City Council - Regular Meeting

Call this stated session of city council to order. Please rise for the invocation followed by the pledge of the flag. Dear Father in heaven, as we bring an end to the month of May, which was Jewish American Heritage Month, a month we set aside to honor the countless contributions of Jewish Americans throughout our nation's 250 glorious years of independence and celebrate their unwavering commitment to the values that make our country great, faith, freedom, and family. Let us thank you for the weather. We also thank you for the weather we have for our Easter Criterium and all the volunteers who worked to make it a success that it was. And Father, this Memorial Day season, thank you for this great country we live in and bless all the men and women who gave their lives so that we can have the freedoms we have today. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Roll call, Madam Clerk.

OK. Mr. Brown?

Here.

Ms. Sando-Denis? Here. Mr. Pinnabone? Here. Mrs. Rose? Here. Mr. Graziano? Here. Mrs. Hartrath-Bittinger? Here. Mayor Panto?

Here. Next, we'll have approval agenda. So moved.

Second.

Moved and seconded. Any discussion? Roll call.

Ms. Zonda-Dennis? Aye. Mr. Pinnabone? Aye. Mrs. Rose? Aye. Mr. Graziano?

Aye.

Mrs. Hartrath-Bittinger? Aye. Mayor Panto? Aye. Mr. Brown? Aye.

Action or minutes on May 13th move the second move the second any additions deletions or Corrections Roll call mr. Pinnabon.

All right, mrs. Rose. Hi, mr. Graziano. Hi mrs. Hart ruff Biddinger. Hi mayor Panto.

Hi, mr. Brown. All right miss Sando Dennis. Hi at this time we have a Presentation on edible walkways Todd Nomura. Oh

Thank you, Todd, for coming. I appreciate it.

Yeah, thank you for having me. I really appreciate this. Yeah, this is really exciting. I'll kind of jump right into it here because you all know I can get kind of caught up in some of this work that I do here. Not Todd. Yeah, not me, right? Yeah, so as most of you probably know, up at the Boys and Girls Club over in Neston Heights, you see this beautiful set of raised beds. There's like 65 raised beds up there, and You know, Dean and his team did a great job, and some of these beds are leased to neighbors at a nominal cost. Others are for the kids to explore gardening. Walk down Philadelphia Road a little bit, you come to a real gem of Southside, the Eastern Urban Farm, one-acre plot that primarily provides produce to the food pantry there at the neighborhood center. Farmer Katie is here in the picture there, and you see a bunch of people enjoying it. And fun story, there's a line of kids there on most days waiting for Katie to get there, because they like to run in and pick the berries and things. And that's kind of why we're doing this, right? And if you walk down Lincoln Street a couple blocks, you get to Chestnut Elementary School. And the Kellan Foundation has a bunch of raised beds there. And they provide programming for grades third, fourth, and five that incorporate the garden, healthy eating habits, and things like that. Our own Allison Zapp, who is the director of the Neighborhood Center one day, I told you I was giving you credit for some of this, right? She called all the stakeholders together and asked that question, how can we do better? How can we serve the community better? How can we work together better? And as we got talking, we said, well, what if we connect these gardens physically as well? Maybe have some edible plants along the way. And then we said, well, you know, Valley Health Partners, they're right on Lincoln Street too. Food is medicine. They're all about prevention. They've got comprehensive care there. And then we shared stories. And this is really, I think, what kind of solidified the deal. We all talked about being kids and going to the fields and picking berries. Or maybe your neighbor had an apple tree. And everyone had a story to share about when they were a kid, there was this free food available to the community. And from that, the Edible Walkways idea was born. So get into a little bit of the outcomes we're hoping to achieve. Number one, we want to improve food access and food systems resilience. We saw during the pandemic how fragile supply chains can be. And so the more local food we have, the more free food we have, the more people that are gardening and sharing, the more food security we're going to have in general. It's also a way to engage the community, volunteering, home gardening, working with your neighbors. We hope to provide activities and workshops and programming for the kids as well as the adults in the neighborhood. And hopefully this will enhance the beauty of Southside. Not only, like I said, do we have these gardens, but ideally we'll be putting in planter boxes with herbs and flowers and things to not only provide food but provide beauty. And that's the idea, to create this network of walkways around the whole neighborhood of Southside, encouraging people to move naturally, to walk, to ride their bikes and explore the neighborhood, get to know their neighbors, that kind of thing here. And as such, we have a lot of different partners here. I won't read all the names, but I will highlight, you know, PennDOT, we're hoping is going to get on board. We have the Safe Streets for All program, hopefully going to do some traffic calming on Philadelphia Road, because I mean, that road, if you've ever tried to cross that thing on foot during rush hour, it can be a real bear, and especially for the kids. The kids shouldn't be having to pay attention to traffic. They're running to the farm. We want them to focus on the food, not the traffic. Good luck. What's that?

We had good luck with PennDOT. We had the developer of CVS would have put a median in with plantings, trees, and stuff, and they said no. Oh, gosh.

Well, we'll do our best, right? And also point out the Eastern Ambassadors. Eric Shamus has been sitting and contributing a little bit because he and Jared have been thinking, well, jeez, if this works on Southside, why don't we do this in the West Ward, maybe downtown? I mean, we have all these. We have 96 planter boxes between downtown and the West Ward with the 12 new ones they just added. And imagine if they had some food in there as well besides the flowers. Not to be confused with Blue Zones, we also have Blueprint communities, too. And a couple of the goals of Blueprint communities really align with this whole project. And so as we were thinking about design themes and colors and stuff, we said, wow, we had this new mural over on Chubby's. It's kind of interesting, the puzzle pieces. You see some wayfinding signs there over to the right side. So we thought, let's go ahead and connect this to that and actually make Blueprint part of the whole project. And so on this map here, you can see that the three blue stars are where we're hoping to put wayfinding signs. What I mean by that, it would be a pole on the ground with these directional signs. And we figured we would name the different gardens, use the puzzle piece tied into the mural, really create a sense of cohesion there. And then at each of the four anchor points there, We want to put some information signs. Now, the sign over on the right there, that's the one that's in the circle there. There's a couple of them in the circle. We want to use those same dimensions, same style, but use the color scheme of the mural there. And that will give people something to read. We'll have a QR code where they can get more information. And then the key thing, too, is that we want to engage neighbors. There might be people who want to put an apple tree in their front yard, but maybe they don't want someone to harvest something else. And so we came up with a system here where highly recognizable signs will tell people, hey, green means you can harvest this, red means please do not harvest that. And to promote the edible walkways, we have a series of picnics coming up. So next Friday, June 5th, we have our first one. I saw some of you had responded you're going to come, five to seven at the Boys and Girls Club. Then in July, during PA Urban Ag Week, we're going to do a picnic at the Urban Farm. And let's not forget about Squash Fest on Sunday the 26th. And just a little sidebar, all you folks from Southside, we've got four members, right, on Southside. We're hoping you're all going to come up and be judges for the cooking contest. But I'll reach out to you about that later. Valley Health Partners during National Health Center Week, we're going to do a picnic there. And the grand finale, if we can work it all out, I'm working with Cheston now. We're hoping to have a parade with the Big Easy East and Brass Band, maybe a hot air balloon ride for the kids, a tethered hot air balloon. We'll see if we can work all those details out. But you can follow along on Facebook. You'll see the different events. I won't go there yet. I have a link later here you can use to get to the Facebook site. And just to kind of summarize, I mean, Two of the key points, besides the outcome goals, this is designed for sustainability. I mean, these three gardens that are up there, they've been there for a while. They're not going anywhere. My work with Blue Zones ends in April, so the idea is that I'll kind of project lead this until April, and then maybe Blueprint Communities can take over. Like I said, it lines up with their beautification and community development goals, and then When that program is finished, the urban farm makes a natural place there because they are the agricultural hub of the Southside. And the other nice thing, too, is it's scalable. We're going to start off focusing on Lincoln sites and Philadelphia Road there, but we can create walkways all over Southside. Rob Christopher and Brandon and myself and the rest of the team, we've talked about, are there spots on Southside we could put a food forest? Allison and the city just got a grant to put a small food forest right in front of the neighborhood center, so be outside the gates where people can just harvest freely. And of course, other parts of Easton can copy this model and other cities can copy this model. And in fact, Allison and I were at a conference for the PA Sustainable Agriculture not too long ago, and there was a gentleman there who talked about how he took his backyard garden leftovers and put it out in front of his house And people took them. And then some of the neighbors started doing that. And then more people started showing up. And they created a nonprofit. Now they have this pop-up neighborhood farmer's market every week. And it's just grassroots, community-led, no cost to the city. And that's kind of the idea that we're going for here. And that second-to-last bullet point there, Brandon from the city, he's had this dream of turning parts of Easton into an ecodistrict. And it's an evidence-based model. And if not that, even some kind of garden district. Or maybe we take a look at the zoning rules and figure out, like, are we removing the barriers that make sense to promote backyard gardening, sharing of resources, and that kind of thing. And that was pretty darn quick, I have to say. So if you'd like to follow the Blue Zones Activate page on Facebook, there's a QR code. We also have a Google form. You can sign up, put your email in there, let us know what neighborhood you live in, and put any comments, ideas, or thoughts that you have. And yeah, we're just going to kind of see how this thing grows. Just like a garden, it's going to grow over time, over the years, and it's going to grow organically. Thank you, Todd. You're welcome. Great job, Todd, Allison.

Eighth grade social studies teacher must have taught you well.

I had the best social studies teacher, let me tell you. He's one of the reasons I'm doing what I do when he's Easton here today. Todd, when you had that social studies teacher, it was like one schoolhouse, right? A one-room schoolhouse. And he told the same dad joke every single day.

Todd, thank you very much. And Allison and Susan for getting it on the agenda. Todd, I don't know if you know, but Shiloh applied for a significant grant for Southside that we received. I chair the new committee called Southside Spark. So we just had a community meeting and pizza party with residents of the Southside recently to talk to them. let's talk and maybe we could, you know, help you guys out with resources and Allison. And we have a lot of good things going on South side right now. So no point in any of us trying to do it on our own. We can all just come together and piggyback on what you guys are doing.

Yeah. Well, and certainly the property had there, but we could put some gardens and things there for the neighborhood would be a, it would be real nice as well. Absolutely. Well, thank you. Thank you.

All right. Thanks. Okay, at this point in the meeting, we have a public comment on any agenda item. Anyone have any comment on agenda items?

Okay. All right, good evening all. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to speak here. My name is Mario Goriello. I'm here representing Easton's Historic District Commission, address formerly 540 West Lafayette Street. I know our time is valuable, so I'm not going to come up here and rehash items or points that we discussed two weeks ago. But I would like to really address and clarify three primary things. So one, I'd like to level set on three items to ensure we're all aligned. Two, summarize the proposed application process. And three, close with just a couple points that I think will be valuable, as well as potentially show you a relevant point, something that I created that was in line with what I had suggested two weeks ago for the long-term vision. Again, it's just something that, if appropriate, I'd like to plant the seed. So item number one, level set. The idea. This was not our unique idea. It was a result of years of observation and public feedback. And the process is based on the identification of best practices across cities that have historic districts and that have done a good job of retaining those principles, such as Bethlehem, Lancaster, Doylestown. Two, the goal. It's not about being disruptive. It's about optimizing the process, speeding it up, making it a better experience for applicants, and most importantly, establishing a process that enables collaboration with the ultimate goal in mind, which is to incentivize and enable development while preserving the reason we all love Easton, its history and character. Item three, clarification. I recognize a key issue, which is that there may be two separate questions that are being discussed. So question one is, should projects be required to obtain full HDC approval before proceeding anywhere else? And question two is, should projects begin with HDC review before major planning or zoning momentum occurs? Those are not the same thing. I want to be clear that we are not suggesting question one, which is a strict hard stop sequence where an applicant files and must fully complete HTC approval before proceeding to planning or zoning. That would clearly work against the goal of improving the process. Again, that's not the goal here. The objective, which is ideally a more practical governance model, which starts with applications entering through HTC first for initial conceptual historic review or potentially approval, Then HGC provides, again, early feedback. Step three, projects then continue concurrently through zoning or planning. And four, HGC remains a part of the iterative process until final approvals. When requested changes occur, changes that you would expect and hope to see from the Historic District Commission, when they happen later in the process, they become financially disruptive or potentially generally disruptive, instead of being collaborative. The HGC is a recommending body, so why not have recommendations provided early in the process? That would be my question. So the proposed workflow, just to make sure, again, we're all aligned, I'll articulate it in six quick points. One, initial application submission to Planning or Codes. Two, determination that historic review applies. Three, early HGC review or for conceptual or final approval as appropriate. Four, concurrent continuation through planning, zoning, codes, land development, all as necessary occur. Five, iterative coordination between all reviewing bodies. Now, this is a point that I made two weeks ago. In the short term, this could be achieved, and this will ultimately help with creating the efficiencies that we all desire. And the short-term approach is just information sharing, right? Long-term, and this is kind of going to what I was alluding to, something that I put together, long-term vision would be something along the lines of a platform utilizing OpenGov to provide a UI that is a platform for your governing bodies to be able to share information and communicate all in real time. And then finally, step five, well, final approvals complete, all in alignment. Key points, I hope that was valuable. I'll just get right to the closing comments. So in closing, our intention is not to advocate for rigid, sequential process requiring full HGC approval before any other review can occur, but rather early conceptual HGC engagement while still allowing concurrent progression through zoning, planning, codes, et cetera, which is consistent with the intent of Chapter 318. This is not about being disruptive. It's about optimizing the process, making it a better experience for applicants, establishing a process that enables collaboration and efficient development while preserving the reason we all love Easton. That's my closing. If it would be appropriate, if you'd like to see the application that I put together, it'll take 60 seconds.

Sure. Okay?

Again, this is planning the seed. This is something that is a complete mock, okay? So bear with that. If it's something of interest, we can put a little bit more time into it. Now, I do this on a monthly basis, so this should go quickly. Are we on podium? I am.

Is the TV on?

There we go. OK.

I hope you can all see that OK on your monitors. Again, this is purely conceptual. Also, just to note, the addresses, these are all just completely random. There's no affiliation to these addresses. The idea here is that you have a platform. Again, this is a mock. It is somewhat interactive. But imagine your governing bodies are able to go into a platform. And again, OpenGov might not have the public APIs, but there's a process to where those OpenGov is the database for all your applications. You can ingest that information into a UI that, again, all those governing bodies can go in there and see. Can you imagine? Boy, I'm on the HTC. Let's see what we have approved. Let's see what's pending across all applications for the month. And by the way, we can go into different status updates. We can review timelines, milestones. see all the documentation, photos, right? And probably the most and arguably most important is notes between boards. Now, if I'm on HTC and I could go in and I could see in real time what has been done or said, similar to what you'd see on meeting minutes in this, I mean, how valuable is that? So if our goal is to optimize the process, make things better for developers, again, this is one long-term way to do that. And again, this is just me planning the seat. So any questions on any of the points that I made?

Thank you, Mario. Any questions from city council? Again, my only comment is for a little guy like me. I needed 100% coverage of my lot. And without a variance, going to HGC and spending all that money on design would have been fruitless. Right now, our planning director and codes director has the ability to direct people to which one he thinks they should go to first.

Well, in the review of the last two years, what did we find? Can we explain that? Of denied applications? Duane will come up. Oh, thank you, Mario.

Great presentation, Mario.

Yeah, well done.

Thank you.

Yeah. Is it on? Thanks. As far as for ACC denials?

As far as, so at the last meeting we discussed, there was, I don't know if it was Mayor or Louis, if it was Mr. Campos who requested denied applications from planning and zoning that would have had to go to the HDC, so they'd have to be part of the HD.

All right, so every application that goes to HCC is never denied because they always come back and come back to refresh their design.

Applications that were denied by planning and zoning that would have had to go on to the HCC for review.

There would have been two of them.

In the last how long?

In the last three years.

Three years. So there's only been two.

Yeah, that's correct.

And which projects were those?

70 North 4th Street. which went into deliberations for over a year and a half, maybe some more.

But that was pulled, wasn't it?

It was. But from the time they submit it to the time it got pulled because of whatever circumstances with those parties, It went through deliberation that whole time. So it wasn't denied. No, it wasn't denied. But if it kept going through the process.

But that's speculative, to be fair. It never went there for a decision. So was there only one other one?

Yeah. There was 513 to 519 Northampton, which was denied and for an appeal. Oh.

That's what she's talking about.

So all right. So all right. Thanks for the clarification, Lewis. So the zoning application itself was denied, which made it go to the zoning hearing board, which went through that whole appeal process.

So they would have been the only project that would have possibly had to put money out for some preliminary designs to go to HDC if we put this into place.

All right. Let me just backtrack for you here. So let's see. 185 South 3rd Street. which is a confluence was denied zoning, which had to go for a zoning hearing board for variances. One on one South third was denied zoning, which had to go for variances for 16 spring garden street was denied for zoning from initial zoning from initial zone.

Eventually they went through.

Yes. Yes. But initially the zoning application was denied, which made the process prolong for four to get its approvals or variances if they were ever granted.

But eventually they were approved. So you only had one on the 500 block of North Hampton Street in the last few years that was denied completely.

That's correct. And in the downtown, in the historic district.

Yeah, which is, that's all we're talking about is the HTC. So that makes sense. That's good information to have. Thank you.

First of all, I do want to put a disclaimer out there that I want to thank Mario for presenting. And actually, he sent us and we still have continued questions, is working collaboratively with Planning and Codes, with us, with myself and Dwayne, as we're just working through this analysis. This analysis is not necessarily about the question that was just asked. The analysis, by the way, was sent to you via email. There was a short analysis that was sent to all of city council and can be submitted as part of the record. So you have that. It's more than just the denial. We didn't look at it from the lens of how Mario presented it today. In fact, because I've been at Mario, I was at a conference, I did not get a chance to look at the additional detail that you sent over, and I do appreciate it. I'm thinking, where are you, Mario?

To your right.

I want to look at you while I'm talking in a positive way, in that actually, we want to sit down with Mario understand what the key differences are in this ordinance, because the ordinance, well, when we did the analysis, we looked at, first of all, the assumption that, yeah, out of seven, there were seven applications in the downtown that included the HDC. Two of them were, you know, there was multiple that were denied, because initially, they're submitted to the zoning administrator, and the zoning administrator, Dwayne, is going to say, Yay or nay, it meets the criteria. And you just heard that there were several that were denied immediately. Then post the application process, there was an additional applicant that was denied. The other one settled before it could potentially be denied or not. But we were just testing to see what this effect would be. And that's all that was about. Yeah, that's good information to have. And the other thing that we discovered was that, and after hearing Mario's presentation, maybe it's different, so I'd like to sit down with Mario and understand it, is that this seemingly also could prolong the process two to four months. It's just a fact. I'm just presenting it.

I think that's reasonable personally, but everyone else would have to make that determination.

I'm just presenting it. It could be two to four months, I think. But it seems like there's a lot of compatibility with the current ordinance and what Mario was presenting and what he's trying to accomplish. What I'd like to do, because any change to this process is not going to be done through resolution. It has to be done through an ordinance.

I spoke to her solicitor this morning, and he said that we could vote on the resolution, and then we could work out any kind of details within the ordinance.

You absolutely can, but the administration is going to follow the ordinance until a new ordinance is adopted. The resolution in its spirit says what you want to do, and that's fine. So we're going to continue to work with Mario, but under the law, the zoning administrator has to follow the ordinance. So until that ordinance is changed, we're not changing the process. But I understand where things are going. So that...

I have to interrupt. I mean, the ordinance does say that HDC is the first part of the process. If you look at 318-11, it says that the number one requirement is for it to go before HDC. And then if you look at B, that's in 318.11 . In B, it says, the codes officer, the director of planning and codes, or its designee, shall determine if the project requires review and comment by the Historic District Commission prior to review by the Easton Planning Commission or Zoning Hearing Board. So it's A says you shall, and B says the first step in the process before planning and zoning is the HDC. CHRIS JERRAMSEN.

But then that last section gives the director the avenue to move that project to the other ones if there's any variances. Which section? I don't have the section in front of me. You just read it. Was it C, where it says the director of planning and codes or doesn't need to determine whether a project requires HCC requirements.

Yeah, if it's in within the historic district, it should go to the HDC I think that it's always gonna go today.

I think that it's been being it should go there first I mean this this code is written for the entire city and So essentially it's saying if it's in the historic district it goes to the historic district commission if it's outside the historic district It goes to planning and codes You're having one statute govern the entire city, but not the entire city as part of the historic district.

I interpreted that differently to where if it's in the historic district, It still gets pushed to the historic district application process, but we do move it concurrently with the zoning if it needs a variance or if it's going through land development.

Yeah, but here, you know, solicitor, you can support me on this. You know, in legal language, the word shale means must. Shale means must. You must do this. And it says... The code officer, excuse me, the code administrator shall determine whether the work proposed needs to be forwarded to the HTC staff for administrative approval review. If not, he shall forward copies of the completed application to the HTC. In other words, If it's in the historic district, he shall do this. If it's not in the historic district, then you can move on to another section.

It does get sent to HCC. They do put in application for the historic district, but it also runs concurrently with any zoning or planning that's going in, just to not slow down the process of the project.

Yeah, but then where does it say, but in Section B, it says, once it says, if you determine if you determine if the project requires review and comment by the HTC prior to review by the Eastern Planning Commission or zoning hearing board, like the language is actually pretty clear. I don't know if there's a lot of room for interpretation.

That's why I question whether to even write a resolution. Like, why are we writing a resolution to follow our own code?

Right.

But if need be, here we are.

I will agree that the word shall is a mandatory statement in most legal language. what, if it says it shall be done, what needs to be done. I know Mrs. Rose, you spoke with Attorney Vargo, I think earlier today, and he regrets that he's unable to be here today. His kid is getting a smart person award, so he wanted to be there in attendance for that. I spoke with Attorney Vargo, however, and he indicated he did not believe that a new ordinance or even a resolution would necessarily be necessary. If the resolution is to simply set forth how we're going to apply our existing ordinance, then the resolution is fine. But a new ordinance, in his opinion, is not necessary or required.

Right. Because the existing ordinance requires the HDC to have first review of the plans.

Correct. And I think if the resolution is simply this is how we want to apply how the ordinance is currently written, that's fine. As far as the ordinance itself goes, the language is what the language is and needs to be acted upon.

Just a question. Not to consider the resolution, but the way Councilwoman Zando-Dennis is interpreting the city code, that's how you're interpreting that it must go to HDC first?

Looking at the language in 3811A1, The code administrator shall determine whether the work proposed needs to be forwarded to the HDC staff or administrative approval review. If not, he shall forward copies of the complete application for building permits together with copies of any plot plan and building plans and specifications filed by the applicant to the HDC. So yes, in that section, the code administrator and in the following section, the director of planning and codes gets to determine whether it goes to HDC. If it needs to go to HDC, then they shall make that, they shall send those documents and send the application. Yep.

And they determine whether it needs to go based on whether or not the applicant is in the historic district.

That's correct. Yeah. Yep. So then if it's in the historic district, it has to go first according to the city code. I don't have that section. That's what he said. That would be how it would be interpreted.

Yes, that's what our solicitor is telling us, and we should follow that. That is how I would be interpreting it. Thank you, Councilman.

If it says shall, then we need to do it. Councilman. I'm sorry. I called you by your first name.

I don't know if there is concurrent language.

Maybe some general comments might be helpful here. I think that I know for myself,

I want to see development in Easton. And I think that's true for everyone here on council. But we have to live with these buildings. Actually, they live beyond us. They live for generations. And so we want the best buildings that we can possibly get within certain means. And I think our zoning, to some degree, limits what we can ask for. But it's important that we have integrity in our architectural landscape. It does make a difference. It's why people want to move to Easton. It actually is part of the economic engine of Easton, is the historic nature of the city and why people want to move here. And so I think it's important. I don't want to be unduly burdensome, and I don't think it really is. I think it's asking developers to put their best foot forward on behalf of the city and their residents that they're inviting to reside in their properties.

I agree with Councilman Zondo-Dennis, and I thank you for your comments and your knowledge on the legal matter. I think that too often the HDC comes late in the process, and I think that it's worth a little bit of a time delay if needed to get a slightly better design. They offer great ideas. I think one example was last month with the Linden Project, which I'm excited to see ownership opportunities in the city, but I think they came too late in the process because some of the suggestions they had are coming too late in the process. So if they would have had that initial preliminary review, we may have a slightly better design. And I think that we should require that. We're at the point where people want to invest here. And I don't think it's too much to ask for little tweaks with the design to make the project better for all of us and make sure it really fits in with the landscape and in some cases protects our historic assets.

Councilwoman Rose, I appreciate you and Councilwoman Zondo-Dennis. I think at this point, whether you agree that it should go to HTC first or you disagree, doesn't really matter. And the need for conversation just doesn't need to be had. That's what the city code says. And we need to do what that's why we set the code. So whether you agree or not, I mean, that's the way it says that we're supposed to do it. So that's what we have to start doing. We have to abide by the code.

Sounds good at all.

And that was the only point I mean if the solicitor I didn't talk to the solicitor per se And I appreciate that analysis, but there that's if that's the question there. It's answered.

Yeah.

Yeah So I guess we can just I mean we already have the resolution we can just go with it Just to reiterate that we're gonna follow the city code that we should have been following Yeah, hopefully that's the last time we have to do that well or not

I mean, it seems a little silly to have to have a resolution to follow our own ordinances. You know, I think we just send the message to the codes office that that's that's the ordinance. I would actually argue to just take it off the agenda.

Are you going to follow it? Or do we have to pass the resolution?

No, that's fine. We can put it through to HTC. I mean, it's not an issue. It's just been previous practices that it just always ran concurrently.

Yeah. Well, now that we have that clarification, I think we can move forward on the right foot forward.

So when it comes on the agenda, you could just move to take it off?

Yeah, because the resolution would have to be amended anyway. Pardon me, Councilman. Because it says a resolution supporting the repositioning of the HTC as the initial review body. And we're not repositioning it.

We're just following what we have.

I'm OK with pulling it as long as we are going to follow it.

Well, I'm confident if we don't, we'll hear about it.

What difference do you see, Duane, if we don't follow it?

If we just keep running it concurrently?

Are you kidding?

I'm sorry.

We have to follow the code. If that's what it says, we have to follow it.

We could change the code. That's what your job is. Our job up here is to change the code if we need to. The two bookends, we hear all the time, oh, it doesn't match the historic character of the city. But yet, our historic district code does not Go to the extent that Bethlehem or Doylestown or Lancaster goes. Our historic code was very difficult to get passed as a historic Eastern member, their member of the year and their project of the year in 1980. I could tell you my wife pushed that through and it was very difficult to get it through because people didn't want to be told what kind of curtains they have can have. or what kind of paint they can use. So we don't include paint. So that building right there in the historic district can stand. We don't include paint. Paint color is horrible. That's a horrible color. I, as a person, would want historic preservation to be paramount to every project, but that's not what our ordinance says. Our ordinance talks about voids and solids. Our ordinance talks about height, which is controlled by zoning. Our ordinance does not address aesthetics as far as I'm concerned. Chris Hustler does a great job of convincing people to follow the historic preservation ordinance of Bethlehem because she's from Bethlehem and she does a lot of work for them. I really believe that our historic district ordinance is not very solid. It does not promote, for example, materials. It doesn't say we have to use masonry. It says you have to use natural materials. It doesn't say anything about brick, whether you do brick panels or brick, individual brick bases come and lay the brick. It doesn't matter.

Well, we could update that and strengthen the ordinance.

Well, it's up to the city council to do that.

And Mayor, I would argue that 318-9 has its labeled design guidelines. It does have aesthetic and historical considerations that you need to have broad historical values representing the cultural, political, economic, or social history of the city of Easton, the relationship of the building. Let me stop there. What does that mean? It sounds really general. What it means essentially is you don't put like an adobe structure in downtown Easton. That would not represent the broad historical values our cultural, political, economic, or social history, that would be more appropriate, like in Santa Fe, for example. So here we have mansard roofs and post-colonials and Victorians, and I'm not an architectural expert, but there are certain periods of time when our architecture was built that reflects the culture and the history and the social history of the time. So that's broad, but it also speaks very specifically to certain architectural types. And anyway, it goes on and on, but there are a number of design guidelines. And so I think it, and maybe the most important one is that it has to... I'm paraphrasing here. It needs to be proportionate and harmonize with what's already there. So, I mean, that's an important consideration. Again, you know, you don't want Adobe structure, but you also kind of don't want, you know, that thing they have in London that they called the Gherkin, which I almost called the Durkin. Um, you know, I mean there, there are lots of ways of building a building and you want to be able to sort of reflect the historic culture. And so roof lines, um, soffits, you know, all, all of the above can help to integrate, integrate a new building into the community. It doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be more expensive. It just means It's a little more thoughtful.

Thank you, Mayor. I agree with you, Ms. Julie, Councilmember Zando-Zendis. I agree with you. I am a historic preservationist. But I also realize that you're right. These buildings will be here longer than we will. And the evolution, I guess when I went to Europe, I was in Prague. It was bombed out. And the only thing I know is that scale and mass are very important. Because I look down the street, I can't tell whether the building's new or old, whether it was built after 1945 or built before 1945. I want scale and mass. And we shouldn't address scale and mass in the ordinance more deliberately than we do. We basically say that, you know, You either grow or you raise taxes, so pick your choice. I'm a growing guy. I grow the city. I don't want to raise taxes. We're already the highest in the Lehigh Valley.

And Mayor, I agree. I think that all of the council is pro-development. I think we just want it to be as thoughtful as possible. We can afford to be a little bit more selective only because we are a desirable area to build in. And again, I don't want to see us overburdening developers. But I would like them to be able to say, hey, the city is asking us to do our very best. And so we're going to meet that challenge.

I'd like to congratulate Mario and Clay, who are both here from the Historic District Commission. They do a great job of convincing developers to change their aesthetics, and I really appreciate that because, again, I think being a historic preservationist and teaching the history of Easton for 12 years in the school district, it's very important. Our people do not know our history, and it's unfortunate. because we have a great colonial history. And Thomas and John Penn were very deliberate in the way they wanted to design this city. And they hired William Parsons to do it. And it's beautiful. And it's a beautiful city.

I think everybody's pretty much saying the same thing. So I think we can move on.

I think we can move on.

OK. I know. Anyone else for public who would like to speak? Clay. Who did a great job on the 100 block of Spring Garden Street, or the unit block of Spring Garden Street. With that townhouse, that was beautifully restored.

We're trying to do as much on that block as we can.

Appreciate that.

We want Councilman Rose's property to be surrounded by other lovely properties.

Everyone's doing a great job. Art block's getting a glow up right now.

It's a lot of work, but effort. But I just want to briefly comment on the fact that what you're talking about is so important with the HDC being early intervention, because there's so many things that we talk about height and scale, and that's very important. But one of the things that HDC also looks at is the liveliness of the street and how the street interacts with the people. And on certain projects, and I'll point out Ferry Street, for example. We have taken what is very valuable real estate. In most cities, your first floor real estate is the biggest value that you've got. And we've turned a lot of Ferry Street into parking. And so you go from the corner here down to St. John's, and basically other than the corner, you have no life on that block anymore. You have no stores on the right, you have no stores on the left. when a project comes before HDC early, We got that project after zoning variances were given and the whole first floor footprint was given to be an indoor parking lot. So they had no room to give even the smallest amount of retail space on that street because they couldn't give up parking spots. Had they come earlier, there would have been more collaboration with zoning saying, OK, what are the other parking options so we can have retail. A lot of developers are sort of afraid of retail because you've got malls, you've got online. But when you look at the very successful downtowns and you look at the shops that we have, every shop in downtown that comes available leases immediately. And you look at the number of new businesses coming into Easton, it's fabulous. But we don't have space for them because we're giving up a lot of the first floor for parking. So I look at even that little bit of interaction early would have been helpful. There are a lot of design things. So we did approve the project, but our hands were tied because the parking was given. It was a non-negotiable. Zoning had given the variances. Same things I look at. There was a lot of controversy over a very large building that wanted to go up on 4th Where was HDC in that? If that had come before HDC early, we would say every building on that block is two and a half to three stories. There's no place for a five or a seven story building when you're talking about a two block span where you have nothing more than two and a half. And that went into tremendous time and legal battles and money that developers spent and lost, neighbors spent and lost. A very early on discussion with HDC saying, you know, scale seems wrong for this block. It would have been, I think, very valuable. So everything you're talking about tonight, whether the ordinance needs to go forward to emphasize the fact that it's a critical part, I would be all for that because I think we need to emphasize at least that discussion and then as we move forward for HDC to be able to, you know, talk with zoning saying, hey, do you really want to give up all your first floor retail to parking? You know, other cities find options. You can go down. Yes, it costs more money, but we have limited earth here in Easton. And at some point, people are going to have to think about other parking options, which may be down or inside or, you know, even like the marquee, they've got a little bit more retail but burying the parking in the center. That's all I wanted to say.

Very good. Thank you, Clay. Thank you very much for your comments. Anyone else from the public would like to address City Council? OK, we'll move on to the consent agenda, Madam Clerk.

We have six resolutions approving certificates of appropriateness for the following addresses. 339-41 North Hampton Street, 505-507 North Hampton Street, 325-27 North Hampton Street doors, 524 Ferry Street, 325-27 North Hampton Street window sign, and 101 South 3rd Street.

Is there someone who's going to move them? So moved. So moved. And seconded.

Mayor, I just want to confirm the 33941, that's the Linden?

No, 33941 is probably maybe the Linden shop.

Oh, that's the Linden shop. Oh, I'm sorry.

The Linden's on 101 South 3rd Street.

Okay, pardon me. Pardon me. It's my cold. Carry on.

Roll call, please.

Mr. Pinnabone?

Aye.

Mrs. Rose? Aye. Mr. Graziano? Aye. Mrs. Hartroff-Bittinger?

Aye.

Mayor Panto?

Aye.

Mr. Brown?

Aye.

Ms. Zonda-Dennis?

Aye. There's no reports received by City Council, so we'll go on to reports of the committee. Council Member Brown, Finance Committee.

Thank you, Mayor. We talked a lot about the Resolution last night in agreement with the open gov. Now. I don't know whether or not that it's doing a table for discussion tonight or for passage Mark is that still on this evening?

Yeah, I believe that the that the resolution is still on Okay Economic development mr. Pinnabone Thank You mayor

Since the last meeting, we were awarded some grants, TASA, for the Highline Acquisition, $750,000. We received the State LSA for Downtown Sidewalk Improvements for $75,000. Northampton and Lehigh County LSA for $95,500. Additionally, we applied to DCNR C2P2 for Hackett Park Bike Park for $200,000. GTRP Highline Design for $200,000, Grow Norco Comprehensive Plan for $50,000, Watershed Restoration Project Program, and St. Joseph Street Park and Pioneer Park, $144,000. We also closed on the HOP MF Italian Church Affordable Housing for $400,000 that we turned the Old Presbyterian Church into the Transitional Housing to help residents coming from Safe Harbor. Mayor, that's all I have.

Planning and Codes Committee, Council Member Rose.

Thank you, Mayor. I recently met with Mr. Tillman, the Director of Planning and Codes, to go over some zoning updates. Also finalized the data center ordinance with our solicitor, awaiting the zoning updates Draft back from mr. Tillman. So hopefully we'll have that soon On Friday hosted the cash mob on Friday for the fourth Friday in downtown Easton and we surprise surprise salvage goods to On South 3rd Street. We're meeting every fourth Friday 6 p.m. Behind the EPM market The goal, we ask everyone who attends to bring $20 cash and we surprise a business in downtown Easton. It's really fun, so invite everyone out. I know Councilman Pinnabone has been at the one where we surprised Book and Puppet recently. So hope to see everyone next month. Also volunteered at the Easton Crit Bike Race this weekend. It was great to see so many people out. There were about 400 people watching the skateboarding competition too, which it was a really young crowd. Really good energy. Such a fun event in downtown Easton every year. Also led the ribbon cutting for Tia B's Tacos on the 100 block of North Hampton Street. So if you haven't had a chance yet, check them out. Their birria tacos are delicious. And that's all I have. Thank you.

Public Safety Committee, Council Member Graziano.

Thank you, Mayor. So earlier today, I attended a live fire training session at the Whitehall Fire Training Facility with Chief Hennings and two of our recruits who are scheduled to graduate next month. During the training, I had the chance to participate in two active fires while wearing full turnout gear and SCBA equipment. Real quick, the first burn, to tell you about the two fires, the first burn was a basement fire. So the conditions inside were, when you first go in, it was very dark, heavily filled with smoke, and obviously very hot. I entered the basement with Chief Pennings. And when I got in there, it was very dark, couldn't see anything. So you had to crawl down the steps backwards, basically. Then when we reached the basement, it was a real small room. The fire was right in the corner, probably 10 feet from us, extended up the walls across the ceiling. And then I had the opportunity to operate the hose line and the nozzle and extinguish the fire, which was pretty cool. And then the second burn was on the second floor right above the basement burn area. And the recruits entered the front of the building by ladder through a second floor window. I did not enter through the second floor window. I actually went up the steps with Chief Hennings. And we observed the recruits operate and extinguish the fire. The conditions during the second burn were significantly hotter than the first and provided a good firsthand look at the challenges that the firefighters face operating inside active conditions. So the experience gave me a much greater appreciation for the physical and mental demands that the firefighters operate under during live incidents. Even in a controlled training environment, the conditions were intense and challenging in ways that are difficult to fully appreciate without experiencing firsthand. The training also reinforced the critical importance of ongoing training, teamwork, communication, Preparedness and maintaining adequate staffing levels to safely and effectively respond to a rapidly changing fire ground conditions I wanted to thank chief Hennings for inviting me today on the Whitehall fire training facility for allowing me to participate.

Thank you Nice job councilmember Public Works council members John do Dennis Thank You mayor on May 16th I attended the heroes and hope recovery walk hosted by a safe harbor Easton and where residents both past and present and their families and community members walk together to the circle and back to safe harbor in support of substance use recovery and rehabilitation programs. I also was honored to attend the Memorial Day wreath ceremony with Mayor Panto and Phillipsburg's mayor. And it was a privilege to honor our fallen soldiers on Memorial Day. I met with Public Works Director Dave Hopkins regarding parking concerns in the West Ward. We have decided to have a lengthy session, and we've scheduled that to continue to address this ongoing challenge. So more on that will be forthcoming. And today, I will be introducing a resolution to approve a fourth handicap parking space at 1121 Washington Street. That's all, Mayor.

Thank you. Councilmember. Administration Committee, Councilmember Hartrath-Bittinger.

Thank you, Mayor. I have no report today. I just want to say thanks again to Allison and Todd for being here and with all their efforts of putting this together. I'm very excited for Southside Easton. And so, Mayor, no, I don't have anything to report.

Thank you. Reporter, City Solicitor. Yes, despite what the agenda says, I'm not Attorney Joel Scheer, nor could I hope to live up to his reputation. I hope you don't. Fair enough. I do believe the transition to Attorney Mike Vargo as a solicitor has gone very smoothly. There are no significant updates from the solicitor's office at this time. We are engaged in a couple of matters with the court system. They are progressing smoothly and as expected at this point in time.

Thank you. We have an executive session.

Report of the mayor.

We would note that there was an executive session. Oh, there was an executive, yeah. Other than that, no further updates.

Mayor's report, I know that everybody got their invitation to the Linden demo project, which is the demo party is this Saturday. Should be interesting, but they won't demo until Monday. But they're having a demo party. I have hinted out a pub crawl ordinance. Please review it and Give me your feedback Pub crawls have become a very Active In our downtown area especially and the ordinance really goes towards making sure that the public understands the organizers understand and that they have to instruct their guests, their participants, that it is also a neighborhood today. What may not have been a neighborhood 10 years ago, but it's a neighborhood today. And noise, we hope. It was a busy weekend with the Memorial Day Parade on Sunday and the Easter Criterium. I want to thank all the volunteers that showed up. And I only had three calls, much more reduced, about traffic in downtown. So that was pretty good. Um, the next event of the moose is very special event. Uh, we will be having June 20th. The, um, cruise first cruise night will feature the circle. The circle did red book, red rubber ball. You don't really know them, Frank. You weren't born in a red rubber ball and a turndown day. They were students at Lafayette college when they became recording artists and And they were managed by Brian Epstein, and they hosted at Lafayette College John Lennon of the Beatles. So that was pretty interesting. You know the Beatles?

You told us this last couple meetings. I know.

So you heard about it. You heard about the Beatles other than the Bugs? Oh, okay. I wanted to make sure. But we're working on that. So if you know anybody who has a classic car, just have them call my office and register it. And we also have Time Wise playing from 5 to 7. So it'll be a big night in downtown Easton. 5 to 9 will be entertainment. And the last item I want to mention is that last year we did the Hometown Heroes with the NAACP. We're doing it again with the NAACP and we're also doing it with a company called CGI who will go out and actually get sponsors for all the banners. So we'll have, obviously this year we'll have them up before, we expect to have them up before Veterans Day. It'll include a picture of the service member Male or female, and it'll also include their family who sponsors them or the business.

Mayor, where would it be going? Up south side, down Smith Street?

No, we're going to try to locate them all in downtown Easton.

Okay, that's what I wanted to know.

We're going to try it.

Mayor, are you going to use a different company to make them so the quality is better this time?

Well, the quality was good last year. They got them made. Karen was my secretary at the time. It was interesting. They didn't listen to anything we said. Also, I want to just give you an update on Escohoning Memorial Park. Yeah. They'll be better. Okay.

They'll be better.

Looking good. The Memorial Park on Escohoning Street, 300 block.

Mm-hmm.

That is coming along very well. It's named after Francis Ketchin and Clarine Boyer. And... That is being done right now by city employees. So they built the wall, and it actually looks pretty good. I was over there during Memorial Day, and it looks good.

Mayor D, I also have the arches up now on the backside. Oh, they do? And the sod is already ordered and ready to get down. Oh, good.

Mayor, do we have an opening date for it planned or an opening event?

No, we're going to be looking at that next couple weeks. Trying to get that last portion down before we get a date. Let the grass grow. Exactly.

And that's the end of my report. Correspondence is no, correspondence is no, unfinished business will go right into new business, Madam Clerk. Mayor. Oh, Lewis Campos. Two quick updates.

Sorry, Lewis, I always forget you. I don't know how, Lewis. Two quick updates. Number one, I had mentioned this, but I'll just formally say that the parking RFP is out, so it's been sent out to different firms. It's also posted on our website. THE SECOND THING IS I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO MR. LISNICKI TO GIVE A QUICK UPDATE ON FINANCES. THERE'S AN IMPORTANT NOTE THAT WE HAVE TO GIVE COUNCIL.

THANK YOU, LOUIS. RECENTLY OUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER MADE US AWARE OF AN ISSUE, A BILLING ISSUE THAT OCCURRED BETWEEN ST. LUKE'S AND CAPITOL BLUE CROSS. TOOK PLACE FROM JULY OF LAST YEAR THROUGH DECEMBER OF 2025. the city was not billed for our claims that we had filed. So the total amount of those claims is $253,000. THIS AMOUNT IS NOW BEING SPREAD OVER THE NEXT 35 WEEKS OF THIS YEAR, SO AT A RATE OF ABOUT $7,200 PER WEEK, AND TO BASICALLY OFFSET A LITTLE BIT OF THE ISSUE THERE, CAPITOL BLUE HAS ALSO AGREED TO PROVIDE US WITH A $40,000 CREDIT, SO WE JUST WANTED TO MAKE COUNCIL AWARE THAT, YOU KNOW, THROUGH NO FAULT OF OUR OWN, THERE WAS SOME ISSUE BETWEEN THOSE TWO PARTIES AND we were not billed for those claims.

And this was getting out of hand.

And we were not the only customers.

OK, new business, Madam Clerk.

We have a resolution approving a fourth handicapped parking space at 1121 Washington Street. So moved. Second.

I actually, Mayor, I would like to just address this a little. This is the fourth one. I support accessible parking. I think it's very important for our neighbors. The question is whether this is the right time to add another dedicated space. First of all, there are already three others on that block. And we don't have the data to know whether those are still actively used or whether, for whatever reason, they're inactive. So that's one of the things that concerns me. The other is we don't have any data at all, really, on parking in the West Ward. And so one of the things that I've talked to the director of public works about is trying to collate some data so that we know best how to address the severe parking shortage in the West Ward. So at this time, I'm not, I feel a little hesitant to support this, given our lack of information, really, and given the fact there are already three on the block.

Good. Could I add on to that, if I may? My question would be, had they gone through the process of showing that a doctor gave them a script that they couldn't walk or whatever the case may be, that it's necessary to have that? And were they turned down by the Board of Health? Correct. That's my point, yes.

No, the Board of Health put it on the agenda. You're getting that because the Board of Health put it on the agenda. Because they had the doctor's note and everything else.

The Board of Health agreed that they need it. But because of the ordinance, they had to come to council. And I think there was, there should have been an additional documentation. It didn't give their medical history, but the board reviewed their medical history. No one reviewed it.

As long as the Board of Health did it.

They did.

Yeah.

Are there three other handicap spots being utilized?

That's what we don't know. That's the problem.

I mean, I would suggest maybe tabling it or pulling it off until we know what the status of those are. And my other question is, how often do we go back? Because I mean, I understand some people may have a permanent handicap or issue or disability. But some people maybe have recovered from whatever issue or we're also finding out that sometimes people pass away and then the spots aren't removed.

I think that happens more often than we think. Yeah, I believe that. I believe they're supposed to go back once a year to review. Renewals.

How are we doing it? I think that's more the question.

They don't have the manpower to do it.

Yeah.

Right now.

I agree with Councilman Rosen that we table this until we get information back from Director Hopkins.

Yeah, because the thing is that there is such a severe shortage of parking that if we allocate four spaces to handicapped in one block, That's really going to impinge significantly on parking on that block. It would be nice to know if we can maybe decommission some that are already allocated as handicapped spaces.

So I can follow up with Jarrett, the health officer. He's in my department on those spaces. And then we'll come up with a plan of just you know, reviewing those, um, since he's newer, he's almost about a year, but we'll get that on his front plate there to kind of tackle Dwayne.

Jared was here yesterday, as you know, but we didn't discuss it because it wasn't on the agenda. Can you bring him back to a committee meeting so we could learn about the process of how often they review them and all the documentation?

And Dwayne, when they go back to review each year, do they have to provide updated documentation to show that or prove that they still need that spot?

I would have to dig into the ordinance. I just don't know. I was just curious if you do. Yeah, I just don't know off the top of my head. I'd have to dig into the ordinance to see if there is, or if it's just a review or if it's a review of your documentation, like come back in front of the board for an official review.

No, I understand the need to table it, but I want it brought back as soon as possible because someone who needs a handicapped spot needs a handicapped spot for a reason.

I'm going to talk with Jarrett tomorrow morning. Yeah. So we could put it on for next? Yeah, absolutely. OK.

Thank you. You want that on the next committee meeting? Yes, next. Or the next council? Both.

Both, yes.

Yeah. Thank you. Make sure they're on both. We need a motion to table.

OK, we need a motion to table. I'll motion to table. Second. Motion to table by Council Member Rose, seconded by Council Member Pinnivone. Roll call.

Mrs. Rose? Aye. Mr. Graziano? Aye. Mrs. Hartroff-Bittinger? Aye. Mayor Panto?

Aye. Mr. Brown? Aye.

Ms. Zonder-Dennis? Aye. Mr. Pinnabone?

Aye.

Resolution authorizing execution of an agreement with OpenGov.

So moved. Second.

Moved and seconded. Mr. Loznicki, you want to explain why this has to be on the agenda?

Sure. In short, the two systems that we currently have for our general ledger and our billing and receipting, they're older, they are not being supported very well by the software companies, and they don't talk to each other. So it makes it very difficult to get everything into one system and provide timely information that would be valuable for everyone. Because we do currently use open gov and a couple of the other departments we explored we've actually been in discussions with them for years but due to the cost. We wanted to first go through the stamp program so as you know, one of the recommendations that pfm made under the stamp Program. was for a new software package. So that's what we would ask council to consider.

And we believe the DCED will give us a grant for that.

Correct. So I did apply for the maximum grant. That matching, right? It's a matching grant. So $200,000 matching grant. So that would cover almost half of the cost in this first year. OK. And then, if I may, sorry, and then basically our replacement costs or the cost of the current systems that we have versus what we will get will be about equal.

Thank you. Roll call.

Mr. Graziano? Aye. Mrs. Hartroff-Bittinger? Mayor Panto. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Zondo-Dennis. Aye. Mr. Pinnabone. Aye. Mrs. Rose. Aye. We have a resolution supporting the Southside Edible Walkway Project and authorization to install signs.

Move to approve. Second.

Move to second and roll call.

Mrs. Hartroff-Pittinger. Aye. Mayor Panto. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Zondo-Dennis. Aye. Mr. Pinnabone? Aye. Mrs. Rose? Aye. Mr. Graziano?

Aye.

That's all I have for new bills, Mayor. We have two.

We have to table C, right? We have to actually take it off the agenda. Councilwoman Rose, you want to motion that?

Yeah.

Well, for you.

Table it and.

Or just take it off altogether.

Or just deny it? I don't know.

Well, I mean, if we're going to follow the code as the solicitor is saying, then we don't need it, correct? Are we all in agreeance on that?

Yeah, so you just take it off.

I would move to remove.

Second. Move the secretary to remove. Aye. Roll call.

Mayor Panto?

Aye.

Mr. Brown?

Aye.

Ms. Ando-Dennis? Aye. Mr. Pinnabone? Aye. Mrs. Rose? Aye. Mr. Graziano? Aye. Mrs. Hartrath-Bittinger?

Aye.

You can keep going.

I can keep going?

Introduction.

Yeah, okay. Introduction of two bills. Bill number 12, an ordinance amending Chapter 176, affordable housing.

So introduced. Mayor, I just want to, I spoke about it yesterday. What I didn't say was, over the weekend, I met with Alan Jennings, who's been working on affordability. I know. Alan Jennings. Since you first became mayor, you guys go back that far.

Yeah, we do.

He told me. And I shared it with him, and he said that he can't believe council's going to pass it. We are the first ones to get 25% allocations and include all subsidies. not just learners like everybody else is doing. He said it's amazing. So he's grateful to everybody.

Good man.

Yeah, yeah.

A second? Was there a second? No, it's just introduced.

It's just introduced. Oh, sorry. Bill number 13, an ordinance amending Article 505 of the traffic code, adding a handicapped parking space to the 300.

No, I'm sorry. I'm moving this off the agenda. The mayor tabled it last night in committee. I apologize. He wanted to move it until the parking study was done. I'm going to table all of them until the parking station. So I'm not going to table it because that's supposed to be for the next meeting and we're not going to be ready. So I'm going to just remove it from the agenda altogether. Motion to remove it from the agenda this time and I'll bring it back after the study.

I'll second it. Roll call, please.

Okay. Ms. Sando-Dennis? Aye. Mr. Pinnebone? Aye. Mrs. Rose? Aye. Mr. Graziano? Aye. Mrs. Hartroff-Bittinger? Aye. Mayor Panto? Aye. Mr. Brown?

Aye. Anyone else on council have anything for the good of the order?

Just to let council know, I provided the Mayor Lewis and Attorney Vargo with a resolution about putting on items and publicizing them by the end of Friday before the committee meeting. So I'm waiting to hear back from them and then we'll get it on the agenda, hopefully committee meeting and next meeting.

I also wanted to invite counsel. The EBA has a new ribbon cutting that was just added. We always try to accommodate the business owners, so I apologize. Sometimes they are last minute. This Sunday at 1 p.m., it's Easton Nutrition, their grand opening and ribbon cutting. I will send a follow-up email. They are located at 444 North Hampton Street. And then I had already sent you one for next Thursday at 5 p.m. SS Pension Consultants located at 32 North 3rd Street. I will send a follow-up email with the addresses and the times, but I just wanted to let everyone know we just added Sundays for Eastern Nutrition. Hope to see you there.

What time is it?

Sunday is... At my calendar 1 p.m. Easton nutrition there for 44 North Hampton Street, I will send The invite out and I also copy destiny a mayor so she has it for her calendar Okay, I'll entertain the motion for adjournment Public comment anyone address anything about the city of Easton David

about four weeks ago on Wednesday, the city went out to the D&L trail between 64 and Hope Road. Well, they did it in a rainstorm. The ruts are six to eight inches deep, and they haven't fixed them yet. I really wish somebody would go out there and take a look at it and get this problem fixed. There was five washouts. They fixed one of the five. And my other concern is, I walk all over Southside. Can we get crosswalks painted on Philadelphia Road? Just when I was a kid, there always was crosswalks at every intersection. Burwick Street has every intersection of crosswalk. And at Philadelphia Road and Lyon Street, since the first day you shut the city down for COVID, there's been a bag of cement laying in the middle of the crosswalk where the crosswalk would be. Can we get that removed? If somebody goes to cross the street there in a wheelchair or a handicapped buggy, they're not doing it. Where's that at? Philadelphia Road and Line Street. And actually the property there. Oh, yeah, on the corner there. It's Mr. Sawyer's. And his property needs to, the sidewalks are full of glass and tree debris and everything else that nobody ever, he never cleans up. That's all I have.

Okay, thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? I'll entertain a motion for a second. Second. Moved and seconded. Roll call.

Ms. Sando-Dennis? Aye. Mr. Pinnibone? Aye. Mrs. Rose? Aye. Mr. Graziano? Aye. Mrs. Hartroff-Bittinger? Aye. Mayor Panto?

Aye. Mr. Brown? Aye.