435 Hamilton Street  
Allentown, Pa. 18101  
Allentown  
Minutes - Final  
City Council  
Wednesday, August 21, 2024  
5:30 PM  
Council Chambers  
Special Meeting to Review and Act on R131  
Roll Call  
7 -  
Present:  
Cynthia Mota, Daryl Hendricks, Ed Zucal, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida  
Affa, and Santo Napoli  
15-7102  
R131  
Authorization for Contract with Alvin H. Butz, Inc. in the amount of  
$1,151,989.00 to provide professional construction management services  
for the new Police Headquarters that would be located at 425 Hamilton  
Street. There was one (1) bidder, contract shall be for two (2) years with  
one (1) year renewal beyond the contract expiration period.  
Administration  
Sponsors:  
Attachments: R131 - Butz  
From PD and Finance.docx  
2024_APD Media Kit.pdf  
2024-02-07 Allentown Police City Council Presentation.pdf  
2024-13 Construction Management Services Final.pdf  
AccessReport RFP 2024-13.xls  
Resolution #30900  
Assistant Chief James Gress stated that before the begin tonight, he wants  
to mention a few things, he knows there is a lot of concern about the  
proposal for a Construction Manager and eventually a new building. There  
are lots of concerns about different things. It is about bringing everyone up  
in one roof here to be more efficient, more productive and better serve the  
community. One of the biggest concerns of course from what he hears  
from a lot of people is about parking, parking concerns. He has been  
working with Jon Haney from the Allentown Parking Authority continuously  
and they are solutions that they have that will be in place. He arranged for  
Alloy5 to come in Bekah and Michelle from Alloy5 are here. They are going  
to do a brief recap on what occurred and how they came to this tonight.  
Ms. Bekah Rusnock did bring a timeline that she can share with everyone.  
This timeline just reviews the schedule that they follow during the Feasibility  
Studies. It was a six month process. They break their studies up into three  
pieces. The red box that they see if they are looking at the timeline is the  
data collection piece. The yellow is the building evaluation and in blue is  
what they call designs. Back in July of 2023, the had a kickoff meeting and  
did a site walk through and from there they met weekly with various  
members of the administration. The police obviously was there. They  
always had members of Public Works were with them and members of  
Community and Economic Development. Particularly the Planning  
Department and Zoning. She stated that they can see when they evaluated  
the buildings and again, that is the yellow piece. They evaluated and  
surveyed the 4th and Hamilton Building and also the 10th and Hamilton  
Building which they evaluated more so to use it as part of a transition plan  
and how would that work. She noted that neither of the buildings they were  
able to find floor plans so they surveyed them themselves and also the  
engineering consultant at the time was D'Huy Engineering and they also  
surveyed the buildings. They held end use meetings with each department  
within the Police Department and talked to multiple officers throughout the  
entire police force and got an understanding of the roles that they play and  
the jobs they do and how their pieces functions in a broader department.  
By September they were evaluating proposed sites. They way that they do  
site evaluations is that they work with the police and the rest of the teams to  
come up with criteria and then they as a group gather some potential sites  
and judge them against that criteria that they developed. From that  
process the only site that checked all the boxes in that criteria was the  
exiting site is some space here at the city hall complex. They can do an  
addition on to the building. The total plan is to renovate the existing police  
department and build an addition on. The total square footage will be  
about 50,500 square feet. The programming fits well into that space. It  
allows for some growth which the department has planned for some growth  
to kind of go along with the growth of the city, the city population. A big  
factor in our evaluation was putting the entire department under one roof  
which isn't possible for the limitations of the square footage. She reminded  
them one of quirks of the existing police station, it was built in the 60s.  
When it was built it was a courtroom in the center of the police department.  
There is about 3,000 square feet of emptiness right now. It is very under  
utilized footprint which she describes it as a bit of a quirk to the building. In  
the renovation plan they are calling for reusing that space. That still did not  
give them the capacity they are looking for to meet the program which is  
why they are proposing an addition. She stated that she is happy to answer  
any questions. They are here in the first meeting in February to present to  
Council. They previously presented to the Public Safety Committee and  
then in January they presented two informational sessions of officers so  
they can come in. She stated that she believes they were before and after  
their shifts to learn how the study worked.  
Dr. Cynthia Mota asked if anyone had any comments.  
Ms. Candida Affa stated that they did the Feasibility Study and she knows  
that Mr. Hendricks and she were at the Public Safety Committee Meeting.  
She asked when they talked about the police line. Many police officers  
were aware of this and many police officers saw the study. She stated that  
they have 200 and something police officers. She asked if they had input  
in this.  
Ms. Bekah Rusnock stated that they referred to the end user which is if they  
were doing a Feasibility Study in a school, the end users would be  
teachers. In this particular case, the end user will be particular officers.  
Each department met with the team to say what they do. They looked at  
the conditions of the building. They talked to many end users.  
Ms. Candida Affa asked with the Feasibility Study how much did that cost  
us.  
Mr. Jeffrey Glazier stated that it was budgeted for $50,000.  
Ms. Candida Affa asked if they paid $50,000 to study actually what would  
be the best place to be.  
Ms. Bekah Rusnock stated correct. To analysis your existing facilities and  
form a site analysis to develop a potential final solution for what the future  
building could look like.  
Ms. Candida Affa stated that the study came up with right here on 4th  
Street would be the best plan.  
Ms. Bekah Rusnock stated that it is part of the criteria was to keep the  
police under one roof. It was a big piece of the criteria. To keep the facility  
in the heart of the city. They refer to it as the government quarter. It would  
be preferred that they would stay in one unit.  
Ms. Candida Affa asked if they looked at 10th Street.  
Ms. Bekah Rusnock stated that they looked at 10th Street as part of a  
transition plan. They surveyed the 10th Street Property, but their  
understanding was that building was not going to be in the long-term plan to  
be possibly our police station. That footprint of the building and that site  
was too small to provide for the program we were developing for. It did not  
hit the criteria that we had to develop together during the study.  
Mr. Ed Zucal stated that there has been at least allegations and he knows  
for a fact that there has been asbestos in that building. He stated that he  
used to work there and the possibility that the underground being  
limestone. He asked was that taken into an account when the Feasibility  
Study was done.  
Ms. Bekah Rusnock stated that they were aware of asbestos which is a  
very common element in buildings. Particularly in this area. It is not  
uncommon for them to come across asbestos. During the renovation  
process there is a whole list of rules that need to be followed as far as  
abatement. The Engineers during their survey was an underground piece  
in city hall complex and they did explore that and she did not participate in  
that.  
Mr. Ed Zucal asked what did that study reveal.  
Ms. Bekah Rusnock stated that when city hall was constructed, the parking  
deck which was behind it did not exist. The original plans in which they  
were able to find was a post card rendering as a plaza. When the parking  
deck was built and the connect part was built, it basically destroyed that  
plan. There is a water feature in the post card. the eventual construction  
included different stairs. The engineers showed that they could construct  
upwards off of that. The plan was and part of the issue and the challenge of  
the police station is that it sits so far back from the street. Hamilton is an  
incline or decline.  
Mr. Santo Napoli stated that with the concern of limestone, they looked at  
the report that they prepared and the only green dot was for the exterior  
walls. In the analysis of the existing. He asked if they could say that the  
limestone isn't an issue. The wall actually held up.  
Ms. Bekah Rusnock stated that in the terminology they would use is the  
building has strong bones. It is well suited for a renovation. The cork of  
that central space being vacant is an oddity, but something that they could  
work around. They felt confident that the interior could be completely  
renovated. That is a pretty common solution to reuse an existing building.  
The square footage was too small to meet the program needs.  
Mr. Santo Napoli stated that he heard from some folks that why we don't  
build a second police station somewhere else. Obviously, it doesn't fit the  
criteria because we want everyone under one roof. Hypothetically, what did  
you come at when it came per square foot. He asked if they have an  
average of what it comes out to in today's construction market and police  
stations that have been built recently. He stated that if he does the math,  
and the city builds another police station, it ends up costing the same then  
if we do this project per square foot.  
Ms. Bekah Rusnock stated that it is a tricky question to answer because  
there are so many factors. There is a misnomer that using an existing  
building is cheaper. She does not have the exact figure. Another  
challenge is that the city does not own another building that another building  
of this size can go on.  
Mr. Santo Napoli stated that acquisition is the biggest challenge. He is  
glad that they are voting on this tonight. They have an opportunity to make it  
right and put the police officers in the best facilities. It is a way to attract  
new talent.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach asked about the Feasibility Study and any community  
meetings.  
Ms. Bekah Rusnock stated that they did not meet with the community. They  
typically only work with the police department. It was encouraging that the  
management was there.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated that other police department use the opportunity  
to bring multiple agencies. In the Feasibility Study, the 10th Street location  
wasn't looked at in terms of Feasibility. She asked what the Feasibility of  
that station is.  
Ms. Bekah Rusnock stated that they surveyed the site and found the  
footprint of the building would be too small to meet the program.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated that originally it wasn't and they voted that back  
down.  
Ms. Bekah Rusnock stated that is the number that the police felt  
comfortable planning for. There are labs in there, there are cells in there. It  
is not just officer space. Police work is so specialized that are other  
spaces that needs to be accounted for. The 250 was the number of  
officers that the police felt comfortable looking at projections of city  
population. That was the number that they gave to reach 250. They didn't  
over program. It is relatively tight.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach asked the administration have they ever been at full  
complement.  
Assistant Chief Gress stated that is 2002 under Stephen Kuhn, they were  
at 242. He stated that Councilman Hendricks or Zucal would remember  
better than him.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated that it actually been a long time since they  
actually been at full complement. Assistant Chief James Gress stated in the  
foreseeable future, their goal is to be at full complement. She asked how  
long has APD been operating in two different locations: 10th Street and  
4th Street.  
Assistant Chief James Gress stated under Chief MacLean when the  
purchase the Parking Authority building at 10th and Hamilton. He stated  
maybe 2005. He asked Mr. Hendricks if that sounds right.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated that one of the main rationale stated keeps  
getting pointed out is that we need everyone under roof because of  
leadership and efficiency.  
Assistant Chief James Gress stated back in the day Chief Kuhn made a lot  
of grants available just in an event of a terrorist attack. At one point they  
purchase a building from the Housing Authority with the plan of having a  
patrol station there, a substation and asked if Mr. Zucal remembered. The  
idea back then was to section the department out. Since that time it has  
changed and they now suggest as a best practice for everybody for  
efficiency reasons and accountability reasons that the communication be  
under one roof.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach asked if they would be the Department of Justice.  
Chief James Gress stated that the Department of Justice is a best  
practice.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated that now they will go to timeline and this might  
be a Ms. Patel question. February it was presented and Council did not  
hear anything after that. She asked is May when the bid went out She  
stated that she feels like that there was some document that they sent to  
them. She feels like that is when the bid went out.  
Ms. Sarrah McNeil stated that it was advertised on May 24th. The Butz  
contract.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated that the Butz contract was advertised on May  
24th.  
Ms. Sarrah McNeil stated the RFP. It open on July 22nd.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated that was a month after Council voted down the  
10th Street location. That was in April.  
Ms. Bina Patel stated that she doesn't believe there is a connection of  
trying to connect the voting down of 10th Street and the Bid for this RFP  
being on the Public Purchase where there was any thought connecting that  
to the other. The timeline just happened like that. It was not planned that  
way. It was within a month of each other.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated that they all know it is great when they have  
construction and when they are hiring local people and they are able to  
provide for their families. She wasn't able to find the MWB compliance  
paperwork. She stated that Butz on his website has a company in  
Philadelphia that he uses. In terms of locally, do we have that somewhere.  
Ms. Bina Patel asked Sarrah if the Purchasing department has any gradual  
details.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated that it is in the actual RFP.  
Ms. Sarrah McNeil stated that it is not a requirement. It is only there if they  
would submit. They do have that IBE preference if anybody would qualify,  
but they don't anything in the solicitations.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated as Butz stated in his bid, he definitely has done  
a lot of construction in the Lehigh Valley. Allentown folks out there working  
and she rarely sees them getting the jobs getting the construction.  
Ms. Bina Patel stated the process is to make sure minorities are involved.  
Mr. Ed Zucal stated that he has a question for Ms. Patel. Any event that this  
doesn't get passed for this particular project. What other avenues can the  
$9 million be used for revenue replacement.  
Ms. Bina Patel stated that if this contact is not approved by Council tonight,  
revenue replacement she would be exploring that currently. Dr. Cynthia  
Mota asked if there were any other comments from the dais.  
Mr. Daryl Hendricks asked why was it that it was decided on February 27th,  
but did not go out until May. It seems like a long time to put out the bid and  
heard nothing in between and suddenly we asked for a short delay.  
Assistant Chief James Gress stated that he and Chief Agosto worked on  
this grant application with Senator Nick Miller's office for this RFP. It is  
grant funded. They applied by the deadline.  
Mr. Daryl Hendricks stated that it seemed like a long delay.  
Assistant Chief James Gress stated that they have applications from  
February that has been awarded yet.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated that she had a question on what Mr. Zucal had  
said. Depending on how this vote goes, and the funds are sitting there.  
We are not losing it necessarily. You would be able to figure out possibly a  
way to put that into the funds for revenue replacement to offset a tax  
increase.  
Ms. Bina Patel stated that the federal government has defined revenue  
replacement as different categories who can use that revenue replacement  
for. One of them could be public safety salaries or the cost the city occurred  
during Covid time.  
Dr .Cynthia Mota asked if there were any comments from the public.  
Mr. Jeffrey Glazier addressed Councilman Hendricks concern about the  
time and when the study was proposed when the bid went out. He stated  
that the city has a great Purchasing Department and they do a lot of bids.  
Putting out an RFP for a construction manager is a specialized, a different  
kind of questions and requirements. He thinks the departments rather than  
rushing it took their time to make sure the RFP dotted all the Is and crossed  
the Ts. It took longer than a normal solicitation would have taken. To Ms.  
Gerlach's question on contractors, the contract is only for Butz. They are  
not hiring the trades. Those are separate contracts. Once you hire a  
construction manager and hire then an architect and an engineer and do  
your billability study, then you hire the trades. Hopefully, those contractors  
have a lot of folks who live in Allentown.  
Ms. Candida Affa stated when they go out, do they have to be approved by  
the city. If there was an RFP for a plumber and two were local and union.  
That is when the city has a say and asked if she is correct.  
Ms. Bina Patel stated absolutely. They will follow the same process and  
have a bid out and then bring it to them as a contract. They absolutely have  
a choice with technical review and cost review. She stated Council  
approved if that Procurement Process was followed accurately.  
Ms. Candida Affa stated that she wants to know how much power Council  
has.  
Ms. Jessica Baraket stated a couple of things, yes, that is correct. There is  
going to be different contracts for each different trade out there. You will  
have your electricians, your plumbers, the people who do the construction.  
That would be the ones as a bid. Those won't be done as RFPs. Those  
will be done as lowest bids. Not as RFPs. The city can write in the  
specifications that the vendors have to come within a 20 - 30 miles radius.  
She stated that the city wants to be careful to make sure they get people to  
respond. If they make that too restrictive, the city runs the risks they  
potentially not getting any responses.  
Ms. Candida Affa asked with unions will that be one of the specifications  
too. She understands 10 percent, but what about the unions.  
Ms. Jessica Baraket stated that limited to unions could be a potential for  
having some discrimination because you will be limiting to only these  
people and they are not having open and fair conversations. There are  
ways to structure the bids. She stated that these will be prevailing wage  
contracts so they would have to follow the Prevailing Wage law.  
Mr. Santo Napoli stated that he is hearing the thought of using this as  
revenue replacement. That doesn't solve the bigger issue. They are  
woefully behind when it comes to the facilities of public safety. It doesn't  
solve the ultimate problem that we need to make an investment in public  
safety in the city of Allentown. If we don't use the ARPA money for this, it  
makes that challenge even more challenging to get this facility built without  
having the $9 million of ARPA. Alloy5 presented on February 7th to the full  
Council and we are still saying tonight that we were not informed of  
everything or wasn't told of everything. They as Council, has the right to  
raise concerns. His thought was February to May and to do it now is  
disrespectful. They had the opportunity to ask these questions. For city  
staff it is demoralizing. In the future, they need to be better at when and  
how they approach these issues.  
Dr. Cynthia Mota stated that they should be a really good steward of the  
taxpayers money. She stated that it is not disrespectful. In order for them  
to make a better judgment, she thinks that they need to know and make  
sure if there are problems, they are addressed.  
Mr. David Benner, President of FOP Queen Lodge,  
Mr. David Benner, President of FOP Queen City Lodge 10, stated that he  
would agree that a renovation of some sort is necessary. He stated that he  
sent an email along with the mayor asking him has he solved the parking  
problem. Contractually, with their CBA you have to provide secure parking.  
You will need 80 new spots. He will promise them that there personal cars  
being safe with equipment then they are with a new station. That is a  
problem you have to address. He doesn't know what study would put all  
your resources in one location. What if there is a disaster or a civil  
uprising, where do we fall back to. That's why you have two stations,  
because if something happens, where are you going to go, nowhere. He  
assumed they are staying at 10th Street. No one was able to provide a  
separate spot. The spot on 9th Street, he did his homework and it is 2500  
square foot smaller than what they currently have at 10th Street. They were  
proposing putting lockers in a hallway. They need 75 - 80 spots. The  
feedback is why on 4th Street and not the Waterfront. The parking is  
contractual. He stated that he doesn't want to call anyone out, but hasn't  
seen them on 10t Street in 15 years. Sadly, he knows there is push back  
from builders to strong arm you to get out of 10th Street. No matter what,  
the parking has to be addressed. The other issue are the locker rooms  
that are needed. He never saw Alloy5 at the 10th Street station speaking  
to the musters. They only looking at parking, locker rooms and a couple of  
offices for the Commanders.  
Dr. Cynthia Mota asked what is he saying. No one got any input. The input  
that would make this project is from people that are here that would utilize it  
more. Patrol comes in, gets changed, grabs their car and sits down the  
muster. The prior shifts and the roll call. The biggest thing they want is  
parking. He never got a response from the mayor.  
Dr. Cynthia Mota asked if they can speak on the parking issues. Ms.  
Candida Affa asked if they can have that woman come back and explain  
the study they did with the parking.  
Assistant Chief James Gress stated that Benner mentioned 80 cars.  
When he was working with Jon Haney from the Parking Authority, they had  
to figure parking for 110 vehicles that they had the solution for. They went  
to 10th Street and counted the spots and the cars. They came up with 110.  
Dr. Cynthia Mota stated to Assistant Chief Gress what he is saying there  
are 110 parking right now.  
Assistant Chief James Gress stated between the specialty vehicles, the  
patrol vehicles, the shifts and the overlapping shifts, they would need 110  
spots. They have a fleet of 55 marked, 45 unmarked and then the cars that  
are on the roads. They would need to be safe, 110 spots.  
Ms. Bekah Rusnock stated ample parking spots was one of the criteria  
they developed when the looked at the potential sites. It was a large hurdle  
and in the conversation in choosing the site that they chose was that there  
was a deck here behind city hall and potential to find 110 spots in the deck.  
That would be a negotiation between the city and the Allentown Parking  
Authority.  
Dr. Cynthia Mota asked if there were any other comments from the dais.  
Mr. Santo Napoli quickly added and Mr. Hendricks is aware of this. This  
has come up at a Parking Authority Board meeting. It has been discussed  
probably since March when it all came out. It was after the Feasibility Study  
was presented in February. It was a discussion on how to move the jurors  
from the government deck to the community deck to make room for a  
project such as this.  
Dr. Cynthia Mota asked if there were any other comments from the public.  
Ms. Margarita Houser (sp), 1406 Hamilton Street, stated that she has  
submitted an email questioning why this is coming up now when this was  
already an expense in the budget. What is causing the delay in  
understanding it. She is concerned that the $9 million could be used for  
revenue replacement. She did not hear that is key and that is something  
being analyzed and assessed with a consultant. She deferred to Ms. Patel,  
but her understanding is it is not like we could use that money for anything  
else that we need to use the money for or want to use the money for  
because there are restrictions placed by the federal government on what  
that money could be used for.  
Dr. Cynthia Mota asked if there were any other comments from the public.  
5 - Cynthia Mota, Daryl Hendricks, Ed Zucal, Candida Affa, and Santo Napoli  
Yes:  
No:  
2 - Natalie Santos, and Ce-Ce Gerlach  
Enactment No: 30900  
ADJOURNED: 6:20 PM