City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone and welcome to tonight's Williamsport City Council meeting. Please rise for the invocation by Councilman Vincent Pizzy and the flag salute. Heavenly Father, we come before you tonight with gratitude for the opportunity to serve this community. Grant this c this council the wisdom in its decisions, integrity in its actions, and unity in its purpose. Help each of us members lead with humility, fairness, and concern for the well-being of all of our residents. guide our discussions so they remain respectful and productive even when our opinions differ. Bless our first responders, our city employees, our local businesses, our families of the city, and all the residents who call this city their home. May tonight's work promote peace, accountability, and a common good. In your name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Amen. 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. Item number three, approval of city council meeting minutes dated 4:3026. Could I have a motion, please? So moved. Are there any questions related to the minutes from the previous meeting? Seeing hearing none, Mrs. Frank,

Dr. Yoder, yes. Mr. Milligan, yes. Mr. Mackey, yes. Mr. Mr. Desire, yes. Miss Millie, yes. Mr. Pizzy, yes. Mr. Ryder, yes. Motion passes 70. Something I've haven't gotten to say for quite a while. So, it's very nice to see that we have a full body of council before us uh for had any company down here in so long. So, thank you all. We'll move to item number four, limited courtesy to floor. We've had several requests tonight. If you have requested limit limited courtesy of the floor, please go ahead and you can go to the microphone.

Hello. Address. How are you, sir? I'm doing all right. How are you guys doing tonight? Very well, thank you. Your name and address, please.

Yep. My name is Kevin Mackey. Uh, until October 25, I was the city's treasurer. Uh, I will be keeping this as formative as I can in 3 minutes. As someone familiar with the city, your curfew ordinance before you tonight is needed to give your law enforcement personnel the backing they need to preempt some of the crimes I'll read before you next. All this information was either on the police scanner or logged on North Central PA's death scanner Facebook page. Again, I'm trying to keep this short here, so forgive me if it's not detailed. March 29th, 9:00 p.m. A group of kids cause a house fire block from where I live. While treasurer, I warned the city of the appropriate authority that this house needed to be taken over. They said they did not have the resources. Please work with the administration to asssure they do get that those resources and they can continue getting tax revenue for you on those properties. April 12th, 11 p.m. Multiple shots fired on 700 block of 4th Avenue. May 1st, 10 p.m., a large group of kids wrecked First Friday. May 1st, midnight, 2 hours later, a driveby shooting occurs a block from my house. May 2nd, 7:30 p.m. A group of juveniles between 10 and 12 are throwing rocks at cars near Kohl's. May 2nd, 7:40, 10 minutes later, another group of call for a group of juveniles setting off fireworks on Web Street. May 3rd, 9:30 p.m. My neighbor's dog was killed when an individual snapped his neck. I've heard the video, and to me, this sounds like a young person. May 4th, 9:00 p.m. 30 juveniles creating a disturbance causing damage around Flanigan Park. May 8th, 8:00 p.m. Kids and bikes riding to dodge cars on Mainor Street in front of sheets. May 9th 4 p.m. aggravated assault by large group of kids. May 11th, 6 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Multiple kids firing at vehicles with Orbeez guns and causing property damage. Council, whether you believe or not there are kids out there just coming back from work or hanging out in the city, you need to believe that your cops are able to make the judgment and let them determine when citations need to be issued. Let them make the stops. Let them ensure the safety of city youth and give them the ordinance that they're

asking for. I would rather have a youth be stopped, cited, and given community service than have them commit a larger crime and have someone I know be a victim and watch that youth's life be set on a destructive path. I have been right on a lot of things you have to listen to me on. Don't make this be another one. Finally, I've made requests to the police bureau for help setting up a community watch within the city. Using this curfew, it is my hope that this organization can help preempt law crimes and support law enforcement by giving them an organized set of eyes in the area. I have reached out to several neighbors and property owners for their interest, and we've agreed that this would be a welcome addition to help protect our lives and property. After discussion with the police bureau and their aid is my intention that the city's community watch can help prevent crimes before they occur and provide resources to hold accountable those crimes that are not prevented. Please listen to your administration's ideas and vote yes on the curfew ordinance as they have written it. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Mackey. I believe we'd had three other requests this evening.

If I could have your name and address please. Hi, I'm Intar Martin. Our um I'm the executive director of Juvenile Uplifting Mentoring Program. Our address is 7:34 West 4th Street in Williamsport. This is uh board member Latricia. Um

Scotchin. So um good evening. My name is Intar Martin. I was told I tend to turn a threeminut comment into a TED talk. So therefore, to make sure everyone gets home before breakfast menu starts, I'm going to stick to my notes tonight. I want to be clear. I support accountability, public safety, and intervention for youth who are creating harm in our community. But I'm asking council not to move forward with the policy that relies mainly on earlier stops and higher fines without building a structured intervention pathway. According to the 2025 juvenile justice systems myth versus facts brief, most studies find juvenile curfew laws are ineffective at reducing crime and victimization. It also notes that many youth cited for curfew violations were not committing or about to commit another delinquent act beyond the curfew itself. That matters because increasing youth stops may create more than curfew citations. The national research says curfews do not reliably reduce youth crime. The Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention reports that a 2016 metaanalysis found curfews did not have a statistically significant effect on youth criminal behavior during curfew hours. The 56 to 5800 juveniles in Williamsport need intervention before a record. This research is clear that formal juvenile justice processing does not consistently reduce delinquency and it may increase it. But the aversion, however, does work. Pennsylvania data shows strong outcomes. Philadelphia reduced school-based arrests by more than 90% through diversion programs. York County has had a 95% youth completion rate of diversion programs. And Cumberland County reported more than 90% of the youth who completed diversion programs did not reaffend within two years. Our recommendation is a balance compromise.

Move curfew to 10 p.m. instead of 9:00 p.m. Do not increase fines for parents. Create a standard alternative accountability option through Jump's diversion program. Instead of forcing struggling families to pay fines they cannot afford. Allow youth to complete a Saturday accountability program through Jump. This includes a parent signin. verify contact information, anger management, coping skills, life skills, restorative accountability, and certificates of completion that can be submitted to the courts in lie of fines. For youth who contact goes beyond curfew, such as possession, alcohol, disorderly conduct, or repeated behaviors, Jump can provide pay diversion programming, mentoring, family conference, workforce readiness, entrepreneurship, CPR training, and case management. I would also encourage the city to consider what trainings are offered to police officers along with tools they are given when approaching teenagers and families that they encounter. Many youth included in these situations may already be dealing with trauma instability, adverse childhood experiences, and difficult home environments. Trauma-informed approaches can help officers safely deescalate situations, improve communication with youth and their families, build stronger community trust. Organizations such as Dwell Orphan Care can offer a TBRI training. This is trustbased relational intervention training that helps adults better understand trauma responsive behaviors and effective management strategies for youth. If you would like for more information on this, we also have Jennifer Lake here today who is the director of Dwell Orphan Care.

Finally, this is not about us trying to be soft on crime. This is about being smart on prevention. It is the goal of public safety and we need accountability plus prevention and plus intervention. By collaborating with Jump, the city has an opportunity to reduce harm, collect better data, support families, and prevent youth from moving deeper into the justice system. We thank you for your time. Thank you very much for the information.

How are you this evening? Good, thanks. I'm nervous and I've heavily edited myself, so hopefully it won't take too long. That's quite right. Your name, please. First, Lauren Montgomery. I'm at uh 1024 Cherry Street.

So, I've lived at 1024 Cherry Street for about 16 years. It's right by Cochran. I have three teenagers myself, currently aged 14, 16, and 18, and they attend our public schools. Along with the young kids, I watch middle schoolers and high schoolers walk by my home every morning and every afternoon. Since I have three of my own teens, I can also you can also find many extra teens stopping by and hang out at my house on any given weekend. I watched the council's committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday. And I share council members, our police chief, and our mayor's concern for the safety of our children and of our community. I further agree that there have been too many incidents in the past year that are highly concerning. For example, on Halloween night 2025, my 16-year-old and her friends chose not to attend the party where Josiah was shot. But within minutes of the shooting, my phone began to blow up with teens requesting that I immediately come get them from their party. When I arrived at the house, teens were crying, calling their parents to say they were okay and feverishly checking their socials for updates from friends who had attended that other house party. As I drove them back, I called their parents to tell them that their kids were safe. It was a sobering experience for hundreds of local teenagers that night, and we are grateful to the police for their service. The problem is real and needs smart solutions. That being said, I oppose the 9:00 p.m. curfew and the quadrupling of the citation fines. Um, I really appreciated the stats, so I won't go through them again, but I have multiple um, academic reviews of um, statistics where they show stricter gifts um, only uh, increase the uh, decrease victimization by 06%. Crime rates increase or shift in ways that do

not reduce victimization. Curfews are inefficient and increase public spending. Uh I've got a whole pile of them here. Um so with that, um I agree with what Jonah Milikin said on Tuesday that this is an incorrect solution to a real problem. I also agree with John Mackey who pointed out that situations such as breaking into cars are crimes in and of themselves and can be handled regardless of the curfew time. Taco Bell, McDonald's, TJI Fridays, Chick-fil-A, dozens of teens work the late shifts at these places each night because they're in school during the day. Many of them walk or bike home. um they're lucky if they get home before 11 PM and they do walk or bike in groups because it's safer and more fun than going home alone and they may not walk directly home. They may go to sheets first. They might escort one person home and then circle back to their own place for safety rec reasons. Um the solution is not for cops to profile teens based on vibes as Liz said um on Tuesday. So, I feel that 9 or 10 p.m. is simply too early. And even for the kids who aren't working, we all know that most kids out past 9 are not doing anything wrong. Um, finally, I was uh troubled by the assumption that parents who let their kids out past 9:00 p.m. are parents who don't want to parent. Finding children, forcing them to appear in court for not being at home is not a reasonable solution. Many parents work multiple jobs. Some parents don't have money. A 9:00 p.m. curfew would penalize parents just for being poor. Additionally, what if a kid is scared about being stopped by the police? What if they run even though they've done nothing wrong? Those tra those consequences could be tragic. There was an argument made on Tuesday that times have changed since certain

council members roam the streets at 9:00 p.m. And I disagree. There have always been opportunities for teens to make bad choices. And we already have laws in place to deal with that. Don't add a new law that is ineffective, counterproductive, and harmful to good kids who are simply existing away from home after 9:00 p.m. I believe we should continue to look for ways for kids to experience community with their friends in safe environments. We don't have a mall. They can't even go to the AMC movie after 6:00 without an adult present. There's nowhere for our kids to go. My kids are always out year round after 9:00. Whether it's walking a dog, meeting up with friends in the front yard, um biking down to sheets, and getting a smoothie, it's $4. That's all they can afford. Um but most of these kids are in fact not doing anything wrong. I was super excited to read today about the county commissioners meeting on the 27th. I think there are a lot of options. Um, but I don't think penalizing kids this early is a solution. Crimes are still crimes regardless of the time and kids are still kids regardless of the time. Thanks. Thank you very much. We had one final request for the evening then.

A little prop. Mr. Hoffman, how are you? Good. How are you all? Very well, thank you.

My name is Bruce Huffman, 1000 Cherry Street, Williamsport. Um, I'm going to speak about item eight related to brick streets. Although mainly I just want to give you a little history lesson. Um, you know, I often speak about things, landmarks in the city that if they're going to go away, I give a little history. So, I have just a couple of short articles from the 1890s, uh, early 1900s. Um, so let me just read a couple of these. A well-known contractor, Mr. DP G, and some of the work he has accomplished. Foremost in the ranks of Williamsports contractors and builders, stands DP G, and that's his name was David Porter. David Porter, who for years has been one of the most active businessmen of the city. More than 20 years ago, Mr. G commenced the manufacturer of brick in this city and he has continued the venture up to the present time which fact alone indicates success. As time has progressed he branched out in other lines including stonework and general building. At the present time Mr. G is operating several extensive quar quaries in addition to the manufacturer of brick on a large scale. Here's another article about Mr. G. Uh this this has to do with laying of brick on Third Street. Contractor G said last night that the work of laying brick on West Third Street will begin today. He has been ready for several days and would have started yesterday morning had he been able to make an arrangement with President Roads of the Williamsport Passenger Railway Company concerning the paving against the rails. As the crossing at Pine Street has not yet been put in, there will be some speculation as to how Mr. G will proceed. He says,

however, that he will go ahead promising or crossing or no crossing, and under the circumstances, busy scenes may be expected along the street today. Those are both from uh 1890. This is another just short article that was actually in a um like a trade journal and it's from 1905. Mr. G invents new brick burner. DPG Gu of the G brick and stone company, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, has been notified that a patent has been allowed on a combination brick kiln of his invention. This idea of Mr. G's is expected to revolutionize the brick burning industry. The invention not only is a great saver of fuel, but only about half the time is required to burn the brick as compared with the old method. The invention has been tested thoroughly at the yards of the G company north of Williamsport. And just just so you know, one of his quaries, the one probably referred there, um if you remember where the Walnick Construction Company is on Freedom Road, just recently went out of business. Um that was one of the guys quaries and you can look at an aerial view and see the the mountain is kind of co car cove carved away from uh all the shale or rock he used. Um lastly just I I brought this up because this is stamped block. This is probably one of the many bricks that are in the streets of Williamsport whether they you see them or not. Um, and they were always laid down so that you didn't ever see the name of the manufacturer, but um, it's pretty substantial. I'll have it later if you want to lift it. Thanks.

Thank you very much, Bruce. I'm hoping that you didn't pry that out of the street before you came in. If you did, please put it back. I believe that's all that we had then for limited courtesy of the floor. Um, we're going to we do have to jump around a little bit this evening because we have some guests online that have other commitments. So, we would like to be um uh appreciative of their time. So, we're going to go down to item number 14. Resolution of the city council of the city of Williamsport approving a minor amendment to the ARP allocation plan. Can I have a motion, please? So move. Second, Valerie.

Yes. Uh, good evening members of council. Jamie Shrodder from Cedaka Cog is online to discuss this item. I'll just give you a really quick summary which I think will be sufficient. Um so essentially the city received 988 $989,117 um in Home American Rescue Plan Act funding. So that was funding that is to be used very similar to our annual home allocation. And recently they added $983 to that allocation. So we have to do a minor amendment in front of council today to let you know that we've received that additional $983. Um that extra $983 will be used um by step. They will be the agency that is executing um the project that we receive this funding for and it will be added to their supportive services line item. That's a project that we discussed in a council meeting last year.

Are there any questions from members of council regarding the minor amendment? Seeing hearing none, Mrs. Frank? Dr. Yoder? Yes. Mr. Milligan? Yes. Mr. Mackey? Yes. Mr. Destiny? Yes. Ms. Millie? Yes. Mr. Pizzy? Yes. Mr. Ryder? Yes. Motion passes 70. Item number 15, please. Resolution authorizing professional and administrative services agreement between the city and CAD. I have a motion, please. So moved. Second.

You may remember just a few meetings ago, I was up here asking you to approve a 2025 professional services agreement with CEDCOG because the 2025 funding took a little bit longer to get than usual. Um, so we just went through this conversation and this process um, with Cedakog and council um, and at that time I shared how thrilled we are with Jamie Schrodder um, and her team that help us through this compliance on this very um, important but complicated funding source that we rely on very heavily in the city. So um, this this contract is identical to the one we looked at a few meetings ago. Um, it's for not to exceed $136,500. And again, Jamie is here if you have any questions.

Are there any questions for members of council? Seeing hearing none, Mrs. Frank. Dr. Yoder. Yes. Mr. Milligan, yes. Mr. Mackey, yes. Mr. Dinger, yes. Miss Millie, yes. Mr. Pizzy, yes. Mr. provider. Yes. Motion passes 70. We'll move to item number 16. Resolution to approve fiscal year 2026 annual action plan for CDBG and home investment partnership program. Can I have a motion please? So moved.

Second. So, one of the things that you see in the professional services agreement and the contract with CEDCOG is um the preparation of our annual action plan and it is a close to 200page document that we're required to provide um and submit to HUD every year to let them know the intent of our um the way we're going to spend our funding. And that is something that Jamie prepares for us. So, I'll actually um defer to her to just touch on it a little bit since she's the one who invested so many hours in creating it. Thank you very much. So, as Valerie said, every year you are required to submit an annual action plan to HUD. We go through two public hearings prior to doing that to get public participation in the process. You may recall last year, we had to do the actual five-year plan, so that was even bigger. This year, we're just back to the standard one-year annual action plan. So, the city has selected street reconstruction as they normally do. um pedestrian safety improvements which will be like crosswalk markings and those kind of things. Um additional funding for Sojourer Truth Ministries facilities that we did also fund with last year's funds. And then um for your home funding, it's the single family housing acquisition and rehab that you're going to be participating in with STEP. So those are the projects. Um this is ready to go. No public comments have been received. The 30-day comment period is over. So, if council is good with it, we can go ahead and take action to approve the resolution to apply. And then there's like 14 other pages the mayor needs to sign. All right. Are there any questions from council at this time? All good projects. Thank you very much, Jamie, for your work and being here this evening. We do appreciate it. Sure.

And Valerie, thank you as well. Thank you, Mrs. Frank. Dr. Yoder. Yes. Mr. Milligan. Yes. Mr. Mackey, yes. Mr. Dinger, yes. Ms. Mey, yes. Mr. Pizzy, yes. Mr. Ber, yes. Motion passes 70. Thank you, ballot. Thank you. All right, we're going to go ahead and move up then to item number six, please. An ordinance amending article 521 and article 522 of the codified ordinances of the city of Williams were in final reading. Can I have a motion, please? So moved. Second. Again, this is final reading. So, this was something that we've already discussed before prior council meeting. Is there anything that anybody would like to add?

Seeing hearing nothing, Mrs. Frank. Dr. Yoder, yes. Mr. Milligan, yes. Mr. Mackey, yes. Mr. Dressing, yes. Miss Mey, yes. Mr. Pizzy, yes. Mr. Ryder, yes. Motion passes 70. Item number seven, please. An ordinance of the city of Williamsport amending article 753 of the codified ordinances of the city of Williamsport known as the city of Williamsport curfew ordinance to modify the cur curfew hours applicable just to minor and to modify cur uh certain penalties. Can I have a motion please?

So moved. Second, Chief Taviano. Good evening. Bear with me. I'm losing my voice. S man. So, as you're aware, this ordinance is to lower the time from 11:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and raise the fines from 25 to 100, I'm sorry. Uh, 300 from 50 to 300 and then 500 uh would be the max. We've had a lot of discussion on this and some good points were brought up. Obviously, diversion is is the goal because assessing fines um that's not the goal and I think there's a misconception that the police department is just going to go out and look for children that are walking the streets and uh that's what we're going to put our whole focus on. Um this is for a niche group of kids who are out causing problems. This isn't for kids who are going from and to work or coming from a community event. And there's actually exceptions in the ordinance that that goes over that. Um community service, we can't just set a community service. There has to be some sort of monetary fine. Um, if a kid didn't pay, then what's if it's just set at community a community service fine and

there's no monetary value, what's what's that worth? So, how does the judge say, "Okay, you didn't complete this, you didn't show up. Now, what?" Well, if you don't do community service, then you would have to do the fine. So, as I said with parents, I could not find a citation where we've issued a parents a separate citation because of their children. And obviously if you sight a 14-year-old for curfew, they don't they're not going to have money. They don't have a job. Now a 17-year-old is out causing problems. Yeah, they would have money and if necessary, okay, they'd have to pay a fine. But community service is always uh what we'd like to do. And in a diversion program, absolutely. Um it's just that needs to be in place. This is just something we can do and it gives a little more teeth to the ordinance. Um, we proposed in the committee of a whole, some people said 10:00, some people said 9:00 going to school. That's great, too. It's just something is better than nothing. Uh, there's many, we talked to jurisdictions around and everybody basically bases it off of us. So, if we go to lower ours, the other municipalities already said they're going to intend to take them to try to lower theirs as well. So, questions.

Thank you very much for that. So, this was discussed at length at the committee the whole meeting. Is there anything that um members of council would like to add to the chief's comments or bring up uh here at the general meeting? Dr. Yoder, uh I'll start. Um I I appreciate the six of you carrying the weight on Tuesday. I wasn't able to make it. Um just a a few a few thoughts. Um I think first and foremost, so Chief, you mentioned about some other things that are in here. Just to be clear, you know, you referenced about carveouts for people that are working, etc. in the ordinance that is in in place. This is not changing that. Um secondarily, most importantly,

um there is a item in this ordinance that regardless of where this goes, I think, um the administration really needs to hit article 10. There's an annual review of this. Um and I think, you know, whether this gets modified, voted down, what have you. Um regardless that annual review process really needs to start happening. That's one of the maybe tools that we have at our disposal to really start sifting through on an annual basis what's happening. Are the small tactics that we're doing working? Um if the changes made tonight, is that working? Do we need to scale it back, change it, etc. Um per my notes, um I don't know that that review has happened in probably 10 to 15 years. Um, so that's probably something we should definitely start doing. So, just something to get out there. Um, on the record, uh, I'll thank the, um, individuals that came to speak on this. Um, you know, brought up a really a lot of really good points. Um, most of which I I agree with. Individually for me, um, I I remain hesitant on how this is written today. Um, I'm worried about penalizing a majority of the kids that are out there that are law-abiding. They're not causing trouble and maybe this helps them creep into being trouble, right? Um, I'm worried about kids that I think are there are more of that are not that are not causing trouble compared to those that are causing trouble that are probably out because they don't have anywhere else to go. Um, and I worry about the negative ramification this could have on them as well. So, I'm open to um the the the group, forgive me, I I don't remember your name, had mentioned a compromise maybe of like 10 p.m., for example, Council Mackey, your concept of uh 9:00 p.m. during the school year leaving at 11:00, like I'm open to that

as well. Um 9:00 p.m.'s too much for me individually. Um and then also, you know, frankly, with the fine piece, um it's too much for me, too. So, I'm willing to scale that back and even keep it as is. Notably, um, if the if the goal is community service for the people that we that are violating this that get into the system, you know, um, frankly, I I I some monetary fine is fine to to do that hopefully, right? Um, so I'll just throw that out there to get the conversation started. That's kind of where I'm at. Um, I'm willing to compromise, but I'm willing to kind of keep it as it is. um and see um where we go from here. I appreciate the offer for partnership. Um I think we need to be doing more of that. Um I wouldn't stop with them. I think we really need to be trying to partner with other organizations in the city to try to ensure that our youth have other places to go. And I'm not sitting here advocating that we bring on more recreation programs, that kind of thing. But we can certainly help other organizations do that in ways. Maybe that's partnering on green opportunities. Maybe that is, you know, th the those types of things that um don't expand our operations and kind of hurt us in a lot of the financial things that we're continuing to work through.

Mhm. But position other community stakeholders to help other pockets of our community. So I think a number of organizations probably have a lot more better handle on individual places in our community than what some of us do. Um, and I think that's a very valuable asset that we should take advantage of. So, just to kind of kick this off, that's kind of where I'm at. Thank you very much, Liz Mey.

Thank you. Um, actually, uh, first, Ms. Martin, um the the diversion approach that um that Jump had recommended um as a potential resource for the city in um in curfew violation um instances, is that something that you feel is is ready to go? Yeah.

Okay. Um, in that case, I think my I mean, um, if I didn't make it obvious at Tuesday's meeting, and perhaps I didn't, um, both as a parent of young children and as a child myself in Williamsport 30ome years ago, who um has always been a night owl and likes to be out and about in the evenings, um, I I um I have a have a problem with curtailing our children to activity outside during daylight hours, especially Now, when I feel as though um forcing kids inside is basically forcing them onto their phones or into watching TV and doing things that are that are probably not as good for them as just being out and seeing their friends. Um that that said, I understand the the public safety issue that we are experiencing in Williamsport. And I think um while I'm not and and won't ever be comfortable with a 9:00 p.m. curfew and while I also struggle with the idea of a 10 p.m. curfew, um I'm obviously comfortable with the 11 p.m. that we have in place. And I think that um that we should perhaps take a few weeks um work with uh work with Jump, maybe work with other community organizations, try and insert something into this ordinance that allows for diversion to community partners um and and then revisit the ordinance in a couple of weeks. Um, frankly, if if while working with community partners, we come to an agreement that 10 PM is the is the proper time for a curfew, then I feel much more comfortable with that if we've actually spoken to members of the community and and especially to um people like Miss Montgomery and Miss Martin who interact with the community of of children in our care here in the city. Um, and um and and and they think that that's a reasonable option. I feel more confident. You know, my my kids are little yet. I don't have a lot of

interaction with with teenagers. And I'm assuming that's um primarily what we're discussing when we're talking about um minors being out late and creating. My 8-year-old's not usually out without me after 9ine. Um uh so I I um you know respect the input of people in the community who who routinely spend a lot of time um with teenagers and and and and know what would be good for them. Um, uh, as far as the fines go, I I would hate to see us, um, ruining somebody's life over a couple of fines. Um, and I think that that is a very real possibility with an ordinance like this. Um, so I would be much happier with this ordinance if it had built into it a concept, a concept that requires accountability, that requires sacrifice, isn't quite the right term, but input and and effort from the minor in question. um and doesn't require them to make a financial contribution. Um also because I think um frankly chief and it's a minor point but to the extent that we can that that we can um ask other community organizations to partner with us on that I think it actually takes less staff time on the part of the city to oversee that. And I think um chasing down fines is going to cost us more money than we're ever going to make on it obviously. Um and uh so an accountability program that lies outside of us is is likely to to to serve us both fiscally and um in terms of getting the the the effect that we're looking for. Um uh but I don't think that it should take all that long um correct me if I'm wrong Austin to draft an ordinance that incorporates those elements um and bring it back to council for approval. It's just it's just a matter of telling the solicitor's office what you want in the ordinance and then we will put it in there.

But there's nothing in terms of in terms of possibly referencing outside community organizations or anything like that. There's I'm assuming there's some vetting that needs to happen. Yeah. I mean, the best thing you could do is logistically get an outline of what you want to do and then communicate with me or or Nick and then we can write we can write something up to to uh implement it. So I I don't know exactly how it would look. It would just depend on what you want to do, but I mean an ordinance, you know, it's applied as it's written. So we would write it as clearly as we could to achieve the goals that you want to achieve.

Okay. Um and then my request would be um once we've passed a revised curfew ordinance, assuming that takes place in a in a couple of weeks, um that as as Adam stated, we come back and review that at the end of the summer. I think what we're looking at primarily is um we're we're hoping to give the police greater control um over public safety in this in the summertime hours. And I would be interested to see what how many how many calls we had, how many citations we had, how many children were passed through to another program for diversion. Um and what sort of success we felt like we had there. Um, and I frankly would like to find out about it sooner rather than later because I feel like if we wait a year, it's gonna we're all gonna be like, "What ordinance?" So, um, I think if we, you know, review it and the impact and see ways that we could improve things after the summertime's over, then we can have it in place so that we're not rushing to make changes to it before next summer. And um, and and so that we're not catching the community kind of on the fly there either. Um, okay, that's it, Eric. I think I'm done. Thank you.

It It sounds like you're ready to make a motion. To table? Yes. Yes. Thank you. I um I will make a motion to table. Also, we have a motion to table. Mrs. Frank. Dr. Yoder. Yes. Mr. Milligan. Yes. Mr. Mackey. Yes. Mr. Desinger? Yes. Miss Mey? Yes. Mr. Pizzy? Yes. Mr. Ber? Yes. Motion to table pass is 70. Chief, thank you very much. We do appreciate your work and we will be having more conversations about this. Yes. Thanks for bearing with my voice. Absolutely. Feel better.

And again, thank you to the members of the community that did come out and speak and the um opportunities that you're going to give us to have more conversation about this. We we greatly appreciate it. Uh we're going to go ahead and move then to item number nine, please. Hey, Eric, can I talk one more thing? Absolutely. Um to the the members of Jump who are here as well as to Miss Montgomery, if you have additional input that you would like to share with the police, I would highly recommend that you provide contact information to the police. Okay. Thank you. And drop those studies off of the city clerk, please. Oh, and I Okay. Um on the floor there.

Yeah. Miss Leaky, thank you very much for coming and we apologize for not having taken your input as well, but please also share that information. Item number nine then Mrs. Frank resolution real estate reduction and Marabo properties. Can I have a motion please? So moved. Second M. Woff. Good evening President Ber and the rest of council. Um before you tonight is a a real estate uh resolution to reduce for uh Marabuto Properties at 932 West Third Street. Um, the reason for the reduction is because the house was raised.

Pretty straightforward. Is there any questions from members of council regarding the real estate reduction? Seeing hearing none, Mrs. Frank? Dr. Yoder? Yes. Mr. Milligan? Yes. Mr. Mackey? Yes. Mr. Dinger? Yes. Miss Millie? Yes. Mr. Pizzy? Yes. Mr. Ber? Yes. Motion passes 70. Item number 10, please. Peggy Strank. Thank you. Resolution awarding construction services to the Shaw Park pump track phase 1 project to artisan concrete ser services Services. Can I have a motion, please? So move. Second. Mr. Scott.

Good evening, Council President Ber, members of council. The resolution um to award the construction services for the Shaw Park pump track phase one to Artisan Concrete Services. Um, Artisan uh does business under a name of Artisan skate parks. They do work throughout the country. They're based out of Kittyhawk, North Carolina. They've done many projects with our design consultant who is uh Pillar Design Group and I have Brad Sedlicki from Pillar Design Group online tonight. Um, so this was awarded through a turnkey proposal uh through a cooperative purchasing program which is similar to co-stars and KPM. It's called Sourcewell. Uh the contract amount was $650,000. Just a little about the project. It's going to be an asphalt um kind of high-speed uh uh pump track they're called. Some hills and some high bank turns. Uh this will also include all the earth work and all the uh storm water management improvements as well. Um funding. This is funded through a DC&R grant uh county ARPA funds and our match is through an act act 13 funds.

Thank you very much. Are there any questions from members of council regarding the uh pump track? Liz Millie? Uh just making sure that the amount of uh act 13's funds we'd already allocated is going to fit the bill here. I apologize for not recollecting how much we allocated initially. It's within the schedule. Good. This is exciting to see this moving forward. Yes. Thank you, Bill.

Mr. Scott, where exactly is this going to be located in the park? So, if you're familiar with Shaw Park, it's where the uh softball field is. Okay. Down in that corner out front by the parking lot. Yep. Yeah. Will that creep into that multi-use football soccer field in the back? No. No, it will not. No, this is out front. And um I just mentioned this is phase one. Um we want to eventually uh find more uh funds, grant funds to do a phase two, which would be a off-road skills course they're called. Very nice. Seeing hearing nothing else, Mrs. Frank. Dr. Yoder. Yes,

Mr. Milligan. Yes, Mr. Mackey. Yes, Mr. Desel. Yes, Miss Bailey. Yes, Mr. Pizzy. Yes, Mr. Ryder. Yes. Motion passes 70. Thank you very much. We'll move to item number 11, please. Resolution approving an installation and maintenance agreement for the small flow treatment facility. Can I have a motion, please? So move. Second. Mr. White, how are you this evening?

Good. Good evening. Um, President uh Ber, Vice President Pizzy, members of council, you have in front of you a resolution to authorize a the installation and maintenance agreement for a small flow treatment facility at 372 Dardies Run Road. This is a property that is unable to tie into the sewer system for the city. So, what this agreement does is allows them to have a what's called small flow treatment facility on on their lot. Um, and this is the first step in that process. It requires them to pay an escrow amount to the city for um annual uh inspections, maintenance. This is the process that was recommended by the um city sewer enforcement officer and the property owner has an engineer who would then be um in charge of take uh inspecting it and submitting a design and all of that. You're not approving that tonight. All you're doing is approving them to move forward with the agreement which then has to go through D and uh the whole regulatory process. And I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Are there any questions from members of council at this time? Seeing hearing nothing, Mrs. Frank.

Dr. Yoder, yes. Mr. Milligan, yes. Mr. Mackey, yes. Mr. Desinger, yes. Miss Millie, yes. Mr. Pizzard, yes. Mr. Ba, yes. Motion passes 70. We'll move to item number 13, please. Resolution authorizing a professional services agreement between the city of Winsport and KDson. Can I have a motion, please? So moved. Second. Miss Fesler, welcome back.

Thank you. Thank you. Um I'm actually presenting this in the absence of um Scott Williams who's spending some time with his family tonight at a concert. Um, so as you will remember, the city was awarded a federal grant award through the Safe Streets for All program of $356,458. Um, so Scott spearheaded um a competitive qualifications based selection process um with Bill Scott and Mayor Slaughter. They had five really great proposals from very reputable engineering firms. um they interviewed the top two and um we're pleased to ask you to award this to KDson Associates. So they're a transportation and engineering planning consulting firm and they're actually teaming up with Michael Baker on this project. So they'll have um both of their varying expertise. Um they have significant experience with this type of project, but they also have significant experience with this type of project that's being paid for by this type of funding. um which is equally important to us because they'll appreciate the compliance and the ins and outs of the things that we're required to do. So very excited to get this planning process started. And if you have any questions, do my best.

Are there any questions for members of council? Liz Millie? No, just that I've been desperately hoping we would do something like this for a long time and I'm extremely excited to see it underway. Wonderful. So thank you. um to you and to Scott and to Austin for for making this a reality. Um what's the what's the length of time that we're estimating for the planning process? That's a really great question. I don't know the answer. Bill Scott, you were on the interviews. I assume six to eight months. Yeah. Yeah. Six to eight months. Yeah.

It is a very lengthy study because it's a really big award. So, they're actually able to do a really comprehensive study. And um Bill, you can add to this if you want, but I know that in the interview process, they actually said there's like three specific intersections and projects in the city that they wanted to create some concepts for specifically, and they were really excited to do that. So, I think we're going to get um a lot out of this project.

Yeah, they're going to look at Confusion Corner. Um obviously, a couple other issues. Mayor Street's getting very busy. new businesses, the ball fields just around uh Pen College getting very busy around there and they're like the whole the whole city even bicycle pedestrian aspects not just uh vehicles. And I would assume that this this planning process will make us will give us increased eligibility for grant funding to ameliate some of these situations.

Yes, it absolutely will. It'll be um it'll give us a wonderful plan to pursue additional grant funding. Um the other thing that Scott did mention that I think is important to mention is um we hear a lot that there's not enough parking downtown. Um but we think that the reality is if someone drives by and they see that there's not a spot on the block that they want to go to that business, they're sometimes not willing to go too much further. Um, so one of the things that KDson offered was to make the downtown feel more walkable and approachable as part of their study so that people felt like they didn't have to park immediately in front of the business that they were trying to go to in order to get there. So I think that's a really good component of this project, too. Um, as part of that evaluation, could we possibly ask them to try to make it something that a didn't cost millions of dollars in the first place and b didn't have to be maintained on a 10-year basis?

Yeah. All right. And that's one of the um number one things that our department is focused on with, you know, we've brought a lot of planning projects in front of you is we don't want to spend money planning something that's not implementable. So, we're not going to accept a plan. And I think we did a really good job with the Scott did a really good job with the comprehensive park and wreck plan pushing back on things that they recommended that we implement that we knew we were never going to do. Um so I think that's like one of the critical pieces that our department is focus focusing on with all these planning projects is we're not going to let them give us a product that you're not going to approve. Right. Well, it's not so much about approving. We can approve anything, but if we can't afford it, then it doesn't really matter.

Yeah. Um anyway, okay. Thank you. That's this is super exciting. Um and as Dave pointed out, um the the part of the plan that I failed to look at notes that it's about a year-long planning process. In fact, Dave is reading the fine print. Thanks, Dave. Exactly. You can tell he's a newbie. No, he's an engineer. Thanks, Dave. Anything else from members of council regarding the uh plan? Seeing hearing nothing, Mrs. Frank, Dr. Yoda, yes. Mr. Milligan, yes. Mr. Mackey, yes. Mr. Desinger, yes. Miss Millie, yes. Mr. Pizzy, yes.

Mr. Ber, yes. Motion passes 70. Okay, we've got some cleanup work to do to go back through the agenda here. We're going to go back to item number five. We have u an appointment to the Veterans Memorial Park. Uh Mrs. Frank uh Sean Re is is appointed to the Veterans Memorial Park. It's a 5-year commission, but he's replacing uh a vanet seat, and that's why it's one year. Wonderful. Could I have a motion, please? So, move second. Um I believe Sean is here this evening.

He had to he had to leave. I do apologize about that. Um very impressive resume. He was a member of the armed services, specifically the Navy for uh 35 years. And he's been um very active in the community as well with uh on several boards, but then also a Korean Korean War Memorial Veterans uh funeral honor guard. So, the exact kind of individual that we want to have um up there being involved. So, we do appreciate that. Is there any questions that members of council may have or anything that they would like to add? Yeah, I'm I'm sorry. I'm sorry Sean isn't here. I would just say thank you for his service. Thank you for stepping up to serve on this commission. This park is amazing.

This is one of the I think greatest things that this city has is this commission, this park to our veterans and service members. If you've never been there, please go um put a plug in for the their service. Um they have Memorial Day service on Saturday, I think at 11, right? Um please go. It is awesome. It's beautiful. Um, so check it out.

Mrs. Frank, Dr. Yoder, yes. Mr. Milikin, yes. Mr. Mackey, yes. Mr. Desinger, yes. Miss Mey, yes. Mr. Pizzy, yes. Mr. Ber, yes. Motion passes 70. We'll move to item number eight, please. An ordinance amending article 902 of the codified ordinances of the city of Williamsport relating to brricked pave streets and removing certain streets from those to be preserved under the ordinance in first reading. Can I have a motion please? So moved second.

Uh so what this is is an ordinance to remove several streets and sections of streets from the uh codified ordinance as Mrs. as Frank said, from the brick streets uh protection, if you will. Um the streets are Beaver Street, Oliver Street, and West Fourth Street intersection, which is down by Bowman Field and Memorial Park. Um at the bottom there, there's about three streets that come together in a bit of a Y or a K intersection. The other is First Street between Campbell Street and Walnut Street. And then lastly, we have Wayne Avenue between West Fourth Street and Hillside Avenue that runs on the east side of um Jackson Primary School. Um we tal we talked about this at the committee meeting on Tuesday. Um very understandable reasons for two of those brick streets. Number one being the um one by Jackson Primary School with buses, plows in the winter time, making sure that it's salted and snow runoff um in the daytime and then it freezes at night. We don't want anybody to slip and fall uh when they're trying to cross the street there. Obviously, the bricks create a bit of a trip hazard as well for kids trying to go back and forth uh and also people picking them up uh from school. And then uh First Street between Campbell and Walnut Street that actually has, believe it or not, a lot of industrial traffic that goes uh down um back and forth. Uh that's down behind where Wawa and Chick-fil-A is at presently. Uh there are a couple things down there, but also Stammans has an entryway to the rear the west side of their facility as well. So, um am I missing anything there?

No, you pretty much covered it. Uh, I'll just add it a cost estimate to totally reconstruct that section of First Street. It's 400. It's almost half million dollars to uh if you want to rebuild it in kind, you know, reset the brick, remove them. It's labor intensive, very expensive. Um, versus a cost to uh overlay it with asphalt is 70,000. So, you know, you're talking like4 and some thousand difference to rebuild these brick streets. It's very expensive to rebuild them. And you've seen the condition of that one. It's it's sunk in. It's It's really rough the ride. Um Yeah.

So, just a curiosity question from a rebuild standpoint specifically there on uh First Street. How does how does that get done then? They take those bricks up and then they have to regrade all that and put everything down before they put the asphalt down. Yeah. You have to remove it all. Um it's all it's all about new subbase. That's the issues. And then it's it's you know it's hand labor to lay each brick by brick. it's on a mortar and uh it's just labor intensive. And

what is the plan for these bricks then once they get fold because and I say this in seriousness because Rural Avenue and the top of Fifth A um they do need attention and those bricks could potentially be reused when the reconstruction of that street is eventually done. Yes, that's right. And when there's utility cuts on some of these streets, you know, instead of putting asphalt in a brick street, we need brick to put back in. So, we could use them there as well. Um, but we would store them. Okay. Yeah. I hear Councilman Mackey would like a few. He always gets the floor before me.

He does. Um the last thing that I will say uh regarding this ordinance is the section at Beaver Street, Oliver Street and Westport Street. Personally, I see no particular reason as to why we would take that off. If you have a reason that you would like to share with me, I would greatly appreciate it because I would be in favor of removing that from this uh change in ordinance. Right now, I'm saying

that was my initial haunt me. It looks great there, right? The brick with entrance to the park, all that. It looks nice, but again, there's a trench section there. There's a trenching done at some point. It's sunk. It's just uh maybe that trench we could do instead of the whole thing. It's kind of rough in there as well, but that's why because of uh construction cost why we were considering it. Okay. Liz Millie, I thought we were giving John the floor. No, no, he he wanted the bricks. He just wanted Okay. Um, no. I was going to say, so we we will take those brick take those bricks up. We won't just overlay with um asphalt on First Street and and Wayne.

No, we would just overlay. We would do base repairs in the sunken areas that are really bad. You have to rebuild those. But other than that, it gets an it's just you just overlay it. S I was going to say I mean, I've seen great get repaved a couple of times and there's brick under there. ex-wife's, you know, less

and I have to say that when I spoke to most of the folks I knew who were concerned about brick streets, that was they were like, "So, what are they going to do? Are they going to take them up?" And I was like, "No, they'll be right under there." And they were like, "Oh, well then we can always just asphalt off." Um, anyway, mo most of the push back that I got because I think obviously brick is not super well suited as an industrial street and not ideal by an elementary school. Most of the push back that I heard was the Beaver intersection. Um, so I too would support pulling that off the list. And then I think otherwise, um, you know, aside from a certain nostalgic attachment to the ordinances passed by Randy Hipple, nobody sees the need to preserve streets that

the utility of which is kind of heavily affected just by the fact that they're brick. I would however point out that if well or ask you I suppose a question. Um, if we were to spend a half a million dollars to rebuild First Street, how long do you think we it would be before we had to uh do work on it again? Uh, way after we're gone. It'll last a long time. Okay. I mean, it's taken 100 years to get to where it is now. You know, those streets last, but it's just very costly to do it. So, yeah. But, so if we if we lay down asphalt over it for 70,000 bucks, how long until we have to redo that, do you figure? Over 20 years. Okay. So we got about 20 years versus

I don't know maybe a hundred or something like that if we So I guess the only point I'm making is that you're you're basically cost neutral there at at best, right? Um a half a million bucks for one and probably a half a million by the time you repave it several times over the course of the next hundred years. But that doesn't mean we got the half a million. And that doesn't mean that um I'm pretty sure that the businesses down there would be more pleased with an asphalt street than a uh than a brick street at this point in their vicinity. So, um I can uh I think I can if if if we could agree to amend the amendment by pulling that intersection at Memorial Park off then once once everybody does what they need to I was going to make that.

That's what I got. I'm on board with that too. The only thing I was if you Oh, do you dare?

Um, the only thing that I was going to add, and I know we're not really debating this right now, but um, section by Jackson. We got an email, and there was some email issues this week, so we may not have gotten an email. I just got it, but um, I'm somebody in in Blowingport. I I appreciate our our brick streets. Um but um professionally I work with kids with um disabilities. We got an email from Williamsport School District citing ADA concerns with that the brick streets posed by Jackson Elementary. Um, so that helped give some context for me, you know, that um, it is it can be an accessibility issue for pedestrians and young kids and um, otherwise abled people.

So that's the only thing I wanted to add. Thank you very much for that. Well, could could the same argument not be made for the Beaver Street intersection as one of the main thorough affairs that people cross to get to the park? Could that not also be an accessibility issue as well? I mean, as somebody who takes their kid to Williamsport Area Middle School every day for the last three years, I hit that street going and coming back. And it's exactly what Mr. Scott said. They're a pain to take care of. They're very expensive. What I I get that it looks nice. Sure. Yeah. Until you drive on it every single day for an entire school year, right? Sure.

Or try to get your wheelchair across it. Sure. So, you know, look, I don't hate history, despite what most people might think, but I I hate I do hate history for the sake of history, right? Um, quite honestly, I'd like to know and and maybe it's in the original ordinance. Why Why Rural Avenue? Why that little section of Fifth Avenue? Why first that why were these the streets that someone decided were if if the whole if the whole city was brick streets why why those that that would be if I had to take a running guess it was because those were the ones that were left because this ordinance was passed within or possibly I think it was passed within my lifetime.

Sure. Yeah. And so most of the streets were paved or or poss or possibly the people who lived on those streets thought for some reason that their property value may be impacted if they were paved. So they talk to some people and we got an ordinance passed and now we've got these brick streets that we have to take care of or not. If I may, I I think if we truly want to know, John, just at the end of tonight's meeting, I'm guessing Mr. Huffman would come up here and enlighten everybody as to why. I mean, maybe Bruce could tell us why those particular sections of Williamsport were picked as the places that were still going to have brick streets.

Okay. I mean, I I would be curious to see who the people pushing this ordinance in 1990 were, where maybe they lived. was was the primary author of it. Okay.

Um and I think he was just a man he was also the man who drafted who created and um the historic district and or one of the people involved in creating the historic district and he definitely was the guy who drafted the historic architectural review board ordinance. He was just very passionate about preserving Williamsport's history and I think he is to be saluted for that. But um by the same token and I I would say when you drive across that section of Brick Street every day, John, do you slow down? Do I slow down? Yeah. Well, I don't drive that fast to begin with. So,

because the one thing that I think the one thing the one way that I feel about Brick Streets from a modern perspective is that by and large we drive a little too fast. And not necessarily you. I don't speak about you. So, so we've got like five intersections that are safe in Williamsport, right? because of the brick streets. Okay. Well, it's fitting then that one is right by the entrance to the park.

Well, I'm just saying an argument can be made on both sides, right? As someone who supports our parks and wants as many people to get there as humanly possible, maybe we keep this one in and say, "All right, Royal A, Fifth Dav, we're going to leave you alone for now." But no, something to think about. He's got them in his sight, Bruce.

All right. Um, all great points. Uh, however, I am going to make the motion to amend. And the amendment would be that we remove the line that says Bieber Street, Oliver Street, and West for Street intersection. I'll second that. Mrs. Frank, on the amendment, Dr. Yoder. Yes. Mr. Milligan, no. Mr. Raki, no. Mr. Desiger, yes. Ms. Mey, yes. Mr. Peli, yes. Mr. Ber,

yes. The amendment passes 52. Anything else that anyone from council would like to add in regards to the um ordinance? I I I would just like to say to Councilman Mackey, I understand where you're coming from, but um as somebody told me once already this week, you can't go from zero to 100. So, I think we just start off a little slow and see where we go from there. Yes, Valerie,

if I could just add, um per the previous resolution that we looked at, I think that KDson will most likely look at this intersection very closely. um when you travel it, it is very difficult to look out onto Fourth Street and see what cars are coming and is very dangerous. So, my guess is that they're going to recommend a something um definitely a narrowing and maybe a restructuring of the way that intersection exists. So, I think that that is in alignment with the decision you just made and perhaps they'll make a really great recommendation that can help us make that intersection safe for people with ADA needs. Thank you very much. Seeing hearing nothing else on Mrs. Frank, Mr. Yoder,

yes. Mr. Milligan, yes. Mr. Mackey, yes. Mr. Jessing, yes. Miss Mey, yes. Mr. Pizzy, yes. Mr. Ber, yes. Motion passes. 70. Yep. All right. We are going to move to item number 17. Resolution authorizing a contribution agreement between the city of Wansport and the Wport Lake County Chamber of Commerce. Can I have a motion please? So moved. Second.

All right. So what this is is a as was said a resolution authorizing contribution agreement between the city of Wingsport and the Wingsport Chamber of Commerce. Um, one of the major concerns that we've had, uh, from a city perspective, um, is the cost of the Major League Baseball game that is put on here during the Little League during Little League. Um, the Major League Baseball Classic is a wonderful asset to the City Wayne sport. We've gotten uh, a lot of public publicity out of that uh, game. Uh, national publicity that we couldn't begin to imagine how much that costs for us. Uh it is a great commercial for us but also for little league baseball and for Major League Baseball as well. Uh and it's also led to some great uh contributions from the state into our asset which is Bowman Field. Um as we talked about at our last council meeting uh when we were discussing the lights that are going to be put up there at Bowman Field. There is a major league baseball facility in Little Williamsport with minor league baseball prices. So it is great to have that. Um after having discussions with uh the chamber and other players um that are involved with the game, the chamber gratefully uh um the the chamber stepped up and which we are grateful for and is willing to give us a contribution to help us cover public safety costs for this particular game. Did I hit everything, Mr. Fank?

Yes, shoot. All right. Thank you very much. Uh are there any questions uh from council regarding the contribution from the chamber? Mr. Pizzy? No questions. I just want to echo your sentiments to thank the chamber for stepping up to uh assist us and trying to take on some of this financial burden. You know, there is some good value to this. It does bring some great exposure. Appreciate it very much, Mr. Mackey. I will third that. And just add that uh again, Jason, you know, in a um was this two months ago, we had this

big sit down over at Little League International and in a in a room full of a lot of money, Chamber of Commerce was the only ones to raise their hand and say that you were willing to help out the city. So, I really do appreciate it. Thank you. Seeing hearing nothing else, then Mrs. Frank, Dr. Yoder, yes. Mr. Meligan. Yes. Mr. Mackey. Yes. Mr. Desinger? Yes. Miss Millie? Yes. Mr. Pizzy? Yes. Mr. Ber? Yes. Motion passes 70. We'll move to item number 18, please. Resolution authorizing a lease agreement between the city of Williamsport and Major League Baseball. Could I have a motion, please? So moved. Second.

All right. So, this is an agreement that we've talked about um at length amongst ourselves, uh some some of us with the administration, some of us in the room with representatives representatives from Major League Baseball and other community players such as Little League and the Chamber. Um not much has changed in that agreement. Obviously, the chamber is stepping up to help with that contribution as we just talked about. Uh the biggest change that we're going to see though from uh last year's contract to this year's contract, uh we requested that Major League Baseball make this a two-year agreement so that way we didn't have to worry so much about getting it done just before the game if we had any issues. um we could address it in a timely manner because it is very difficult at times to get the necessary players in the room in a timely manner and Major League Baseball obviously has to make decisions at a much larger level with very different um with with baseball teams in very different areas of the country. So it also helps for their planning as well.

Are there any questions regarding the contract? Dr. ju just a quick comment. Um, you know, kind of piggybacking on something Vince said earlier about going from zero to 100, right? Um, no, that that's a really good analogy. Um, you know, we're we're maybe going from 0 to 10 here. Yeah.

Um, that's that's great early incremental progress, but um I I I hope that this progress doesn't stop at 10 over the life of this contract. when when um council's in a position in two years to vote for the next contract, I hope that we see maybe it goes from 10 to 20, 10 to 30. We continue to see this contract updated that partnership with MLB deepen. Um a lot of great progress has happened and I commend, you know, you, Eric, Vince, John. Um we've seen investment from our state partners, from our county partners, our chamber here. Um we need to see that continue to happen to keep this game going. um and ensure that it's um that it's that it's shared um that the partnership deepens. Um and that includes MLB, too. So, I'm hopeful to see that partnership continue to grow. Um and I'm really excited to see MLB coming to the table um and deepening their partnership with us.

Yes, absolutely.

Seeing hearing nothing else, Mrs. Reich, Dr. Yoder, yes. Mr. Milligan. Yes. Mr. Mackey. Yes. Mr. Desinger. Yes. Ms. Mey. Yes. Mr. Belizzy. Yes. Mr. Ber. Yes. Motion passes 70. All right. We have to move up to what I would say is probably the best for last here. Item number 12. Resolution meritness unit citation. I have a motion please. So move. Second. Chiefs. How are you this evening? We're here. We're here.

We figured we'd give you some entertainment. We'd have you go last tonight. So that way the we we know what the fire department does, but they probably question what we do. So, well, we have all the families here as well. So, yeah, they get to see the whole bit this evening. Uh, Mrs. Frank, do you want to read the resolution or you want me to read the resolution? Uh, would you like to? I don't have it. Mr. Ber has it.

Mr. Ber, uh, I can go ahead and read it. So whereas platoon D is hereby awarded the Meritus unit citation for their actions at a structure fire located at 932 Race Street on September 15th, 2020 five. Whereas the performance and professionalism of the entire platoon was extraordinary and commendable. They humbly rescued a trapped victim, extinguished the fire, and maintained their composure while enduring a very stressful, fast-paced operation. Faced with uncertainty and minimum manpower, they accomplished the mission with no hesitation. And I'll allow you to list off the members. We'll get to those if you want to finish that. Yep.

Whereas Platoon D has provided coordinate coordinated efforts in a grave situation with a successful outcome to preserve life, health, and safety of all individuals and members of the community. Whereas their teamwork reflects the highest traditions of the Wingsport Bureau of Fire with dignity and pride. Therefore, at our meeting assembled this day, the 14th day of May, 2026, Williamsport City Council does hereby acknowledge and express on behalf of the citizens of the city of Williamsport, our deepest appreciation and gratitude for their substantial contributions to our community, both as citizens and as a and as city firefighters, and thank them for their bravery and dedication to protecting citizens of this city. Good evening, Council President Ber, Vice President Pizzy, and members of council. I stand before you on this evening to present a unit citation to members of Deep Platoon for their actions on September 15th, 2025. The pro professionalism and commitment of Deep Platoon that Evening exemplifies the dedication and integrity of the Williamsport Bureau Fire. We take great pride in our profession and the efforts of deep platoon that evening demonstrates the abilities, aggressiveness and commitment to the public that expect the best from the best. I'm now going to give you a brief overview of the incident. Station one, Miku 91 were dispatched at 932 Ray Street, city of Williamsport for smoke in a structure with a per person trapped on the second division at 036 hours. The first engine arrived on scene at 0340, confirming dispatch and noticed a flashlight on the second floor north side of the structure. After advising incoming units of the situation presented to them, they transformed from a traditional attack operation to a rescue operation because the victim was in grave danger. A ladder was thrown into a window. The victim was located as the rest of the incoming units were arriving on scene. The rest of the onduty city compliment arrived on scene

at 0342. Command was established and a second alarm was called for, bringing extra manpower from our mutual aid departments and our offduty personnel. Within mere minutes, the victim was rescued. The fire was extinguished and incoming units were slowed down. Some key uh key takeaways from the incident. The engine company adapted to the situation that were presented without guidance of an officer and initialized rescue efforts. Command was established in a calm demeanor and clear directives were issued to incoming units. Accountability was established and command knew exactly where everyone was at all times. The benchmarks were hit without hesitation or confusion. The arrow was positioned on the side A of the structure. The crew had to split due to the manpower and the assist with the rescue and getting the initial attack line in place. Once they had the attack line in place, they initialized primary search to search for other victims. The second engine company maintained a water supply, got the first hand line in operation, and extinguished the fire and began performing searches on the second division. Lastly, I would like to say that the action took place within the first 10 minutes of the fire, perhaps even less time, but we have limited abilities to record times with everything happening on scene. This team performed flawlessly without needing direction and only seven personnel on duty. Residential structure fire like this should have a minimum of 15 personnel on the initial alarm. This is a testament to their training, dedication, commitment to the city of Williamsport. It is my privilege and honor to introduce the crew from Bplatoon that evening. Guys, if you wouldn't mind standing up.

Our first uh award is going to firefighter Kyle Bower. Engineer Matt Schwarz, who couldn't be with us this evening. Um, we'll make sure he gets his citation and pin. Engineer Brock Roupert. Yeah,

I was just informed they saved a cat as well. My apologies. Engineer Cam Arthur.

Engineer now. Fire Chief Tracy Hair, Lieutenant John Huninger, Platoon Chief Greg Delaney. They were just awarded the meritorious unit citation and pin. The merit meritorious unit citation is a recognition of a group of individuals who have have accomplished something exceptional on scene or for the organization. And any team receiving this citation must have performed an act or made practice of going above accepted occupational normalities. Thank you. Obviously, gentlemen, what you do is something that um not very many people do, and it's evident as to the situation that a lot of this country, not just Pennsylvania, is in with the age of firefighters becoming more and more, specifically in volunteer units. It's becoming harder and harder to find gentlemen with your bravery to step up and serve their communities day in and day out and risk their lives for the lives of others. We greatly appreciate it as everybody in the city does. So, thank you for that.

Is there anything that any anyone from council would like to add. I just want to say thank you so much um not just for sitting through this whole meeting, but uh everything you do every day. I got to spend the the the day with the fire department a couple weeks ago and I was blown away by the pride you have, you all have for what you do and um it's something that will really stick with me. Um I'm sure there are many stories like what Kenny read today. Um so I I I deeply appreciate it. Also to your families, um we don't take this for granted. This is a sacrifice and we see it. Um, so thank you.

I um personally was blown away by the speed of the response in Kenny's um um red statement. Um it's uh I consider myself fortunate um every day and certainly every time I wake up in my house and think, does something smell funny? that I live in a city that's protected by a professional fire department and that I know that the people who would um show up and show up obviously very quickly if anything were to go wrong are um are are men and maybe someday women who who who know what they're doing and who have everything under control. Um thank you very much uh for your efforts that night and for protecting the city.

Yeah. Yeah. Just to echo their comments. Um, you know, I I truly believe there's no greater calling than public service, and I think what you and our police do are at the very top of that. Um, you're you're literally risking your lives and in this case. Um, you know, a prime example of the risk you take every day just coming to work. Um, I'm extremely grateful for every one of you, those that are recognized today, but those that weren't. Your families, thank you for their, you know, the shared risk that you take with your, um, with with your firefighter. Um, I'm equally as grateful that we've got a paid fire department, a professional fire department in the city. Um, and I'll stick my neck out and say the best one in in the state.

Thank you guys. We appreciate it. Seeing hearing nothing else, Mr. Frank. Dr. Yoder, yes. Mr. Milligan, yes. Mr. Mackey, yes. Mr. Dinger, yes. Miss Mey, yes. Mr. Pizzy, yes. Mr. Ber,

yes. Motion passes 70. We'll move to item number 19, certificate of appropriateness from FARB. We've got two items on there. We've got tape real estate at 829 West 4th Street and excuse me, there's not two items on there. There's a lot of items. Uh we've got 508 West 4 Street. We've got 918 West 4 Street. We have 324 Campbell Street. And then we have 956 958 West Third Street. All with their recommendation from Harb to be approved. Do we have any questions? Excuse me. Do we can I have a motion, please? So moved.

Do we have any questions about the item before us? Liz Millie. Um I'm just seeing one item on here that is tabled. I thought it said remove from table. I'm so confused. Oh, it does say table. did not look at the it was tabled at the HARB meeting. No, I think we're simply I mean we're voting to accept HARB's recommendations on all of these items. So, a vote yes will mean that we that were moving forward as HAB recommended, but I just wanted to clarify that we're not actually approving every one of these. Yes. Thank you for clarifying that for me.

Any other questions from members of council? Seeing hearing none, Mrs. Frank, Dr. Mr. Yoder. Yes. Mr. Mackey, yes. Mr. Jessinger, yes. Miss Millie, yes. Mr. Pizzy, yes. Mr. Ber,

yes. Motion passes 6 page over here. Uh, item number 20, except for filing. Um, we've got the Wingsport Municipal Water Authority and Wingsport Sanitary Authority meeting minutes from February of 26 and March of 26. We have the HARB meeting minutes from April of 26 and the committee of the whole meeting minutes from March 17th of 26. Could I have a motion please? So move second. Any questions about the uh meeting minutes in the except for filing. Seeing and hearing nothing then Mrs. Frank. Dr. Yoder. Yes. Mr. Mackey. Yes. Mr. Desinger. Yes. Ms. Mey. Yes. Mr. Pizzy. Yes.

Mr. Ber.

Yes. Motion passes 6. Item number 21, announcements. The next regularly scheduled city council meeting will be held Thursday, May 28th, 2026 at 7 p.m. at the Trade here at Trade and Transit 2 at 144 West Third Street. Upcoming meetings, Tuesday, May 19th, 6:30 p.m. is HARB. Wednesday, May 20th at 10 a.m. is Blighted Property. Thursday, May 27th at 10:30 a.m. is the zoning and hearing board. Monday, May 25th, the city will be city hall will be closed for Memorial Day. Tuesday, May 26th, 11:30 a.m. is the redevelopment authority. 1 p.m. is the committee of the whole meeting. And Thursday, May 28th at 7 p.m. is the next city council meeting. Are there any comments from members of the public this evening? Any comments from members of council, administration, and the news media? nothing from anyone. I will then go ahead and ask for a motion for adjournment. So move