Harrisburg City Council meeting Tuesday.
At its last meeting before summer recess, Harrisburg City Council approved federal fund allocations, money for parks and an apartment project in Allison Hill.
Council approved reallocating $1.9 million to begin to fill a funding gap in a recent parks project.
The parks and rec department faced a funding shortage for construction at 7th & Radnor, Gorgas, Wilson and Reservoir parks after the timeline to use a $13 million state grant expired. By not completing work at the parks by the deadline, which was extended several times, the city could not use about $2.8 million in the grant money.
Additionally, state officials said that, because construction was not complete at Reservoir Park by the deadline, the $2.3 million spent on Reservoir must also be returned, because the grant requires parks to be usable.
Besides Reservoir Park, construction at the three other parks is complete. Work at Reservoir Park is on pause and additional money will be needed to finish the work eventually.
At last week’s meeting, council expressed frustration over the situation, with council President Danielle Hill saying that the “ball was dropped” and “severely fumbled.”
Also on Tuesday, council voted to allocate federal housing funds, backlogged from the past three years, to go to nonprofits and city infrastructure projects.
The city has money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2023, 2024 and 2025, including Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, and HOME funds.
According to Gloria Martin-Roberts, director of the city’s department of building and housing development, funding allocations were delayed due to conflicts of interest that needed to be resolved.
ESG funds, which support addressing homelessness, will go to a handful of local nonprofits. CDBG funds will go to a mixture of nonprofits and city projects, including the Broad Street Market. HOME funds are not yet allocated to subrecipients, but support housing development.
Council also approved a land development plan for 100 N. 13th St., which includes renovating a former publishing house and building 12 apartments.
Previously, council tabled the resolution, citing concerns about the market-rate pricing proposed. However, the developer returned to council last week, sharing that they would consider making one or two of the units affordable. Council expressed appreciation that the developer had conducted additional community outreach and worked to address their concerns.
Council also approved a grant submission to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development for $2 million to make safety upgrades on N. Front Street. The project would include constructing a roundabout at Front and Division streets, relocating and improving crosswalks, adding crosswalk lighting and installing ADA ramps.
During public comment at the meeting, several community members also spoke about a recent ICE-involved shooting in Allison Hill, in which an ICE officer shot at a fleeing car.
Public commenters requested that council and the city do more to protect residents, some suggesting that recent council legislation that limited Harrisburg police from working with ICE doesn’t go far enough.
“The shooting two weeks ago was preventable, and it was completely predictable,” said resident Brian Keisling. “The mayor’s absence and silence on this is, as always, noted, but, for the council, people are looking to you for guidance and leadership and safety, and people do not feel safe.”
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