This was a truly significant storm, by some counts a hundred year storm. So I just wanna walk through a couple of things with you. So basically the storm and the recovery is multi-phased. So the first phase of the event was just in the aftermath to get safe, right? To make sure our streets were clear, to get power back on for our residents, and to really just deal with safety. That was phase number one, and that is completed. The second phase of this was to deal with kind of the aftermath, which was really hazardous limbs, streets that were still blocked, and kind of the next bit of safety, and that was phase two, and that is completed. We then went into the process of hauling away all of this debris. So we were communicating with our residents to put things out. Well, now we had to go back and pick it all up. In the first week, last week, we were just kind of going out and doing that as we saw it. Beginning this past Monday, we put out a schedule that we're doing an east and a west side neighborhood every day. We'll run that schedule this week. We'll probably have to run it again next week as we continue to haul away the debris. I want to say something here. We talked a lot together. This is not debris from private contractors. If you hired someone to cut down your tree, they are to take that debris. They are not to leave it for us at the City of Erie because we cannot handle all of that. This is just for residents who moved a limb or they're clearing out their own area. So I want to be clear about that. That will continue. The fourth phase is resident assistance. That's where we are now, making sure our residents are connected to services they need. Some of them need funds. Some of them need loans. Some of them need just basic services. And so that's where we are now. The fifth phase of the storm is really about dealing with our parks. So our parks were significantly hit. I'm going to give you some data in a minute. But dealing with that and making sure our parks can get reopened. The next phase that we haven't even begun yet is replanting. I don't want it to get lost on you that we have now to replant and to make sure that we're going back out and we have this phase. So that's kind of the next idea, remapping where all these trees were and replanting and replenishing all that we lost. And then finally submitting for financial assistance to the state, which I'm going to talk to in a minute. So those are kind of the phases of the storm. I now want to talk about kind of how the city responded. So in the first hours of the storm, our public works and refuse workers were actually out in the middle of it because we had refuse carriers out that night picking up garbage in the middle of that storm. So they had to kind of seek shelter and then go back out. As soon as the storm, like the immediate storm, had passed, our public works leadership, and you're going to hear me name some names tonight. I can't name every worker in the city of Erie. But I do need to name the leadership who really stepped in and made sure that their departments were doing what was needed. So our public works leadership, that's Director Jason Sayers and Assistant Directors Leanne Parmenter and Jeff Gibbons, they stepped in. So I was getting calls from Jeff, I think, at 2.30 in the morning. Maybe it was 3 o'clock. So they were already on it. Then they activated our public works bureau chiefs. So that's Billy Weglin, Keith Cataldate, Gary Graham, Ron Spinelli, Basil Ronzetti, and Rob Bedell. Those are our bureau chiefs and public works who were the next call to make sure that their folks were ready to go. And of course, our emergency management coordinator, Alan Clark. Thank goodness we had Alan during this storm because he truly stepped in. So by about 5 a.m. the morning after the storm, Alan, Jason Sayers, and Jeff Gibbons and I were assembled in the mayor's office to talk about what to do next. By 5 a.m., we and the Mayor's Office of Community Affairs had put out our first communications to our residents about street closures and being careful and how dark it was and the traffic lights weren't working. We were also in contact with the Erie School District to talk about whether they were going to cancel school and to tell them what we were seeing to make sure they understood the extent of sidewalks and streets being blocked. So having conversations with them. between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. this morning to help them in what was ultimately their decision to close schools. Then the rest of our team, as the sun started to go up, really activated. So we had our entire public works team out trying to just initially begin to assess the damage, trying to get the streets open and get the trees dealt with so that power could come back on. We also had Matthew Falcone from the planning office fielding phone calls. Matthew has fielded up to date 923 calls from residents about trees and tree-related damage, talking to each resident about what's happened, what they need, and their concerns. That's incredible. We also had police and fire out immediately. Our fire department responded to 121 calls from 10 p.m. the night of the storm to 10 a.m. on the morning after. Just to put that in context for you, 10 to 15 calls in 12 hours is normal. They fielded 121 calls that night. So they were out there responding to calls as they came in. And our police department was out that morning helping because none of our traffic signals were working. Many of our streets were blocked. We had 152 streets blocked that morning. And so we had motorcycle crews out making sure that people were being safe on the roads. Then, of course, our streets, parks, and refuse workers out there I also want you to know, and I want to thank the Bureau Chiefs from Planning and Zoning and Building Standards and Safety, that's Jackie Spry and Steve Yerkowitz. Their teams, code enforcement, all of our permitting techs were out surveying. They were telling us where things were blocked, where hazardous limbs were located, and where trees were down. Everybody was out during the day. And I also really need to thank Aaron Pence. You might not know Erin, but Erin does all of our GIS mapping. And within a matter of hours, she created a GIS mapping tool that all of these folks could take out into the field and in real time be inputting into the map. This street's closed. That tree's down. These people don't have power. So that we could get a handle on what was happening and make sure we were prioritizing relief and recovery. That was a huge benefit. And then, after all that was happening and we were meeting daily, finance, our finance department, led by Lisa Gummersall, And our risk manager, Colleen, had to go out and say, we need to call the insurance company. We need to start tracking overtime. We need to make sure we're tracking all these costs. So that continued to happen. And then, of course, the solicitor's office fielding many calls about claims. We have some sewer claims. We have some damage that was done. So they were fielding all of that. So I say all that to say this was an incredible group effort by a number of people who literally worked around the clock to make sure we were able to get from safety to to management, to assistance, to recovery. And we are so grateful to them. Just a few pieces of data before I speak to the agenda items tonight. As I noted, 152 streets blocked, 207 hazardous trees were reported, 923 resident calls. We believe somewhere between 800 and 1,000 trees were impacted. I want you to understand that that translates to 10% of our entire tree canopy in the city of Erie. 10% wiped out just like that. We already knew that there were parts of the city that had limited tree canopy. Losing 10% is devastating. And that's why we have to move to replanting as soon as we can. And I want to really be clear about this. 95% of the trees that came down were in good health. These were not trees that were sitting and dead and should have been taken down by the city. 95 were in good health they had been mapped they were shown to be in good condition and they came down anyway so that's that's a pretty shocking number 15 500 cubic yards of tree debris has been picked up that's of as of today 15 500 cubic yards of debris that's a ton and we're still picking up more i noted the number of fire calls the Area of densest concentration of damage was about seven square miles, mainly on the lower west side, as many of you know. And then, although all of our parks were impacted, three parks were heavily impacted, Frontier Park, Columbus Park, and Gridley Park. And of those, Frontier is still closed. I will tell you that we've had to move events. That's put our special events team into action. Again, with Public Works, we've had to move events from Frontier. We had to relocate cross-country meets that were intended to happen. So A huge amount of damage and devastation even after the storm. So where are we now? I need to say, well, a couple of miscellaneous items as well. You know, I think many of you are aware that the Erie Cemetery, badly damaged. I want you to know that I reached out on behalf of the city. I spoke with the executive director of the Cemetery Association. We made an offer to them to agree to allow their contractor to dump their debris at our compost site, which I need to tell you is already overrun. Our compost site is packed, but we were so moved by the damage at the Erie Cemetery, we wanted to make that offer to them, because that saved them money, because otherwise their contractor was going to haul that all out to Westfield, New York, which cost them even more than they would have had. So after that conversation, I went to Public Works, and they said, of course, we'll make it happen. Compost is packed down there. So what you see on your agenda tonight, we are asking you to approve a contract for us to rent essentially a grinder, so that we can start grinding through all the debris that has been dumped at the compost site. We're out of room down there. So if we don't start grinding that and getting out the wood chips, we don't have any more room to bring in the rest. And if you drive around the city, there's still a lot that has to be picked up. So we're asking you tonight to approve the grinder. In addition to the grinder, why we ask you to waive the rules and what we're seeking kind of your last minute approval of, we have to get all those chips out once they're ground. So we have a trucking contract that we're asking you to approve tonight. to waive the rules and to add that contract to the agenda so that the trucking contract can get all of that debris out. And this is to free up space at the compost site so we can keep picking up debris. And then you might ask, how in the world are we going to pay for all of this? So as I noted, from day one, Lisa has been tracking all of the overtime, all of the efforts, and all of the bills associated with this. Lisa and I spoke with PFM last week, and we said to them, how do we pay for this? What should we do? And PFM said, this is when you use your fund balance. So we don't have tons of fund balance, but we have some. And so what you have on the agenda tonight is us asking you to allocate $3 million from the general fund fund balance. This is not operating money. This is our rainy day fund. We're asking you to allocate $3 million from that and $1 million from the refuse fund balance fund. Again, these are savings. They're the rainy day funds. to allocate those into the general fund so that we can begin to pay these bills. I will tell you, I got a call last week from Public Works that said, Mayor, we're getting questions from some of our tree contractors. Can the city pay their bills? Because everybody knows that the city is in bad financial straits. And my response was a little curt, and I said, you tell the contractors to do their jobs, and we'll make sure that they get paid, because we need our residents to have this assistance. So we can pay our bills. We're asking you to help us allocate this money from the fund balance so that we can pay it out of the general fund. And then we are going to submit all of these expenses to PEMA and ask for reimbursement. Alan Clark had PEMA here on, I think, day four of the storm. PEMA did a full assessment, and we have every reason to believe that we are going to get reimbursed from PEMA. That's the Pennsylvania, not the federal, not FEMA, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for these expenses. We are tracking them diligently, and so we are seeking reimbursement. reimbursement for all of that. So that's what you have on your agenda tonight. The allocation of the funds from the Rainy Day Fund, the trucking, and then the grinder that we need to keep this. Just a couple more items I need to say. We really need to thank the County Executive, the Governor's Office, and Representatives Mirsky and Harkins, also Representative Bizarro and Senator Laughlin, all of whom reached out to say, what do you need? We need to thank the municipalities of Summit and Harbor Creek who literally sent crews. They sent people and equipment to help us and help our teams, which is just an incredibly neighborly thing to do. We appreciate them. And also Mill Creek Compost for agreeing to help us with some of this compost removal. Two companies, Erie Insurance and Red Letter Hospitality Group, sent food to our public works crews, called us and said, what can we do? Can we send pizza? Can we send food? And they did. We're very grateful to that. And then, of course, we had community partners who said, you can put out that we're open if people need to charge their phones or if people need to take a shower or people that don't have power. So just an incredible response from the entire community. We need to say thank you. So where we are now, I signed a state of emergency last Thursday. That makes us eligible for those PEMA. I'm sorry, not last Thursday, the day after the storm. That makes us eligible for that PEMA support. Dr. Titus and I signed together an extension of that declaration. so that we can keep this going and make sure we're able to get reimbursed for these expenses. We have now a mark set up that, with the help of PEMA, a mark is a multi-agency resource center. It's set up at the Salvation Army, a 10th and Liberty, where residents can go tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday to understand, can they get assistance for deductible on their homeowner's insurance? Do they need help with tree removal? All of that information will be at the mark. The state is bringing in funds and resources and grant programs, particularly those from the SBA, that our residents can get some assistance. And then our neighborhood organizations have stepped forward, and they're organizing volunteers. So they're organizing, and I saw many volunteers out in the weekend after the storm, but they continue to be out. So it's been an incredible two weeks. I cannot say enough about the team at the City of Erie, again, from every single department who stepped in, And I really want to thank all of them for their work I think our residents have seen us in there in responding to this in keeping them informed and so tonight council Those are the financial asks we have of you and we will continue to keep you informed as we submit for reimbursement Thank you any questions Just to be clear the Item one no excuse me I

Give me one second. So under first read ordinance that we're waiving, the $1 million taken from the fund balance being transferred into the emergency management services line number blah, blah, blah, 455, and that in turn is going to be transferred into the emergency management services account, an item two for a total of three million, or is that going to be a four million? It's four million.

It's a four million dollar. Three million from the general fund fund balance and one million from the refuse fund fund balance. Okay. Both of those going into this newly created line item emergency management services from which we will pay all the bills associated with this event.

Okay. Yeah. The waving is for the two contracts being added for the hauling away, which are not on the agenda yet.

Well, we're actually not waving, but I'm going to suggest that we move them to a second reading because it is an emergency. It is an emergency. It is something that I ordinarily would not do. But I would ask this body to consider moving those ordinances to a second reading just because everybody and their brother has a contractor out for trucking and grinding or whatever. You can't really, residents can't even contract with anyone hardly right now to do any of the removal. And so I don't know about the third class city code or whatever, but I don't see why an ordinance of this type should have to go through.

No, but for first reading one and two, that's just your regular ordinance moving money. So this is just for the city paying bills. We're talking about the contracts for the waiving, though. So we don't need to waive.

Okay, I got you. Your money's going to be the money anyway.

Yeah, you don't need to waive.

I just want to make sure the contract is.

Yeah, right.

So that one, the one reading. Yeah, you got it.

I'm slow. No, no, no. I always remind you.

This is a lot of moving parts, and we're doing a couple waves. No, I didn't sit next to Marilyn for a reason. And I'll say it during the public meeting as well, but... There was many times where I just, these past few weeks where I just sat and I was like, what can I do? What can I do? But to watch this team, the team that you, have right now, and then the neighborhood teams and these other organizations come in was truly inspiring and very humbling. And I cannot thank all of you enough. I know that you lost time with family. You lost time at home. And how many of you put? put the rest of the city in front of yourself, too. The shifts that you were working and the strings that had to be pulled, and it was truly exceptional, truly exceptional work, so thank you.

I just want to say right here, right now, publicly, before our meeting starts, to thank you on behalf of all the families in the city of Erie, any travelers, anybody who was visiting here. What a Herculean lift and task. Residents should be proud. If ever our textile was ever at work, it was at work. If ever citizens needed to pull together, it was a time like that and we did. I got to speak with some of you personally and express that. I want to say that right here publicly in our caucus. Thank you. Thank you so much. I know that there are still a lot of challenges ahead, but if we move forward with the spirit that was displayed in the aftermath of that storm, I am so confident that we'll be all better city for it. So thank you again.

And with that, we've also started getting notice, at least I've been receiving calls, that there are unfortunately individuals who are using this as an opportunity to take advantage of some of those who have been harmed. And if you are getting, make sure you're getting a couple quotes when you're having work done. And if you are hearing a quote and it's very egregious, there are numbers in which you can report I do not have that number on me right now, and I will try to get it before the liaison report, but that we are notifying and making sure that we are holding those who are being predatory against our citizens who are hurting right now accountable.

All right. Dr. Titus, and I think it's your intent that during the public meeting we're going to publicly thank again. Councillor Horton, thank you so much for your kind words. So I'm going to ask any of our City of Erie citizens employees who are here, if they can just stay for just after the Pledge of Allegiance, we're just going to ask them all to stand and be recognized. So if you can, just stay for the beginning of the meeting. We want to recognize you in the public to get it on the record as well. Thank you.

I never felt so good about spending city money to buy a grinder and to do things. I'm serious. Because I see a lot of things being spent a lot of ways. But you get to see direct impact right here, right now, in your face, impact. And I love it. We don't have Lori here to push us and stuff, but I think you probably need to break this stuff down, Dr. Ty.

And with that as well, I think what I would love to see as we get to the other side of this, Just a debrief and even one that we can present to the public too, like lessons that we've learned and plans in place as we move forward. Because this is, I know we say this a lot, but this is a first but not the last. And as we head more into these extreme climate changes in all the seasons, we're going to see many things. And so I think that there's a lot we can take from this as we plan, especially when we head into the budget season. So thank you.

Can't wait to see all the photos. We've got so much work ahead of us to do still on this. I mean, it's mid-September now, but our kids are usually trick-or-treating in freezing rain. And so we've got that to consider as well.

All right. Yes. Yes. Go for it.

I'm going to present the minimum municipal obligation for the pension plan today. And I just made a few notes. And I know it was emailed to all of you. Mayor Devlin and I have both signed the MMO for 2027. We must sign it by this date to be in compliance with Act 205. And it's being presented today as part of compliance with Act 205, which pertains to the funding requirements for state regulated retirement programs. So the MMO numbers are based on the January 1st, 2025 actuarial evaluation and the projected payroll for 2026. There will be another actuarial evaluation on January 1st of 2027. It's a two-year cycle for that, unless it happens earlier by some other reason. But the MMO payment this year is $26,329,948. The City of Erie Water Authority's portion of that is $329,357. The City of Erie's portion of that is $26,948. The MMO for the city of Erie has increased $543,878 due to increases in payroll. Water authority portion did not increase. And the MMO will be fulfilled from the following two sources. The state aid funding that the city will receive in the fall of 2027. And the balance is paid from the special tax levy funds. And we ask you to keep in mind that no portion of the MMO is paid through the City of Erie's general fund. So if there's any questions, just let me know.

So I don't know if we can go, if anybody else has questions. This is where we saw some numbers not line up correctly last time. And so I think as we start to unpack, I think... When it comes to what we need to approve tonight, is this before? Because I'm not on the agenda necessarily for approval. What is the legal process for us? Is this way to the budget? Do we get it then or?

I'm just required to give it to you by this time. There's going to be more discussion surrounding this, I think, going forward. I know there's other moving parts, but we are doing this to be in compliance with Act 205 because we must do it now based on the legal regulations. So I'm presenting it as it stands today.

Okay.

Start to flush out a little bit more.

And Dr. Titus, if I could say, when the controller, when it was presented to me, I appreciated her office was very clear that it can be changed. They need to present it to stay in compliance. But when PFM is here next week, as some of you will recall, we had a conversation about lowering the MMO. So that could happen. As the controller has noted, there's a number of things that would have to happen first. They need to do this for compliance purposes. It could change, but that's ultimately what will work with PFM, the controller's office, and then the final budget with the finance director.

So I think for me, all the processes, as I'm trying to dodge the sunlight that's getting really bad right now, it was just getting a little... I wasn't sure where they fell, knowing that we have the meeting with PFM next week. So I think... This is just the formality of the presentation.

My little note here says, must be signed and presented at council in September to comply with Act 205 requirements. Can always be revised later this year, but we cannot skip presenting it.

Appreciate it. Thank you.

Yeah. Yeah.

One other note, we just got the email this week that our state report was successfully processed and accepted by the state. So that is where we get the state funding. So that came this week.

I think you could just put it in the minutes that the controller presented the MMO as per law and that you have it, you've received it, and that it's complete. Exactly. Exactly. Okay.

And then just making sure that we, just so we know where it's going to be captured. Thank you. Appreciate it. Any other question on any other agenda items before we get ready to go into the meeting?

Not necessarily a question, just next Thursday's study session is the PFM. Yes. Okay, just making sure.

Thank you. And then do you know if we'll be able to get some of that information prior, just so we can start? Absolutely.

I have a call with them tomorrow to prepare. So I'll let them know that you'll want the items in advance.

Thank you. Well, if there are no other questions, we can go ahead and get ready to go into our main meeting. And just as a reminder, because I'll say it again, we have our study session, but then we also have the housing town hall next week as well.

Thank you. Thank you for watching. Thank you. so so so so . . Thank you. Bye. Thank you. so so Thank you. so so Bye. Roll call for the Erie City Council meeting of Wednesday, September 16th, 2026 at 6.30 p.m. Council Member Titus. Here. Brzezinski. Here.

Here.

Flores? Here. Horton? Here. Hull? Here. Shaw? Here. And Troup?

Here.

At this time, we will stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, led by a moment of silence, or followed by a moment of silence.

President Titus?

Yes.

Can I, after a moment of silence, I have a couple.

Go ahead. You can name them. Okay.

I just want to recognize the passing of our past fire chief, Joe Walco, who passed away last week after 40 plus years of service to the city. And this week, Detective John Barnett, who worked for the city for many years also, retiring, And they're both great men, and they love the city.

Thank you.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one

Thank you.

Approval of the minutes for September 2nd, 2026 and bills for payment of September 2nd, 18th and October 2nd, 2026. Council Member Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton?

Yes.

Pol?

Yes.

Schaaf? Yes. Troop? Yes. And Titus?

Yes. At this point, I'm going to go ahead and we're going to go a little bit out of order, but I'll pass the mic over to Mayor Devlin to go ahead.

Thank you, Dr. Titus. For those of you that were in caucus this evening, you heard me give a rather lengthy report on the storm event that hit our city roughly two weeks ago tonight and the recovery. We want to take a moment in this public meeting to do a brief recognition. of the city of Erie workers who were just superhuman in their efforts to help us over these past two weeks. So I have actually a special presentation for one of our departments. But before I do that, I need to say that although we are going to formally recognize our public works department tonight, all the work that they did was aided by our Police Department, our Fire Department, our Department of Neighborhood and Economic Development, the Mayor's Office of Community Affairs, and our Finance Department. And everything that they did was supported by those folks. So I would like all of the City of Erie employees who are here this evening to stand, all of you, all of you right now, to please stand and be recognized by the public for your efforts. And if everyone can join me in a round of applause for them. Thank you so much. You may all sit down except for I would like our Department of Public Works to come forward and come to the stage. That is our three Department of Public Works Director Jason Sayers and our Assistant Directors and our Bureau Chiefs. I see you all sitting in the back thinking that you're going to get away with something. I want all the Bureau Chiefs as well to please come to the stage and I have a special presentation for you. So I will give you all an opportunity to, there's room for everybody. We have a commendation from the mayor's office that I'm going to present tonight. So I will read it and give you all my whereases. So a commendation recognizing the City of Erie Department of Public Works for outstanding service during and following the September 2nd and 3rd, 2026 severe storm. Whereas on September 2nd and 3rd, 2026, the City of Erie experienced a severe storm that caused widespread damage and created significant challenges for residents, neighborhoods, and businesses across the city. And whereas the City of Erie Department of Public Works responded with urgency and dedication, working long hours, I would say all hours, to clear roadways, remove hazards, assist residents, and help restore safe and accessible neighborhoods following the storm. And whereas throughout this response and cleanup, Public Works employees demonstrated compassion, teamwork, and an unwavering commitment to serving the Erie community. And whereas the dedication and actions of the Department of Public Works exemplify the values of care, excellence, and trust that guide the City of Erie and reflect the very best of public service. Now, therefore, I, Daria Devlin, Mayor of the City of Erie, do hereby recognize and commend the City of Erie Department of Public Works for their outstanding service and dedication to the residents of Erie during and following the September severe storm. Their tireless work and commitment to caring for our community are a true testament to what it means to be a public servant. And I invite the entire city of Erie to join me in recognizing and thanking them for their extraordinary work. Thank you all. this to Director Sayers. This is the commendation. And I do want to say again, this is a team effort by everyone. We're so grateful to all of you, but to this team particularly, we know you lost a lot of sleep.

Dr. Titus.

Councilor Horton.

Before you continue with the meeting, I'd like to just add another member of the team, actually the team leader. I'd like to acknowledge the work of our fine mayor, too, because every good team needs a great leader. And the leadership that you provided during the emergency, I think the way that your temperament and your calm approach to things bled over into the residents. And we've seen a spirit of unity. We've seen the residents stay calm. And it's a true testament to your leadership. And you should be applauded as well.

Thank you. So, Council, we're going to go again a little out of order here. What we're going to do is I'm going to call for two separate motions. I will have Mr. Lavery read the first motion, but we need to add two items. So we're going to waive a motion to waive the rules twice for two separate contracts, but I'll have the first contract. Mike, if you could read that one.

Resolved by the Council of the City of Erie that the proper city officials are hereby authorized and directed to approve expenditures associated with the emergency hauling of ground, wood, and vegetative debris from the City of Erie compost site, 68 Port Access Road, Erie PA 16507. The debris is due to the severe weather that caused significant damage throughout the city on September 2nd and 3rd, and resulted in a declaration of a state of emergency. The following unit price has been provided by Keystone Tree Cycling Incorporated, 44092 Rogers Road, Spartansburg, PA, 16434 for hauling of wood chips, $3.75 per cubic yard.

So at this point, I'm calling for a motion to waive the rules to add that contract to tonight's agenda.

So moved. Second.

Voting on the motion, Councilmember Brzezinski. Yes. Flores. Yes. Horton.

Yes.

Poole. Yes. Schaaf. Yes. Troop.

Yes.

And Titus.

Yes.

Motion passes 7-0.

At this point I will call for another motion to waive the rules to add the contract that Mike will read.

Resolved by the Council of the City of Erie that the proper city officials are hereby authorized and directed to approve expenditures associated with emergency hauling of ground, wood, and vegetative debris from the City of Erie compost site, 68 Port Access Road, Erie PA 16507. The debris is due to the severe weather that caused significant damage throughout the city on September 2nd and 3rd and resulted in a declaration of a state of emergency. The following unit price has been provided by XL Excavating Incorporated, 25912 Route 6 and 19 Cambridge Springs, PA, 16403 for hauling of wood chips, $4 per cubic yard.

Do we have a motion to waive the rules?

So moved. Second.

Voting on the motion, Council Member Brzezinski. Yes. Flores. Yes. Horton. Yes. Hull. Yes. Schaaf. Yes. Troop.

Yes.

And Titus.

Yes.

Motion passes 7-0.

And then just to explain to the public what happened is those two contracts were not on the agenda. In order to have them on the agenda, we needed the majority plus one to approve to add them. Those will be not written on the agendas that you have, but they are now under essentially new business with the contracts that we're going to be going through. So that way we are not delaying any of the work so that the city can continue to do the work they need to. All right, now back to the regularly scheduled program. We do not have any presentations tonight. Do we have anyone here for a request for a repository sale? Anyone here to speak on a request for a repository sale? No, unless it is for the repository sale. Then almost, we're almost there. One more time request to speak on a repository. Now, since there was none, we will move into the public comments. This is probably where you will come up. At this time, if you would like to come to the podium, please make sure you are signing in and writing legibly. You will have five minutes to speak. We will have a timer going. Please state your name and your municipality clearly for the record. Thank you. And now it doesn't sound like it is on.

There we go. It wasn't switched on. So, um, good evening, ladies and gentlemen of the council. My name's Kenneth bounds. I live in the state city of Erie in the frontier district. Um, first let me say that, uh, I want to compliment the people that you just complimented, but I didn't know that was going to happen. the workers of the city of Erie for clearing up the damage and destruction that happened on the 2nd of September and the 3rd of September. They did a tremendous job. We've seen them everywhere around the city and I can't pay them enough compliments, both the sewer people and all those others that you've spoken about. But sadly, I am here again. Many of you will remember me from this time last year. I came last year to tell you about the sewer that backfilled my home and very many other homes in the area of South Shore and the various Mill Creek and Erie streets that feed South Shore. And I am not here on my own this time. I'd ask the people that have come with me today to support this motion to stand up, please. All these people were affected by, not the trees, but by the water. And I'm going to give you some information. I'm an engineer, retired engineer, about what I found, what I'm suggesting. I sent you all my presentation. So you've seen it. Well, hopefully you've seen it. What I'm essentially asking for is a permanent solution to the problem. Last year's lining of the sewer, which wasn't very romantic, but it did it, and it clearly wasn't sufficient. So if I could draw your attention to my presentation now, I know that the public can't see this. I'll try to explain it as much as I can. So on page one of my presentation, you'll see that We have been affected by heavy rainfall in 2017, in 2025, and in 2026. Yes, there was a great deal of rainfall in 2022, but it was spread out over a number of days and the sewer was capable of dealing with it. As an engineer, I look at evidence. The evidence is quite clear. 15 years I've lived here, 12 of those years, the sewer's been okay. The sewer works, but when you know that it's going to rain a great deal, and we knew it was going to rain a great deal, then on the three years that we had a lot of rain, the sewer wasn't adequate. The storm drains weren't, well, we don't know about the storm drains, but the sewer wasn't sufficient for the amount of water that it was receiving. Let me ask you, how can this be? Why are the sewers not adequate when we have a great deal of rainfall? Well, we need to either find out this cause, or we need to build a bigger sewer, or we need to find a way, an engineered way, of correcting the situation. You may not find the information on the next sheet to be particularly interesting, but it does point out that while the sewers in all of the feeder streets to South Shore. Not particularly big. The storm drain leads out, it's 42 inches at the bottom of Colorado Drive, which is where most of the problems came. And I hope that we can use something of that 42 inch capacity to solve the problem. On the next slide, you'll see what I consider to be the problem. How does the water get into the sewer? Well, clearly it's not just sewer. Clearly, it's something else. And what something else can only be is the rainwater. So how is the rainwater getting into the sewer? Your presentation on slide three or four says that's how it's getting in there. Many, many of our houses have their rainwater connected directly to their leader, which feeds the sewer pipe. And this... This is actually, this contravenes the regulations. I'm sure that the lawyer here can tell you what they are. Pamela and I discussed it last year. The next slide tells you that your regulations already exist to implement and stop this from happening. So one solution is we have to stop the water from getting in there in the first place. Then the sewer should be adequate. I've proposed on the next two slides two solutions. One is simply you connect the sewer to the storm water. Oh my God, the EPA, the EPA, I'm not going to like that. If I may continue, I'm here on behalf of these.

Unfortunately, only if you, the rules of council are that you can speak for five minutes, so if someone else would like to take over the presentation, they can do that.

Yes, of course.

Hi, my name's Quinn Thompson. Like Ken said, we're all neighbors here. And I believe he was going to say the solution of connecting the stormwater drain to the sanitary line is obviously an EPA violation. But because of the sewer problems that we have down there in Frontier, all of the sewer water is already pouring out into the stormwater drain and into the lake. Fixing the problem of the sewer backing up into our houses wouldn't necessarily change anything, I guess, as far as EPA problems. But it's really one of the only solutions if we don't fix the downspout going into the sanitary line. I mean, Ken has here many images. We have videos of the water pouring out of the sewer lines directly into the stormwater drains. This is an obvious environmental problem. I believe that they were contacted by the sanitary team on the day of this problem, As Ken mentioned, this has now happened. I mean, my wife and I have lived in the same house for four or five years now, and the sewer's backed up three times in that period, directly caused by rainwater going into the sanitary line. So, I mean, me personally, just looking at the situation and trying to figure out the best solution, I think that... recommending that the city take action and forcing the residents to transfer their downwater spouts out of the sewer line and you know whether that involves purchasing elbows and pushing away from the House or some other solution that seems like the simplest one. All the houses And the entire frontier neighborhood are connected directly to the sanitary line, the downspouts, directly in. So when it rains a lot, all the water backs up. And that seems like the simplest solution. Yeah, and then, I mean, the other thing is that we have all the surrounding, the other surrounding areas. districts and townships also connected to the same sewer line. So we have Mill Creek and Fairview's sewer line coming in to the city of Erie, as well as Westouville, Harbor Creek, coming from the other side. So when it rains a lot, it just backs up. We can't have that rainwater going into the sanitary line. And relining it, we now know, isn't the problem. The rainwater is so if we can work on figuring out a solution for that We greatly appreciate it or else I know a lot of residents Will want to move it's that drastic we can't You know raise our insurance if the city doesn't do anything so we can't pay for the damages that are done You know like I said three times in the last five years and IT'S A LOT TO DEAL WITH. JUST THE CLEANUP, JUST TO HAVE A CLEANUP TEAM COME IN IS MORE THAN $10,000 JUST TO CLEAR OUT THE SEWAGE FROM THE HOUSE. AND THAT ON TOP OF THE DAMAGE OF ALL OF YOUR MAJOR APPLIANCES AND OTHER ITEMS DOWN THERE. SO IF THE CITY DOESN'T DO ANYTHING, WE CAN'T GET BACKED UP BY INSURANCE AND WE ARE TAKING OUT LOANS TO COVER THOSE COSTS. Anything else? Yeah, that's basically it. I think the simple solution, like I said, is the elbows. I don't know how you can force that. If you send out a letter, if you have to check every house, but that would be the way, is putting an elbow on the downspouts of every home all the way along the lake shore. Thank you. Thank you.

Actually, I want to say something, too. So when this happened to us last year... Could you say your name? I'm sorry, yes. It's Elizabeth Paper. I'm Quinn's wife.

Okay.

So last year when this happened to us, we had two feet of raw sewage in our house. And like Quinn said, it took $11,000 just to clean it up. We had $10,000 worth of insurance coverage. They found another $50,000 to cover all of our appliances because we lost our furnace, our hot water tank, our freezer, our washer, our dryer. So after we got through all that, and that didn't even cover any of the belongings that we had down there. We had the biggest dumpster you can get filled with all of our belongings. When we got all through it, we tried to go to our insurance company to up our coverage, like Quinn said. And we were told that because the city has not done anything to fix this, we were not allowed to up the insurance.

And this has happened to Oshi three times. She's lived here for how long? Two years.

Two years. Three times. So much so that when it rained this much this time, she got a dumpster proactively. So if we can't up our insurance and if the city denies, they've denied all of our claims, what's going to happen is something even more ridiculous, which we're all going to get pumps. When the water comes in our basement, we're going to illegally pump the water outside because what else are we supposed to do? And then you're going to have an absolute EPA nightmare. So we are all very desperate. Every single person here, this has happened to them, and it's just, it doesn't feel acceptable for the amount of taxes that we're all paying. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you. If you've spoken, can you just make sure you are signing in, please?

Hi, my name is Kevin Scully. I live in Mill Creek. I used to live in Erie. Our house at 218 Pittsburgh Avenue, which is on the Mill Creek side, had 38 inches of raw sewage. It took five or six days to have that cleaned out. It was done by Erie Restoration. Thank goodness Mill Creek Township did cover that. But the cost was about $13,500 for that. And for what we lost, including HVAC, washer, dryer, hot water tank, freezer, dehumidifiers, personal belongings, furniture, everything that was in the basement. It's probably about another $25,000. And we did have, I did have what was called sewer backup insurance with an insurance company. They told me it was a flood. They weren't going to cover it. Turns out that they are going to give us something, but it's nowhere near what we lost. So I do want to thank the city workers. I also want to thank Mill Creek Township. But we really need to do something about this situation. So I would urge council to listen to what we're saying and please do something. Thank you. Thank you.

Dr. Titus. Yes. I know that it's out of order. Can I just... suggest that I will meet with our director of public works tomorrow and we will have a conversation and be back in touch with you with some answers. I want to just commit to that and we will be back in touch with you tomorrow to set up a meeting and discuss.

Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Howard Bibbs. I live at 2931 Chestnut Street. I am here today I guess because of a young lady that came down here months ago. She came down and she was crying about her uncle being sick and nobody cared about her. Well, I care about her and I care about her uncle. Her uncle is Mr. Fred Williams. Mr. Fred Williams and I worked on a project back in 1973. And that project that we worked on together and got started was the first food bank. That's when the food bank was over on 18th and Nash. And from there, from there, he kind of like taught me how to write grants and proposals I wrote a grant for $250,000 for the homeless, which I gave to JCAG, because I'm just a person at home writing grants. So they weren't going to give me the money. So I had to give the money to JCAG. But doing that, I'd like to also thank Mr. Art, I think his last name was Art Baranucci. He was head of the Department of Community Affairs. So that's going way back, way, way, way back. 1973. Okay. So that's the only thing I wanted to say. I wanted to give credit to Mr. Williams. I wanted to give credit to his granddaughter that came down. She was in tears saying nobody really cared about her grandfather. And I do care about him because he is the one that taught me how to write grants and write proposals. It started off as just a room to have some extra food for senior citizens. And from there, it sprouted out into the food bank. And from there, it sprouted out to where Art Martinucci would give the center extra money every year, every year. But we had to spend the money at the food bank. And I thought that was a brilliant idea because he was killing like three things with one stone. You know, he was helping the senior citizens. At the same time, he was helping the food bank, and he was doing his job. So I thought that was very wonderful of him. So I'd like to mention Mr. Martin Nucci. He did a wonderful job. I don't even know if he's still around. But I wanted to come down and just say, just to propose that to you guys. The other thing I'd like to propose to Mr. President, as well as the Vice President, In my travels today, a lot of people was talking about voting, but they don't know who to vote for down here because they don't know anything. And they asked me, what was that thing up there? I said, that thing up there hasn't been used in years. And they said, well, can it be used? I said, yeah, it probably can be. And it would identify what a person is saying, voting or whatever, so that you learn who their name is. Now, Three of these cars were from New Jersey. One was from Indiana. One was from Wisconsin. The car from Wisconsin, a girl wrote me a letter when they came. We called them the Red Hats when they came down here that day with that mess. And she wrote me a letter and she said, Mr. Bibbs, whenever housing become plentiful, please write me back. So I got a letter from just coming down and talking to that group and keeping them at bay of running up on this here stage acting a fool, all right? And that's coming from a guy that walks with a cane. But this is all metal, so they'd have got something that's metal. You can believe that because there's one thing I do. I don't understand this. When a man is just going to run up on a woman and act like he's going to beat a woman down in front of the rest of the men, that ain't supposed to happen. So I let that man know that that wasn't going to happen. So I'm hoping, Mr. President, and whoever the Vice President, I don't even know, because I haven't been down here. But if there's a way that that could be turned on, where when you're making your presentations or voting on different things, people get to know who you are because they don't know who you guys are.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I'm a bit nervous here. I need my glasses. I'm going to try to get through this quick. I've got neuropathy from cancer.

Can you just state your name for the record and just move that mic down so everyone in the audience can hear you. I'm sure. There you go. Thank you.

Good evening, members of council. My name is Cheryl Mountain. I live at 724 East 9th. I am standing here tonight regarding the property line that I share with the place currently owned by the Erie Land Bank, 716 East 9th. This past July, the land bank official took possession of the distressed house next to my property. When that happened, Joshua Stearns, the city's redevelopment coordinator, posted the acquisition. Recognizing many dangerous trees on the property, I spoke to Joshua Stearns the day he posted on the door. Spoke about two issues. One was the condition of the garage. He said it is being torn down. Two was about the over 100, 150-foot pine tree that is now in my yard that posed a threat to three different properties. I told him how in over 60 years no one has maintained the trees and how it sways on windy days. His response was, that is a big tree. Despite this clear advance and direct notice, also three witnesses heard me address about the tree with him. No correctives were taken to remove or secure the hazard. I also told him even to top the tree down, and that would be less of a hazard. He did not do that. Because the land bank failed to act on this warning, that exact tree has now fallen onto my property, causing a lot of damage. I did everything a responsible citizen is supposed to do to prevent an emergency, but the system failed to protect my property. I am asking council tonight for two immediate actions. One is assistance from Public Works Department to come remove the enormous stump that is now on their property so I can secure a fence. I have lists and times of dates that I have called, mayor's office, city hall, redevelopment, Joshua Stern's office, that I found my dogs outside because they're getting through, their property is not secure. And I don't want my dogs dead. And to this day, nobody has come to do it. I have pictures if you want to see everything. The second is clear direction on a formal process for submitting a property damage claim so the city of Erie and the land bank take financial responsibility for my repairs to my property. Because the land bank was explicitly aware of this structural defect prior to its collapse, this incident cannot be classified as an act of God. It is a direct result of property maintenance neglect. Erie Land Bank is responsible for inspecting upon taking house the inside as well as the yard. These are some of the dates and times of my unreturned phone calls. September 3rd, 9.26 a.m., 1 o'clock p.m., 3.22 p.m., 4.20 p.m. September 4th, 11.39, 11.48. And I waited to September 8th because I knew the city was in crisis, so I waited 1140 a.m., 206 p.m. On September 11th, I called City Hall and the mayor. No return calls or help was just told that it was an act of God called my insurance. Well, I just want to thank you for your time, and I have documented my communications and resulting damage. I look forward to your prop guidance and see if you can help me. And I have pictures of this humongous tree that is in my yard and the damage, if anybody wants... Want some? These are, and also my sister's here. Her yard got damaged too, but I'm the younger sister who gets to speak. And there are so many trees left on there that are over 100 feet tall, and they're dead. They're going to fall too. And he was told about all these trees, and I pointed them out to him. So I believe it's no longer an act of God. It's negligence. You know, I always knew it was going to come down, but I was hoping it wasn't coming my way, but it did. And it's very important if somebody could promptly either fix their fence in their yard because it's just dangling, and my dogs are getting out. Now that most of the tree is out, I still have more, and it's over $6,000 costing to get the tree removed. And that's not other damage to both sides of my fence and my garage. But my dogs were getting out under the tree, which I didn't think they would scoot there, but they did. And I found them outside on the street. And that's very worrisome. Please secure the fence. Or get the stump out so I can put my fence back up. That's all I ask. And you can have the pictures.

Thank you.

I think that was my time up, right? Yes. Okay. Point of information.

Thank you. Citizens don't always want to stick around, but I believe in our caucus, and someone can stop me from speaking out of sorts, but the Salvation Army on 11th and Liberty, or 10th and Liberty, because we have been designated an emergency under PEMA, they have opened up a mark center there, ma'am, and they're helping with those type of issues or the potential to help with those type issues. That's the Salvation Army on 10th and Liberty or 11th and Liberty. It's like an emergency. It's like a resource center there for storm damage and people that's found with claims or looking for help. Okay.

Okay.

Well, we can't legislate any of that. What I'm suggesting to you is that the Mark Center is a resource center and that there may be some help for you or your neighbor to accomplish what you're trying to accomplish. That's a great place to start. To accomplish, to get the city to take responsibility? First of all, well, I don't want to get into a back and forth. And the city is not the land bank. They're two entirely different things. I'm trying to suggest to you that there may be someone to help you with your issue other than that if the city if it's any if it's any if it's getting the tree removed from your yard that's not a public works that's private property and anything any you want a fence fixed

So I think Council Horton was providing some information that might be able to help with some of the other things that might not be covered by insurance. But we can follow up after so that we can allow public comment to continue. I apologize. Thank you.

Dr. Titus, Tori Williams in the back. Ma'am, she's raising her hand. She'll get your information and she can direct you. We can have a conversation. She's waiting for you in the back. You can speak with her. Thank you.

And Dr. Titus, I apologize for breaking protocol, but because we've had such a dire weather, I think that we should be as responsive on the spot as we can. So allow us to take that time to do that.

Appreciate it.

Hi, Dr. Clayton Bradshaw-Middle. I reside in Erie. My pronouns are they, them. First, I did want to say thank you to Mr. Brzezinski for leaving an apology in the Erie Gay News. I think that regardless of the timing, it demonstrates a responsiveness to our community, which is helpful. Thank you to Mr. Horton for responding to some of my concerns over email and to Mayor Devlin for meeting with me about some of my concerns. I really feel heard right now, which I think is important and it's immensely valuable. But I wanted to address what might be a missed opportunity, so it's a small thing in the grand scale of, like, all the conversations that are happening, but I thought it was something worth mentioning. So we have the Department of Justice, the Justice Assistant Grant that's being used for police equipment. And so, like, I know with... You know, I've got a history of grant writing myself, and I understand, like, with a proposal, you know, you have what you've proposed, and that's what you're going to have to use it on, right? But this particular grant also provides a lot of other services, right? So we propose for equipment, but maybe in the future we can propose for other things, things that are more preventative in nature, things that are addressing alternatives to just buying equipment and responding to things. So for example, this JAG grant allows funds to be used for everything from prevention, education, drug treatment programs, mental health programs, behavioral programs, crisis intervention teams, and other intervention programs directly related to courts. And while some of these, like drug treatment, mental health diversion courts, are handled at the county level, maybe there's some focus that can be given to measures like drug treatment or training for mental health crisis intervention, more money that's in the crisis response teams that we have and continuing to train them. And a lot of education measures. I mean, I'm a big fan of education for, you know, selfish reasons, I think. So we have a lot of police funding for measures that do not address the root cause of crime, right? And we have large businesses who have donated money to programs that are going to be unsustainable. And so we're seeing kind of a less of a concern for public safety as a concept, more on prosecution and deterrence, which has shown to really do little to address actual public safety. And so this dies into this recurring question that I've also been hearing. So what are the alternatives that we can fund? So I think that some of these are going to be a little high-minded, but I like to think big sometimes. So I'm wondering if there's a way to find funding and use some of these resources in our grant, because we're able to get some pretty nice grants, honestly, to do things like addressing food insecurity. We have swathes of Erie that are essentially food deserts, right? Maybe if there's a way to attract a grocery store, and I'm sure this is things that have probably been hashed out long before I've been here, but programs that maybe, like, can we get an affordable grocery store in some of these neighborhoods that are missing and don't have access to this? Things that can increase nutrition, things that can address issues of hunger and the resultant criminal actions that do arise from hunger. I was homeless for a long time, and I remember the way that that really does incite that. Or Literary programs. I think some, you know, yesterday the mayor mentioned something about the possibility of a Youth Poet Laureate program. And while this may be a thing, there is grant funding for programs like this that include reading and writing workshops that develop literacy in local neighborhoods. And literacy leads to less crime. Youth intervention programs, family support, housing support, employment support. And these are all preventive measures, some of them actually addressed by that same justice assistant grant. that actually are proven to address these root causes. So I'm wondering if there is a way for the city to seek funding for these measures instead of focusing our resources for securing funding for more and more equipment without just relying on nonprofits to cover the gaps that are there, which I know a lot of high-minded things, but just something I thought I noticed I might bring up. Thank you. Thank you.

My name is Freda Teffer. I live in the city of Erie, and I have the first homegrown national park garden in the county of Erie. There's now quite a few of them. The reason I bring that up is when I moved into my neighborhood, the downspout was directed into the street, which to me didn't make any sense. That's taking clean water and putting it into the gutter and making it dirty and then putting it down the storm drain and sending it into the lake. So as a soil scientist, it doesn't make any sense to me to be taking the downspout and putting it into the sewer either. When we started having a stormwater program, I was concerned that there's no incentive for homeowners to have less impervious surface or to have more complex vegetation than lawn. It's the same thing. assessment, no matter how much lawn you have versus complex vegetation. But if we have people, if we can redirect the downspouts onto people's yards, people have developed rain gardens and plant shrubs and perennials and things that will help to increase the infiltration of water and reduce the amount of water that can run off. That is one solution. So this is not what I expected to talk about, but there I am. So the ballots are coming out about the 28th, and I encourage everybody to check their registration status. And if you're going to get a mail-in ballot, to make sure that the address that your mail-in ballot is going to is current. If you're a student and you've moved, make sure that you've changed the address. If you're a snowbird and you're not going to be here, make sure that you have the right address because ballots are not forwarded. Also, if you and your spouse are signing your ballots and putting them in envelopes, make sure you don't sign your spouse's envelope. Your name and address is on the envelope. And it's surprising, if you look at the list of defective ballots that the county publishes, how many spouses, people with the same address, same last name, have wrong signatures on the list. So why don't we just avoid that in the first place? So, sorry. I did notice yesterday down at the Bayfront and today, trees planted incorrectly. Trees along this whole new planting that we have on the street, especially on State at 4th Street. I'm not supposed to see all the ropes and things that the tree was in. And I'm not supposed to see a bunch of mulch kind of layered, the tree should be in the ground, and you should be able to see the root flange. Those ones around 4th Street weren't like that, and the ones where I parked between 7th and 8th, the mulch is too deep, and you can already see how the stem, the bowl of the tree is rotting from having the mulch. This is a chronic thing. I know the former arborist was worried about that all the time with the parks. Also, I've mentioned this a bunch of times. At Front Street, at Holland, and at State, there really should be either a four-way stop or a sign like there is down on Bay Street where the motel is that says, State law requires you to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk. There are two crosswalks at State and Front, and there's another one at the exit of the parking lot for the hotel. And there ought to be some way that there is... safety for pedestrians there. I suggest either some four-way stops or that signage that says that people are required to stop. Also, I've been saying this over and over again, the same with Front Street and Holland. Lastly, periodically you'll see a public notice. It's a notice of intent to rehabilitate. So it's a contaminated property, and the city has to request a public involvement plan within 30 days of publishing. We're hoping, hopefully you'll be getting a letter soon, or Jackie Spry will be getting a letter soon, but there is one that several members of the Environmental Advisory Council have looked at, and that does justify a public involvement plan. Thank you.

Hello, Dave Ulig, City of Erie. Again, I'm here to say it's time for the City Council to restart the Home Rule Charter process. The most problematic The pressing problem facing the City of Erie is a financial problem, and the City has limited tools to fix that problem. Other than raising property taxes, there is very little the City can do to increase funding to provide the services expected by the community. On a per capita basis, Erie's budget is in line with that of similar sized cities in the Commonwealth, which indicates there are not many opportunities to reduce the budget. Many of these comparably sized cities also receive more than half of their revenue from sources other than property taxes, while Erie relies more heavily on property taxes. The Home Rule Charter offers an opportunity to add financial flexibility to fix Erie's budget problems without relying on property tax increases. Erie City Council owes the residents of the city a chance to study the Home Rule options and determine the best path forward. We may not necessarily adopt Home Rule, but at least we can educate this council and the community on the options available to us. And I'm saying restart the process, invite the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to review their Home Rule Charter presentation. Again, they were here a while ago and did that. Nothing happened. Then schedule some public outreach sessions to explain what Home Rule can do and invite city residents to get involved and serve on the Government Study Commission if they're so interested. Thank you.

Hi tree similar city of Erie Just a couple things. I've been going to the listening sessions for the PAL for the police I you know excited to go to some of the future ones and Just kind of a curiosity, is there going to be any kind of input from the people who are attending or from the community who's watching it after the fact? Are we going to get any feedback loop from any of that? Because sessions are great, but I've got a lot of questions. One just off the top of my head is a question I know there was conversations in the past, and I'm really curious around the police and if they're taking vehicles home, if they're living outside of the city, what kind of impact is that? If they are, when does the clock start? Does it start when they hop in that car? Who's the responsible party for a vehicle if there's any kind of incident with it prior to them starting? Some of those kind of things. Another thing I wanted to bring up I'm not sure if the city is aware But there were some skilled laborers that traveled from Texas to assist with all of the debris all of the trees these were skilled laborers and And they were viciously apprehended at a local hotel by ICE. The young gal at the hotel is getting some PTSD therapy because the trauma of just seeing it happen. It's just really sad that we don't even have any kind of federal response to this, but yet we did have federal presence here that didn't even lend a hand for a frickin' tree. And instead they took the people that were here to help us. And as far as I understand, some of them were citizens. I don't know the entire makeup of all of them, but I'm sorry. If you don't know, you don't take them. And then I also, because of the storms, it kind of made me bring up again, I wasn't sure if the city did have an adopt-a-park program for citizens to participate in, clean up your neighborhood park, all of that kind of stuff. I know that they have them in other cities. I thought that we had one years ago. It would be great. I'd be your first person to sign up for it. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hey, I'm Bob Strasser, Erie's Lower East Side. First, I want to thank everybody, the City of Erie, the staff, the citizens and the businesses, and ditto for the county that have come together to help us get through this extreme weather event that we experienced. Next, I want to give a shout-out and thank everyone that participated in the event. RAM event, the remote access medical event that was held at ECAT this past weekend. There was, I believe, great success and large numbers of people that utilized that and hopefully we will have more and maybe in other parts of the city also. I also want to continue to show my support for the nine ships project. for the east side. As someone said, that's a win for the east side. Every win we get on the east side will be another step forward for us. Next, I want to get into trying to stay on the positive side and thinking of the future for Erie in dealing with things in doing research regarding the Erie experience. So what I'm going to read you now came from an AI model that I utilized and it wrote this. The economic logic is straightforward and durable. An AI can write you a novel, generate you a song, or hold a conversation with you cheaply, instantly, and infinitely. An AI cannot put you on a roller coaster overlooking Lake Erie with your kids. cannot recreate the smell of a bonfire Presque Isle Beach it cannot replicate the specific shared memory of a summer night at a 130 year old amusement park with people you love the rare digital experience becomes free and effortless the more valued genuine physical social sensory experience become by contrast Erie's entire strategic advantage in an AI-saturated world is that it has real water, real land, real history, and real community, assets that cannot be generated by a server farm. So early on here in my work and research, it has what Erie already has to build upon. We have Waldemere Park and Waterworld. We have Presque Isle State Park. We have the Bayfront, the Downtown Renaissance, and we have institutional and cultural assets. One early idea that I've come across here early, and hopefully there will be more, is to create what would possibly be called an Erie Lakefront Pass, bundling Waldemere, Presque Isle, the Bayfront, and Downtown attractions into a single visitor product. So basically what brought me to this is doing research as I've seen that some other forward-thinking cities are looking to expand upon what their current experiences are and think of future ones especially with the oncoming with AI and and what their real experiences that people can share besides the virtual and everything AI related. And those will become more in demand as maybe people start losing jobs that AI does the cognitive or like worksheet type of things. We will need jobs that deal with real experiences, and hopefully we can start to work on that and think about that here in Erie. Thank you.

Thank you.

Just to raise us two stories. Good evening, City Council. My name is Andrew Inman, and I represent the Erie Division of the Venango Republic News Network. We are an organization that covers all of western Pennsylvania and the nation of Uganda. I'm here today to discuss an issue that's plagued the city ever since 1975. Each of you know that the township of Mill Creek neighbors the city of Erie on three sides, the south side, the west side, and the north side. Mill Creek has possession of Presque Isle, which satellite images show is in the shape of a hand. The satellite images also show what appears to be a situation where you're under Mill Creek's thumb. To make matters worse, on the most southern point, Mill Creek has possession of a giant mall which if you've seen satellite images, you know that it's in the shape of a stormtrooper gun. And while stormtrooper guns are very inaccurate, if in the wrong hands, that could be very devastating if it discharges and you have 10,000 citizens who are depending on your treaty with Wesleyville as a means of escape. Mill Creek is basically a box if Wesleyville betrays you and joins Mill Creek. There are tens of thousands of people here. And in early June, I was covering this story for the Venango Republic News Network on our website, and there was a situation where a pool noodle fortunately didn't discharge, but while a llama was protesting the mall gun in Mill Creek, he took a loogie to the neck by the Mill Creek bomb squad and unfortunately had passed away. Mill Creek has not paid reparations to the family, despite the cost of cattle, and I'm here today to ask what Erie is going to do to make sure that Mill Creek pays reparations for that llama. His name was Lamar Lamley of 501C Alpaca Street. I sat with his family over a glass of laminate, but then instantly spat it out when I realized I reached for the wrong udder. But nonetheless, this is a situation that's plagued the city of Erie. I don't expect you to know how to make Mill Creek disassemble the mall gun or point it towards a less preferred city like Corrie. But I would like to know what the city of Erie is going to do to make sure that Mill Creek pays reparations to the Llamas family. Let's start with the mayor.

Actually, this is the time for public comment, and we don't go back and forth right now.

Oh, we don't do that? Okay. Well, that's all I had to say. Before I go, is there a sheriff who could, like, drag me out while you, like, hit your hammer? Everybody could yell justice for Lamar.

No, but I do hope your views go up.

Okay, that's awesome. Thank you. They won $32,000 whenever I went to Mill Creek. So thank you. You guys have a great day.

Good luck.

Hi. I'm Patrick Moran, 1255 East 38th Street. I just moved back to Erie a few months ago. Not from here originally, lived here 2018 to 2024, left and then ended up having a change in work, so was able to move back, which is really exciting. I really, really liked it here and really wanted to move back. When I lived here before, I worked at the public library. I was down at Blasko. I worked as a librarian. I also worked as a clerk. I worked as a tech doing repairs, did a lot of stuff. Really, really, really loved it. So I just wanted to kind of give you that context of who I am and now that I've moved back and have a different work schedule, hoping to be here more often. When I was at the library, I worked most Wednesday nights, so I was kind of always bummed to miss city council meetings. I also say all this about having just moved back because I know I'm still catching up on a lot of things going on locally, catching up on context. But what I wanted to come give public comment on tonight was what I've heard about the ordinance for Decorum and for City Council not my understanding not having rules of decorum And moving back that was a big surprise to find out and For a lot of reasons. I know most big government bodies have rules of decorum. The Senate does. The House of Representatives does. And those are very large bodies. And I was reading about it a little today in preparation of coming here and just trying to brush up and prepare myself and also think about it. You know, what does decorum look like when it works well? What does it look like if maybe it's abused to silence members or punish people arbitrarily, which I think we would agree we don't want and you wouldn't want in a government body. You'd want it to work well. But even just thinking about my workplace, so currently work for a private company but previously worked at the public library, we had expectations and rules of how we would speak with our colleagues and how we would speak with patrons. And that wasn't an attempt to tell us what we could or could not say to people and trying to control our speech. It was just an acknowledgement of we serve the public and we work with each other. There's a certain way that we're expected to address each other and to address the public. And having seen it a few times with colleagues at the library who maybe got frustrated and maybe retorted with some sarcasm to patrons and patrons not taking it that kindly and then asking, where's your manager? You can't talk to me like that. You can bet, and it often happened that the manager would come out and have a talk with us, so there would be some kind of consequence to that. And in this case, you are your own managers and managers of each other. And yeah, I think that you have an opportunity to set and agree upon what decorum would look like and how it would not influence what you say as far as the government work that you're commenting on or the business you're doing, but how we address each other, how you work with each other, how you represent us. Yeah, I think that's a very, very reasonable thing to expect from you all and for you all to expect from each other. And just the thought that if these massive bodies at the federal government can have rules of decorum of not interrupting and addressing people by their titles, I would think that we could have one here as well. For me as a citizen, that would generate a lot of trust in you all because not passing that ordinance and not having rules of decorum even if it's not your intention, says to me that you don't think you can do that. You don't think you can address your colleagues in a certain way. And I absolutely think you can. You treat each other with respect in general. And I think there absolutely might be situations in the future or a future council where you might wish you had decorum rules. So I would urge you and hope that not just as a response to things here locally recently, but also thinking about the future, future councils, how you would each like to be treated and addressed, that you could figure that out if it's something that most other government bodies have already figured out. So that is my ask. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Patty Williams, and I live in the city of Erie. I also would like to say thank you very much to all of the city staff, volunteers, whoever was involved in the cleanup. That was outstanding. There's a lot to be done still, but we've made great progress, and I'd like to say thank you. The other part of it is earlier in the caucus, Mayor Devlin mentioned that about 10% of our trees have been taken out, unfortunately. I am hopeful that a lot of those were probably non-native trees. So I hope that when we look at replanting those, our citizens and our city and county will consider native trees. We've got some really good resources for those. I've been in touch with Matthew Falcone about another project, but have shared some of that. We do have some good resources around. In addition to the city, we have LEAF, we have Erie Groundwork, We have master gardener, Penn State master gardeners. We would all be very happy to help with some of that. And I would also like to say, in addition to Freda's comments about rain gardens, they're fabulous. And they do keep the water on your property. You can plant some different things. They don't go into the storm sewer, those sorts of things. May not resolve all of the problems that these poor people have had, but it is a consideration. So thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else here to speak on public comment? Anyone else for public comment? Anyone else for public comment?

Hello. My name is Julia Jacobs and I'm a resident of the city of Erie. I'm also a crisis worker which I feel is relevant to put forward again because I'm partially here to talk about my disappointment after attending the annual police budget study session where I did learn quite a good amount of information which I hadn't known before. One of the things I might need a little clarification on is about The overtime, it was my understanding after the presentation that 45% of the total budget is spent on police overtime, as opposed to 64%, which I believe was the previous year. That is obviously a great, great progress, but I still think those numbers are crazy. To add to a previous question, I'm also curious if these cruisers are going home and thus taxpayers are then paying for the time that officers use to drive to and from work or home. It's also my understanding that there was some rule put forward I guess last year or recently to prevent that from happening, but we are unsure if it's really being enforced. I also noticed during the presentation that the police chief listed the trainings that officers receive four times per year. One of those trainings was homicide trainings, which I believe was does take place four times a year for officers. What I was very appalled to see was that there was no type of crisis de-escalation or mental health training that was listed or questions asked about that subject, which I think is very shocking given the nature of a lot of our law enforcement incidents, a lot of the abuse that we've seen recently, abuse of power and excessive force. So I was very disappointed to see that there weren't good comprehensive questions asked. I also understand our crisis unit is only nine officers. I also found that out from the presentation. Though I think it's very important that if we're delivering homicide training four times a year for all of the officers, I think maybe we could squeeze in one time a year de-escalation mental health training. I know that's the police department's duty to actually enact, but it's all of our responsibilities to advocate for and speak about, because it's been such a pressing issue in our communities. There was also an idea put forward at that event to possibly waive the fee for resident police applications to incentivize actual residents of the city of Erie to apply, especially lower income, more vulnerable residents that might not otherwise be able to spare those application fees. AND THEN LAST BUT NOT LEAST, I JUST ALSO WANTED TO CONTINUE PRESSURE FOR THE CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD, WHICH I ALSO DID NOT REALLY HEAR ANY QUESTIONS OR CONVERSATION ABOUT DURING THAT POLICE STUDY SESSION FOR THE BUDGET. AND I THINK THAT'S A HUGE, EVEN IF THE BUDGET ISN'T GOING TOWARDS THAT CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE ARE IN COLLABORATION AND TALKING ABOUT THOSE SERVICES. Now I'd like to transition to something very different since there's so many people in the room to hear and be made aware. I think that everybody needs to be paying attention to the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit that took place in Harrisburg recently, which our mayor and county executive happily attended alongside very pro-genocide maniacs. We do know that there are There is a need for jobs in Erie. We know there are plenty of roles begging to be filled in education, healthcare, behavioral health, social work. The problem obviously isn't job scarcity, it's the lack of funding that makes the pay in these positions unlivable. So my question is why are our elected representatives so quick to support war incentives but not advocate for and defend the services that actually uphold and heal our communities? Um, Trump himself discussed this very summit saying, I think really people don't know what's happening in Pennsylvania. They're not able even to even fathom what's going on. Trump is obviously right. We have no idea what's going on and that should concern us. McCormick expressed support for Trump's terroristic agenda, claiming that Achieving Trump's vision of peace through strength demands new players and ways of doing business, and Pennsylvania can show the way. Trump has laid out a bold vision for American strength, and Pennsylvania is proving it can deliver, bringing the innovation, workforce, and will to build it. To build what? Trump's vision of peace through strength. We need to stop seeing the potential in every development and take a horrifying look at reality. Thanks.

Thank you. Anyone here or anyone else for public comment? Anyone else for public comment? Anyone else for public comment? We will go ahead and move on to the next part of the agenda.

Ordinances for final passage. Council File Number 16-632, Official File Ordinance 52-2026, an ordinance appropriating the sum of $88,823 from unappropriated and unanticipated revenue for the expenditure thereof for $88,823 grant from the Department of Justice FY25 JAG program, local solicitation for police equipment. Sponsored by Council Member Horton, seconded by Council Member Schaaf, that Council File Ordinance Bill number 16632, and now known as Official File Ordinance 52-2026, be finally passed by the City Council. Council Member Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Pol? Yes. Schaaf? Yes. Troop? Yes. And Titus?

Yes.

City Council passed Official File Ordinance 52-2026, finally by yeas seven, nays zero. Ordinances for first reading. Council File 16633, an ordinance appropriating the sum of $1 million from unappropriated fund balance and the refuse fund for the expenditure thereof. Funds will be used to cover unexpected expenses related to the severe weather event which occurred on September 2nd, 2026. Sponsored by Council Member Titus, seconded by Council Member Schaaf. That Council File Ordinance Number 16633, having been read, is hereby adopted on first reading by City Council. Council Member Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Pohl? Yes. Schaaf? Yes. Troop? Yes. And Titus?

Yes.

Council read and adopt Council File Ordinance Number 16633 by Ye 7, Nay 0 on first reading. Council File Number 16634. An ordinance appropriating the sum of $3 million from the unappropriated fund balances in the general fund for the expenditure thereof. Funds will be used to cover unexpected expenses related to the severe weather event which occurred on September 2nd, 2026. Sponsored by Council Member Titus, seconded by Council Member Schaaf. The Council File Ordinance 16634, having been read, is hereby adopted on first reading by City Council. Council Member Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Pol? Yes. Schaaf? Yes. Troop?

Yes.

And Titus?

Yes.

City Council read and adopt Council File Ordinance 16634 by yeas 7, nays 0. Council File 16635, an ordinance appropriating the sum of $50,000 from unappropriated and unanticipated revenue for the expenditure thereof from a $50,000 contribution from the William Penn Foundation for the City of Erie's 2030 US Census Planning and Engagement Project. Sponsored by Council Member Flores, seconded by Council Member Pohl, that Council File Ordinance 16635, having been read, is hereby adopted on first reading by City Council. Council Member Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton? Yes. Pohl? Yes. Schaaf? Yes. Troop? Yes. And Titus? Yes. City Council read and adopt Council File Ordinance 16635 by yeas 7, nays 0 on first reading. Council File 1636 was pulled. This takes us to old business. A resolution of the Council of the City of Erie regarding the request for approval of a waterfront conditional use for a new 75,000 square foot light manufacturing facility with accompanying office space and site improvements located at 1318 East Lake Road, submitted by Porter Consulting Engineers on behalf of Enterprise Development Center of Erie County, EDCEC, and the Nine Ships Company Ships, And pursuant to section 306 of the zoning ordinance, ordinance number 802005 as amended is hereby approved with listed conditions.

Prior to calling the vote, I just want to take a moment. We've done this process now three or four times this year. And I just want to, again, take a moment to publicly commend the process that we have witnessed and unfolded with this specific project. We've heard from many residents that they have felt heard. Any question that we as a body have asked has been answered. And I do think that this was an example of when a project is working well and it is including the community and incorporating community input, this is how it rolls out. So as we go into the vote, I just wanted to be on record as also commending the work that was done and encouraging others who are working on projects to follow a very similar model. We can go ahead and call for the vote. Yes.

Listed conditions. The developers and or owners of records shall incorporate living landscape material into their green space, including grass, ground cover, plantings, shrubs, and or trees, consistent with the general landscaping criteria set forth in 306.5, and landscaping shall include regionally native planting materials where reasonable and Further developers and or owners of record, A, shall make reasonable efforts to incorporate bird and wildlife sensitive measures intended to support the safety of birds and or migratory species and or other wildlife on or near the premises. And shall consult with the wildlife experts to accommodate the removal and or trapping of such wildlife that may habitat, live and or reside within the premises and or the immediate community along Hess Avenue. Number three, further the developers and or owners of records shall install exterior lighting along the access way and that all lighting fixtures shall be hooded or shielded to direct light downward and shall not constitute unreasonable glare defined as light perceptible at ground level beyond a reasonable distance and or on the surfaces of the bay. Further, developers and or owners of record shall design, construct, and maintain the site, and including a fence along the property line that satisfies safety and or security requirements of the premises, and shall be responsible for all maintenance costs, including reasonable cleanliness, regular repairs, and or replacement of structurally unsound sections of the fence within a reasonable amount of time. Further, the developers and or owners of record shall make reasonable efforts to incorporate business policies and or practices that actively lead to preservation of the bluffs along Lake Erie pursuant to the zoning code. Further, the developers and or owners of record shall apply for a zoning variance, if necessary, regarding the proposed signage of the project pursuant to section 303 of the zoning code. Further, the developers and or owners of record shall comply with all policies and procedures above the extent not otherwise inconsistent with federal law, Pennsylvania law, city of Erie ordinances, and or any other law applicable to design, construction, and maintenance of the project, including, without limitation, the ADA compliance.

Could you repeat that? Can you read it backwards?

Calling for the vote, Council Member Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton?

Yes.

Pol? Yes. Schaaf? Yes. Troop?

Yes.

And Titus? Yes. Resolution passes 7-0. Dr. Titus, this takes us to new business.

I would call for the motion to move the balance.

Motion. Second.

Motion by Councilor Polis, second by Councilor Flores. Are there any separations?

We pulled in caucus, correct? The ones that we needed to?

Two through, yes.

Okay, just making sure.

Two through eight was pulled. I would like to separate number one.

One. Any other separations? Voting on moving the balance separating number one, Council Member Brzezinski? Yes. Flores? Yes. Horton?

No.

Pol? No. Schaaf?

I'm sorry.

We're voting on the motion to move the balance.

That's what I thought.

That's what I thought, and then everyone... Can we call for a re-vote?

Voting on separating the balance, or I'm sorry, voting on moving the balance separating number one. Council Member Brzezinski? Yes. Flores?

Yes.

Horton?

Yes.

Hull? Yes. Shaw? Yes. Troop?

Yes.

And Titus?

Yes. We've done too many changes up, so I think we've got everybody a little confused.

New business item number one, a resolution that the repository sale of one property, commonly known as 739 East 8th Street, 31 by 165 Erie, PA, identified by the Erie County Assessment Index Number 15020034.0-212.00 by the Erie County Tax Claim Bureau to MTTR Group 114-36. 223 St. Canberra Heights, New York, 11411, in the amount of $250, be hereby approved.

I requested the separation, but I don't have any comments. If there are no other comments, I would go ahead and call for the vote.

Voting on the resolution, Council Member Brzezinski?

No.

Flores? Yes. Horton?

No.

Pol? No. Schaff? No. Troop?

No.

And Titus?

No.

Resolution fails one to six. This takes us to committee reports.

We'll go ahead and start with Councillor Brzezinski, because I'm usually picking on Councillor Pol.

I HAD A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE THIS AFTERNOON AT THE EAGLE'S NEST, REV. BROCK'S EAGLE'S NEST SCHOOL. EVERY TIME I SEE THE YOUNG KIDS IN UNIFORMS SHOWING DISCIPLINE AND BEING HAPPY, IT'S A WONDERFUL THING. BUT IT WAS EVEN NICER BECAUSE MS. LAMAS WAS HERE THIS AFTERNOON FROM THE COUNTY GIVING THEM A $500,000 GRANT TO kind of promote basically the PAL program. The kids will have the opportunity to meet with policemen. They'll have the opportunity to learn about the whole mechanism of this. They'll learn to call policeman friends. They'll travel. Transportation's provided. Some meals are provided. It's a wonderful program. By the way, We kind of got laughed at a little bit when Mr. Witherspoon pushed to get that $1.4 million to the Reverend Brock to finish off the gymnasium there at the Eagle's Nest. And all of a sudden, they're not going to pay it back. He paid it back. And you've got to stop there, folks. You've got to stop there. It's a beautiful, beautiful place. And it's a happy place. And we did that, especially on the east side. That's why I was happy to see it be that way. That's that part. Again, kudos to Mr. Witherspoon for pushing that. Everybody's got to be in love with the Seawolves. I wish they could learn how to hit. What do they have? Two grand slams, 18 runs, whatever. Anyway, it's wonderful to see the little Tigers, big Tigers lost today, but... At least you're having a lot of fun. The major rookies right up there right now were all guys that played here in Erie. That's why it's so much fun. Anyway, I have that. Go Wolves. It's a five-game series, I think. I'm not having a brain cramp. With Richmond, back and forth and forth and back. We want to bring another lady that was interviewed at the stadium last night We want to bring another ring here. So that's my goal for them also. Thank you very much, folks, and have a good evening.

Thank you. Councillor Horton.

Thank you, Dr. Titus. Well, of course, September 3rd, 4th, and 5th, I was out assessing damage, speaking to neighbors, primarily on the west side, lower and upper areas. I took a few photos. One of the observations I noticed right away on West 2nd Street as I looked at some damage They perhaps need a traffic study down there. There's not a stop sign between Chestnut Street. I think Chestnut Street and Liberty, there's not a stop sign. And in my opinion, since they have Pontiac Field and Bayview Park there, in our health department building county, there should probably be a stop sign at Walnut and Cherry, both different. September, man, September was kind of busy for me. Picking up steam, I'm getting healthy, I'm getting around. So September 9th, I attended the blighted property review board. We voted to certify several properties as blighted. September 10th, PAL study session. Chief Laura and his command staff, they gave us primarily what's going out, the expenditures. I didn't think it was a complete budget thing, because when I think budget, I want to see rent. But it was good. Anytime I get to spend time with the chief and his staff, I love some stuff. And that was no exception.

Mr. Norton, I think that if you sign that over, it's just hard to hear you. Thank you.

Yeah, Dale told me that at the county. He pushed it up there, and I pushed it back. In any event, September 11th, I attended a reception over at 510 Cafe with the Blanks family. which was really, really nice. Uh, September 12th, um, in the morning, I attended a couple of workout sessions with Mr. Blanks, took a few pictures. Uh, Mr. Blanks is so much more than just a creator of Thai bowl. He's, um, he's a fitness guru. Um, he's a wellness pioneer. Uh, anytime he's a five time world class, uh, Taekwondo and karate champion. Um, But the thing that I love most about him is he's New Jerusalem's very own action hero. And so with the help of this body, you know, I was pleased to see the mayor present him a key to the city. But with the help of this body, I hope to name what's Third Street between Walnut and Cherry, Billy Blanks Lane or Billy Blanks Street or something. By far, he's a global phenomenon. He's a cultural icon. And I can't think of anybody bigger in the city of Erie, probably more deserving of a street. And there's not a lot of street namings down in Jerusalem, so I want to contribute to that. So coming to a body near us real soon is that proposal that we named West 3rd Street after Billy Blanks. September 14th, I attended the second meeting of the Mayor's Council on Community Safety and Trust planning table. I've got to tell you, I'm really encouraged, really hopeful, as were the people in the rooms. I've been in a couple of things like this over the last 20, 30 years, but this one feels different. It feels right, and it seems like you have really, really good attitudes in there. Everybody's taking a really practical approach. We're going to have some tough conversations today. But we're going to do great things, I hope. September 15th, I attended the City Planning Commission meeting, and they're proposing a number of zoning changes, and we're off-street parking. They said that they would give us a date, that they would invite us to their study session. which is really good because I hate getting things threw down in front of me seemingly a week before, especially when it's a lot of stuff to consume. That just lends itself to me saying no right off the bat because I don't, yes for things that I don't fully understand. And I feel like, oh, we had, I met, I forgot the date. BUT THERE'S SOME COMMUNITY BENEFIT DISCUSSIONS GOING ON. REALLY BELIEVE THAT IT'S ACHIEVABLE, BELIEVE THAT IT'S NECESSARY AND MANDATORY. AND THE DISCUSSIONS ARE MOVING VERY IN A POSITIVE WAY, PROBABLY MORE QUICKLY THAN I THOUGHT. AND SO WE'RE AT THE POINT WHERE WE NEED SOLICITOR INPUT. AND JASON TYLER And I and someone from the mayor's office, Catherine Easterling, will try to get something together before we invite you all in. and tell you what we're doing and what's on the horizon. But in the interim, if you have any questions about it, what I'm doing, what you think, you want to put your input in, just please pull me aside, and we can have that, certainly have that discussion. But I'm very, very hopeful. Oh, God, where did I see Mr. Witherspoon? Mm-hmm. I'll leave it there. I'll just park it there. I'm really proud of my colleagues, too. I really thanked a lot of people here tonight. And I'm going to thank you all, too, but probably the most important people that I want to thank here are the citizens and the residents within the city of Erie proper. And even those who came from without to help us in our time of need. I want to thank the citizens for their very warm and mature in a compassionate response. And so thank you so much, Dr. Titus. That concludes my report.

Thank you. Welcome to you, Councillor Flores.

um thank you president titus i wanted to start off my committee report by saying happy hispanic heritage month hispanic heritage month goes from september 15 through october 15th i am the first latina elected to erie city council i'm half mexican half puerto rican so i am very happy to see the representation slowly starting in our community we had our third fiesta on the square uh this past saturday was a great showing of great food great music great community and it wasn't just the hispanic community that was there and that's great to see because as a community that embraces our melting pot we have a lot of his his heritage festivals all throughout our summer and i know the italian festival is this coming weekend so i love that we in our city can embrace each other and we encourage each other and we love each other So that's going to be my happy place to think that even though right now in times where we have so much hostility and isolation that we do have community being built and we have people who show up for each other. So that is something that I wanted to, you know, Give thanks to. And then I wanted to also say congratulations to our Seawolves. We do have our second game. It is a watch party tomorrow at the stadium. They're opening the doors at 6 p.m. So if you want to go and see with community our guys play, then I definitely recommend that you do that. I also wanted to bring up that the last day to register to vote is October 19th in order to participate online. in the general election, which is November 3rd. I also want to emphasize on checking your voter registration. There's been a lot of people who things are going on, don't show up and not check. Just do your own homework. We shouldn't have to, but it's better to just be prepared and make sure that we're able to follow through on our vote on election day because showing up at the polls is probably going to be the best result in large numbers, and that's what we have to push for people to do. And I also just wanted to say thanks to Public Works and all of our city employees. They're here five days a week, 40 hours, but they also get calls in the evening. And depending on if they're directors or if they're in charge of departments, they're on a constant never-ending cycle. So they did a great job in our emergency state. And we just have to make sure that we're always looking out for each other because at the end of the day, we see that we only have each other. So let's just continue to do what we do best in Erie and show up for each other. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilor Troup?

President Titus, I really don't have a report today, but I did want to just say, echo what Councilwoman Flores says about thankful to all of our public works workers and just the city in general that came together. Everybody who had a hand in it, from the mayor to our citizenry who joined together to be a community be a family, so I just want to say thank you to everybody and and They definitely deserve the recognition. They got today, and that's all I want to say. Thank you.

Thank you council Paul I I'm Labor Day. I walked in the parade There are a lot of city workers. They're walking with the unions It was really good atmosphere that everybody came together and it was nice to have some of my family there with me walking. On the 10th, I was at the 100th anniversary celebration of the Perry Monument. And that was very well attended also. And it's just amazing. You know, you think back, it doesn't seem like that long ago. But in that, I learned a lot of history that I didn't really know about Lake Erie. And if you ever get a chance, if you haven't been there in a while, I would go out and visit. On 9-11... It was hard to believe that it's been 25 years since that date that will live with us forever. There was many speakers there. And what I did make sure I did this year was to have my son-in-law attend with me because During the attack, he was in marine boot camp. And they thought it was part of their training. And right after his training, he was shipped off along with the rest of them that he was training with. And that was the first of his four tours over there. And it was, I think, very, it held a special place in my heart for everyone that went through anything. Many families that perished and that are still going through things. Let's see, on Saturday the 12th, I attended the cardboard regatta. that the Bayfront Maritime Center holds every year. That was a fun event. I was here about it every year, and I've never been able to make it, and I'm very glad I did this year. And also, on the same, the Bayfront Maritime Center received a $100,000 grant from the Emerging Erie Fund. And hopefully that's gonna get, they're trying to start everything up again. And it's starting out to be a good success. Just in the past summer, the past nine months that they've started this again. They have ongoing, well I'm not sure about their timing, but they teach people how to sail. They have kids down there. And they're also starting a carpentry program. For $60, you can go down and learn carpentry. And it's open to anybody that signs up. I'm not sure how large classes will be, but that's something a lot of people need to learn. I also attended today the PAL expansion program. through the Housing Authority and the Eagle's Nest. The PALS program does a wonderful job in itself, but these are geared for younger kids from grades three to five who haven't been able to have access to that. And looking forward to that program being built like the regular PAL program is. And as I was going through the city the past week or so, I tend to take a lot of pictures. And it was just disheartening to see what people were going through, but how resilient the citizens are in Erie. My area, I lost power for almost 24 hours. And I lost my food in my refrigerator. That's nothing compared to what many of our residents have gone through and are still going through from the trees on their houses or cars or sewage, you know, it's just so a little bit of food is okay with me. I was at the Erie Cemetery over the weekend taking pictures, and it's just devastating. And as I was walking around, I met this woman from, I think she was West Virginia, and she was here with family because she's a descendant of Mr. Maness. And she has always come up for maybe summers growing up or whatever, but and she is retiring and just recently retired and she's looking for a place to relocate eventually. And she said, I could picture myself living in Erie. I've never lived in Erie. I've had family that lived in Erie. But the way the people are and just the atmosphere. She is seriously thinking of relocating here, which was very good to hear from somebody that just visited once in a while. So I think that's the end of my report. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Councillor Schell.

Thank you Dr. Titus. I met with the best organization and I was with Matthew Putz as well from our zoning office and I thank him for attending with me and answering and going over some of the plans that they have for their neighborhood. It was sort of a roller coaster type of period from the last meeting till this meeting because I sort of had PTSD and loss and the whole things sometimes that makes you emotional, but happy times as well. I think I've told you before, I survived a tree falling on top of my car in the Glenwood Hills area in 1980 or 81. So the storm really affects me. And I did live through a tornado in 1976 in the Cook Forest area while we were camping. So I really feel for all the people who had lost but I'm so thankful that there were no deaths to report from the storm and I didn't hear of any major injuries so that's a wonderful thing and so many people have commented on how fast things were moving along since the storm and things that got taken care of. So I'm very thankful for all of the people. I was in the Labor Day parade and I was talking to one of our city employees who said he was working long hours, like 12 hours plus type of things. Thank you Mayor Devlin for really recognizing them today. That is a nice warm tribute. I went to the funeral home and talked with fire chiefs who had passed. Mr. Fire Chief retired Waco and talked to his wife and gave her my condolences and went to the dedication of the Perry Monument, the rededication of a hundred years and the 9 11 erie county memorial ceremony that they had down at the brig niagara and i just can't help but think of all the people's lives that were effected from affected from that terrible terrible day and uh It shows you like that dandelion type of effect, the helpers that helped and then people who died, their children became service workers. And in my own family, my son-in-law was sent to Iraq as a Marine, and now my grandson is a Marine. So, you know, it really changed people's lives for good and bad. And those things, you know, they're with you in your heart. So it really hits home. But I was thankful to the people I talked with and Thank you. The fiesta in the square was wonderful. There was so much going on last Saturday and unfortunately I break myself into parts but I just want to sometime just go to one thing and spend the entire time there so that I can thoroughly immerse myself fully into the hours there. But I did go to the boat regatta. I did go to Fiesta in the Square. I went to the literary festival, which I had never gone to before, and that was at the Dog Park, and it was good to see that park utilized on Erie's east side. And I congratulate... Ms. Pohl and Mr. Horton for bringing their grandchildren to the Labor Day parade and walking with them because, again, generational. You know, you're teaching your grandkids that things matter. And so it was great to see you there with them, and it was a nice pleasure talking with them. That's so important. Went to the historic preservation meeting and commented on the situation we have at the Erie Cemetery and glad that they'll be getting some assistance there because that cemetery is just beyond right now. I attended the sewer authority meeting on Tuesday and we did have the people in front of us here today and I do follow through. They did mention that there were 6.41 inches of rainfall for the month of August and that 90 million gallons of water YOU KNOW, WENT THROUGH AND, YOU KNOW, TODAY WE VOTED FOR THE SCRUBBER MACHINE. AND, YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE TESTS THAT THEY HAVE TO, THEY DID THEIR MONITORING, SAMPLING, THAT GOES TO THE EPA. the infrastructure continually is so important with our system, so. If anyone wants to read it, I'll leave it with Mike Lavery at the front desk if you want to come in and read it sometime. But they didn't mention that situation there. Tow and review. Senior citizens continually are having a hard time with the parking app, and I really feel that we need to do something about that. And it's not fair to the older community to have to come in and try to get their money back from us because they don't have the technology to do that. Ms. Jacobs? I met the people who come in one year when I was working at the front desk and took them up to the police area. There are, and I'm bad with names, but like NAMI people and mental health officers do get training for that. I did talk with them about that one day. I'm assuming that we still do that because we did it when I was working at the front desk. So I do know that there is training for our officers with the mental health. And I'm so thankful to the Bluecoats that are out in Perry Square, and they've been there every day for a couple of weeks now, and I think they have a calming presence in Perry Square. So I'm really thankful for that. Donna Carson's last day is Friday with the code enforcement and I wish her well on her next step of the journey. I can't remember how many years she's been with us but I know she's been here a while and has done great work with us. And I will miss Kevin Flowers contacting me. I wish him a very great retirement. And I am... going to go to gallery night and there's so many different things going on coming up. I did get on the dance cam yesterday at the Seawolves game and that was my fun night yesterday. So you know life is with the ups and the downs but truly Go out and experience nature. Just don't stay home and let everything encapsulate you. Just step outside and listen quietly without making any noise. and you can hear the birds and the tree limbs blowing in the wind and nature and your faith can help you out. Thanks.

Thank you. I will report out on the committees I serve on next week as they are at our next meeting as they have their meetings coming up. I wanted to acknowledge that it is welcoming week and there's been many events and the staff have been working very diligently. There is one update due to the weather. It is eerie and that happens quite often to us. But the conclusion, the big jamboree, the new American jamboree has been moved. It will now be at the Boys and Girls Club at 1515 East Lake Road. So that has moved from, I believe it was in Perry Square and has now moved over there. So make sure that we're watching that. We have the housing town hall next week, so it'll be the 22nd from 6 to 8 p.m. The doors will open at 5.30, so there'll be a bit of a resource fair that starts, and then that will also be at the middle school. The programming will start at 6. That's going to be information for the homeowners and for renters. It's free to attend, and there's a lot of information that's going to be out, but then there'll also be opportunity to give some feedback, so I encourage everyone to please come and experience that event. Again, to reiterate what was said earlier, to make sure that voter registration is up to date. We're about that time now. And then to go back to something that Councillor Horton had stated, the planning meeting that took place yesterday, unfortunately I wasn't able to meet because of my work schedule, they are starting to introduce many of the recommended amendments that we're going to come to, the zoning ordinances that we're going to see. I strongly encourage all of Council to go watch that meeting it was a high level overview but there are a lot of changes that are being proposed it will take more than one kind of sitting with the information to kind of digest it all there is a document with some of the suggested amendments and that when we have the opportunity to have to go to their study session that we do participate because that's again a lot of information but very important information that will eventually be in front of us so to make sure that we have lots of time to ask questions and understand those proposed amendments. And then in closing, I know we've all talked about the storm, but I want to again just acknowledge that in addition to the storm, this was something that was added on to the crisis that many of our families and our residents are currently experiencing. When we hit October 1st, not to be a doom and gloom person, but I cannot reiterate the amount of resources that are going to be lost within our community due to federal and state funding, specifically around SNAP benefits, so food benefits, and health insurance access. Many of our residents are going to lose access to health insurance. So what we are going to see is what happens when people don't have access to medical care or the mental health care that they need access to. And people will do the tools and use the tools that they have at their service. This includes our children. Our children will use the behaviors because the behaviors are their language. And so I encourage all of us, the kindness and the compassion that we have demonstrated through this storm, Our community is going to need this at a level we don't fully understand yet. This is going to call upon all of us to show compassion and kindness and to be there for our neighbors and to understand that many, many are going through things that we cannot fathom and we will not understand. And that is going to show up in ways that we also don't understand. And people are going to act in ways that does not their best self. So please be patient. Be kind. Be compassionate. Check on your neighbors. Especially those who are living alone. Who maybe don't have anybody around to be assisting them. Because... There is nobody else coming. It is us, and we need to band together as residents to make sure that we are safe and that we are cared for. And I can't reiterate that enough about our kids. What they are experiencing right now is unlike anything we've ever seen. They're hearing the dangers of AI. They're experiencing the climate changes. but they're also having to study for tests and perform academically while their parents are losing their jobs, while their parents are losing health insurance. And so the pressures on our children, again, are at a level that we've never seen. So it's going to take all of us to make sure we're helping one another. And to close, make sure your voter registration is up to date, because these are all connected. Thank you. And with that, I will pass it over to Comptroller Sanfilippo.

Good evening. This evening I am going to just talk quickly about the minimum municipal obligation for our pensions. I guess I need my glasses. Every September we present this to council. and that is to stay in compliance with Act 205. So the MMO is being presented today to be in compliance with Act 205, which pertains to the funding requirements of state regulated retirement programs. The MMO numbers are based on the January 1, 2025 actuarial evaluation, and projected payroll for 2026. The MMO payment is $26,329,948 of which the City of Erie Water Authority is $329,357,000 of that. The City of Erie is $26,948,000 of that. The MMO for the City of Erie has increased $543,878 due to increases in payroll. However, the Water Authority portion did not increase. The MMO will be fulfilled from two sources, state aid funding that the city will receive in the fall of 2027, and the balance is paid from special tax levy funds. And we ask that you keep in mind that no portion of the MMO is paid through the City of Erie's general fund. And we also want to give a reminder that the state report has been processed and we receive notice that it has been approved. This report is the report that generates us our yearly state aid. And I also, as I always do, want to thank my office, Kate, Kelly, and Meg, for all that they've done. This explanation comes from Kate, who is really, really good at what she does. And thank you very much.

Thank you. We can go ahead and pass it to the attorney if you have a report.

I just echo everyone else and say I'm very thankful for the city staff and especially Public Works. I live in Harbor Creek, but I had no trouble coming to work, leaving, and I got to hear a lot of great stories about individual efforts. So it was very nice to see the community come together, and the city did a great job with that. Thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Titus. I want to start my report this evening by just answering a few of the concerns that were raised during public comment. First, just with some of the information about the police budget, I want to make one clarification. The police overtime budget, they have spent 45% of their budget for the year. That doesn't mean that overtime is 45% of the budget. What we were saying in the meeting was the police have a budget for overtime. They have spent 45% of it to date. as opposed to last year when they were at 65% at this time. So I just want to clarify that. Lots of good questions I heard about the take-home cars, about the trainings. These are great and valid questions. So I do want to let the public know that there are plans in the works for a policing town hall. The Mayor's Council on Community Safety and Trust, that Councillor Horton noted when we met this week, one of the tasks was to put together a subcommittee to plan that. So we did direct the subcommittee that we'd like to have that scheduled and happening by the end of October or the beginning of November at the very latest. So we will provide that date as it is available. And I would say that these will all be topics that will be covered there. So I do want to say, at least in that one, there will be an opportunity for feedback. I want to give Council a few updates beyond the things that you've all mentioned tonight. So I did meet with the Port Authority. The Solicitor and I met with them on September 3rd. We met with Executive Director Friday and his Solicitor. We talked about the MOU that we have presented them in draft. The Solicitor and I were very clear that we need comments back on that MOU by October. And that we need this wrapped up by the end of the year. So we have let them know very clearly.

Just for clarification, you said, I think you meant parking authority.

What did I say?

Port.

Uh-uh. Parking. Thank you. Oh, gosh.

Julie Slomsky will have my neck. Thank you.

Goodness gracious. Parking. Thank you. Yes. So the parking authority, we've let them know that there is a time. The clock is ticking. We need this finalized by the end of the year. And we have asked them... to make sure that happens by getting us red lines on the MOU we provided by October. So more to come, but letting you know we are working on that. Saw many of you at the Labor Day parade. I was so honored to walk with the Teamsters. It felt very appropriate given all our Public Works employees and all the work that they had done. That was a very good day. Also want to report that I went to a meeting of the Pennsylvania Mayor's Alliance in Pittsburgh hosted by Pittsburgh Mayor Cory O'Connor. Many of the mayors from Pennsylvania gathered. I was grateful we were on the west side of the state. I didn't have to go to the east side of the state. But why I share that is all of the Pennsylvania mayors are advocating. So I heard the comments tonight about Home Rule Charter. One of the things we raised, the Lieutenant Governor joined us for that meeting, and we said, Pennsylvania cities of the third class need additional flexibility in our budgets before we go to Act 47. So there are many options for us once we go to Act 47. Doesn't help us when we're trying to stay out of Act 47. So our comments were, give us some of those tools now. Home rule is one, but there could be others. And so I just want to report that I am standing with these other mayors to advocate directly to the state for these things, whether that's on the local services tax, the commuter tax, other things that council could have at their disposal. So hopefully we'll have some progress there. There's strength in numbers. So I think that that's a positive thing. I do want to address, there was a lot of concern today. The Pennsylvania Municipal Association, Municipal Authorities Association held their closing dinner last night at the Bayfront Convention Center and there were fireworks. And a lot of the public was concerned that they weren't notified of those fireworks and given The general state of tension that I think most of our residents live in, this was very concerning. So just want to let everyone know the association applied to the city for a permit for those fireworks, which we granted, like we do whenever a private event does. But it's not within our normal procedure to notify the public. It's a private entity. They apply for a permit and they do it. However, given the concern, I've instructed our special events coordinator from now on, when a fireworks permit is applied for, that we are to let the applicant know it is their responsibility to inform the public that they are doing this, just as a courtesy to let people know this is happening. It's a minor tweak that we can do, and I think that it will help the public and avoid the concerns that many of us heard today. I was really happy to go on a tour with the Housing Authority Director Dusty Dennis the other day. We toured some Housing Authority properties, mainly Erie Heights and also the Better Homes development that's on the east side. Housing Authority is doing wonderful work and they need a lot of assistance, a lot of their units. They have units that are not being used because they're in such poor condition. With the state of housing in our community, this really needs our attention. So I was really happy to have the tour with Dusty and look forward to supporting them in their efforts as they further the city's mission for more housing. We're doing a lot of budget meetings right now. It's budget season. Certainly we have one, but we have many more to come. Um, so I just want to let council know I'll be, we'll be doing departmental meetings next week and then we have our PFM study session next Thursday. So we're moving along. Um, certainly this year, you know, a lot to discuss and I just want to let you know that we will be prepared for all of those conversations. Dr. Titus, you mentioned the town hall, also the study session with PFM next week. I was honored to give my first key to the city to Billy Blanks on Saturday. That was my first one, and it was a great honor for me to be able to give that to him as part of the work that he's doing. Another note, there is Adopt-a-Park information on our website. I was notified by my staff, so please make sure you take a look at that. The city does still have that program. And I think in closing... Well, actually, Dr. Titus, I wonder if we could convene a meeting around that October 1 deadline. I know you're very knowledgeable about it and passionate about it. I think it would be worth us sitting down probably with the police chief and with maybe the mayor's office of community affairs to really understand what are we looking at? What should we be communicating? So I'm going to ask you if you don't mind. to convene that meeting, and we'll all be happy to attend. And I want to make a commitment again that we'll be meeting with those Frontier residents about the sewer problem. And then lastly, we've all been thanking, and so I do want to thank Wooji Ahmad. I think Wooji's gone for tonight, but Wooji has been leading the charge with Welcoming Week. She's done a fantastic job. We still have the jamboree coming up, as you noted, on Saturday. But I teased her that this is her Super Bowl week, and she's just done an incredible job. And we appreciate we had a meeting of the New American Council today. All of these efforts all the time to make all of our residents feel heard and feel safe and feel seen and to understand what their specific needs are. So really appreciate her help in doing that. And that concludes my report.

Thank you. One last request that I'll have, and then I'll hit the gap and we can all go, is if you and I and Vice President Schaaf could maybe meet and figure out the schedule of the budget meetings, so then when we come to our study session with PFM, the rest of council knows how to kind of plan out.

Thank you.

All right, and with that, we will go ahead and conclude tonight's meeting.

City Council adjourns at 8.43 p.m. Councilmember Titus, Brzezinski, Flores, Horton, Hall, Schaaf, and Troop.

Thank you.