435 Hamilton Street  
Allentown, Pa. 18101  
Allentown  
Minutes - Final  
City Council  
Wednesday, November 16, 2022  
5:30 PM  
Council Chambers  
Roll Call  
6 -  
Present:  
Candida Affa, Cynthia Mota, Daryl Hendricks, Ed Zucal, Ce-Ce Gerlach, and  
Natalie Santos  
1 - Joshua Siegel  
Excused:  
Public Works, Solid Waste, Liquid Fuels, Stormwater, Fleet Maintenance  
Mr. Mark Shahda thanked Mr. Zucal and stated good evening, Mayor, City  
Council and members of the public. He stated that he is grateful for being  
here as the Director of Public Works. While he was involved in the budget  
process in the past, this year, with the help of his Bureau Managers and  
support staff, they are presenting his first department budget for Council  
consideration. He stated that his confirmation hearing was 4 1/2 months  
ago and thanked them for their support and opportunity to lead this  
important department. Across the city, he is honored to work with such  
knowledgeable professionals and tonight he is joined by several of them,  
his Public Works team leaders. Preparing a zero-based budget was eye  
opening and the different approach than anybody was used to. It allowed  
us to reassess all areas of the budget and realign our cost by prioritizing  
the needs and areas of the department. It further allowed us to reevaluate  
what is required to provide high quality services to our residents. Overall,  
the General Fund Budget in the Public Works department has increased a  
little over $1.2 million and that is attributed to bringing in Fleet Maintenance  
Repair in-house, consolidating all utility costs from other departments and  
Building Maintenance and the implementation to the wayfinding signs and  
new personnel wages increases for all employees. As you have heard  
from other Budget Presentations, he is reiterating that the Public Works  
department will not be able to run efficiently and effectively without our  
hardworking and dedicated employees. He thanked them for their continue  
work on behalf of the citizens of Allentown. That is why in order to achieve  
and improve on the services we provide, we not only recognize our staff,  
but also realize where we need to increase staff and positions. These  
changes will allow us to improve the quality of life for our residents by  
maintaining paved and clean streets, operational traffic signals, and  
streetlights, stormwater infrastructure, the city's fleet such as firetrucks and  
emergency vehicles within the in-house garage. Additionally, they will  
continue to operate 24/7 during inclement weather to allow for safe travels  
citywide and provide essential services such as trash and recycling  
collection. He stated that he can spend hours talking about everything that  
is happening within Public Works, but wanted to take time to highlight a few  
things.  
The Office of Compliance received  
The Office of Compliance received ARPA funding for multiple projects  
saving customers money on their water bill. One project in particular is  
Sewer Rehabilitation which will decrease wet water flows to the  
Wastewater Plant and provide additional plant capacity. The increase in  
capacity encouraging the plant development and will promote job growth.  
For better workflow, the Office Manager that was partially paid in  
compliance will be returned 100 percent to Building Maintenance and a  
new part-time Confidential Clerk for Compliance has been added into the  
budget. This will allow the Office Manager to fully support Building  
Maintenance and the Facilities Manager projects such as the assessment  
and implementation of repairs in the city buildings. Building Maintenance  
will be in a position to provide enhanced customer service to city buildings  
by adding a new custodian for janitorial services in all city buildings,  
including the new fire academy. Over the years, the maintenance of city  
buildings was deferred causing a backlog of building projects. Deferring  
projects can potentially increase the cost of repairs. A tradesman was  
added to address these deferred maintenance plan and it is the  
administration's policy to have ongoing maintenance to city assets. We  
want to create a welcoming environment where residents and employees  
feel engaged when entering out buildings, showing a positive reflection of  
our city by demonstrating this level of care that we all can be proud of. To  
improve efficiencies, field employees will be receiving tablets to have  
access to building maintenance parts and supplies to save time. A facility  
assessment will be started in 2023 to better understand facility upgrades  
and what repairs are needed to make our facilities more energy efficient.  
Staff will be changing out all LED lights within 2023 to make our buildings  
more sustainable. Traffic planning plays an essential role to provide safety  
for both our pedestrians and vehicles traveling in our city to make it safer  
for children walking to school and reviewing each school and what it is  
needed to make it safer. They have applied for a grant to replace all 45  
existing school flashers with new technology and add vehicle speed boards  
to slow down drivers making it safer for children walking to and from  
school. They have added a Maintenance Worker II and made the existing  
part-time employee to a full-time to truly support the ongoing maintenance  
of all street signs and paving markings. Currently, there is only one full-time  
person maintaining over 8,000 street signs citywide and that does not work  
out on preventative maintenance on crosswalks and pavement markers.  
They are also asking for a Travel Control Foreman because they currently  
do not have a supervisor in the field and ensure all work is being done in  
accordance to PennDOT rules and regulations. Additional responsibilities  
includes scheduling preventative maintenance of all street signs,  
crosswalks, pavement markings, traffic signals and signa equipment. A  
wayfinding study is being performed and planning to provide direction for  
community stakeholders. When it is time to implement, the traffic  
employees will be installing all the wayfinding directional signs throughout  
the city. The final phase of LED streetlight conversion is scheduled t begin  
in January and will take approximately six months to complete. This will  
save on energy costs and will save approximately $350,000 by completing  
the working in-house. The department has been awarded over $5 million in  
grants to update the intersection of technology on various projects.  
Recycling and Solid Waste focuses on trash and recycling collection to  
assure the residents are provided with this essential service. The  
cleanliness and beautification of Allentown is an important driver for  
community and economic development. The bureau has programs to  
address litter and illegal dumping issues. There has been a significant  
increase in recycling materials collected and a Waste and Recycling  
Operator has been added to assist with the increase hauling needed.  
Currently, there are two employees who haul recycling materials and there  
has been a need of hauling assistance from the streets department. By  
adding this position, it will allow the streets employees to return to their  
normal duties and cutdown on overtime, essentially funding this position.  
The Office Manager is being reinstated in order to fully support the Bureau  
Manager and the needs of the bureau. In 2021, there was a reorganization  
in Public Works which combined the Office Manager and the Public Works  
Operation Manager to one position. This do not work due to the extensive  
job duties each position requires. By investing in these new positions and  
allows for the streamline of operations and is an investment in our  
department. The Sweep Program continues to use advanced technologies  
such as Art GIS Quick Capture. The Quick Capture App works with the  
city's GIS mapping system, capturing locations field conditions and even  
photos quickly to support Sweep investigations. This has afforded the  
Sweep Officers the ability to quickly evaluate and investigate in a field full  
property history and required contact information for property owners. Year  
to date, Sweep has investigated over 3600 complaints and issued over  
8,000 tickets. Education is provided with each sweep ticket and the  
violator may appeal each ticket for further evaluation. Sweep success  
addresses issues of trash, litter and illegal dumping is attributable to our  
four officers who canvas the city daily. In the Stormwater Bureau, the City  
Council has invested $5 million in ARPA funding for the storm lining project  
and completed the lining of roughly eight miles of the 240 miles of storm  
pipes surrounding the city. In this budget, they have invested another $1  
million to continue this project and expect an additional one to two miles in  
2023. Many of the city's stormwater pipes are in excess of 75 years old  
which is beyond the industry's expectation of functionality. Lining provides  
an additional 50 plus years of useful life at a fraction of the costs in  
comparison of pipe replacement. An Environmental Compliance  
Specialist has been added to ensure city compliance with MS4 Permit  
mandates for three programs. This position will double the current rate of  
annual priority of industrial inspections, allow for completion of 860  
industrial site evaluations within the three-year time frames versus five.  
This will also increase the frequency of high-risk facility inspections from an  
annual to a quarterly basis. Three Stormwater Vegetative Maintenance  
Technicians have been added to complete 11 miles of roadside mowing,  
tree trimming along the street cleaning routes, and community tree  
plantings. Additionally, these employees will be maintaining 13 detention  
basons, conveyance and treatment systems to include 44 swells and a  
number of currently installed planned rain gardens. Adding these three  
positions will allow the existing employees to perform their daily functions  
by increasing pipe network, cleaning and inspections by an additional 10  
miles per year. Last, but not least is the Fleet Maintenance Budget. They  
have been discussing the garage and the problems for some time and the  
administration agrees with City Council that bringing the garage in-house  
will deliver a better service for our police, fire, EMS and other city vehicles.  
King George was issued a letter by our legal department, ending our  
contract on Friday, December 9th. The garage will be under city control on  
Saturday, December 10th. There are some one-time costs that will be in  
the 2023 budget to purchase tools for the mechanics, buying stock items  
for the current contractor, to purchase the computer software that houses  
equipment information. The new budget consists of 15 employees to  
service the 614 vehicles under the city's fleet. In response to the concern to  
maintain the existing employees, eight of the King George employees will  
be transferring to city employment. This consists of the office manager and  
seven union positions. The following positions were posted today and  
consists of three day shift Diesel Technicians, two Emergency Vehicle  
Technicians, a Chief Maintenance Supervisor, and a Middle Shift  
Emergency Vehicle Technician. They will begin accepting the applications  
immediately and interviews will begin as early as next week. He thanked  
Council for all their support and will be happy to answer any questions they  
may have.  
The Office of Compliance received  
Mr. Ed Zucal thanked Mr. Shahda and the men and women who work in  
Public Works. There is no question that the Public Works department is  
without doubt the largest and most important department in the city. They  
have everything from the streets to the snowplowing, to everything. It really  
comes down to you guys and what you do. He asked a couple of  
questions: He asked about Capital Projects and will it come from the  
General Fund or ARPA. How many total positions you are seeking in the  
Public Works Department. He asked if some will be paid through  
Stormwater, Solid Waste and those programs. He asked is it fair to say  
those programs are solid and the future is stable. He stated that five years  
from now the taxpayers should not be concerned on whether or not they will  
be paying out for that. Those programs will continue to grow.  
Mr. Mark Shahda stated that building assessment for all city buildings in  
2023. He stated it will come from General Fund. He stated total number  
positions are 11 positions. He stated that the Recycling and Solid Waste  
will be funded through recycling. The Vegetative Maintenance Technicians  
and Environmental Compliance Specialist will be funded through the  
Stormwater Fund. He stated that they are stable and healthy fund balance  
in both Enterprise Fund. He stated that they will continue to grow. Funding  
will continue to come in and they feel pretty confident that they will continue  
that they will continue to be able to fund those positions over the next  
couple of years.  
Mr. Ed Zucal stated let's discuss the in-house Fleet Maintenance Program.  
He stated that Mr. Shahda gave each Council member a personnel  
summary. He stated that he believes it is going to be extremely affective. It  
has been a long time coming. This is a great move. He went over the  
salaries and thanked Mayor Tuerk, Mr. Shahda and Mr. O'Neill for all the  
work they put in. He stated that the work Council put into this from Mr.  
Hendricks, all of Council, and this was one of Mr. Siegel's main goals. He  
asked questions of the Detail Book on page 37 - part of Mr. Shahda's  
salary and other departments. He asked about on page 39 - Part-Time  
Confidential Clerk is one of the new positions. He asked about how many  
hours roughly a week for the part-time position. He asked about page 44 -  
under Rental, Number II the plotter lease. Under page 42 - Account 42  
Repairs and Maintenance is a 60 percent drop. Page 45 under 46 -  
Engineering Consultant for Surveillance Services. He asked if the city has  
an Engineer. Page 47 under Account 20 - Electric Power. Page 51 under  
Temporary Wages Part-time Maintenace Worker I (Custodian). How many  
does that include? Page 52 - Lights in the Parkway has been transferred  
to another account. He went to Stormwater Page 245 - Wage adjustments  
$8,580 difference. What is that increase for?  
Mr. Mark Shahda stated that a portion of the salaries are in here and the  
Director and Deputy Director were brought in at a lower salary. That's why  
that number is a little bit lower. He stated that is correct. That is adding the  
position to take over the duties of Building Maintenance Office Manager.  
He stated 25 - 30 hours per week for the part-time position. He stated that  
was moved from Account 26. He stated that is for the Auto Cab  
Maintenance Lease Agreement and was moved to Account 68. He stated  
that they are in search of a City Engineer. We did have one, but he was  
promoted to Deputy Director. The electric power is moved to the Building  
Maintenance budget. He stated that it is for five employees. Under Solid  
Waste, Page 225 - Number 1 under Temporary Wages is going to be  
covered under the Solid Waste. Page 226 - Rentals, Warehouse for five  
months.  
Ms. Casandra Magliane stated that they are steps during Position  
Budgeting for manual adjustment.  
Mr. Mark Shahda stated that lease will actually end in May. They use the  
warehouse space on S. 12th Street to store recycling bins and other  
supplies that are needed for recycling materials.  
Mr. Ed Zucal asked what is the plan after the lease expires.  
Mr. Mark Shahda stated that the plan is that they are currently working at  
Bridgeworks reorganizing their garage and moving a lot of supplies to the  
Bridgeworks facility and also the yard waste site.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated just to follow up on Downtown Business District  
cleaning. Didn't last year Mr. Zucal and Ms. Mota made an amendment to  
do something with kids cleaning. What ever happened with that?  
Mr. Mark Shahda stated that was before his time.  
Mr. Ed Zucal stated that it never went anywhere.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated that she is just looking at that price.  
Ms. Gabrielle Heiney stated that actually moved to Parks.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach asked if they know if anything ever happened. She  
stated for the Downtown Business District cleaning, we use the Rescue  
Mission for that.  
Ms. Gabrielle Heiney stated she does not know.  
Mr. Mark Shahda stated that is corect.  
Ms. Ce Ce Gerlach stated the people that are in the Christina Living  
Program.  
Mr. Mark Shahda stated yes.  
Mr. Ed Zucal asked if there were anyone else from Council.  
Mr. Daryl Hendricks stated on Page 55 - Repairs and Renovations as  
needed for the city owned rental properties. He stated that his  
understanding. He stated that the rents have gone up significantly.  
Mr. Mark Shahda stated that the repairs were budgeted in General and  
Civic and now moved into the Building Maintenance budget. He stated that  
he is really not sure what the rents are, but Finance can speak to that.  
Ms. Bina Patel stated that is correct. In the past what they used to do is  
provide the properties a lower rent and put the burden of maintaining the  
properties on the tenants. However, that was not working out where they  
found when the inspectors went out to inspect the properties they were not  
maintained. At the end, the city had to fix whatever was not working. What  
the city came up with was to increase the rent and then the city would fix  
whatever is not working. We will maintain the properties. That is why it is  
budgeted.  
Mr. Daryl Hendricks stated that hopefully the city will be making some  
money back by charging the higher rents.  
Ms. Bina Patel stated that is correct.  
Mr. Ed Zucal thanked Mr. Hendricks and asked if there were any questions  
from the public. He thanked Mr. Shahda for a very good presentation.  
ADJOURNED: 5:57 PM  
15-5454 Budget Memos/Voting Sequence  
Attachments: Voting Sequence  
1 - BM Personnel Changes  
2 - BM Various Changes  
3 -BM Various Changes  
4 - BM Garage  
5 - BM Various Changes  
6 - BM Metal Works Development  
15-5389  
Budget Information  
Attachments: Budget Schedule  
Building Standards and Safety - Rental  
APD proposed Budget 2023  
2023 EMS BP V2  
2022 Police PP 1  
2010 NIST Study  
Cedar Crest College - Police Summary of Services Report  
Human Resources Department Current Organizational Structure  
Human Resources Department Proposed Organization Chart  
COA Active Litigation Nov 2022  
Legal fees for the 2019 through 2022