435 Hamilton Street

Allentown, Pa. 18101

Allentown

Minutes - Final

City Council

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Invocation:

6:30 PM

Council Chambers

Pledge to the Flag

Roll Call

7 -

Present:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

Courtesy of the Floor

Please observe the Rules of Council when given privilege of the floor. A copy of the

Council Rules can be found on the council agenda on the website. If you would like

to speak, we are asking that you fill out a card – they are on the back table provide

them to the clerk before speaking. Include your name and address. When speakers

have the privilege of the floor, personal insults, attacks, name calling or other

behavior that is inconsistent with the purpose of conducting official business will not

be tolerated.

Courtesy of the Floor is meant to provide public comments on items that are not on

the agenda. Public comment during consideration of ordinances, resolutions and

motions are limited by topic – your comments must be relevant to the subject matter

of the proposed legislation. Public comments are taken before

legislation.

council votes on

You are given the privilege of the floor to provide public comment; it is not a

question and answer session. State your position clearly and concisely for

consideration. If you speak on behalf of yourself, you have three minutes and if you

are speaking on behalf of a group that has several members present, you will be

given five minutes in place of everyone coming to the podium. Please address the

Council President not individual councilpersons or city staff. Refrain from insulting

or defaming staff, officials, and the public; refrain from

using offensive language,

cursing, and making noises while other people are speaking. Please be aware that

comments and/or behavior in violation of these rules will result in a forfeiture of all

remaining time and you will be asked to return to your seat.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated that they will start off with Courtesy of the Floor and

if there are Courtesy of the Floor and there are members of the public and

if they don't think three minutes are not enough, Council ask that you leave

your name and email address with our City Clerk so the appropriate

department or Councilperson can reach out to you to finish that

conversation. He asked Mr. Hanlon if they have any Courtesy of the Floor

requests.

Mr. Michael Hanlon (inaudible) mic is off.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated and also to be clear, this Courtesy of the Floor is

for anything that is not on the Agenda.

Mr. Michael Hanlon stated that this is where someone wants to speak on

school, kids, and city. He stated that he is reading it a JayCho (sp).

Mr. Santo Napoli stated welcome.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated that they will start with Courtesy of the Floor.

Asia stated that she thought this was a meeting for the school board, but

she guesses it wasn't. It was the city (inaudible). She stated that she thinks

that the city needs to do a lot more for the children and keep them more

active with sports. Everybody is talking about all these recreational parks

and stuff and they need more sports to stay active. She was city from the

city so that way they don't get in trouble or anything. She just wants to make

awareness about pedophilia stating we have a lot of pedophilia in the city.

Why has nothing been done about the pedophiles in the city. She stated

that she lives in a neighborhood maybe three blocks from here, maybe 2nd

Street around that neighborhood there are a lot of pedophiles. She stated

that she wants to know why haven't anything been done and why aren't

these pedophiles registered. She stated that they have schools down

there. They have two schools down that way Harrison Morton and

Sheridan. There are a lot of kids that walk home. Most of the parents

don't pick them up because they are working or they are too busy taking

care of another kid. She stated that she wants to know if there could be a

better way they can and stated some of these pedophiles are homeless.

You guys heard about the camps. If they can do something better for them

to provide the homeless with shelter. If the city can do something about it

and try to keep the pedophiles away from the children because living there

for a couple of years and she has been here since 1997 and it is the same

thing over and over. She stated that it hasn't changed and the city needs to

do something about it for a long time. She stated that she has five girls.

They all ranging from the age of 15, 14, 13, 11, and 12. She worried every

day about her kids. Being around the city and walking alone. She stated

that she works two jobs so it is hard for her to pick up her child from school.

She stated that her daughter has been chased by a pedophile a couple of

times coming from school, Dieruff. She stated that she thinks they need to

do something better and put more enforcement on it, if that would be the

case.

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there will be anything else tonight.

Asia stated no, no. She just wanted to bring awareness to that.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated ok, we appreciate that and thanked her for her

comments.

Ms. Bell stated that it has been a little while since she has been here. She

is a little nervous and apologized. She stated that her issue that she

wanted to report to Council is rent. As you know Allentown is being very

gentrified and rent is becoming an increasing problem. Two posts that she

put on Facebook is how do landlords expect a single parent or guardian to

afford rent nowadays, especially in Allentown. She stated if you look at the

medium income in Allentown it is $54,000, after taxes stating that is

$40,500, minus $25,000 on the low end in rent is $15,500 left over. That is

$1,200 a month. She stated that includes you have to pay for health

insurance. You have to pay for food. You have to pay for your car payment,

car insurance, gas and any tickets that you get because you know you are

going to get tickets parking on the street because there is not enough

street parking. She stated with that she just doesn't understand how they

are supposed to afford anything. She stated that she has been in the city

for 38 years and since then, she has been doing as much as she can to get

back on track and do what she is supposed to. She stated that this past

July she just lost her sister and with that lost their father as well. She stated

that she has seven kids now. She stated with that she is trying her best to

work a city job to afford rent and to tell them the truth, she can't. She stated

that she lives in this one house and her baseboards don't work, her roof is

leaking, her kitchen sink is leaking, but guess what, the rent is cheap so

she is going to stay there. She stated what she just read them is for

$54,000 medium income. She works at a city job and been there for 3 1/2

years making $32,500 stating that is the normal amount that people make.

She stated what she read them was $54,000. She stated that is $24,000

more. She stated that if they can't make it off of $1,200 a month, how can

she. When she goes to welfare, do you know what they tell her, you make

too much. When she goes to AJO for help, you make too much. She

needs help with her electric, you make too much. She stated do you know

what she told the city one time. She called in and said listen the Parking

Authority is getting crazy, she can't afford the tickets. She stated do you

know what they said, move out of Allentown. She stated that she has been

here 38 years. She asked why does she have to move out of a place she

calls home to try to figure out somewhere else to go. She stated that is a

great idea, move, but how. She stated let's say she doesn't pay rent for two

months that will be on her record, an eviction. She can move down to

Pottstown or down to Philly, but with what an eviction stating they are going

to laugh in her face. How is she supposed to go and better herself as a

guardian of kids and gave it up to parents because she didn't know this

beforehand and now it is smacking her in her face. She apologized for

bringing this up, but it is like every meeting she hear of and every minutes

she see online she hears about Parks and Recreation, roads, and

everything. She has nothing against rent control. She stated $2500 for a

four bedroom is crazy and nobody can say something. She stated just 20

years ago, it was what $1,000. She stated that she does apologize, and

thanked Council for let her here.

Ms. Glenda Mason stated that she is here regarding the Parking Authority

in Allentown. She received a ticket not too long ago after she went around

the block and until the street cleaners came by and then after they went by

she parked her car and went in the house and come back out and have a

ticket on her car. She asked why did she receive a ticket and she goes

right directly down to the Parking Authority and they tell her that she had to

obey the sign. The sign said between 8 and 10, but the Parking Authority

already went by. If they go by and you see them, you are going to park

there like everybody else does. That is normal. She stated that she made

an appeal because they are like no, you have to pay $35. She stated that

she appealed it, but she didn't hear anything from them for like two months.

She stated that they sent her a notice in the paper and it was dated

November the 19th and she didn't get it until December the 6th. Then she

gets a paper on December, Christmas Eve stating you might as well say

that she got a paper saying she was going to court. They were taking her

to court so there is not enough parking in Allentown and sometimes it is.

When the Parking Authority does come around and people are waiting to

pull right back into their parking spot because there is nowhere to park.

She stated that they want to give people tickets like the young lady just said

that was up here. She stated that you are giving out tickets to people and

these tickets aren't cheap. She stated that a fire hydrant is $100. Street

cleaning is $35 and so on. She stated come on and give a person a

break. What do you want them to do? She stated that she got a ticket, a

paper now and going to court in February with the Parking Authority.

Mr. Santo Napoli asked Mr. Hanlon do we have her number.

Mr. Michael Hanlon stated yup.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated that he is going to ask the customer service

department from the Parking Authority to reach out to you and then you can

have a conversation with Erin and hopefully she can help you out. He

stated that will be helpful to at least get that conversation started.

Ms. Glenda Mason stated ok.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated that they will do that tomorrow. He stated that they

will get that going.

Ms. Candida Affa asked Mr. Napoli if she can Suspend the Rules and

make a statement. Because she is not the first person she and stated that

a couple of constituents call her about that precise problem. She stated

after and like she said we don't have enough parking to begin with. She

stated once the Parking Authority cleans the area, most residents and

stated that she has done that when she has gone to a restaurant. They will

park and this is what they are getting tickets for. Now, she did talk to John

Haney about it and a sign does say from 10 to 12 or whatever, but we have

to do something about this problem. They go by 20 after 10. She parks

her car at 10:30 because they have already gone by and they get a ticket.

She stated that she thinks it is a problem because we don't have enough

parking so the residents will wait and then they will park there, but the sign

says 10 to 12. She is wondering if someway and she doesn't know how

you can explain it or how you can say it and should be able to park there

after the Parking Authority because of the signage, they could give them a

ticket, Ms. Gerlach.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated he doesn't think it is the signage, sorry to interrupt,

but it is the fact that what he learned is in years past, the Parking Authority

vehicle was before the Street Sweeper so that when the Sweeper came,

you can put your car there and a minute later you will be ok. He thinks what

the difference now is, we need to learn more about and want to make sure

what he is saying is accurate. Is the Sweepers coming first, the Parking

Authority vehicle might be lagging behind and residents are putting their

cars back, thinking hey, the street is swept, but meanwhile the Parking

Authority vehicle comes three minutes later. He stated that is a problem

that they need to figure out. The cadence there because that is something

that did change asking Ms. Gerlach is that something she was going.

Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated yes. She was going to say 20 years in Center

City and you all did what you do and then something, this is a decision that

must have been made at the Parking Authority to change this so perhaps

the Parking Authority can get together and undue this change because it is

not working. It's harming people.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated that they will learn more and will follow up and will

make that part of a.

Ms. Candida Affa stated excuse me, doesn't make any sense that they

would come after the cleaners to ticket them. It made sense when they

came before, but not after.

Ms Ce Ce Gerlach stated that she would suggest not to have a

conversation. If anything, it should be changed back. She stated that there

is no other solution.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated, Mr. Glazier go ahead.

Mr. Jeffrey Glazier stated two things, number 1, it's conceivable for the

Parking Authority to fall behind. If there are enough cars getting tickets, you

have to start an advancement which he agrees with them. It certainly

seems the way it is done to write a ticket. He does not know what is their

position. If you are going to pass them, they will have to catch up. He

stated that is Number 1 and Number 2, Mr. Shahda is going to tell him

whether he is right or wrong. THe street cleaners have GIS and we know

where their position is. He stated so to Ms. Mason's point it should be

easier enough to determine whether that street is cleaned on that day prior

to when she parks.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated how about we do this, Ms. Mota, you chair Public

Works and stated why don't we make it part of the Public Works

Committee and will do some fact finding and get some information and

report back and at least they can start to get the conversation going, but

also collect facts.

Ms. Glenda Mason stated that she actually went around the block because

she saw the street cleaner coming. She went around the block and made

sure he went by and then she went behind him.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated for you Ms. Mason, he will make sure that

someone from the customer service department reach out to you tomorrow

and at least get that going for you.

Ms. Glenda Mason thanked Mr. Napoli.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated thanks for coming tonight.

Ms. Glenda Mason stated thank you.

Dr. Cynthia Mota stated not a problem. She stated that they will make sure

they will address that in Public Works.

Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated she doesn't want to give her the hope. She is

still going to end up in court. They can't undo that. She stated that she just

doesn't want Ms. Mason to think that she is not going to end up in court

because once it gets to court, they can't undo that.

Ms. Santo Napoli stated that he wants to get that conversation going

tomorrow. He stated that he is not 100 percent on that.

Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated that she just doesn't want her to get her hopes

up.

Mr. William Grecky (sp), Pearl Avenue, stated that he is a lifelong resident

of Allentown, Pennsylvania. He stated that he lives on the southside of

Allentown, right by Salisbury and Emmaus on Pearl Avenue. It is right by

Lehigh Street. He stated that the reason he is coming to them is to request

a crosswalk possibly being developed at Oxford and Lehigh. He stated

since he lived there and since his parents have lived there which is a

couple years longer than him. A lot of young people have been moving into

the area and lot of the old folks that have lived there are moving out. He

stated that it was a lot of older people coming in to live in the neighborhood

around Salisbury, but now it is a lot of young families. He stated that

across the street is Alton Park and as of right now there is no safe way for

kids or families to get to Alton Park because Lehigh Street is constantly

nuts with people just driving through. He stated that the speed limit is 35 he

believes. People go 40 to 45 - 50, constantly. He stated that it is kind of in

a weird area where he feels like Allentown Police Department doesn't want

to be there and Salisbury Police Department is usually somewhere else so

no one is really checking that. He stated that every once in a while, they

have an officer sitting at Alton. He stated that he never seen them pull

anyone over. It is much like speeding that he is concerned with more like it

should be more like walkable in general. He stated that it kind of feels like

that the southside gets the short end of the stick in general. He stated that

he is probably a little better because his avenue gets plowed last. They

didn't get plowed until 4:00 PM this past Saturday when it snowed and the

other surrounding neighborhoods got plowed. It kind of just got what's

going on here. He stated also it is a Giant that just got put up at the South

Mall and as someone who lives by the left side of Lehigh Street, he would

appreciate if it was still more attention to that lot. The light used to be on

Emmaus Ave which meant that people coming from South Allentown or

Salisbury could go through and get to the Giant just fine, but a lot of people

go to that Giant to get groceries and now there is a lot of traffic that is on

the side of Lehigh Street that gets super duper backed up. He stated long

story short, he thinks it should be more attention brought over there. He

thinks there has been a lot of effort to make the north more walkable and

that has been fantastic. He would appreciate some of that brought over to

southside as well. He thanked Council for their time.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated your email address, can you make sure that it is on

your card.

Mr. William Grecky stated yes. He doesn't know if he wrote it down.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated that he will get back to him on that on the

crosswalk.

Mr. William Grecky (sp) stated that he will go and write it down right now.

Mr. Santo Napoli thanked Mr. Grecky (sp).

Mr. William Grecky (sp) thanked Mr. Napoli.

Mr. Welsh stated that in 2001 he applied for (inaudible) and learned that

insurance by income in Pennsylvania and he has been uninsured for 90

days and learned that they have (inaudible) when you pay medical bills

yourself. He knows it is term limits for the state legislators such as Ohio,

Michigan and South Dakota requires the person to be uninsured for 90

days to be eligible for that program. The Health insurance industry was

once captive. If customers are buying health insurance in an open market

and the don't want universal healthcare because it is nothing in it for them.

He stated that he has this paper here and there is a map in which state

legislators are more than a visual learner than and he found it out. He will

pay for health insurance in 2002 by $6,000. He stated that he has

documentation here that he can show it to them. He stated all states with

term limits and legislators and legislators actually stand up for their

constituents. He doesn't want to be there for three terms, not becoming

entrench like they do here. Staying for 20, 30 or 40 years and using

competency stats as a weapon to keep challenges away.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated thank you.

Mr. Enrique Moreno stated that he is going to try to speak in English. He

stated that it is something he doesn't understand and he needs somebody

to translate or bring the ex employee from the city. He speaks Spanish.

They have before for some issues. He explained in Spanish whatever

issues from the city so he helps sometimes for many years. He stated what

are the rules and stuff like that. He stated that is ok, he doesn't know. He

stated that he is going to speak in English first. He stated that if they don't

understand him, he wants to understand they cover many, many sometime

in here and he is not here to bother you guys. He stated that he is here

because he doesn't bother you guys or the city and nobody to himself and

his family all his life. He stated that he paid his taxes and paid his home

and an owner for one house and he has lived there for 30 years already.

He stated that he has an issue. He stated first for personal stuff he works

hard to get his daughter in college at Penn State. He stated he works hard.

He stated that his home is empty. He stated that they are just working and

come back to sleep and go back. He working firefighter in Bethlehem

because he has (inaudible) over there to hire him and whatever voluntary

and stuff like, but he is learning and trying to get a bidded to try to see and

also running a soccer league. He stated that he doesn't have any issues

with that. He stated that some people know him and the only thing he has

in this town is, why are you asking for the Constable here and who got this

decision to try to see what doesn't work in the city to do the right way and

they don't do the right way so it is something easy to you. It is education or

talk to somebody and say listen you can do this and you can do that. That

is something that someone understands. He stated whatever the reason is

he has some problems with some people. He is going to say what the

company name and he is going to agree with that. He stated that he tried

to help from the city for himself with something not right. He stated that they

don't do anything wrong or bother the city. Whatever they were, they do

great for the city, that's fine. He appreciates and he votes and everything

for the mayor too and whatever. He stated that he doesn't bother nobody.

He stated that he has a problem with a Sweep Ticket. He stated that is the

first. The second one is the Parking Authority and the third one he has for

the city. The house city like they go o his house and the inspector for the

home. He stated that he if you have something broke in your home and you

have to fix it. He stated that he had gone to the city and he remembers he

spoke to somebody and they tried to tell him that they can work with him.

They have some help for window broke and stuff like that. In the

summertime, kids broke the windows so he has to change it, but something

issue and he remembered when he came for the last two years and he get

tickets and he tried to as an X employee of the city and he knows what he

has in his property. He has his car and have an accident. He parked his

car and used another car, whatever. He stated that they are coming to him

and he has an approved paper. They came to his private house and said

that he has a junk car in his car and a video from him. He asked the

inspector and he told him it is not reasonable so what happens is why they

call his car and his mother's home. He stated one house and his house.

He stated that the place where he works so they come and attack. It only

comes with him and he has pictures to show him another place if he told

him they are taking care or something like that. He stated that he agrees

with that. He stated that he doesn't understand what is going on here.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated what he can do is have someone give him a call

and try to get some more information. He encouraged them to maybe

share some of the pictures you have or the videos and see if they can get

some understanding of what they can do to help.

Mr. Enrique Moreno stated that he called before and tried to speak to Ce

Ce the last time, but he was waiting for somebody to call him and they

never called him. He waited for two weeks last. The last sweep ticket he

has a court hearing and has a past due. They put $300 fine. He stated

what they want ok and he has to go to the court hearing stating the he even

took him to the court hearing and he explained to the judge that is fine. He

stated that is not a right way and told him junk or he collected stuff of value

in his garage. He stated that is not junk and asked what is he going to do.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated that they will work on it and asked Mr. Hanlon if

they had his phone number.

Mr. Michael Hanlon stated no, he doesn't have.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated if you can leave your phone number. He asked Mr.

Moreno to leave his phone number with Mr. Hanlon and they will have

someone to give you a call and see if they can understand the situation

better, but thank you.

Mr. Enrique Moreno thanked Mr. Napoli.

Mr. Danny Negron stated that he wants to mention that they brought this to

the table over a year ago. He left his contact and stated he also left his

contact. He stated that they have contacted him stating that he is

concerned because he is the guy who works hard every day and pays his

daughter's (inaudible). He stated that he does his part and what he wants

is to be a little bit more to be respected and let him know his wrongdoings

without attacking.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated that he heard all that. It is no problem so just leave

your number. He stated that he knows it happened a year ago, but he is

just worried about today.

Mr. Danny Negro stated a year ago. You guys were all here a year ago.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated give me your number.

Mr. Enrique Moreno stated that he appreciates it. Thank you.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated thank you. He stated that ends our Courtesy of the

Floor portion of the Agenda.

Mr. Enrique Moreno stated that is fine.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated that ends Courtesy of the Floor portion of the

Agenda. He stated that they are going to get started with Contract

Approvals.

Contract Approvals

15-8174

Authorization for a change order in the amount of $445,356.00 with Tyler

Technologies, Inc. to assist with the ERP conversion for the Financial and

HR module. The original contract was for $791,980.00, the addition would

bring the contract to a new total of $1,237,336.00.

Administration

Sponsors:

Attachments: R1 - Contract Increase - Tyler

Resolution #31192.pdf

Mr. Santo Napoli stated that they have Ms. Sarrah McNeil here.

Ms. Sarrah McNeil stated yes, this contract was previously awarded,

however, the original Resolution approved in September 2023. It is only

the implementation fees and did not account for the reoccurring fees

required once the system became operational. This request adds funding

to cover those reoccurring fees which are ongoing annual expenses for the

city. Tyler is not increasing their contract amount beyond what was

originally being included in that Resolution. She stated because this

Change Order exceeds 10 percent of the original contract amount and

being presented here to Council.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated ok, thank you. He asked if there were any

questions or comments from his colleagues. He stated go ahead Mr.

Pungo.

Mr. Cristian Pungo stated that apologies if he has ask Ms. Patel is this

something that is already is the Budget here for 2026 and moving forward.

Ms. Bina Patel stated yes.

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there were any other questions or comments.

Mr. Cristian Pungo stated thank you.

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there are any questions or comments from the

public. He stated you may come up. He stated that this is regarding this

Agenda item, R1.

stated with this Agenda item R1, she wants to ask is you said that it was

not found in the original Budget whether it is for ongoing maintenance.

Ms. Sarrah McNeil stated that what happened that the Resolution was

originally incorrectly written. They only done the implementation fees and

actually account for the reoccurring maintenance. It basically keeps the

system running once it is up and running.

Female audience member stated that her question is when this was

proposed. How many implementations were done before this came up.

How does this just automatically come up. She stated out of nowhere if

they knew beforehand and if they were working with a new system. If you

are implementing a new system, but you have to think outside the box. She

stated now they are adding more money on to it because of regular

maintenance fees. She stated that her thing is when this was proposed

and this was looked at, if it was looked at carefully those fees should have

been already noticed beforehand so why weren't they.

Ms. Sarrah McNeil stated that they were in the original agreement. It was

overlooked at the time the Resolution was brought to Council so they have

to correct the clerical error that was done when they brought this.

Female audience member stated correct. It was a clerical error and it was

overlooked and it should not have been overlooked. THey are asking to

add more money on it even though it is in the 2026 budget, they are asking

more money to be taken away from something else to be put towards this

when and stated go ahead. She stated that is her understanding and they

are asking for more money to be put from the budget that were included

that was included last year, correct.

Ms. Bina Patel stated no, she thinks what Ms. McNeil is stating is that the

budget was already there when they presented the contract costs initially in

2023. It stated only the implementation costs. She stated once

implementation is completed, then you have the recurring maintenance

cost. She stated that was already in the budget, but neglected to add that

to the Resolution. She stated that it is not an additional cost, it is being

budgeted, but it was just not part of the Resolution so they are being

transparent and stating that this was not part of the initial Resolution. She

stated that it has always been in the budget. The budget is not being

increased, they are just correcting the initial Resolution that was brought to

Council.

Female audience members stated ok, thank you.

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there were any other questions or comments

from the public.

A motion was made by Santo Napoli that this Resolution be approved. The

motion carried by the following vote:

7 -

Excused:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

Enactment No: 31192

15-8173

Authorization of Cooperative Contract(s) in an amount greater than

$40,000 to provide the City with various goods/services, for Lobar

Associates, Inc, American Rock Salt Company, Kimball Midwest, Auto

Zone Stores LLC, NAPA, General Code, and Dell Marketing LP.

Administration

Sponsors:

Attachments: R2 Cooperative Approval - 1.21.26

Resolution #31193.pdf

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there were any questions or comments from his

colleagues. He asked if there were any questions or comments from the

public regarding R2.

A motion was made by Santo Napoli that this Resolution be approved. The

motion carried by the following vote:

7 -

Excused:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

Enactment No: 31193

Minutes of Previous Meeting

15-8153

December 3, 2025 Special Council Meeting Minutes (Information Sharing

and Discussion Only)

Attachments:

December 3, 2025 Special Council Meeting Minutes (Information

Sharing and Discussion Only).pdf

A motion was made by Santo Napoli that this Minutes be approved. The motion

carried by the following vote:

7 -

Excused:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

15-8156

December 17, 2025 City Council Budget Amendments Meeting Minutes

Attachments:

December 17, 2025 City Council Budget Amendments Meeting

Minutes.pdf

A motion was made by Santo Napoli that this Minutes be approved. The motion

carried by the following vote:

7 -

Excused:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

15-8155

December 17, 2025 City Council Meeting Minutes

Attachments: December 17, 2025 City Council Meeting Minutes.pdf

A motion was made by Santo Napoli that this Minutes be approved. The motion

carried by the following vote:

7 -

Excused:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

Communications

Old Business

REPORTS

Budget and Finance: Chair Pungo, Mota, Gerlach

The Committee has not met since the last council meeting; the next meeting is

scheduled for January 28 at 6:15 PM to review the budget process, finance reports

and committee priorities.

Community and Economic Development: Chair Gerlach, Binder, Napoli

The Committee has not met since the last council meeting; tentatively there might be

a meeting on February 4 to look at the Recompete Program and priorities.

Human Resources, Administration and Appointments: Chair Binder, Santos, Affa

The Committee has not met since the last council meeting; the next meeting is

tentatively scheduled for January 28th at 5:30 PM to review committee priorities.

Parks and Recreation: Chair Santos, Pungo, Binder

The Committee met this evening; a committee meeting will be scheduled prior to the

next council meeting to review legislation being introduced this evening.

Public Safety: Chair Affa, Mota, Santos

The Committee met this evening; there are no future meetings scheduled.

Public Works: Chair Mota, Pungo, Affa

The Committee has not met since the last council meeting; the next meeting is

scheduled for February 4th to review committee and administrative priorities.

Rules, Chambers, Intergovernmental Relations, and Strategy: Chair Napoli, Mota,

Gerlach

The Committee has not met since the last council meeting; there are no future

meetings scheduled.

Controller’s Report

The Controller submitted a number of reports listed on the Agenda.

Mr. Jeffrey Glazier thanked Mr. Napoli. He stated that they took some time off during

budget season and now it is a new year and they will be back to reporting on a

regular basis. He stated basically there are three audits and reviews that they do

every month. He stated that one is the payables when they look at the checks that

the city has written for Accounts Payable. Second, is a P-Card review where they

look at the use of the Purchasing Card and third is the Bank Reconciliation Report.

He stated that these are the three that are done every month. He stated that they

will do other audits beyond this. He stated that their timing is just whatever the

review is done and the Report is ready to be released. He stated that they have an

upcoming program for the departments and the folks within the departments interact

with the Controller's office to explain what they look at when they review these items

and to help inform them and hopefully to reduce the error rate even further than it

already has been reduced to. He stated that Council is certainly invited to this event.

He stated that he doesn't remember the date on top of his head. He stated that Mr.

Hanlon has expressed interest as well. It is something that might be of interest to

Council for so they may have some discussions with Mr. Hanlon and Mr. Napoli as to

how that can be presented to Council at some point in the future. He stated to the

business at hand, however, this is a P-Card Review for the month of August 2025.

He stated that this was just released on December 31st. He stated that he must say

that the Controller's department is making a lot of good effort to Master Munis. For

instance, when they review checks under Eden, they could probably bang out a

Friday check run in 70 or 80 minutes. He stated under Munis, they started in about

two and a half hours and it got down to about 90 minutes. The checks certainly will

come down to a learning curve. P-Cards are a different issue. The software is really

not very friendly to this review. He stated that it takes them a long, long time to do.

Hence, he just finished reviewing August at the end of December. However, it is his

expectation with a lot of hard work from Jacqui and himself, they will get December's

done. He stated December 2025 P-Card Review done by the cut-off in the middle of

February. He stated having said such, they reviewed 708 documents, the total

amounts spent on the P-Card transactions for this period was a little bit over

$222,000. One of the things they look at is that when an employee makes a charge,

the Clerk expenses it to the proper expense account. He stated that in this regard

they found 11 instances where an item was expenses to an incorrect expense

account. The Bureaus were advised of the issues and they will make corresponding

journal entries. Once department decided that they were not going to make the

change because they had transferred all their money out of that account to cover

their overtime shortage. However, they know since the expense has been occurred

and journalized, the account correction requires for that department wouldn't have

any financial impact. He stated that this is a fallout for them being so far behind the

eight ball because the software is just not efficient for us. The city also limits the

amount of convenience fees. That they can pay or will pay when using a credit card.

The limit had been zeroed. You were not allowed to incur anything in the city. So in

the month in question, there were two convenience fees that were incurred and the

departments were advised. He stated that they seldom get them refunded, but it is

still just a matter of advising the department. Finance has recently changed their

policy and will allow convenience fees up to $3. He stated that this issue should go

away and the departments have been advised that they need to make a larger

purchase that would incur a greater convenience fee. They should do that purchase

conventionally by submitting a Requisition or Purchase Order and do it that way.

They also look at whether sales tax is paid out of an invoice. By and large the city is

exempt from the state of Pennsylvania Sales Tax. Here they had three invoices that

incurred sales taxes from a $1.20 dollar up to $31.07. He stated once again, the

departments were advised and what they really like to see is tax refunded to us. He

stated that doesn't always happen and sometimes getting the refund stretches over

multiple periods, but they will follow up on these. He stated that they will get

untimeles payments of invoices. The city and its Rules does not specify how quickly

invoices have to be paid. They generally go by the Rules. In this case, they picked a

60 day window which they feel is lenient. He stated here there were 20 charges that

was outside of that window. THe departments were advised and the E Card Invoices

were being paid late and they responded with acceptable justifications for what will

cause that. The last thing they looked at this month was appropriate documentation

in Munis. He stated that they are looking for a receipt and they are looking for an

invoice stating both things. He stated that here they had seven instances without

the proper documentation. The departments were advised and they all scanned in

the proper documentation. He stated that the next thing he is going to Report on is

bank reconciliation review. This is for the month of October. This Report was also

released on December 31. The number of the city's bank reconciliations that were

prepared with 35. The dollar amount of those reconciliations reviewed for the period

was $116 million. The number of non city controlled bank reconciliations was three.

The amount of non city controlled bank reconciliations were reviewed for the period

was $1.2 million. He stated that they do note that the city transferred from Tyler to

Munis in March that have caused some problems with bank reconciliations. It might

have been something that was overlooked. Some of the information not being

transferred in the transfer. He stated that they have one issue here, and that is

unexplained differences on the accounts payable on the AARP. The AARP is a bank

listing of outstanding checks. He stated that they have their own listing. It is the

bank's listing and ideally in a perfect world they are the same, sometimes there are

timing issues. Here are the difference. It was a little bit less than $1,700. The

administration was advised that they should reach out to the bank for proper

explanation and the difference is and the responses if they will do that. If the

difference is still outstanding in the next month's reconciliation, it will be noted. He

stated Mr. president, that is his report for this evening.

Mr. Santo Napoli thanked Mr. Glazier and stated that they do not have a Report from

the mayor so they will continue to move along to our consent agenda.

Mayor

No Report

The mayor has not submitted anything.

15-8186

Committee Assignments

Attachments: Committee Assignments - 2026.pdf

15-8189

Controllers Reports

Attachments: BankRecNov.pdf

ORDINANCES FOR FINAL PASSAGE (To be Voted On): There are none.

CONSENT AGENDA

Mr. Michael Hanlon stated that you have two items on the Consent Agenda.

One item is Certificates of Appropriateness for work in the Historic District

at 126 - 128 N 15th Street and at 521 N 6th Street. The other one is for a

Sewage Planning Module at 128 Hamilton Street.

Mr. Santo Napoli thanked Mr. Hanlon. He asked if there were any questions

or comments from his colleagues regarding R3 and R4. He asked if there

were any questions or comments from the public.

A motion was made by Santo Napoli that this be approved. The motion carried

by the following vote:

7 -

Excused:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

15-8185

Certificate of Appropriateness for work in the Historic Districts:

126-128 N 15th Street and 521 N 6th Street

Administration

Sponsors:

Attachments: R3 JAN-HARB Resolution DRAFT.docx

126-128 N 15TH ST -FINAL REVIEW-ROOFING.pdf

521 N 6TH ST-FINAL REVIEW.pdf

Resolution #31194.pdf

Enactment No: 31194

15-8187

Sewage Planning Module at 128 Hamilton Street Apartments

Administration

Sponsors:

Attachments: R 128 Hamilton Street Apartments - Sewage Planning Module

Sewage Planning Module - 128 Hamilton Street Apartments

Resolution #31195.pdf

Enactment No: 31195

RESOLUTIONS FOR FINAL PASSAGE (To be Voted On):

15-8176

Approves the submission of the formal application for the local share

account grant on behalf of the Civic Theatre of Allentown to support

structural and safety-related renovations.

Administration

Sponsors:

Attachments: R5 - Civic Theatre LSA

Resolution #31196.pdf

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there were any questions or comments from the

dais. He asked if there were any questions or comments from the public.

A motion was made by Santo Napoli that this Resolution be approved. The

motion carried by the following vote:

7 -

Excused:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

Enactment No: 31196

15-8178

Approves the submission of the formal application for the local share

account grant on behalf of Planned Parenthood Keystone to support

repairs needed at their facility at 29 North 9th Street.

Attachments: R6 - Planned Parenthood Keystone LSA

Resolution #31197.pdf

Mr. Santo Napoli asked could we go back to R6.

Mr. Michael Hanlon read R6.

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there were any questions or comments from his

colleagues. He asked if there were any questions or comments from the

public.

A motion was made by Santo Napoli that this Resolution be approved. The

motion carried by the following vote:

7 -

Excused:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

Enactment No: 31197

15-8177

Approves the submission of the formal application for the local share

account grant on behalf of the Lehigh Valley Health Network to support the

purchase and installation of specialized equipment.

Administration

Sponsors:

Attachments: R7 - LVHN LSA

Resolution #31198.pdf

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there were any questions or comments from the

dais. He asked if there were any questions or comments from the public

regarding R7.

A motion was made by Santo Napoli that this Resolution be approved. The

motion carried by the following vote:

7 -

Excused:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

Enactment No: 31198

15-8179

A resolution of the Governing Board of Allentown City, Lehigh County,

Pennsylvania, authorizing, empowering and directing the proper officers of

the Governing Board to appoint a liaison between it and Berkheimer, the

duly appointed collector of local taxes for the district, for the express

purpose of sharing confidential tax information with the district for official

purposes.

Administration

Sponsors:

Attachments: R8 - Berkheimer Confidentiality

Resolution #31199.pdf

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there were any comments or questions from the

dais. He asked if there are any questions or comments from the public.

Female audience members asked about the Local Share Account.

Mr. Santo Napoli asked female audience member if she can come up,

please.

Ms. Betty Cauler stated that she is just curious of what the Local Share

Account Grant is. Why Lehigh Valley Health Network needs help from the

city.

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there was someone from the administration that

could help answer that.

Mr. Michael Hanlon asked Terri are you there.

Ms. Terri Dakuginow stated that she is the Grants Manager and can

answer the question about the local share account. She stated that the

Local Share Account is a grant provided by the Pennsylvania Department

of Community and Economic Development and the city simply acts as a

pass through for that money. She stated that she is sorry and asked if Ms.

Cauler's question was specific to Lehigh Valley Hospital.

Ms. Betty Cauler stated R7, Lehigh Valley Health Network.

Ms. Terri Dakuginow stated yes. They are looking to purchase specialized

equipment and assistance with installation of that specialized equipment.

Ms. Betty Cauler stated that somebody left their cell phone up here.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated just leave it there for now. He stated that they are

still on R8.

Mr. Michael Hanlon stated that it authorizes the signing of Confidentiality.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated that it looks like it was already a comment from the

public. He stated we can call the vote.

Female audience member stated that the governing board that is going to

Berkheimer is going to help out with as far as the city mainstreaming the

taxes being sent out. She stated that the only reason she asked that is

because she has her sister's kids and some of them are over 18 stating

one of them are 22. She stated that her sister's daughter just received her

taxes for all the back years. Now, she owes $105 each time for years that

she didn't even know she was supposed to pay the taxes. Even though, it

was the city taxes you had to pay $16 a year and now they have

administration fees. She asked is this governing board going to be

advising on that or is that totally different.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated that he will defer to Ms. Patel from our Finance

department.

Ms. Bina Patel thanked Mr. Santo and stated that Berkheimer does the

collection for Lehigh County for earned income tax. She stated what you

are talking about is per capita tax, possibly. She stated that earned

income tax is 1.975 percent for the city of Allentown. She stated with Act

32, it went countywide and to collect for the entire county. She stated for

our employees to have access to that information, they need to bring this to

our council and get there approval. Because they have confidential

information on liens and social security numbers and things like that. She

stated that they are just asking for their approval that clients and employees

can access that information.

Female audience member stated ok. She stated it is not like a governing

board on them to help as far as the issues the city is (inaudible).

Ms. Bina Patel stated no. This is a county selected collector and that

collector is Berkheimer. And, Berkheimer as their earned income tax

information and for them to receive that, they need to bring this to Council.

Female audience member stated ok, thank you.

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there were any other questions or comments

from the public.

A motion was made by Santo Napoli that this Resolution be approved. The

motion carried by the following vote:

7 -

Excused:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

Enactment No: 31199

15-8166

Transfer Approval

Administration

Sponsors:

Attachments: R9 Transfers.doc

Cheiron Transfer.pdf

Multiple Transfers.pdf

Resolution #31200.pdf

Mr. Michael Hanlon stated that R9 are a few Transfers and that one he has

there is from Treasury and that is a mistake and could be taken off. He

stated that there are transfers for EMS, Fire, Police, Accounting and

Finance Management, Recycling and Solid Waste, Liquid Fuels and

Stormwater.

Mr. Santo Napoli stated ok. He asked if there were any comments or

questions from his colleagues. He asked if there were any questions or

comments from the public.

A motion was made by Santo Napoli that this Resolution be approved. The

motion carried by the following vote:

7 -

Excused:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

Enactment No: 31200

15-8183

R10

Sets up procedures to review the city’s budget process to establish clear

and transparent procedures for developing and adopting the city budget

Affa, Binder, Napoli and Pungo

Sponsors:

Attachments: R10. docx.

Resolution #31201.pdf

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there were any questions or comments from his

colleagues regarding R10. He asked if there were any questions or

comments from the public.

A motion was made by Santo Napoli that this Resolution be approved. The

motion carried by the following vote:

7 -

Excused:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

Enactment No: 31201

Request to suspend the rules for placing an item on the agenda to vote on. (The intent is to correct a

previous passed module.)

Mr. Michael Hanlon stated that there is a Motion to Suspend the Rules and

place a Resolution 11 on the Agenda. It is a Sewage Planning Module that

you had already approved. It was a minor mistake on it. It is a house

cleaning measure.

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there were any questions or comments regarding

R11 from the dais. He asked if there were any questions or comments

from the public.

A motion was made by Cristian Pungo, seconded by Cynthia Mota, to Suspend

the Rules and place a Resolution 11 on the Agenda.

7 -

Yes:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

15-8190

R11

Sewage Planning Module at 424 – 434 N. 11th Street

System

Sponsors:

Attachments:

R11 Ideal Management Group at 424 - 434 N. 11th Street - Sewer

Planning Module.doc

Sewage Planning Module - 424-434 N 11th St.pdf

Resolution #31202.pdf

7 -

Yes:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo

Enactment No: 31202

ORDINANCES FOR INTRODUCTION (To be referred to Committee with public

comment prior to referral)

15-8182

Bill 3

Human Resources, Administration and Appointments

Amending the 2026 Grant Fund budget to accept Fifty Thousand Dollars

($50,000.00) in grant funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies through

Johns Hopkins University for the Love Your Block Grant.

Administration

Sponsors:

Attachments: Bill 3- Love Your Block Grant Appropriation

Ordinance #16186

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there were any questions or comments from the

public.

REFERRED TO THE HUMAN RESOURCES, ADMINISTRATION AND

APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE

Enactment No: 16186

15-8181

Bill 4 Parks and Recreation Committee, Chair Santos

Amending the 2026 General Fund Budget to provide for a supplemental

appropriation of Three Thousand One Hundred Twenty-Four Dollars and

Twenty Cents ($3,124.20) from H&P Construction, Inc. for the city providing

electrical hookup for the Bogert’s Bridge project.

Administration

Sponsors:

Attachments: Bill 4- HPCI Invoice Appropriation

Ordinance #16187

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there were any questions or comments from the

public.

REFERRED TO THE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE

Enactment No: 16187

15-8180

Bill 5 Parks and Recreation, Chair Santos

Amending the 2026 General Fund Budget to provide for a supplemental

appropriation of Two Thousand ($2,000.00) Dollars from DLNHC

(Delaware Lehigh National Heritage Corridor) as part of their Lehigh Valley

Greenways Implementation Block Grant for the Trail Water Fountain

Upgrade at Jordan Meadows Park.

Administration

Sponsors:

Attachments: Bill 5- LV Greenways Grant Appropriation

Ordinance #16188

Mr. Santo Napoli asked if there were any questions or comments regarding

Bill 3 from the public.

REFERRED TO THE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE

Enactment No: 16188

RESOLUTIONS FOR INTRODUCTION (Can be voted on or Referred to Committee):

There are none.

NEW BUSINESS: NONE

GOOD AND WELFARE: NONE

ADJOURNED: 7:26 PM

Request to suspend the rules for placing an item on the agenda to vote on. (The intent is to

correct a previous passed module.)

Request to suspend the rules for placing an item on the agenda to vote on. (The intent is to

correct a previous passed module.)

A motion was made by Santo Napoli that this be approved. The motion carried

by the following vote:

7 -

Excused:

Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy

Binder, and Cristian Pungo