Harrisburg City Council on Tuesday
Tuesday’s City Council meeting was packed with discussions on new legislation. The most notable items included the creation of a police substation, an auction of former mayor Steve Reed’s artifacts and reallocating funds for city park renovations to fill a funding gap.
Police Substation
The Harrisburg Police Bureau has proposed setting up a community policing substation in the Uptown Plaza shopping center.
Deputy Chief Kenny Young presented the proposal to City Council for consideration at Tuesday’s work session, saying that the substation would allow for greater visibility and convenience for residents Uptown.
The proposed site is at a vacant former pet store at 2965 N. 7th St., which the city would lease for $1 a year.
Young likened the idea for the substation to the Allison Hill substation that was created in 2019
To start, there would not be set hours as Young said that it would take time and resources to get the substation staffed. He hoped that they’d be able to hire full-time staff in about a year.
“I think it’ll be another way to just build that bridge,” said council member Jocelyn Rawls. “It’s another way of building community.”
Reed-era Auction
Council also heard a proposal from the city to auction off the last of former Mayor Steve Reed’s collectibles and artifacts.
Harrisburg has proposed using Harrisburg-based Cordier Auctions to sell the over 500 items currently scattered throughout city-owned basements, closets, storage units and other areas.
While mayor, Reed purchased thousands of items with public funds that he planned to use for a series of museums that he wanted to create, most notably a “Wild West” museum.
Harrisburg has held at least three auctions of Reed’s collectibles over the years.
Most recently, Reed’s estate held an auction in 2022 with Cordier to sell dozens of artifacts that it possessed. The city had discussed participating in an auction around that time as well, but that was delayed as a new mayor took office, city Solicitor Neil Grover said.
Grover said that most of the items and artifacts are not related to Harrisburg history, although a few may be. He mentioned that a crate of records with audio from the Nuremburg trials is sitting in his office. There’s also a large wooden wagon and other wild west-related things.
City staff will be working to collect and catalogue everything this summer, and Grover estimated that a full list of items will come back before city council in the fall for approval.
Council members expressed their disbelief that Harrisburg is still dealing with Reed’s artifacts, but many said that they were supportive of the sale.
Parks Reallocation
Also during Tuesday’s council meeting, the city proposed reallocating $1.89 million to an ongoing parks project.
Harrisburg received a $13 million Covid relief grant in 2022 to update 7th & Radnor, Gorgas, Wilson and Reservoir parks. After several grant extensions, the deadline to use the funds expired in March, and Harrisburg was reimbursed for about $10.2 million, leaving about $2.8 million on the table.
Council members questioned the process and why all of the grant allocation was not utilized.
Parks and Recreation Manager Kevin Sanders said that project construction was costlier than anticipated and that the staff faced challenges juggling multiple park renovations at once.
“They went through a lot of adversity to get to where they got,” Grover said.
The proposed $1.89 million reallocation would cover invoices that came in to cover completion of three of the parks after the grant deadline expired. The money would be reallocated from the general fund, capital projects fund, special events fund and other areas of the parks and rec fund.
7th & Radnor, Gorgas and Wilson parks are mostly complete, and the city hosted ribbon cutting ceremonies for all three in recent weeks. Reservoir Park, which includes updating a pavilion and constructing a splash pad, has been put on hold. Sanders said that the parks department would need to come forward to request additional money to complete that project.
Allison Hill Apartments
In other news, Harrisburg-based Halden Horizons Group has proposed adaptively reusing a 1920s-era former publishing building at 100 N. 13th St.
The 11,500-square-foot building has long been vacant. A developer received approval for a similar apartment project in 2022, but never completed the project.
Halden Horizons has now taken aim at the building and would like to consolidate the current 13 parcels that make up the property and construct 12 one-bedroom units and 15 parking spaces.
Project representatives said that they would likely start rent rates at about $1,300 per month. Developers said that the project is not slated to incorporate affordable housing, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, but they will accept housing choice vouchers.
Several council members pushed back on the price.
“Our residents cannot afford $1,300 a month,” said council member Crystal Davis. “It would be great to have residents there, but $1,300 is not affordable for our residents.”
Council tabled the resolution until they received answers from the developer on certain questions surrounding pricing and minority contractor participation.
Legislative Boost
Also on Tuesday, council discussed a resolution that would aim to speed up the passage of legislation. Council has proposed putting a requirement on the city’s law bureau to review legislation proposed by council within 30 days. Council members said they hope the deadline would address what has often been a slow turnaround, noting their understanding that the bureau is often busy.
Most of the above resolutions, not including the apartment project, will be voted on at council’s next legislative meeting.
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