COUNCIL

1 1 COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF SCRANTON 2 3 4 HELD: 5 6 7 Tuesday, March 31st, 2026 8 9 10 LOCATION: 11 12 COUNCIL CHAMBERS 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Maria McCool, RPR Official Court Reporter 25  2 1 C O U N C I L M E M B E R S: 2 THOMAS SCHUSTER - PRESIDENT 3 PATRICK FLYNN, VICE PRESIDENT 4 MARK MCANDREW 5 JESSICA ROTHCHILD 6 SEAN MCANDREW 7 8 FRANK VOLDENBERG, CITY CLERK 9 KATHY CARRERA, ASSISTANT CITY CLERK 10 THOMAS GILBRIDE, ESQ., COUNCIL SOLICITOR 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  3 1 (Pledge of Allegiance.) 2 3 MR. SCHUSTER: Please remain 4 standing for a moment of silent reflection for 5 our service men and women throughout the world 6 and for those who have passed away in our 7 community, especially Ralph Arcuri, Joseph 8 Anticoli, Joann McLain, Basil Micek. And my 9 condolences to our City Clerk, Frank Voldenberg 10 for Matt Shoener. Roll call, please. 11 MS. CARRERA: Dr. Rothchild. 12 DR. ROTHCHILD: Here. 13 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Sean McAndrew. 14 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Present. 15 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Mark McAndrew. 16 MR. MARK MCANDREW: Present. 17 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Flynn. 18 MR. FLYNN: Here. 19 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Schuster. 20 MR. SCHUSTER: Present. Please 21 dispense with the reading of the minutes. 22 MR. VOLDENBERG: THIRD ORDER. 23 3.A. MEMORANDUM FROM THE BUSINESS 24 ADMINISTRATION DATED MARCH 23, 2026 REGARDING 25 PAYMENT IN LIEU OF TAXES (PILOT) FROM MIDTOWN  4 1 APARTMENTS. 2 3.B. LACKAWANNA COUNTY PLANNING 3 COMMISSION SUBDIVISION AND LAND DEVELOPMENT 4 EVALUATION REPORT RECEIVED MARCH 23, 2026. 5 3.C. CORRESPONDENCE DATED MARCH 27, 6 2026, FROM CITY BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, 7 REGARDING ARPA BUDGET TRANSFER. 8 3.D. MEMORANDUM FROM THE BUSINESS 9 ADMINISTRATION DATED MARCH 30, 2026 REGARDING 10 PAYMENT IN LIEU OF TAXES (PILOT) FROM UNITED 11 NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS OF NEPA AND UNITED 12 NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING. 13 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much. 14 Are there any comments on any of the Third 15 Order items? 16 My only comment is I would like to 17 thank Midtown Apartments for their pilot 18 payment as well United Neighborhood Center for 19 their payment as well. Mr. Voldenberg, thank 20 you. I did get that pilot document that you 21 had sent. 22 I didn't have a chance to read it 23 yet today. But I'll take a look at that. And 24 have some comments in future. Thank you very 25 much. If not, received and filed. Do any  5 1 Council members have any announcements at this 2 time? 3 MR. FLYNN: I do, yes, just one. So 4 DPW will be off on April 6th for Easter Monday. 5 So garbage and recycling pickup will be a day 6 behind next week. 7 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much. 8 Any other announcements? 9 MR. MARK MCANDREW: Yeah, I would 10 like to wish everyone a blessed Easter and a 11 blessed Passover this week and hope that during 12 these observances you are surrounded by family, 13 friends and great food. 14 I also would like to state that my 15 thoughts and prayers goes out to the families 16 of those devastated by the horrific fire last 17 weekend. 18 And I would like recognize and thank 19 the Scranton Fire and police department for 20 their swift response and efforts to bring that 21 horrific fire under control and thank the 22 Dunmore Fire Department for their assist. And 23 that is all I have. Thank you. 24 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much, 25 Mr. McAndrew. Thank you for bringing that up.  6 1 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Yeah, I would 2 also like to wish a Happy Easter and Passover 3 to all that celebrate. Enjoy the time with 4 your family and friends. And then my thoughts 5 and prayers for those affected by the fire, it 6 was a terrible, terrible thing that happened 7 over the weekend. 8 And thanks to the firemen and the 9 police and everybody that responded and their 10 efforts. 11 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much. 12 DR. ROTHCHILD: I also wanted to 13 wish everyone a Happy Easter and a joyous 14 Passover. And I also wanted to make mention of 15 today as well-being transgender day of 16 visibility. So it's a day where we could 17 recognize and celebrate transgender people. 18 And I'm happy to be able to do that 19 and to stand with the transgender community, my 20 friends, my family, my community that I just 21 want to relay my love and respect to them. And 22 I know that there's many people who might not 23 feel like they could be visible or out today 24 with the levels of discrimination and violence 25 that they're facing.  7 1 And, you know, I just encourage 2 people to treat transgender people as fellow 3 humans and to treat people as you would want 4 to be treated. I don't -- I think that's a 5 lesson we learned from very early on, many from 6 our parents. So um -- and that's all that I 7 have. Thank you. 8 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much. 9 MR. VOLDENBERG: FOURTH ORDER. 10 CITIZENS PARTICIPATION. 11 MR. SCHUSTER: Our first speaker 12 tonight is Joan Hodowanitz. 13 MS. HODOWANITZ: Joan Hodowanitz, 14 Scranton. Last several weeks we've been 15 hearing a lot about ICE and data centers. The 16 one thing we haven't heard anything about and 17 that is reassessment and property tax bills. 18 Now, for two years I've watched and 19 listened to people here and at the County 20 Commissioners' meetings come up to the podium 21 and be wailing that they're going to lose their 22 homes, you know, that their taxes were going to 23 go up, oh, so, so high and all kinds of, you 24 know, end of the world scenarios. 25 And I haven't seen one person come  8 1 to this podium or the podium at the County 2 Commissioners, you know, and bring that issue 3 up. I assume everybody's gotten their property 4 tax bill. And hopefully everybody's been able 5 to compare it to last year's bill. 6 So maybe reassessment wasn't such a 7 disaster and, you know, you know, the 8 antiChrist or whatever they thought it would 9 be. Personally, I would love to see an 10 automatic reassessment at least every 10 years 11 so we don't do this thing again every 50, 60 12 years. 13 But, I don't know, maybe -- maybe 14 they're hiding downstairs with their torches 15 and their pitchforks and they just haven't made 16 it up the steps. We'll see. I do want to 17 remind everybody that next week you are going 18 to have the caucus on the efforts for the 19 winter storm, correct, DPW is still coming in? 20 Okay. 21 I would encourage all the people 22 that watch this on ECTV or whatever channel you 23 watch it on, maybe YouTube, to make sure you 24 try to catch that caucus. Is it going to start 25 at 5:30 or 5:45?  9 1 MR. SCHUSTER: At this time we've 2 been starting at 5:45. 3 MS. HODOWANITZ: Okay. But I would 4 encourage people to, you know, tune into it. 5 And I would encourage the people who 6 participate in the caucus from -- from the city 7 to stay for the rest of the meeting. And I 8 would also encourage as many DPW workers as 9 possible to attend and to give their comments. 10 You know, there are always two sides 11 to every story. And what the city needs and 12 every city needs is not an adversarial 13 relationship between administration and the 14 unions, but a dialogue so that both sides can 15 contribute to solving problems so they don't 16 repeat themselves. 17 But I will be in the audience and I 18 wait -- eagerly await the information. Item 19 5-B, these emergency action plan manuals for 20 flooding in south side, the plot section, Green 21 Ridge and Albright Avenue, that is a great 22 idea. 23 Then it occurred to me there must be 24 other scenarios that could use an emergency 25 action plan like the recurring stormwater  10 1 flooding on West Mountain and East Mountain and 2 Keyser Valley. 3 It's obviously different from the 4 flooding that's associated with the Lackawanna 5 River. But there may be, you know, similar 6 scenarios which would profit from somebody 7 sitting down and taking lessons learned from 8 previous scenarios even -- even winter storms, 9 you know. 10 Maybe, you know, we go through these 11 events and you need to take the lessons learned 12 and apply them for the future. So hopefully 13 somebody will think about that. I saw in the 14 paper that we hired two police officers under 15 the Lateral Transfer Program. 16 My question is, what is the status 17 currently of the police department's staffing? 18 Are they up to par? Are they hurting? And can 19 we see more officers under that program? And 20 finally -- 21 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Just to answer 22 your question I met with the Police Chief the 23 other day. I think there's still -- 24 MS. HODOWANITZ: Yeah, you could 25 answer it in Fifth Order. And finally, has  11 1 anybody calculated what we're paying DPW in 2 terms of raises for 2026 that we weren't able 3 to program into the budget last year? Thank 4 you. 5 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much. 6 Next is Mike Mancini. 7 MR. MANCINI: Thank you, Council 8 President Schuster. Good evening, Council and 9 residents of Scranton. Tonight as promised, 10 part four, my version, the state of Scranton. 11 The topic, Scranton City Council. 12 Growing up in Scranton many people 13 remember a city that felt safer, cleaner, and 14 more cared for than it does today. A lot of 15 the families -- for a lot of the families 16 everyday childhood -- I'm sorry, for a lot of 17 families, the city parks, pools, street, and 18 neighborhoods were part of an everyday 19 childhood that felt stable and full of 20 possibility. 21 Roads seemed better maintained. 22 Local recreation was stronger. There was a 23 general feeling that crime was less visible and 24 less disruptive than it is now. Those memories 25 matter because it reflects what we loved about  12 1 Scranton. 2 Parks were places where kids spent 3 summer days and public pools gave families 4 affordable recreation close to home. 5 Neighborhood streets and city services felt 6 part of the community that took pride in 7 itself. 8 For many longtime residents, those 9 details are tied to the best memories growing 10 up. And at the same time, Scranton today is 11 still a city trying to meet real needs. Like 12 many older cities we face challenges with aging 13 infrastructure, public safety concerns, 14 homelessness and limited resources. 15 Many point to crime as one of the 16 biggest challenges they've noticed over time, 17 how they stressed much of the city still works 18 hard to improve quality of life, public 19 services, challenging roadwork, and carefully 20 budgeted park upgrades that show that the city 21 has not stopped trying to move forward. 22 The discussion around parks and 23 pools captures that tension well. People 24 remember the days when pools had a deep end and 25 offered certain kind of freedom that feels rare  13 1 now. 2 Today Scranton continues to invest 3 in recreation but the choices often reflect 4 budgets, maintenance realities and changing 5 safety standards. What was once taken for 6 granted must now be carefully planned and 7 funded. 8 Same is true for homelessness and 9 social services. Seeing limited shelter space 10 including only six beds for single women in 11 need is very disappointing to residents who 12 remember a more secured past. But it also 13 reflects a broader responsibility. 14 The city must balance public safety, 15 compassion and practical support for vulnerable 16 services. In that sense, Scranton is not 17 simply better before or worse now. It is a 18 city with a proud past, real present day 19 struggles, and ongoing efforts to adapt. 20 Growing up in Scranton I feel the 21 contrast and it feels sharp. I care about what 22 Scranton was, what it is today and what I hope 23 it could become again in the future. The word 24 hope lies in every one of you who fill those 25 five chairs.  14 1 In the past few months I've noticed 2 a sharp change in Council leadership in those 3 four chair majority. Prior to the new year, 4 rubber stamp majority passed legislation 5 removing 17 traffic light intersections 6 downtown, subbed out pave cut inspections, 7 substantial pay raises, approved 8 DPW 8 Directors, questioned brave firefighter 9 response times and voted to remove deep end 10 pools from several parks just to name some. 11 I understand the frustration of the 12 former minority. Both of you get it. You work 13 with children daily. You know the importance 14 of their future. With the railway system 15 connecting in the near future, this majority 16 will have a lot of work ahead of it fixing 17 critical rubber stamp legislation. 18 I give this Council majority 3 and 19 three quarter stars. Great work with room for 20 improvement. I see much better days ahead for 21 this Council majority. To the minority Council 22 member who rubber stamped everything, now just 23 sit back and watch the damage and chaos that 24 you caused. You are graded differently. 25 You question my character and  15 1 upbringing, take a two syllable word and making 2 it three. You have yet to apologize, one 3 quarter star out of four. Next week, part 4 five. Pay attention next week to find out what 5 the topic will be. 6 Prayers to the families impacted by 7 the recent fires, our brave firefighters and 8 for first responders. Happy Easter to 9 everybody. Good evening, Council. 10 MR. SCHUSTER: Next is Les 11 Spindler. 12 MR. SPINDLER: Good evening, 13 Council, Les Spindler, city resident and 14 homeowner. On a good note, last Friday, the 15 DPW crew showed up at my house, three 16 gentlemen. And they fixed the damage done to 17 my curb that was done by that independent 18 contractor that did all of that damage. 19 So I want to publicly thank them. I 20 thanked them that day. But I want to thank 21 them on the air, publically thank them and give 22 them the recognition. They did a good job. 23 And I thank them and hopefully that doesn't 24 happen again. 25 Pave cut inspectors, they said last  16 1 week what a great job they were doing. And I 2 think all of you agree you said it last week. 3 I lived in the city my whole life. These roads 4 have never been as bad as they are now. 5 They are terrible. I mean, they're 6 not doing their job. And whoever is supposed 7 to be overseeing them isn't doing their job 8 either. Their feet got to be held to the 9 fire. These roads are just terrible. And last 10 week they started their presentation. And a 11 gentleman said -- he showed a picture that a 12 pothole is round and the pave cut is square or 13 rectangular. 14 Well, that's not the case. The 15 rectangular or square is the finished product. 16 A pave cut is whatever shape they dig the whole 17 in. If there's a water main break, they have a 18 backhoe that digs a hole. That's a pave cut. 19 That's not square or rectangular. 20 And speaking of that, they're all 21 over the city. And nothing's being done. 22 There's one on -- I go by it every day, a real 23 big one. It's been there for months. 24 Nothing's been done -- on the corner of North 25 Main Avenue and Clearview Street where Grippo's  17 1 Garage is. 2 Some of you might be familiar with 3 that. It's a big pave cut. It's not round and 4 it's not square. It's whatever shape they dug 5 it out as, plus there's potholes right all 6 around there too. I mean, I think those -- 7 those inspectors -- I think they're in cahoots 8 with the utilities because when the water 9 company was here, they said the same thing. 10 They showed the picture. A pothole 11 is round. A pave cut is rectangular. I think 12 they practiced that together, I think. So I 13 think there should be an investigation of 14 what's going on because our roads are just 15 terrible. 16 Okay, it's my weekly update on the 17 Green Ridge Street bridge. It's getting better 18 but they're moving so slow it's unbelievable. 19 I mean, now they're putting like a drainage 20 system in. But it seems they could be going a 21 lot faster. 22 Hopefully it will be done in another 23 month or two because once they put that 24 drainage system in, I don't see much more work 25 that has to be done. It's got to be paved yet,  18 1 but not more than that. 2 President Schuster, you mentioned 3 that property that -- on Euclid and Main Avenue 4 there. Yeah, I don't know who owns it, but 5 last week there was two guys. They had a dump 6 truck and I don't know if you went by there 7 recently. They cleared that whole thing up. 8 They trimmed branches off trees, 9 took tons of leaves out of there. It looks 10 really niece now. 11 MR. SCHUSTER: Yeah, some of that is 12 the railroad and some is the SRA. 13 MR. SPINDLER: Yeah, they did a 14 great job. There was two gentlemen did it. 15 They were there for a couple days. It looks 16 really good now. And lastly, what Joan talked 17 about, I am one person that came here after I 18 got my tax bills and said how terrible it was. 19 I said my property was assessed over 20 three times more than what I paid for it. 21 Outrageous. My house is 116 years old, needs 22 work. My taxes went up $1,100. I went to the 23 Tax Assessor's office last week to appeal it. 24 I have to go back again tomorrow. 25 They said come back April 1st. They said you  19 1 have until the 1st until August to appeal it. 2 I'll be there tomorrow. It's out of control. 3 I wish somebody could maybe take that to court 4 and have that decision reversed or something. 5 There's no way my taxes should have 6 gone up $1,100. It's ridiculous. That's all I 7 have tonight. Thank you for your time. 8 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. Up next 9 is Lee Morgan. 10 MR. MORGAN: Good evening, Council, 11 Lee Morgan. The first thing I have here today 12 is there is no update on the ECTV -- litigation 13 for ECTV. But when there is I'll make people 14 aware of that. 15 The other thing I have is I think 16 that the city needs to tell people in this 17 Council when you start talking about lieu of 18 taxes, you should tell them what the monetary 19 figure is that they have given the city in lieu 20 of taxes. 21 Les talked about reassessment here. 22 I've got an appeal on that reassessment. So 23 I'm probably going to petition the Court soon 24 for a hearing. But that reassessment was 100 25 percent wrong and the values are 100 percent  20 1 wrong. And mismanagement a city or a county 2 government shouldn't cause people to financial 3 harm that we're experiencing. 4 The other thing is, somebody has to 5 petition the Court and then the 2.4 percent 6 wage tax here. You know, we have a lot of 7 problems in this community. I made requests of 8 Council a couple weeks ago. 9 I'm going to do another petition to 10 the Council for responses in writing of the 11 Council and the Mayor for the things I asked 12 the Council and the Mayor to do because I think 13 that's the best way to proceed at this point. 14 But, you know, people have to 15 understand that, you know, we're talking about 16 roads here and the city's infrastructure. It 17 hasn't been maintained in my whole lifetime. 18 It's all worn out. We've got to start coming 19 to these Council meetings and talk like any 20 real change is happening here. 21 I just walked by the building you 22 tore down. The floor joists were 2 by 24s 23 probably. And that building was salvageable, 24 extremely so. It just goes to prove that we 25 elect the wrong people. And they look at  21 1 studies that other people have done and paid 2 for. 3 And they're trying to reach a 4 conclusion with the study they've done. But 5 nobody's protected the residents and their 6 interest. We just -- the downtown is just a 7 vast parking lot that's been turned into a 8 neighborhood. 9 And the residents have been sucked 10 out of the neighborhoods to try to support the 11 remnants of the downtown. It's not possible. 12 There's no real development taking place in the 13 city. 14 And no investment in the city itself 15 into the city. And we can come here and talk 16 about any of the silly things that we want to 17 talk about here. But I've come here for 40 18 years. And I've watched one Council after 19 another come up with a plan. 20 And all the plan led to was decline 21 and despair and misinformation. Like, we talk 22 about people making payments in lieu of taxes. 23 Tell everybody what those payments are. And 24 then you know what, while you're doing that, 25 talk about all the tax revenue that the city  22 1 has lost from all the property the University 2 of Scranton has taken. 3 Talk about what's really happening 4 in this city. Talk about property tax going up 5 on all the people's properties in this city. 6 And I know myself because I'm having 7 reassessments by a realtor done on my property. 8 And I'm going fight it out. And I'm going try 9 to set the reassessment aside. 10 I'm not doing a class action. I'm 11 not asking anybody to come with me. I'm going 12 to file it myself. I sat down with them and 13 told them. There was no reality to that 14 reassessment. They have nobody on their staff 15 that can do any of that. They did it off a 16 computer. 17 They didn't look at anything or know 18 anything. The county needed money. The city 19 needed money. And it's like just sucking the 20 blood out of somebody's veins. And then we sit 21 here. That's why anymore I'm doing all my 22 requests in writing to the Council. And if I 23 don't like what you do, then I'm going to do 24 what I care to do about it. 25 You have a law department. And  23 1 let's see where we go, just like I did to ECTV. 2 And they're not even into the beginning of this 3 thing yet. And Mr. Hinton thinks he's at the 4 finish line. He hasn't even started yet. 5 Thank you. 6 MR. SCHUSTER: Our next speaker is 7 Ron Ellman. 8 MR. ELLMAN: Council, again last 9 week I wasted another hour of my young life 10 listening to an array of passing the buck 11 excuses from a bunch of prima donnas. I should 12 say overpaid prima donnas. In short, it was -- 13 I noticed they even had it up there, the buck 14 belongs to our incompetent, ambitious failure 15 downstairs that wasted five years of office. 16 But I didn't come to talk about 17 Paige today. What I really want to say is, all 18 of these supporters that marched up and down 19 the streets of our city and our country, pro 20 illegal, I just can't comprehend, you know, 21 George Soros out to be proud of every last one 22 of you. 23 You're anti American. I talked to a 24 young man last week at Sheetz. And he just got 25 out of the service. He had an arm missing and  24 1 he was trying to pump gas and we just started 2 talking. See, people like that have given 3 their all. 4 And I have to sit and watch on 5 television the garbage getting all the 6 attention, criminal, just -- the worst kind of 7 people -- not doctors and lawyers from other 8 countries, the worst no English speaking 9 garbage on the face of the earth is being 10 protected. 11 Well, let me tell you something, 12 maybe one person might listen to me right now. 13 My younger brother Leslie Charles, I'm 21 years 14 older than him. Leslie Charles has severe 15 kidney failure. He lived in Mississippi, 16 Memphis. It's part of Memphis but he lived in 17 Mississippi right where the state line is like 18 Taylor and Scranton. 19 Leslie Charles went to the hospital 20 time and time again. He told me spent up to 21 ten hours, was on always untreated or they 22 didn't do a thing to help him. He needed 23 dialysis. And they said it was being taken. 24 And this went on for weeks and weeks. 25 He had phoned me almost every single  25 1 night, you know, four, five, six nights a week 2 and tell me what happened. He said he'd sit 3 there up to ten hours, some no English speaking 4 bunch one after another was taken and then 5 the -- somebody in the emergency room might 6 talk to him and that was that. 7 Well, finally Leslie Charles was so 8 sick his landlady called an ambulance to take 9 him to the hospital. When he got there, the 10 hospital staff put him in a taxi and sent him 11 home. He died that night all alone because his 12 wife was in the hospital with MS. 13 That's the kind of care he was 14 getting while people marching up and down the 15 street for the illegal filth this county is 16 infested with is getting all the attention. He 17 told me that the staff told him they were under 18 the directions of the administrator of the 19 hospital, nothing they could do. 20 If it was up to me, people, I'd 21 round up every last illegal I could get my 22 hands on and put them in the middle of the 23 desert in ten cities and leave them there to 24 rot until they wanted to walk home where they 25 came from.  26 1 Leslie got a bad roll of the dice. 2 There's no middle road. You're either pro 3 illegal or against illegals. There's no middle 4 of the fence on it. And they have destroyed 5 our country. And they'll keep on destroying it 6 until you people realize what -- what -- it 7 just doesn't make sense to protest wanting to 8 get rid of illegals. Thank you. 9 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. Would 10 anyone else like to address Council? 11 MR. LITTLE: Hello, Council, Rik 12 Little. It's great we have a movie theater in 13 Scranton. I just saw a great movie called Hail 14 Mary, sort of the movie I've been waiting for, 15 you know. 16 And one of the lines I just wrote 17 down in the middle of the movie is, "Why is the 18 school teacher in space?" And I didn't know 19 why I was writing that down. But, you know, it 20 makes a lot of sense because, I mean, my 21 favorite movie has always been 2001 Space 22 Odyssey. And so I always had an adverse 23 position on computers since '68 when it came 24 out. 25 But everything that -- you know,  27 1 with all the data centers and the government 2 arguments and the voting arguments and, you 3 know, who's the enemy here? Is it radical 4 Islam? Is it, you know, Zionist expansion? 5 Is it war? Is it medicine? You 6 know, it's gone really crazy now. And I really 7 wonder how they came up with the number 33 of 8 all numbers for the amount of the tax increase 9 around here. 10 And, you know, like somebody said, 11 you know, they didn't even look at stuff 12 because they used to build stuff really good 13 with big thick beams and intelligence, you 14 know, it was built by migrants mainly. I 15 renovated all of these buildings in New York 16 City. 17 It's amazing. You know, it looks 18 like garbage, but there's so much intelligence 19 behind it, airing things so buildings will 20 stand for 100, 150 years rather than 20 years 21 the way they do it now. Anyway, we're coming 22 up on Easter. I think we're in dire times. 23 I honor all the great things that 24 President Trump has done. But I think he's got 25 some very, very bad spiritual advisors and in  28 1 Paula White woman. I grew up in, you know, 2 Wheaton, Illinois, a spiritual town. Billy 3 Graham knew all the presidents going back 4 before I was born. 5 And, you know, it's this Judeo 6 Christian thing; but the document that our 7 Constitution was written on, it wasn't Judeo 8 Christian. It was just Christian. They were 9 all Christians and one deist who signed the 10 Constitution. 11 We got problems here. And there's 12 no doubt in my mind that the problem stems 13 directly from the home rule charter. People 14 talk about going to the court, to the judges, 15 and that's what it's come down to. All the 16 power in the judiciary on the county level and 17 municipal level even though, you know, they're 18 doing it all the way up, you know, in every 19 county, you know, all the prosecution against 20 Trump and everything in New York City and in 21 Georgia. 22 And, you know, all of this 23 information that's released, it's released. 24 And it's evidence. But when you get -- I 25 mean, I know from just trying to do the Court,  29 1 how do you even get your evidence in. You 2 know, they take your phone away when you go 3 into the courthouse. The evidence is on my 4 phone, you know. 5 You know, and they make a procedure 6 that goes on and on and on. And we have a 7 homeless problem. But we also have so many 8 houses here. We got more than enough of 9 everything to make everything good in the city. 10 And the problem is benefits. But 11 the powers to be see all of these federal 12 benefits coming into the city. They're 13 skimming off the top for their administration 14 so they could pay their workers really good. 15 They can, you know, buy the best lawyers to 16 make sure they maintain power. 17 And, you know, it can't go on this 18 way. So people got to pray because they take 19 out the salination plant in Israel -- it's 20 gone. And they've already taken them out all 21 in Middle East. We're the nexus. This is 22 Easter to pray right now. Pray for Scranton 23 and all the way up. Thank you. 24 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. Would 25 anyone else like to address Council?  30 1 MS. O'MALLEY: Good evening. I was 2 here about a month ago regarding a no parking 3 sign that was put up at the end of South Irving 4 Avenue. 5 MR. SCHUSTER: Before you start, 6 could you please state your name? 7 MS. O'MALLEY: Oh, Cathy O'Malley, 8 sorry. 9 MR. SCHUSTER: Cathy O'Malley. 10 MS. O'MALLEY: Yes. So within the 11 past 24 to 36 hours, there's been a little bit 12 of a change. Originally the sign was zip tied 13 to the chain-link fence. Now a metal sign on a 14 metal pole has been put in its place. 15 I have been in contact with Mr. 16 Voldenberg. And I had asked for a copy of a 17 traffic study which he graciously sent me a 18 copy. However, I was a little confused when I 19 got it because the material I received was an 20 e-mail from Tom Reilly from Tom Reilly 21 Engineering. 22 And it was cc'd to three city 23 officials. And the e-mail is short. It says, 24 "You can add a no parking sign at then of the 25 street in the middle of the end. That no  31 1 parking only applied to the travel way for a 2 car parked in the middle, not for cars parked 3 along the curb. We need an ordinance with a 4 study to have no parking along the curb lines 5 be approximately 35 feet needed for a K-turn 6 the end of the street. 7 In the following aerial photo there 8 are three cars parked at the end and the one in 9 the middle is the only one parked illegally. 10 We can follow up with a letter on the parking 11 to be used for an ordinance." 12 So I don't have a traffic study. I 13 have an e-mail stating that those parking 14 spots are legal parking spots. Whoever put up 15 that sign put up the wrong sign because it says 16 no parking with arrows pointing in opposite 17 directions which means you can't park anywhere 18 there. 19 This letter or e-mail, rather, 20 states explicitly that those curbside parks are 21 legal spots. And my point is further made with 22 that because a resident who lives on the street 23 called and reported a car that had been parked 24 in front of 1 South Irving which is the further 25 parking spot closest to the dead end twice.  32 1 The first time she made five phone 2 calls. The police officer came out, did not 3 give the person a parking ticket. Just this 4 past weekend because there was nowhere to park, 5 she again parked in that spot. Again, the 6 police were called. And again she did not 7 receive a ticket. 8 I spoke to another resident of the 9 street who said they spoke to the police 10 officer and said are you giving her a ticket. 11 And he was on the phone. He's like, I don't 12 know and then ended up not giving her a ticket 13 because it is actually a parking spot. 14 So something needs to be done to 15 address the situation. That sign needs to come 16 down so that we could at least retrieve two of 17 the three parking spots. I could understand 18 the center one having either a sign that says 19 no parking right there or to have the pavement 20 painted in such a way that it's no parking but 21 so that it's obvious to anybody who's on that 22 street that they could see that this and that 23 side, both curbside are viable parking spots. 24 I would like to know the name of the 25 person who okayed the sign, not once but twice  33 1 and how that sign was put up without having the 2 ordinance fulfilled and did not have a traffic 3 study done as far as I could tell. 4 This is an e-mail requesting an 5 ordinance to be done for a traffic study. So 6 how is that sign in place? I have no idea. 7 The other thing, it's also a hardship too as I 8 stated the last time because people are coming 9 home at different hours of the day. 10 Our cross street is Moosic Street. 11 The exact corner where people have gotten 12 killed and have gotten hurt crossing that 13 street, multiple accidents. So now you're 14 forcing these people to park across the street 15 and getting into confrontations with people who 16 live in the hundred block because now they have 17 to go across the street because there's nowhere 18 to park behind. 19 There's alleyways. And you can't 20 park on Moosic Street. So this really -- it 21 needs to be addressed. And also, Mr. Reilly 22 who did the study used pictures dated from 23 2024. I don't know even that he came down 24 Moosic -- or came down South Irving to even 25 assess it himself.  34 1 It's dated March -- oh, I'm sorry, 2 Monday, April 22nd, 2024. And these photos are 3 from then. 4 MR. SCHUSTER: Do we have your 5 contact information? 6 MS. O'MALLEY: If you don't, I could 7 give it to you. 8 MR. SCHUSTER: Frank, do we have her 9 contact? 10 MR. VOLDENBERG: We have her 11 information. 12 MR. SCHUSTER: Okay. We could get 13 an answer over to you. 14 MS. O'MALLEY: Okay. That would be 15 great. Thank you so much. I appreciate for 16 your time. 17 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. Would 18 anyone else like to address Council? 19 MR. VOLDENBERG: FIFTH ORDER. 5-A. 20 MOTIONS. 21 MR. SCHUSTER: Dr. Rothchild, do you 22 have any motions or comments? 23 DR. ROTHCHILD: Um, I wasn't going 24 to, but I just have one thing that I wanna 25 touch on tonight. So if you don't know, there  35 1 was a really brilliant scientist, a German 2 immigrant who came here in 1933 Albert 3 Einstein. 4 And he has a quote that I feel like 5 often rings true for me. And that's if I were 6 to remain silent, I'd be guilty of complicity. 7 And I -- I've never been silent about things 8 that I feel strongly about. And I'm glad that 9 people aren't being silent about the injustices 10 of ICE and this administration against 11 immigrant people as well as the American 12 people. 13 I stand with immigrants and I 14 denounce the hateful, disgusting comments that 15 were made here tonight and frankly, getting 16 really tired of them being made each week. And 17 I wish that more of my colleagues would also 18 stand up against this vitriol. 19 But, yeah, I still want people to 20 know in Scranton that immigrants are welcome 21 here. And I thank the people who -- who are 22 marching this weekend. Thank you. 23 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much. 24 Mr. Sean McAndrew, any motions or comments? 25 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Yeah, a few  36 1 followup questions to start off from last week. 2 My first one I did ask because we were 3 approving a lot of grant applications for the 4 new crime center that's going to be next door 5 in the Fidelity building how we're going to pay 6 for it if we don't get the grants. 7 It said the Fidelity Bank project is 8 part of the city's capital budget. So if we do 9 get the grants, I hope we're planning on what 10 we're going to use that money for, hopefully 11 fixing our roads and making sure we're not 12 having a tax increase next year. 13 Next, regarding the homeless camps 14 cleanups, originally they said they were just 15 doing them by the river and the Heritage Trail. 16 I did ask that there were examples I was told 17 down by Iron Furnaces and are there other 18 locations that the DPW and the police did clean 19 up. 20 They said DPW performs cleanups work 21 in the vicinity of the Iron Furnace and the 22 University of Scranton at the request of SPD. 23 DPW does not engage in homeless camp cleanup. 24 They only -- the only time DPW gets involved in 25 a camp cleanup is at the request of SPD. And  37 1 it's a minimum of four hours where they tell 2 them to clean out the encampment. 3 So I guess SPD is the ones driving 4 that. So if there is -- someone has private 5 property, I guess that's the route to go 6 through the police. 7 Next, I did ask Mr. Oleski if we 8 could sit down and talk about the permit issues 9 regarding Mulberry Street billboard. Since I 10 have been on Council I've been getting a lot of 11 questions regarding the LIPS Department in 12 general. 13 So I will be sitting down with him, 14 trying to schedule a meeting hopefully sometime 15 next week just to kind of ask those questions 16 but also to review some of other stuff I'm 17 hearing regarding the LIPS Department. So if 18 anybody has any questions for me that you want 19 me ask, please e-mail me and I'll do my best to 20 get you some answers. 21 And I did ask if the city is 22 running -- if they are running any background 23 checks when we hire people, putting people on 24 boards, everything like that. I just want to 25 confirm that that is what's going on. They  38 1 said, yes, we run background checks through 2 Treasury Code Enforcement, Tax Claim as well as 3 criminal background checks. So they are being 4 completed. 5 Next, some of the some other 6 things -- it was brought to my attention the 7 zoning meeting minutes aren't being posted. 8 I'm not even sure if they're conducting meeting 9 minutes. I know this was brought up a few 10 years ago. They did some retroactive meeting 11 minutes. 12 So can we reach out Bob Gattens and 13 I believe it's Don King to see if they are 14 doing meeting minutes? And if they're not, can 15 we please have an explanation why? To answer 16 Joan's question, when I met with the police 17 chief, staffing did get brought up. 18 They actually had -- he had an 19 interview we had to go to that was waiting 20 after we our completed our meeting. So they 21 are still short. So they're still actively 22 trying to get up to full staff. 23 So, Mr. Gilbride, I have a question. 24 So when we passed -- when we vote on things and 25 pass legislation and everything's voted on,  39 1 it's my understanding that the Mayor and the -- 2 the Mayor has 10 days to sign it or veto it, 3 correct? 4 ATTY. GILBRIDE: The Mayor can sign 5 or veto or not sign. 6 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Okay. In your 7 experience with the -- I believe you've been 8 around two years, have you ever seen anything 9 that's voted on Council either not signed or 10 not vetoed? 11 ATTY. GILBRIDE: In the two years 12 I'm here, I've only seen one document not 13 signed. 14 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: So there was a 15 question that we had a discussion earlier about 16 the last two weeks -- or last week and a half 17 regarding the approval of us going against HARB 18 and tearing down the Mattes building for 19 Fidelity. That document to our understanding 20 was never signed, correct, by the Mayor? 21 ATTY. GILBRIDE: That's correct. 22 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: And when you 23 asked the legal department, what was their 24 answer? They're not going to sign it? 25 ATTY. GILBRIDE: The answer was, the  40 1 Mayor is not going to sign it. 2 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Okay. Can we 3 ask a pretty simple question and get it in 4 writing why would the Mayor not sign this one? 5 What is the reason for that not being signed? 6 With all the stuff that's going on with this 7 Fidelity building, with the rush of the 8 purchase, with questions regarding donations 9 and ethics, complaints that we get sent to us 10 that we send down to the Ethic's Board that we 11 don't even get answers on because it's 12 anonymous and we didn't fill out a form, with 13 all of that going on and all the news articles, 14 I hope that's not why it wasn't signed. 15 So I would like to know why that 16 decision was not signed on by the Mayor. And I 17 would like to get it in writing as well. And 18 that's all I have. Thank you. 19 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. Mr. Mark 20 McAndrew, do you have any motions or comments? 21 MR. MARK MCANDREW: Yeah, I got a 22 couple. So a resident and business owner asked 23 me the process for applying for a two-hour 24 parking sign. I know we approve signs that 25 come through Council like 15 minute loading  41 1 zones for business owners in the city. 2 And this is a resident and business 3 owner that's asking me to inquire about the 4 process because -- I don't know what the 5 process is. So and this road is downtown but 6 it's not associated with kiosk system. 7 So it doesn't -- there's, you know, 8 it wasn't outlined to be a paid parking area or 9 part of the street that exits the city. So, 10 Mr. Voldenberg, can you please reach out to the 11 city's administration ask them to provide me 12 with the outline process including forms, 13 applications, and related department contracts 14 for this inquiry regarding this process this 15 resident needs to -- some info on, if you could 16 please do that? 17 MR. VOLDENBERG: I will, sir. 18 MR. MARK MCANDREW: Thank you. 19 Okay, so we've been talking about ghost poles, 20 utility poles left by utility companies when 21 they put in a new one, they leave the old one, 22 right? 23 Mr. Schuster's been talking about it 24 for as long as I'm here. I brought it up a few 25 weeks ago a couple weeks in a row. I'm  42 1 thrilled that there's a House Bill 825. It was 2 introduced in March of '25. But there's 3 efforts right now that, you know, it's going to 4 be presented to the Senate where there's some 5 teeth and there's some regulations with regard 6 to these companies that are leaving these 7 poles. 8 They call them ghost poles. 9 There'll be mandatory timeliness. There will 10 be an annual registry. There'll be cost 11 enforcement. It authorizes the PUC to impose 12 civil penalties on companies that fail to 13 comply with the removal timeliness, right, 14 security bonds. 15 What is a ghost pole? Like I said, 16 it's a pole that remains after a utility 17 company puts a new one in. They leave it 18 there. Guess what, because they don't feel 19 that they have to. And there's nothing in 20 writing for us to say get rid of it. It's your 21 garbage. Take it with you. 22 And what they do claim to say is, 23 well, you know, we will once everything else is 24 detached from it. So like Verizon might have a 25 wire attached to it or some broadband service  43 1 or something like that. But I get that, right? 2 But there's a lot of them out there 3 that don't have that. So I was sent today a 4 horrific photo of a ghost pole we'll call it 5 because that's what they are, totally detached 6 from the ground, just dangling from existing 7 wires, a telephone pole. All right, very 8 dangerous. 9 I was made aware of this. I talked 10 to someone who reached out to utility 11 companies. A person from Verizon off the 12 record reached out to me and said, listen, our 13 wires are off it. It's PPL's pole. They're 14 aware of it. All right. I actually -- because 15 I was so shocked at the picture I posted it on 16 social media. 17 It's horrific. It's scary. It's 18 dangling from the wires above. And there's a 19 couple cones around it, nice. And, you know, 20 these utility companies come here, like I said, 21 they tell us about their pave cuts. We do a 22 great job. 23 And, you know, then the pave cut 24 inspector goes, well, you know, we're doing our 25 job; but we could use your help with a tighter  44 1 ordinance to hold these people -- these 2 company's feet to the ground. I agree. And 3 I'm still waiting, you know, we said let's 4 hurry up on this because it's a short summer, 5 the folks that were here last week. 6 And I know I asked our Solicitor if 7 we could do our own ordinance or put something 8 on the books to address this. I know I'd like 9 to wait for -- for this bill that's, you know, 10 that's been moved a little bit. But that's -- 11 this is a very dangerous situation. 12 And since posting that, I've 13 received a bunch of messages from people 14 saying, listen, there's three in front of my 15 house. Three? There's three on my street. So 16 these aren't removed in a timely fashion. And 17 I know that, you know, for the most part until 18 we have something in writing that they have to 19 remove them, they're not going remove them. 20 You know, like I said, these utility 21 companies come and give us lip service and say 22 we want to be great neighbors. We want to be 23 community partners with all of you. And then 24 we get lip service and they raise our rates, 25 right?  45 1 Now they're not picking up their 2 garbage. All right. We have ordinances for 3 couches on -- that are on porches, right, we 4 have ordinances for garbage that's left. If 5 you put your garbage out early you could 6 receive a fine. 7 We have a bunch of ordinances that 8 address issues that are nowhere near as bad or 9 as unsafe as this. These poles are out of 10 hand. It's getting ridiculous. Something has 11 to be done. We need to have -- because, you 12 know, utility companies come, yeah, we 13 communicate once a week with the administration 14 or every two weeks and we talk about paving 15 this street versus the gas company versus the 16 water company. 17 We're all on the same board. We're 18 not going to cut up the street. But, you know, 19 they tell us a lot of information that I'm 20 starting not to believe. And, you know, they 21 want to be great community partners they say. 22 You ]know, they want to be great neighbors they 23 say. 24 But they're leaving their garbage in 25 front of our houses. And now it's become  46 1 dangerous. If you saw the picture of this pole 2 detached, just hanging -- it's a telephone 3 pole. You know how heavy them things are? 4 It's like a tree falling down. Someone's going 5 to get hurt and then what. 6 It will be the blame game like they 7 always do. But we have to do better. I know I 8 asked you, Solicitor Gilbride, what we could 9 actually do legislatively. Can we take a peek 10 at it maybe and see -- not maybe have to wait 11 for the state legislation? 12 ATTY. GILBRIDE: Yes, sir. 13 MR. MARK MCANDREW: Thank you. All 14 right. Next, let's see. There's an uptick in 15 this week -- we talk about this every year with 16 the ATV vehicles in the city, right? And we -- 17 we brought this to the Chief of Police. 18 We tightened up our ordinance a 19 little bit. But, you know, it's going to be 20 warm the next couple days. And guess what, 21 these things are going to be flying around the 22 city again. It was brought to my attention 23 that the Tripp Park development -- that's where 24 our Mayor lives -- that it's really bad up 25 there. It was brought to my attention.  47 1 And the only -- we have an 2 ordinance. And the only thing that it states 3 is, there's a gas station prohibition where 4 it's illegal for anybody to drive up and fill 5 up your AT vehicle with gas, right? 6 But they have 16, 17, 18-year-old 7 kids working at these AM/PM mini marts. And 8 what are they going to say? Are they going to 9 call the cops and say wait here? And I know 10 the police because of safety reasons will not 11 chase them. 12 And I get that, okay, because an 13 innocent will get hurt because of this idiocy, 14 right? These -- and there's state mandates. 15 These ATV vehicles have to have registration 16 and titling or it's illegal, right, liability 17 insurance, safety equipment, helmets, brakes, 18 mufflers. These are all requirements by law. 19 A child under 16 can't operate an 20 ATV off family property without a valid safety 21 certificate. Children under eight are 22 generally prohibited. That makes sense. But, 23 you know, you could use them on farmlands. You 24 could use them on private property. 25 But -- and I mentioned this evening  48 1 during the winter there was these crazy guys 2 driving around Main Avenue with electric bikes 3 and in and out of traffic. And I do recall the 4 Chief saying, you know, we -- there's a way we 5 could do this. 6 And you would use a command center 7 and radio ahead if we see someone where instead 8 of chasing them, we go through camera to camera 9 to camera and try to get them. Or, you know, 10 camera to camera to camera, they pull in front 11 of their house, you could arrest them. 12 So now with the another -- we 13 already had a command center. But now we're 14 getting a new one next door. So I don't want 15 to hear that -- and we're going to pump a lot 16 of money into it. 17 I want to see this be addressed more 18 than just the loose language in our ordinance 19 because trust me, folks, over the next couple 20 weeks it's going to be 80 on Saturday. 21 We're going to have people come here 22 and e-mail us that's it a problem again. And 23 once again, we haven't done enough. It's going 24 to be same -- it's going be ground hog day 25 again, oh, well, there's really nothing we can  49 1 do. 2 Well, yeah, if what we're doing is 3 nothing, then nothing is getting accomplished. 4 We got to find a better way. Put our heads 5 together and figure it out because at the end 6 of the day, we're all here at the pleasure of 7 the residents. They're the ones that complain 8 to us. 9 They're the ones we work for. And 10 you know what, every year I revisit this. And 11 we're not doing a good job. We got to do 12 better at this. So if we could please talk to 13 the Chief, see if anything has happened since, 14 you know, the command center, see if any 15 strategy has been rethought or any -- I want -- 16 is there any experiences like you said we 17 probably could from camera to camera to camera 18 to the command center or the new one where we 19 can do better with this, all right, if that's 20 on the radar. 21 Someone's going to get killed too on 22 these electric bikes. I almost hit one once a 23 week. All right? Also, there's a pothole on 24 the 12th Street near the softball field over in 25 west side, West Scranton. It's a big one if we  50 1 could please alert probably DPW. That would 2 just be a hot patch or something. I don't know 3 about you, but, you know, the warmer it gets 4 and these potholes, I don't know if they 5 started filling them. I don't know what the 6 deal is. 7 But since our caucus, it doesn't 8 look like much has been done. I'll give the 9 benefit of the doubt. It's warm now. Let's 10 get them done, all right. Let's see some 11 progress. And that is all I have. Thank you. 12 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much. 13 Mr. Flynn, do you have any motions or comments? 14 MR. FLYNN: Yeah, just a few 15 quickly. So last week I had a followup 16 question about the homeless encampments and 17 what was happening with the Scranton Police 18 Department and DPW went to take those down if 19 they were offering services to the individuals 20 who are now without what is essentially their 21 home. 22 They said last week that, yes, 23 Scranton Police Department and some of the 24 nonprofits that help them offer services. I 25 asked specifically what they were. The  51 1 administration said that Chief Carroll has 2 offered to meet with me to discuss the SPD's 3 role and also recommend that I meet with 4 Lackawanna County Community Intervention's 5 Eileen Wilson to explain the services 6 available. 7 So I will be taking them up on those 8 offers and doing both of those things and 9 reporting back on what I learned and what I 10 will believe to be the case once I get done 11 with that. Mr. Voldenberg, can we get any sort 12 of update on the signage we talked about 13 the -- for the autistic individual on the 14 street in South Side and see what we as a 15 Council could do to get that signage up? 16 MR. VOLDENBERG: That's the Prospect 17 Avenue. 18 MR. FLYNN: Correct, yeah. 19 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll get the 20 information. 21 MR. FLYNN: Thank you. And just the 22 last thing I'll say is, you know, I think it is 23 part of the fabric woven through what we are as 24 Americans to have the right to peacefully 25 protest and that's what happened in our city on  52 1 Saturday. 2 It happens consistently on both 3 sides, peaceful protests happen. I think when 4 it's met with vitriol and hate, that is 5 unacceptable to me. And I'm proud of any 6 individual no matter what the cause is who 7 chooses to spend their time in a peaceful 8 protest for something they believe in. 9 And I'll always stand with 10 individuals that do that. That's all I have. 11 Thank you. 12 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you, Mr. Flynn. 13 I have a few comments for tonight. We do have 14 14 pilots that have paid over the course of 15 2025 from January to December. That document 16 we did receive. Mr. Voldenberg, it might be 17 best if we just put that into Third Order next 18 week if we could. 19 MR. VOLDENBERG: I will. 20 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. We had a 21 speaker come up tonight about South Irving 22 Avenue if we could just get that information to 23 get clarity on that because there does seem to 24 be some confusion around South Irving. 25 MR. VOLDENBERG: That's currently  53 1 with the City Engineer again. What they need 2 is an ordinance to make the other two parking 3 spots illegal. So it's with the City 4 Administration and the City Engineer and it 5 will then go to the Law Department and then to 6 us for the ordinance. 7 MR. SCHUSTER: Okay, so we plan to 8 see that coming down soon. 9 MR. VOLDENBERG: They're working on 10 it. 11 MR. SCHUSTER: Okay. Thank you very 12 much. Mr. McAndrew brought up some comments 13 about the telephone poles. We did have PA 14 American Water in here. And the city did 15 describe to us that they do communicate with 16 American Water often. Can we just ask if they 17 do communicate with PP & L often as well? 18 MR. VOLDENBERG: I will. 19 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. Another 20 thing, we haven't talked about in quite a 21 while, but it was also brought up tonight about 22 the walkability study. Can we get an update on 23 where we are with the walkability study and 24 some of the actions that will take place 25 downtown and if we can get some kind of  54 1 timeline on those actions? 2 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll take care of 3 it. 4 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. Were we 5 able to get any follow up from Pennoni 6 regarding any of the request that we made from 7 them when they came up to caucus last week? 8 MR. VOLDENBERG: We did not. 9 MR. SCHUSTER: Do we have their 10 contact? 11 MR. VOLDENBERG: We do. 12 MR. SCHUSTER: All right. Can we 13 reach out to them just as a followup to some of 14 the things that we were requesting? 15 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll take care of 16 it. 17 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. I have a 18 few more so, sorry. I got some photos over the 19 week of Center City Baseball Field off of Wood 20 Street. DPW did do some Christmas tree 21 collection. And some of those Christmas trees 22 were put in the parking lot of that baseball 23 field. 24 Can we reach out to them and see 25 what the plan is for those trees if they're  55 1 going to be removed or where they're going to 2 go? 3 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll contact the 4 director tomorrow. 5 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. Can we 6 also reach out to -- I would imagine Morgan 7 Fetsock or Eileen Cipriani. Can we get a copy 8 of the updated DEP plan for Meadow Brook? 9 MR. VOLDENBERG: I will. 10 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. Can we 11 also reach out to parks and get an update on 12 pools and parks for the summer and where we're 13 going to be going with those and what the 14 timelines are for opening and any work that's 15 going to be done in the parks and pools over 16 the summer? 17 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll get that 18 information from the director -- 19 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. And then 20 lastly, I would like to thank the Scranton Fire 21 Department for the fires that they've had over 22 the weekend in West Scranton and North Scranton 23 and my condolences to those families. That's 24 all I have for tonight. Thank you. 25 MR. VOLDENBERG: 5-B. FOR  56 1 INTRODUCTION - A RESOLUTION - ADOPTION OF THE 2 CITY OF SCRANTON'S EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN 3 ("EAP") MANUALS FOR SOUTH SIDE FLOOD 4 PROTECTION, PLOT FLOOD PROTECTION, GREENRIDGE 5 FLOOD PROTECTION AND THE ALBRIGHT AVENUE FLOOD 6 PROTECTION PROJECTS. 7 MR. SCHUSTER: At this time I'll 8 entertain a motion that Item 5-B be introduced 9 into its proper committee. 10 MR. FLYNN: So moved. 11 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Second. 12 MR. SCHUSTER: On the question? All 13 those in favor of introduction signify by 14 stating aye. 15 DR. ROTHCHILD: Aye. 16 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Aye. 17 MR. MARK MCANDREW: Aye. 18 MR. FLYNN: Aye. 19 MR. SCHUSTER: Aye. Opposed? The 20 ayes have it and so moved. 21 MR. VOLDENBERG: SIXTH ORDER. 22 6.A. READING BY TITLE - FILE OF THE 23 COUNCIL NO. 9, 2026 - AN ORDINANCE - AMENDING 24 FILE OF THE COUNCIL NO. 102, 2025, AN 25 ORDINANCE, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "APPROPRIATING  57 1 FUNDS FOR THE EXPENSES OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT 2 FOR THE PERIOD COMMENCING ON THE FIRST DAY OF 3 JANUARY, 2026 TO AND INCLUDING DECEMBER 31, 4 2026 BY THE ADOPTION OF THE GENERAL CITY 5 OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE YEAR 2026," (2026 6 OPERATING BUDGET) BY TRANSFERRING THREE HUNDRED 7 TWENTY-FOUR THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED EIGHTY 8 DOLLARS AND ZERO CENTS ($324,880.00) FROM THE 9 DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION, BUSINESS 10 ADMINISTRATION BUREAU OF OPER TSF-WORKERS' 11 COMPENSATION LINE ITEM ACCOUNT 12 100-44714-140-140-000000 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF 13 PUBLIC WORKS, HIGHWAYS BUREAU PROFESSIONAL 14 SERVICES LINE ITEM ACCOUNT 100-44201-180-183- 15 000000 TO FUND UNFORESEEN PROFESSIONAL SERVICES 16 RELATED TO THE WINTER STORM OCCURRING ON OR 17 ABOUT JANUARY 25, 2026, THAT WERE NOT 18 IDENTIFIED DURING THE PREPARATION OF THE 2026 19 OPERATING BUDGET. 20 MR. SCHUSTER: You've heard reading 21 by title of Item 6-A. What is your pleasure? 22 MR. MARK MCANDREW: Mr. Chairman, I 23 move that Item 6-A pass reading by title. 24 MR. FLYNN: Second. 25 MR. SCHUSTER: On the question? On  58 1 the question, during those weeks in and around 2 the storm, I had requested a breakdown of all 3 of the billing that was submitted under that 4 emergency order. And at the time I get an 5 answer that was -- that all of our invoices 6 weren't received as of that period in time. 7 Now that we're getting this 8 transfer, can we please ask for the breakdown 9 of the billing that occurred during this 10 emergency order? 11 MR. VOLDENBERG: We have it. I'll 12 have that for you tomorrow. 13 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much. 14 MR. FLYNN: Mr. Voldenberg, on the 15 question, in here it talks about how it's 16 unforeseen professional services. Can we look 17 back and ask the administration for the years 18 prior how often DPW was shoveling up the snow 19 from the sides of the street and taking it 20 other places because from my answers to Council 21 from when the storm happened, I was told that 22 that was all that the third party contractors 23 did was the removal of the snow from the side 24 of the street. 25 So can we -- can we see in prior  59 1 years how that was addressed because it says 2 unforeseen professional services. And I just 3 want to clarify that. 4 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll do that, sir. 5 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much. 6 Anyone else on the question? All those in 7 favor signify by saying aye. 8 DR. ROTHCHILD: Aye. 9 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Aye. 10 MR. MARK MCANDREW: Aye. 11 MR. FLYNN: Aye. 12 MR. SCHUSTER: Aye. Opposed? The 13 ayes have it and so moved. 14 MR. VOLDENBERG: SEVENTH ORDER. 15 7-A. FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE 16 COMMITTEE ON RULES - FOR ADOPTION - RESOLUTION 17 NO. 36, 2026 - REAPPOINTMENT OF MICHAEL PARKER, 18 ESQUIRE, AS A MEMBER OF THE SCRANTON SEWER 19 AUTHORITY FOR A TERM EXPIRING JANUARY 4, 2031. 20 MR. SCHUSTER: As Chairperson of the 21 Committee on Rules, I recommend final passage 22 of Item 7-A. 23 DR. ROTHCHILD: Second. 24 MR. SCHUSTER: On the question? On 25 the question, can we ask or inquire of the  60 1 Sewer Authority how many easements are left? 2 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll ask them, sir. 3 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much. 4 Anyone else on the question? Roll call, 5 please. 6 MS. CARRERA: Dr. Rothchild. 7 DR. ROTHCHILD: Yes. 8 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Sean McAndrew. 9 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Yes. 10 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Mark McAndrew. 11 MR. MARK MCANDREW: Yes. 12 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Flynn. 13 MR. FLYNN: Yes. 14 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Schuster. 15 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes. I hereby 16 declare Item 7-A legally and lawfully adopted. 17 MR. VOLDENBERG: 7-B. FOR 18 CONSIDERATION BY THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC 19 WORKS - FOR ADOPTION - RESOLUTION NO. 37, 20 2026 - AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF SCRANTON TO 21 ACCEPT A MONETARY DONATION FROM KEYSTONE 22 SANITARY LANDFILL, INC., FOR A 2026 23 FREIGHTLINER GARBAGE TRUCK PER COSTARS CONTRACT 24 #025-E22-391 FROM MID-ATLANTIC TRUCK AND 25 EQUIPMENT.  61 1 MR. SCHUSTER: What is the 2 recommendation of the Chairperson for the 3 Committee on Public Works? 4 MR. FLYNN: As Chairperson for the 5 Committee on Public Works, I recommend final 6 passage of Item 7-B. 7 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Second. 8 MR. SCHUSTER: On the question? On 9 the question, it's nice to see that we're 10 getting a garbage truck as part of our 11 donation. Every year Keystone Landfill does 12 donate a certain amount contractually. 13 And over the last I believe three 14 years that money wasn't used. It's now being 15 used for this garbage truck. And then I would 16 say two years ago we were leasing the garbage 17 truck on a monthly basis. So it's nice to see 18 that we'll be getting a new garbage truck. 19 Anyone else on the question? Roll call. 20 MS. CARRERA: Dr. Rothchild. 21 DR. ROTHCHILD: Yes. 22 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Sean McAndrew. 23 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Yes. 24 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Mark McAndrew. 25 MR. MARK MCANDREW: Yes.  62 1 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Flynn. 2 MR. FLYNN: Yes. 3 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Schuster. 4 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes. I hereby 5 declare Item 7-B legally and lawfully adopted. 6 MR. VOLDENBERG: 7-C. FOR 7 CONSIDERATION BY THE COMMITTEE ON COMMUNITY 8 DEVELOPMENT - FOR ADOPTION - RESOLUTION 38, 9 2026 - RESOLUTION FOR PLAN REVISION FOR NEW 10 LAND DEVELOPMENT LOCATED AT 530-532 BROADWAY 11 STREET. 12 MR. SCHUSTER: What is the 13 recommendation of the Chairperson on the 14 Committee on Community Development? 15 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: As Chairperson 16 for the Committee on Community Development, I 17 recommend final passage of Item 7-C. 18 DR. ROTHCHILD: Second. 19 MR. SCHUSTER: On the question? 20 Roll call, please. 21 MS. CARRERA: Dr. Rothchild. 22 DR. ROTHCHILD: Yes. 23 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Sean McAndrew. 24 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Yes. 25 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Mark McAndrew.  63 1 MR. MARK MCANDREW: Yes. 2 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Flynn. 3 MR. FLYNN: Yes. 4 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Schuster. 5 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes. I hereby 6 declare Item 7-C legally and lawfully adopted. 7 MR. VOLDENBERG: EIGHTH ORDER. 8 8-A. FILE OF THE COUNCIL NO. 7, 9 2026. 10 MR. SCHUSTER: This ordinance amends 11 provisions to the zoning ordinance for the City 12 of Scranton related to data centers. 13 MR. VOLDENBERG: 8-B. FILE OF THE 14 COUNCIL NO. 8, 2026. 15 MR. SCHUSTER: This ordinance amends 16 provisions to the zoning ordinance for the City 17 of Scranton related to data centers. These 18 ordinances have been tabled until a public 19 hearing can be held at a later date. 20 And if there's no further business, 21 I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. 22 MR. SEAN MCANDREW: Motion to 23 adjourn. 24 MR. SCHUSTER: Happy Easter 25 everyone. This meeting is adjourned.  64 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 I hereby certify that the proceedings and 4 evidence are contained fully and accurately in the 5 notes taken by me of the above-cause and that this copy 6 is a correct transcript of the same to the best of my 7 ability. 8 9 10 Maria McCool, RPR 11 Official Court Reporter 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 (The foregoing certificate of this transcript does not 22 apply to any reproduction of the same by any means 23 unless under the direct control and/or supervision of 24 the certifying reporter.) 25