COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, February 11, 1998 9:44 a.m. - - - BILL NO. 980001 - An Ordinance to adopt a capital program for the six fiscal years, 1999 through 2004, inclusive; BILL NO. 980002 - An ordinance to adopt a Fiscal Year 1999 capital budget - - - PRESENT: PRESIDENT JOHN F. STREET, Chairman COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN MICHAEL A. NUTTER COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO COUNCILMAN FRANK DICICCO COUNCILMAN RICHARD T. MARIANO COUNCILWOMAN JOAN L. KRAJEWSKI COUNCILWOMAN AUGUSTA A. CLARK - - - VINCENT VARALLO ASSOCIATES, INC. Registered Professional Reporters Eleven Penn Center, Suite 600 Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 561-2220 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 2 I N D E X Barbara Kaplan. . . . . . . . . . . . Executive Director 6 City Planning Commission 7 Emily Bittenbender. . . . . . . . . . 28 Director of the Capital Office Terry Gillem. . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Friends of the Free Library Board Janet Elfring . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Executive Director Friends of the Free Library Betty Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Friends of Chestnut Hill Branch Ben Lovett. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Bushrod Library Anso Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Bushrod Library Alex Petkov . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Bushrod Library Peggy Fairchild . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Northeast Older Adults Center, Sam Luciano . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Northeast Older Adults Center Ida Shugerman . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Northeast Older Adults Center Rosemary Matthews . . . . . . . . . . 189 Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 3 P R O C E E D I N G S
Oh boy, we've got a slow group today. Good afternoon. (Audience responds "Good morning.")
Oh, good morning. First of all, I'd like to offer my apologies to those members of the Administration and the general public who came here this morning, expecting that we would start promptly at 9 o'clock. You knew we weren't going to start promptly at 9 o'clock. I'm sure people brought their coffee, bagels, and low-fat doughnuts, and all of the rest. But it does appears that we have a quorum now and are ready to begin. This is a meeting of the Council Committee of the Whole. We will hold a public hearing today; we will not have a public meeting. And there are often members of the general public who are here and who do not understand our process. So for those of you who might fall into COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 4 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 that category, what we will do today is take all of our budget bills that are advertised, but we will only take testimony today on the capital budget and the capital program. We will take testimony on Bill No. 7 980001, an ordinance to adopt a capital program for the six fiscal years, 1999 through 2004, inclusive; and Bill No. 980002, an ordinance to adopt a Fiscal Year 1999 capital budget. We will not take any testimony on the operating budget or on any of the other bills. We will do the capital program today. This afternoon, I believe, at 2 o'clock, we will have testimony from the members of the general public. At this time, I would like to inquire as to whether or not Councilmembers have copies of the statements of the Finance Director, the Chairman, the Executive Director of the City Planning Commission and the Capital Program Office. If every Member -- is there any Member does not have that testimony? I would like to make sure all of you have it. (Those without copies indicate same.) COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 5 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
Okay, can we get some additional copies of the testimony? And while we're at it, I'd like for us to get maybe an extra or maybe even 50 copies 6 of this testimony so that it can be made available 7 to any member of the general public who is here 8 who would like to read over the testimony. And we 9 certainly can have it available for the public 10 hearing that will take place this afternoon at 2 11 o'clock. 12 It is my understanding that there have 13 been several members of the general public who are 14 signed up to testify at our public hearing 15 scheduled for 2 o'clock. We will go this morning 16 as long as we need to, to finish up the testimony 17 from the representatives of the Administration 18 that are here. 19 Councilmembers, of course, will be free 20 to ask any question. It is my understanding that 21 representatives of all of the departments are here 22 so that if a Councilmember has a question and 23 wishes to direct it to the department head, then 24 the department heads are here. 25 I also understand that questions that COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 6 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 are asked of representatives of the Administration might be referred to a representative of a department that is here if the witness thinks it's appropriate to do so. So what we will do is, we will have a summary of the testimony, Councilmembers will ask questions as long as they wish, and then if we have time, we will recess and come back at 2 o'clock. It is my understanding that representatives of the Administration will be with us at 2 o'clock. So if any question comes up and we actually need somebody from the Administration to answer a question that might get raised from a member of the general public, someone will be here to answer those questions. Is there any Member of Council who has any question about what we propose to do at this time? (No questions from Council at this time.)
Seeing no one, then I suspect we can get started. Miss Kaplan, who will be first? In COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 7 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 what order do you propose that this testimony be given?
I will be first, and then Emily Bittenbender will be following me. And then we will have questions and answers. Or we can have questions and answers, as we usually do, that interrupt our testimony.
Well, what I would like to do, if we can, is to get through the testimony of all the witnesses since it's very brief, and then we just have a kind of a free-for- all of questions from any Councilmember on any subject that is in front of us. So at this time, the Chair recognizes Miss Barbara Kaplan.
Good morning, Council President Street, Members of Council. I'm Barbara Kaplan. I'm the Executive Director of the City Planning Commission. I also have with me this morning Dean Kaplan, who is the Budget Director of the City Planning Commission. I also have with me Emily Bittenbinder, who is the Director of the Capital Program Office; and Ernie Leonardo, of the COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 8 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 Planning Commission Staff, who is the Chief of the Comprehensive Planning Division that has the major responsibility for preparing the capital program. I'm pleased to present to Council the 1999-2004 capital program and the 1999 capital budget, as recommended by the City Planning Commission, and to show some of the progress we have made and that we will continue to make toward to the renewal of our physical plant and infrastructure. This $3.2 billion capital program, prepared by the Planning Commission, builds on the initiative begun at the beginning of this Administration of substantially increasing the rate of reinvestment in the City's capital stock of buildings, streets, recreation centers, libraries, and the myriad of other facilities which serve our citizens. Our restored financial health allows us to present a fiscal 1999 capital budget requiring $127.5 million of new tax-supported loan funding. This investment is supplemented by self-sustaining federal, state, and other non-tax-supported funds, resulting in a total proposed budget year spending COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 9 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 of $731 million for 114 projects. Neighborhood improvement projects, which are allocated percent of the budget year 5 funding, focus on the basic renewal of community 6 assets such as streets, water, recreation, fire, 7 police, library, and health facilities. 8 Featured in the increased program for 9 site improvements in support of housing 10 initiatives this year is $1 million for the first 11 year of funding for streets and utilities for 12 Schuykill Falls. 13 The recommended capital budget also 14 includes funding of $1,570,000, which is more than 15 double the amount of money that we were able to 16 program last year for sidewalks, lighting, and 17 parking in neighborhood commercial centers. 18 We have some slides. If we can just 19 put out the lights. 20 (Lights are turned off.) 21
Okay. One of the things 22 that has been a special initiative of the last couple of years has been the Library's Changing Lives Campaign, which has been a private -- very successful, private fund-raising campaign that has COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 10 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 been also coupled with an increase in the City's commitment to the renewal of library facilities. And the goal here is to renew all of the branch libraries within the next couple of years. This is a very dramatic example. These are the front steps of the Lehigh Branch Library, at Sixth and Lehigh. Not a pretty sight. This is the interior where they had plaster problems. And the whole place was really suffering considerable damage. And this is what it looks like now. It is a truly wonderful example. And if we want to set an example for our children, to encourage them to read and have positive associations about reading and the places where books are kept, I can't think of a better example. It gets even better on the inside. This is inside the front door. This is the ceiling restored, that same ceiling that had plaster crumbling. And this is a sense of what it looks like in the reading room, that same reading room 24 we saw a view of with the ceiling. We have wonderful ways to display new books, to make them COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 11 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 attractive. This is a children's computer area where everything is at the right height and the right size. And this is just one example. We have the Tacony branch in the 6700 block of Torresdale Avenue. This also had a major restoration of, $1 million. The McPherson Square Branch, 601 East Indiana, another beautiful structure, half a million dollars. This is a new library. This is the Ogontz Library, in the 6000 block of Ogontz Avenue. This has been a long-awaited project. And this is what the inside looks like. It's extremely attractive. It kind of simulates the impression and the effect of a bookstore, and it makes books much more easily accessible. Again, in the Ogontz Library, the computer stations, the book racks. And this is for the children, what they call "kids' computer cars," where the kids are invited to sit right down and step up to the computer. And the Recreation Department, this is COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 12 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 the new recreation facility, at 12th and Carpenter. This was built to replace the kind of very makeshift recreation facilities that were associated with the Ridgeway Library, both in the basement and in the rear yard. And this is the replacement for that facility. We've also, in the last couple of years, been embarking on a major effort to restore and renew a lot of our swimming pools. We have a lot of pools in the City. A lot of them were built 20, 30 years ago. They're definitely in need of major rebuilding. This is the pool at 33rd and Diamond. The whole pool was restored, and there was a new building built for changing rooms. As I indicated, we have an increased commitment to provide infrastructures; basically streets, sidewalks, curbs, lighting, sometimes sewer laterals to support the housing that's developed with different federal housing programs and with money from the Community Development Block Grant. This is in the Cecil B. Moore Home Ownership Zone, where the City won a competition COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 13 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 to be one of only 25 cities in the country to receive special funding for low- and moderate- income home ownership program. And this is that housing under construction, and we will be supporting that go with the capital program. Excuse me, I made a mistake. I switched those slides. This is the Raymond Rosen Replacement Housing at 23rd and Diamond. This is what we are building to replace the towers that were imploded a couple of years ago.
And I think everybody will agree this is a much better solution to the public housing program. And this is the Cecil B. Moore Home Ownership Zone Program. These are a couple of other sites that we will be developing housing on and that will receive support. The Women's Community Revitalization Program site at Sixth and Berks and a site that Frankford Group Ministries will be developing in the 1800 block of Wilmont Street. This is the Schuykill Falls Development, where the City's received a major COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 14 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 grant to redevelop this housing site, to renovate the low-rise units, build new housing units in a mixed-income kind of plan where the towers had been, and then also to find some additional sites to replace housing off site. And $1 million of the infrastructure funding we have in the program this year will be used to begin to build new roadways into this project. One of the problems with this site is that it was always very inaccessible, and that will change, and we need to put in the new roadways before the new housing's developed. This is on Ninth Street, the Italian Market, in South Philadelphia. This is the before. And this is the after the new street paving. There's also a companion program that's going on where there are incentives for the owners of the properties to improve their facades with some matching contributions to defray the cost of that. This is a supermarket site in the Empowerment Zone, in the APM area, at Fifth and Berks and Germantown Avenue. It's a cleared site, COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 15 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 ready for construction. The financing is in place, and there is a supermarket operator. And the capital program will be supporting some of the infrastructure costs. This is in the northwest area of the City, the Wadsworth Avenue commercial strip, which will receive about $460,000 in the capital program to make improvements to the street and to the parking arrangements for this area. This commercial strip actually is very well occupied, but it's starting to show certain signs of age, and we think this is a good investment to be making to improve this before we start to have problems of vacant stores and severe deterioration. This is Frankford Avenue, in the Margaret Orthodox area. The el, you can see -- it's kind of hard to see actually in this slide. This is after reconstruction of the el, and we're starting to see some restoration of the facades alongside it. This shows what's happening to the buildings a little bit better, but the el reconstruction project is finally coming to an COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 16 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 end. And, in fact, we will be starting the reconstruction of the el in West Philadelphia on Market Street, and that will have a major impact, a positive impact, in that neighborhood because you're going from a double-column structure to a single-column structure, which will mean that there will be much more light penetrating to the street, and it will be much easier to drive under that structure which, I'm sure, everyone will appreciate. This is in the Mayfair Frankford Avenue, Frankford Avenue, which is another commercial strip that right now is fairly healthy but needs some improvements. And those are all the neighborhood kinds of projects. In economic development, we're really focussing on four main areas: industrial development, hospitality and tourism, neighborhood commercial development, and defense conversion. And 34 percent of all the budget year funding from all sources is devoted to economic development. Of particular importance are COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 17 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 projects that support the City's tourism industry.
The completion of funding of the City's $10 million pledge to the Liberty Bell Pavilion in the Gateway Visitors Center on Independence Mall is included in the budget year. There's funding of $146 million in self-sustaining funds provided for continued improvements at the airport. The City is also proposing to continue its commitment to the Avenue of the Arts, both north and south, through an additional investment of $15 million in budget year funding, while additional support is provided in the historic district to Penns Landing and to improvements in the Convention Center area. This is in the area of industrial development. In addition to the money we're spending on tourism, this is the new PNC Bank expansion near the airport, on Tinicum Boulevard. This will begin to establish a major job corps near the airport. A thousand employees have already been located here in Phase I, with more to come. This is Tinicum Boulevard, which is a COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 18 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 $2 million investment that will enable additional development sites to be opened up for the second phase of PNC Bank and for additional hotels. This is a spec building, an industrial space/warehouse space at American and Sommerset, in the Empowerment Zone. This was a PIDC project, with $3 million coming from a combination of DRPA and State funding. And this is in the Market Street East area, the opening of the Hard Rock Cafe, where about $4 million of City capital funds went in to make the improvements in the lower levels of the Reading Head House that enabled this retail space to be created. In terms of infrastructure renewal, the projects included in the capital budget account for 34 percent of the budget year allocations. This area of investment includes those facilities which serve all Philadelphia residents, regardless of the specific neighborhoods where they live. It includes such facilities such as the Art Museum, the Zoo, Fairmount Park, major highways and bridges, SEPTA projects, including the Market Street East El reconstruction that I COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 19 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 mentioned, the Girard Avenue Light Rail, and the Frankford Transportation Center project. The largest proposed new investment is the $85 million replacement of the House of Corrections, which has $56 million included in the budget year, and the rest of the money is available from previous years' allocations. This is the Berks Station on the Frankford El, where reconstruction is needed. The design is about 90 percent complete. And you can see the rusted structure. You get a better view of what it looks like here. And this is the Tioga Station, which has been renovated, which is part of the overall $493 million Frankford El reconstruction. Then we have other views of the Tioga Station. This is the interim station that SEPTA constructed in record time at 84th Street, in Eastwick. It's an interim station on the High-Speed Line, and it was constructed in record time, principally to serve the employees going to the new PNC facility that I showed you in a couple COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 20 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 slides ago. Looking forward, we have the Suburban Station concourse renovations over the next few years. SEPTA has devoted a very large portion of capital funding to this. The project will cost about $38 million, and only a very, very small potion of that will be a contribution from City tax-supported dollars. And this will not only be the portion of the concourse in front of Suburban Station itself, but the part of the concourse that goes from about 15th Street to 17th Street. So, obviously, this a transportation thoroughfare that's used by riders of the Broad Street Subway, riders of the Frankford El. As this is the busiest transit concourse in the City, and we really ought to have it look the way it ought to look.
And it will eventually have new shops and will be air-conditioned and just provide a much better environment for the transit passengers. This is the Overbrook Station, on City Avenue. Renovations are in design. We got especially federal transportation money here under COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 21 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 the ISTEA Enhancements Program. This is about a $4 million renovation of the station. This is the 54th Street Bridge over the Amtrak train line. This is a $2 million reconstruction that has been completed. A major project is the Strawberry Mansion Bridge. Phase I is under construction now and should be complete in September. The first phase is the deck replacement for $3 million, and Phase II will involve repainting the entire structure and putting in a kind of a Boardwalk promenade. That will be another $5 million. And this will give you a sense of the deteriorated structure. This is in the Logan Circle area. The first phase of improvements here are complete. We expanded the green area and reduced the asphalt to kind of make this a more attractive accompaniment to the Square itself. This is a $650,000 project, a significant portion of which was contributed through federal iced tea enhancement funding. This is the Walk Philadelphia signage which now accompanies the vehicular signage, the COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 22 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 Direction Philadelphia signage that we have in various places throughout the City. City Hall. We didn't put any new appropriation in the budget this year because there's a backlog of almost $30 million of funds that need to be spent. This turned out to be a much more complicated project, I think, than anybody thought, just in terms of the order in which these projects need to be done and how they ought to be programmed. This is the east portal. We're beginning to replace mechanical systems in the building, literally from the top to the bottom. This is in the basement. At the Zoo, this is the new handicapped ramp to the Small Mammal House, and it's just an example of how we've been gradually making facilities throughout the City more accessible. This is the new HVAC system at the Small Mammal House. On the West River Drive, we have money to provide fencing for safety and esthetic purposes. We have bulk heading underway now in COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 23 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 Schuykill River Park. We had to shore up the bank before we could put in the park improvements. This is on Kelly Drive. This is Lloyd Hall, which is the new facility to replace Playstead Hall, and we will have meeting space, indoor meeting space, and recreation space, as well as bike rental, and some food service when that's complete. This is another view. At the Art Museum, the first phase of the landscape restoration project, which also included a rebuilt auto entrance to the west side, has been completed. And the next phase is the replacement of the Eakins Plaza at the base of the steps, which is very badly deteriorated and is such an important gathering place for the City for various events. This is at 34th and Diamond, in Fairmount Park. This is the Edgely Fields Complex, which has nine baseball fields, four soccer fields, two rugby fields. It needs drainage and field renovation. We're starting the first phase of that with the money that's recommended here. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 24 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 FDR Park, a similar ball field renovation project. Drainage is a major problem here. Then in East Park, this is the Laurel Hill Mansion, one of the Fairmount Park mansions. This needs HVAC work undertaken. In the area of government effectiveness, a lot of this isn't terribly photogenic, but this does account for 8 percent of the budget year funding. It includes projects which allow the City to do its job more effectively and more efficiently.
The Water Department's automatic meter- reading program, for which the final phase of funding is proposed, is the largest project in this category. The City's innovative energy conservation program in the budget year focuses on the start of a comprehensive energy management program at the Art Museum, with an appropriation of $300,000. We also have $200,000 for the ongoing Green Lights Program, which will provide for installation of energy-efficient lighting at COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 25 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 Riverview and at the Family Court. We also have in here, which we didn't mention, is $83,000, not a large appropriation, but it's to replace City Council's public address system. And I think that will be a major improvement. )
You can thank the Department of Public Property for requesting it on your behalf. This is also the geographic --
Could I have this mike on, please? Thank you. We were clapping, Councilwoman Clark, because we've just been informed that $83,000 has been placed in this program to replace our public address system.
See? COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
It's definitely a needed project. This is a work station at the Planning Commission's geographic information system. We have funding in this program for the Mayor's Office of Information Services that will enable them to install a server that will allow the benefits of this program to be used by more City departments. And I think that will be a significant benefit. And this is an example of a work station that was installed at the Municipal Services Building. It's similar to what would be installed at the One Parkway Building, for which funding has been allocated in this budget. In the area of health and safety, it's about $14 million in 1999, and it includes basic improvements at the City's adult care facilities, Riverview, the Philadelphia Nursing Home, and the Stenton Homeless Family Shelter. We've also continued funding for underground tank removal and replacement for hazardous material abatement and for improved handicapped accessibility at City and at SEPTA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 27 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 facilities. This is an example at Riverview of a new ramp for the handicapped that's been installed there. And these are the old bathrooms at Riverview. This is a new bathroom. The fixtures aren't in, but I think you get the idea of what the difference will be. And last but not least is the Bernard Samuel fire boat, which is 50 years old. And the City does need to begin to replace its fire boats. We've put funding in for the second year of the budget year for that. In conclusion, the Planning Commission believes that the recommend 1999-2004 capital program and the 1999 capital budget will allow the City to continue on the course laid out at the beginning of this Administration to revitalize the City's neighborhoods and its economic base by continued renewal of our physical plant. This capital program provides for a high level of investment in Philadelphia's future and, at the same time, strategically allocates COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 28 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 limited resources to ensure the City's capacity to deliver effectively and efficiently needed public services. Thank you. Now Emily Bittenbender would like to make a statement about the Capital Program Office and the implementation of capital projects.
Good morning, President Street and Members of City Council. My name is Emily Bittenbender, and I am the Director of the Capital Office for the City of Philadelphia. I am here today to present our operating and capital budget requests for fiscal year 1999.
Can we get the lights back on? I mean, we actually don't need to be sitting here in the dark.
It's an energy- saving program, Mr. President. (Lights turned back on.)
And we can hear you better now. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 29 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
You can you hear me better? Okay. The requests are for an appropriation of $2,409,000 in the operating budget, with another request of $7,460,000 in the capital budget. The ongoing operations of the Capital Program Office are supported by both budgets because the City accounting rules only permit certain types of positions to be charged as capital expenditures. The proposed Fiscal Year '99 operating budget represents an increase of $30,137 to cover negotiated civil service wages increases. It also includes $1,031,000 to support 226 positions, $1,268,000 for the repair and maintenance of City building systems, for staff training and computer software, which will enhance our program management capabilities. The proposed Fiscal Year '99 capital budget includes $6,124,000 to support 85 positions, as well as the cost for consultants to provide technical assistance to our 4 project management team. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 30 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 Our four project management teams serve eleven client agencies and they currently oversee all of the capital efforts from the budget development and construction closeout for Public Safety, Health and Human Services, Criminal Justice facilities, as well as Center City government buildings and lease space throughout the City. At the beginning of the new fiscal year, our portfolio will be expanded to encompass the capital projects for Fairmount Park. And our budget request reflects the transfer of the Park's Design and Planning Division staff into the capital program. 3 million, and it has a dedicated staff of 17 people managing it. The Fairmount Park Commission is the only department with a total average capital COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 31 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 budget of $22 million that has its own project staff. We believe that bringing the staff into the CPO will create greater efficiencies in the management of the capital projects. Also included in Fiscal Year '99's request is $1,086,000 for environmental remediation involving underground storage tanks replacement projects as well as asbestos abatements. And $250,000 is also requested in the City's effort to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act requirements, but it should be noted that during Fiscal Year 2000, these requests will be included or incorporated into each of the capital projects requested. The appropriations that I'm requesting will assist the Capital Program Office in the furtherance of our mission, which is to improve the pace at which capital improvements are completed, to eliminate the unnecessary project costs, and to provide a single point of accountability for the vast majority of the City's capital undertakings. In fulfilling our mission, we will be COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 32 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 building on a significant stride that the City has made in the last six years in the management of the capital program. Even with our considerable efforts to date, however, the process is still too laborious and takes too long, in spite of the fact that 80 percent of the Capital Program Office's projects in any given fiscal year are $500,000 and less. The CPO is committed to working with our partner agencies, such as our client departments, the Law Department, Procurement, the NBEC, and Risk Management in order to expedite smaller programs as well as the larger, more costly, and complicated projects that often involve site selection and multi-year schedules. By organizing, standardizing, and computerizing our operations, we are improving the capital project development process, accelerating the rate of capital project completion, and reducing our project backlog. During the seven months of our existence, the Capital Program Office has implemented a number of management initiatives that will move us towards our goal.
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 33 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 We worked with our client departments much earlier this year in the development of their Fiscal Year 99 capital budget requests and in order to improve the City's accuracy of the cost estimates that accompany those requests in order to avoid unnecessary delays that frequently occur due to the hack of funding for the projects. We're charged with the process to select the design professionals, and this included more oversight by senior management and the issuance of a comprehensive request for proposal this year. Committees were put together to evaluate and recommend the consultants as well as the development of an in-house contracts management unit to allow a faster pace of shepherding our contracts through the 17 stopping places in the city. As a result, we were able to begin our Fiscal Year '98 project six months earlier than our Fiscal Year '97 projects, and we were able to conform 34 of our contracts prior to the start of the fiscal year. We also purchased and customized a management information system that allows us to COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 34 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 track the status of our project budgets and schedules regularly. By creating an organized approach to the frequent review of project status, we have enhanced our ability to correct problems earlier on in a project's life. One gauge of the accelerated process is the consistent growth in the rate of monthly expenditures. million. million or a 40 percent improvement. These efficiencies have enabled the Capital Program Office to address our 137-project backlog that existed when we began operating in July of '97. The backlog consisted of those projects funded prior to Fiscal Year '97 that were one month behind schedule. By the end of the second quarter of Fiscal Year '98, we've succeeded in reducing that backlog by 68 projects. And, hence, we are six months ahead of schedule in our goal. The CPO intends to continue this high COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 35 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 level of performance and eliminate the entire backlog by the end of Fiscal Year '98. The successful completion of this initiative will allow us to dedicate our staffing resources to completing our goal of completing each fiscal year project that's fully funded of under 500,000 in one year. As these and other improvements in the Capital Program process take hold, we look forward to quickening the pace of capital spending even more and decreasing our project costs. Our Fiscal Year '99 performance goals, which are attached for your information, clearly reflect that emphasis and the mission with which we have been entrusted. I thank you very much for your attention today, and I'll be happy to take any questions that you may have.
Thank you very much. Miss Kaplan, are you all at the table finished?
I don't have anything COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 36 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 today.
Good morning. I just have a couple of questions. The dollars set aside for Community College to acquire the facility in northwest Philadelphia, is that enough money to cover the acquisition, or are you doing part of the acquisition?
I guess last year when I had the conversation with the President of the College, this is the amount of money that he indicated that he was expecting from the City as a contribution. I believe at that time he indicated to me that probably in terms of the acquisition of the site and the improvement, renovation and customization that they might have to do of some of the buildings that they were taking over to make them suitable for the College's purposes, the total project might range somewhere between 9 and $13 million. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 37 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 But that this was the contribution as requested over two years this year and next year. That's what was requested by the College and that's what we had provided.
Okay, thank you very much. Item 66, Port Proceeds Account Transfer. It's stated that you're going to transfer the port proceeds money from the capital account to the City's operating budget to provide for a variety of economic stimulus initiatives. Do you have those initiatives outlined and in place?
There is a list of these. It was not included in your material. I don't know if there's someone here from the Commerce Department that could tell you what those are. One of the project's intents is in your district, that is money set aside for infrastructure improvement should they be needed for the development of the former Temple Stadium site as for housing. If there's a need for that, that is one of the items that would come out of this funding. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 38 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
Well, who determined where the economic stimulus money would go? I mean, I didn't request any infrastructure money for Temple Stadium. No one conferred with me or my district where the economic stimulus money should be allocated. I mean, how was that decision made without my input?
Two things, the Commerce Director is on his way here and will be able to give you a more detailed answer. The second issue is that the economic stimulus money -- I believe that what Commerce and PIDC have jointly developed is a proposed list of potential projects. I don't believe they've made any final decisions and I don't -- it's my understanding that they don't have any intention of spending any of the economic stimulus money, especially on that project, without conferring with the Council and with the neighborhood, in that case or in others.
Well, it would seem to me that the Commerce Department would have a conversation with the District Councilperson COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 39 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 relative to what projects in the district should be promoted and funded. We haven't had any conversation at all with the Commerce Department about any economic stimulus money in the Ninth City Councilmatic District. So I have a concern about that. Usually we do have some conversation. They come and talk to us about the needs in our district. I haven't had any conversation with anybody about that.
As Dean Kaplan indicated, what exists now is a possible list, and certainly, there will be that opportunity for discussion with each Councilperson who may be affected. And because that money would be transferred to PDIC, there would be an opportunity for different allocations to be made as projects are more fully developed. Because one of the things that happens with those economic development projects is that what looks like a project sometimes drops out, and then money's available for something else. So I think it's a long way from being specifically committed to any particular projects, COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 40 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 and there certainly would be opportunity for consultation with the Councilperson.
Is that for Councilpeople who may have something on that list that they're dealing with? I would like to see the list, and I think that every District Councilperson should certainly be sharing some of the stimulus money.
We can certainly share with you the proposed list. And the Commerce Director will be here, and perhaps when he comes, a process can be developed for that type of consultation.
Thank you. I didn't mean to interrupt you. I just think that since we're talking about that, I would want my feelings to be known.
The other question I have is: Could you give me an update of what's happening in the Logan area? COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 41 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
Yes. The Army Corps of Engineers has been engaged by the Redevelopment Authority, although we at the Planning Commission are providing the general oversight to that project. The purpose of hiring the Army Corps of Engineers is for them to do environmental testing of the site and to be able to prepare a report that indicates not only what is there but what the implications are for how this site needs to be treated before it can be developed. There have been previous studies done which took a look at the question of why did the homes sink, why was there subsidence. And the information indicated that there was fill of porous material and that that was the problem. What they didn't do in those previous studies was look for the presence of any toxic material; you know, whether there's anything that really has to be removed like heavy metals or lead or anything else. And the other question that was not answered was once -- now that we know why this subsidence was created, what would we have to do COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 42 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 to make that a development site again so that the same problem would not occur under a future development. And it may be that parts of the site, you know, are more severely -- you know, because they're more severely affected than others, that certain parts of the site have a lesser development capability than other parts of the site, or that we might have to spend money, you know, for certain remediations to make the site buildable. And that's what the Army Corps is going to us. I wish they were telling us faster. I know what your concern is.
I just want to go back to the economic stimulus initiative dollars. How long will this money last? When does it run out? Does it ever run out?
Well, I believe that this money is transferred to the operating budget, and a contract is made with PIDC. So that avoids the problem that you typically have in the operating budget where at the end of the year, that appropriation runs out and you have a surplus, or COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 43 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 a deficit in other cases, and you have to reappropriate the money. This would be made -- put into a contract at PDIC, as has previous stimulus money over the last couple of years, and then the money's allocated to specific projects. I think, in virtually all of those cases, there's been consultation with different Council people in whose districts these projects have been located. And in some cases on major projects, authorization of the whole Council has even been required, depending on, you know, what the nature of the project was.
Well, I guess the question I'm trying to ask is like the UDAG money, it ran out at some point in time. When does this money run out? Suppose I don't want to use the economic stimulus money for Temple Stadium, suppose I want to save it for Logan? How does that happen? And if I use it for the Temple Stadium, and we come down the pike maybe five, six years now and we want to do development in Temple, will COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 44 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 this money still be available? I mean at Logan.
I think that's a good question for the Commerce Director to answer more fully. But as a general kind of answer, the economic stimulus money, I think, has been used in two major ways. I think it's proposed to be used in two major ways for this. One is some specific projects which the Commerce Director and PDIC are in the process of identifying and which he can discuss in more detail. And there's also, as you know, in economic stimulus, a pool of kind of business development funds that they've used to aid specific firms when a firm want to relocate and stay in the City or a firm wanted to come into the City. And they have, I know, a list of those projects, several of which are not funded now because economic stimulus funding is limited. To answer the second part of your question, there is not a real a source of economic stimulus funding over time; however, we can find different bits and pieces to put into the program. So the short answer is, no, the money COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 45 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 is not unlimited forever. I think that the program has been very successful, and the Administration has tried different ways to fund it. I think if Councilmembers have specific projects they would like to use that money for, that it's perfectly legitimate for PDIC and Commerce and that Member to talk about using funds for that purpose. But I think that there is -- certainly the Mayor's priority now, given the very good economic development climate of the City, is to try to fund projects which are good, legitimate projects throughout the City now, when there are developers in town who are willing to do projects and businesses which are interested in expanding and staying here while the economy is strong. So that's part of the idea of this particular contribution to the Economic Stimulus Program.
Okay, thank you. Then I'll save my questions for the Commerce Director.
The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Verna. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 46 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
Thank you very much, Mr. President. On of the budget detail book, it shows that there's $1.5 million in environmental remediation funding for brown fields. Can you share what sites have been selected for this program?
At this point, I don't know that there are any specific sites. The Commerce Department and the Planning Commission and the Managing Director's Office have lists of sites that we believe are brown field sites in the sense that they contain toxic materials and need to be cleaned up before they can be redeveloped. We don't always have people interested in these sites. If the site is not posing a kind of serious threat to anybody, we tend to have this money as a fund for when somebody wants to develop these sites or we can find somebody to develop these sites. Then that money is available to clean up those sites or to match money that we could get from the State Commerce Department, or sometimes the private person puts up part of the COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 47 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 share also. So there's probably a lot of sites, but I don't know that these are earmarked for anything. If you have a site in your district that's a source of concern, it would be good to communicate that to Duane Bumb in the Commerce Department. One site -- I believe there was a City Council hearing on it last week as a property bill, the Sovereign Oil site, which has become infamous in the American Street area. And it's not in this program because we already have the funds from previous years and some State money as well to clean up that site, but that's -- and now we're moving to clean it up because we have somebody that's interested in the property. I mean, there was some EPA cleanup a few years ago to get rid of the worst problem, but the remainder of the cleanup will happen between State funds and City funds.
Thank you. Can you tell us what specific projects are planned to the tune of over $12 million for the Avenue of the Arts? COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 48 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
Okay. There are -- I think most of this money will go into the Orchestra Hall itself, the "Regional Performing Arts Center," as it's now known. And, you know, there's been a fund-raising commitment for that -- a fund-raising campaign for that, and this portion of the funds -- of City funds would go towards that facility.
We've been carrying $10 million for that for a long time. Is this the same $10 million?
I would have to defer to 21 the Commerce Director to give you the total of all 22 the money that we have appropriated for the Avenue of the Arts, how much has gone into the Regional Performing Arts Center. One thing that I do know is that with COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 49 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 some of the funds we have on hand from previous years, with some of these additional monies, we're paying $14.5 million to take over the mortgage on the land that has been assembled for this facility. Because in doing that, it would relieve the project of $100,000 a month of debt service that they're now paying on the mortgage for the land while wait to complete the rest of the fund- raising for the facility and design it and actually commence construction. And I can't tell you exactly how the rest of that money would go into the Hall, but that's what it's intended for.
A point of information. What was the answer? Is it 10 million new dollars or 10 million old dollars?
I think the amount that we have put in, the Commerce Department will tell you directly, but I think it is well over $20 million toward the Hall itself. Now, there have been other projects as well. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 50 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
What is proposed with the $2 million for the, quote, renewal, end of quote, in the Convention Center area?
There are properties at the corner of 12th and Arch; it's actually half of the block -- or a third of the block from Arch Street west -- along Arch Street west from 12th Street that the City wants to acquire. They're kind of a blighting nuance. We would like to acquire that and add that to some of the land that's been assembled that's now a parking lot to, first of all, remove those kinds of undesirable influences from the front door of the Convention Center; and, secondly, to be able to have a development site which potentially -- not right away, but eventually -- could be used for a hotel. We have appropriated some money for this in the past, but it is -- it's enough to acquire the properties, but it is not enough to do the relocation of tenants and the demolition. So that's what this additional $2 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 51 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 million is for, to complete that.
All I keep hearing about is the new hotels that we're striving for. And when I see what's happening in our residential areas, it truly, truly concerns me.
Well, this money is for site acquisition, not to build a hotel there; it's to be able to put that land under our control. When we originally set out to build a Convention Center, we made a very calculated decision that we weren't going to acquire any more land than we absolutely needed to do the facility and the Marriott Hotel. We felt that the private market would kind of take care of this unpleasant little grouping of buildings.
It has not worked that way. And I think we feel that to protect our investment in the Convention Center, we really need to acquire these properties and be in control of it. I mean, we would sell these properties to a developer at fair-market value. You know, this isn't going into the hotel, and there is no hotel COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 52 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 developer in sight. And, as I said, the hotel would not be right now. We have a number of hotels on the drawing boards, but I think people feel that this would be a good site for a hotel because it would be right across from the front door of the Convention Center. But I think the primary purpose is, you know, to get rid of blight and to kind of control our destiny by being in charge of this parcel. I think originally, in going back to 1983, we didn't think it was going to be necessary, but nobody's kind of come along and done a private development there.
Thank you. I note that you have only $34,000 set aside for the Eastwick Rail Station.
How much will it cost? Tell us what this is for. And how do you plan to accommodate the parking at that location?
Okay. This is -- you saw in the slide the interim facility they had put in at 84th Street. This was to -- COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 53 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
Oh, in your district, there was an interim facility that was put up in record time to be able to provide SEPTA service on the High-Speed Line. And SEPTA did that in record time. But it's been intended for many years to have a permanent station there. One reason it hadn't happen was there didn't seem to be enough ridership to justify the expenditure. But the total cost of that is $5,769,000. And the City's share is very tiny, $34,000. So I mean, like all SEPTA projects, the leverage is really extraordinary. And it will be done over three years. That won't be all in one year.
Oh, yes. I mean, we have developers that are interested in other hotels in that area to feed off the airport trade. So there will be other employees, too, who would take advantage of that. And the other idea is that -- the other COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 54 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 hope is that once you have the station there, it becomes an incentive for other people to locate in that area.
I think that's very good. And then, finally, we see the 800- megahertz system coming on line. Are we sure that the system that we're getting isn't already outdated?
Can you tell us just when we'll be seeing something specific happening?
I can't give you the details on that, but -- is Vince Costello here from Public Property?
I know we've been talking about this for several years now.
A major portion of the 800-megahertz funding is, you know, the ability to use some of the --
I'm sorry. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 55 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
I'm Dean Kaplan, the City's Budget Director. A major portion of the 800-megahertz funding package was the ability to use capital dollars that we receive as part of the 9-1-1 surcharge for the 800-megahertz system, which was not allowed by State law originally. The legislation involving that, as you may have read, has just passed the State. It's expected to be signed by the Governor. That's something that the Managing Director's Office has worked very hard to achieve. Now that that funding is in place -- as you may know from last year's meeting, we had sent out RFPs. And the Managing Director's Office and the Public Department have been reviewing those. They are negotiating with a set of vendors. And now that the funding's in place, they'll be able to complete those negotiations, we expect, by the end of the fiscal year. So we are hopeful that that will be completed now that we have a funding package in COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 56 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 place, and we'll probably begin on that project in the next fiscal year.
Thank you. I noticed the $4 million for the purchase of vehicles for the Water Department is in the Water Department's budget. Why wouldn't that be in Fleet Management?
Well, I'll let Dean answer that. We had a lot of discussion about that.
The only real reason is because the Water Department is a separate enterprise fund, so the Water Department itself -- the Fleet Management does not have a Water Fund capital appropriation, so it's in the Water Department appropriation because it's funded through water sewer charges and not through general-obligation debt or any other source.
And did I understand Miss Kaplan to say that the $40 million will complete the installation of the automatic meter readers throughout the City?
Yes. That's the last phase of the funding, and the Water Department feels that will be adequate to complete the COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 57 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 project.
I think they've done a great job in expediting the installment of the new meters. I know that they've done that in my district and it's working out very, very well. Thank you, Mr. President.
Councilwoman Verna, that's because South Philly gets everything.
The sports, the trash-to-steam if they could put it there, and everything else, uh-huh. But I don't get the money you get.
I couldn't go two places. Sorry I brought it up. (Laughter.)
Thank you. My question is to Miss Bittenbender. I see where you're requesting 22 new positions? COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 58 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
No, those are 22 positions in the operating -- are you talking about operating or capital?
No, they're 8 existing. 9 I think the change may come about 10 because there are 17 people for Fairmount Park 11 that have been transferred in this year from their 12 portion of the capital budget into our budget. 13
I believe, Mr. 14 President, that last year several Councilmembers 15 were questioning the fact of whether so many 16 consultants were necessary, and they were going to 17 do an analysis on that. Did we ever receive 18 that? 19
Actually, 20 Councilwoman Krajewski, I cannot remember. We can 21 check our files and determine whether or not a 22 specific response was given to such a question, but I do not know right offhand. We can check for you.
I'll look into that. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 59 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 I know that we did respond for --
I want to know what they will be doing. And when do you plan (inaudible) --
Are the District Councilpeople involved with these new positions? Not positions. I'm talking about building. Sorry.
No, the proposal of building, where you were planning -- I believe at one time you were looking for different sites within my district and I wasn't aware of it.
Yes, the various Councilpeople are involved. Typically, what we do is formulate or complete our analysis, both for building and operating dollars, and we put together a list of COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 60 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 potential sites that we will be looking at. And we review it with the Administration, then come directly to the Councilpeople to begin working on the project with them.
When you are looking for different locations, my question is: Is the District Councilperson involved in that decision?
Because I know there have been times where there were plans that were made that I was unaware of. And I believe I did bring you into the office to ask you those questions.
Yes. You and I have had a conversation, I believe, a few months ago, about some potential sites. And we will be coming back to you soon and talking to you again, because we have just recently completed both costing analysis of various construction methods as well as site constraints on projects that -- especially for those sites and whether their buildings go horizontal or vertical. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 61 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 So we will be coming back to working with you.
The bottom line I'm trying to say, Mr. President, is that if anything like that is going on in my district, I do not want any plans made unless I am involved in it; or any District Councilperson, for that matter. Thank you. One more question. To Miss Kaplan, is there any plans on capital improvements for the Police Academy?
I have been to the Police Academy and I do believe they need an awful lot of work there.
I don't believe they were -- I'll double-check that. I don't believe they requested any money for that.
Well, I'm requesting you take a tour to see the Police Academy because it really needs a lot of work. The rest rooms are outrageous. I believe Mr. Costello is coming up. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 62 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 POLICE COMMISSIONER COSTELLO: Good morning, Council President Street and Councilmembers. I'm Thomas Costello, the Deputy Police Commissioner. Councilwoman, in the past year, every building at that facility has been painted inside and out. We have put up a modular building that contains eight classrooms, and we have funding in our capital program from last year for additional rest room facilities. And that --
What about the heating system and the air-conditioning? POLICE COMMISSIONER COSTELLO: The heating system is -- there is work being done on the heating system. I'll get you the exact details on what that is, but there is work being done on that. My recollection was that because of the time of year, they couldn't do it now, and it will be done before next winter.
I believe last year they were freezing. POLICE COMMISSIONER COSTELLO: There were problems in the system, yes. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 63 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
But you'll get that to the Chair Person? POLICE COMMISSIONER COSTELLO: Yes, I will.
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Fernandez.
Thank you, Mr. President. First, you noted in your testimony, but I wanted to underscore and say cheers for the fact that you've speeded up the backlog and that you've set a goal for this year of doing away with the backlog. I think --
That's always been a problem. And I think, you know, again, you deserve credit for good management and moving things along.
I had a question about the Youth Study Center. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 64 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 I think that ever since I've been here, every year there's promises that it's about to happen, that there'll be a replacement for the structure. You know, for ten years, even before I got here, there have been promises. So I think it was last year, it was those $30 million in the capital budget. They were talking about purchase of the property being imminent, and every year I've gotten promises, for six, seven years. This year the Youth Study Center disappeared from the capital budget. And when we looked back in the quarterly report, it says stuff is on hold. So, you know, I'd really like to know from the Administration, what's the scoop? Why is it, you know, not only not even in the budget, but it's like disappeared.
Councilperson, there is $30 million of funds from last year that has been carried forward and still remains in the capital budget.
Just to clarify, at this COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 65 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 point in the budget process, we don't show the carry-forward funding because we didn't want -- we don't know how much would be carried over until -- you know, we wanted to give the departments a little longer to implement the project. So that by the time Council has to act on the budget, then we would provide the information on the carry-forward projects. But the money is still available from the current year.
Mm-hm. Well, again, what's the status of the project? Every year -- we all know what a sad state --
The scoop is that there was a report and analysis that was completed last year on the facility. And during that time period, the population had maintained itself at about 107 for almost an entire year since. Since this fall, the population has had a dramatic spike, and the Youth Study Center has been experiencing between 150 and 180 inmates. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 66 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 The Capital Program Office is currently working with the City Administration to go back and revise that analysis. The $30 million in carry-forward money was appropriated in order to cover 150 beds, and now there needs to be expansion of that project taken, and additional City funds will need to be identified in order to cover that expansion. We are also in the process -- we will be, you know, very soon going to speak with the Councilpeople in that area to talk to them again about the finalization of that report. And at that time, you know, we can come to you and tell you publicly what the plans are.
Well, just for the record, I've been following this issue for at least, at least ten years.
And the population goes up and down. And the major factor is not the amount of kids getting in trouble in the neighborhoods; the issue is how well the courts and the Youth Study Center and the other COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 67 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 agencies work together to get kids moved through the Youth Study Center instead of having it turned into basically a long-term holding pen. And that's not the function of the Youth Study Center. It's basically where kids who are too dangerous to be in the neighborhood or a community-based facility or at home are to be held in a very short-term time while they are awaiting their hearings. And if you look at those trends, there's no reason why we need the Youth Study Center any bigger than the one we have as long as the courts and the other agencies are actually fulfilling their responsibilities. I'd also like to note for the record that I will stand opposed to any expanded, large Youth Study Center because it's not the capital costs that are the problem. The problem is the ongoing operating costs, and if you build a bigger facility, the courts will continue not to function, and we will fill it at the cost of what, $25,000, at the rate of $25,000 a year per child?
Yeah, I think it's $300 a day. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 68 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
It shouldn't be there. So I would just like the public record to reflect that it's not a capital budget issue; it's an operating budget issue that we will be carrying those several -- I can't remember now the numbers, but it's a large operating cost. And we can't afford to keep kids incarcerated in the Youth Study Center instead of really dealing with their issues and getting them moved into a facility where they can get some care.
Councilwoman, let me please assure you that when these analyses are done, that both operating and capital go hand in glove. And, you know, the tricky part really comes on the operating part. But please note for the record that that is absolutely understood.
Perhaps with Mr. Kaplan sitting there, can you pull from your head what's the current operating cost for the Youth Study Center, how many millions?
No, I can't, but I can think of the overall juvenile justice number. But COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 69 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 I think --
Yeah, I think about $13 million a year. So it is, obviously, a significant operating cost. And to the extent that the population is higher, obviously, that increases significantly.
Councilwoman, I seem to remember that it may cost us as much as 65, 70 dollars a day per resident at the Youth Center. So this is a monumental expense. And I think your point is well taken because when we came here and discussed the Youth Study Center last year, there was testimony in this record that they were talking about expanding the size of the Center to 200 or something so that it could even grow to about 300. And I remember very well quite a bit of discussion about it. But your point is on target. This is a very, very costly facility to operate. And it is -- the size of it is really not to be taken COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 70 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 lightly.
And that will go on forever once you have it. The other issue I wanted to raise was the libraries. I think we saw your slides about how great and what a real addition it makes to the libraries once they're, you know, refurbished. I know the Lehigh Library just really helped change that whole block, having that get fixed up. And, also, in a time of technology, when so many more people are starting to use the Internet, I see the libraries and access to the Internet in the public libraries as a very important service that's needed in a city that has so many low-income people that might not be able to afford both a computer and the monthly Internet charges. So the role that the libraries play are important and I think they're going to be even more important. So I was concerned when some of the people in the Friends of the Library had said that this was some reduction in the capital COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 71 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 dollars allotted. The numbers I had was originally -- it was 47 -- 4.7 million, and it was reduced to -- do I have my numbers right here? It was reduced to 3.6? Last year you had projected, right, 4.7 million for the branch renovation, but now this year's capital program is suggesting that 3.6 or even -- right, 3.6. I'm wondering if that's accurate, and if so --
Councilperson, this year's total for the Free Library is actually $4,447,000 as a total.
You may be speaking specifically about the branch renovation program. That's about 3.7 or so; is that about right? And that would be the City's share of that.
When the Free Library began the branch renovation program, the hope was COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 72 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 to spend about $5 million a year on branch renovation. And in some years, we spent more than that. In the last two years, we've spent a bit less than that. Obviously, like all the other capital programs, the Library's program is one that we have to fit into the overall available general obligation funding of the City. It's one we've given a lot of priority to, though, because it is leveraging such a large amount of private money.
And in fact, the Library's request -- you know, everyone comes in with a request. The Library's request in the past year was lowered less than that of any other department. What we are going to be doing over the next couple months with the Library is sitting down with them and looking at their progress so far in the first three years -- almost three years of the renovation program, the costs of the projects to date, and determine whether -- you know, obviously, our hope is to complete the originally planned renovations in the five-year COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 73 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 time frame. That may or may not be completely related to the actual dollars spent. I'm relatively hopeful that we're going to find these renovations are somewhat less expensive than we had originally hoped. But I think over the entire five-year period, we're relatively optimistic that we should be able to fund all of the originally planned renovations.
Well, I would just like to say for the record that I think it's very important to keep on schedule. And if there basically was a promise, particularly with all of this private money that's part of the match, and all of the money that people are raising in neighborhoods, and people are putting -- I'm saving pennies in a big bucket so that when it's our neighborhood library's turn, you know, we can all give a little bit. But I think, with private citizens and foundations and people doing their share, and mainly the very important role that these libraries play in our neighborhood, particularly again with the new technology that's being added COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 74 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 to give people access to the Internet, again, which I think, the President mentioned in his speech. Four, five years ago, almost nobody was using the Internet. Now, you know, it's moving very fast, so we need to have our neighborhood libraries equipped sooner. I'd rather we were ahead of schedule rather than behind. So I hope you'll take a careful look at that.
And see if all the scheduled libraries could get done this year.
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Mr. President. Miss Kaplan, I think I'd like to go back first to of the capital budget book, the blue-covered document, line number 47, Avenue of the Arts, North and South Broad Street. Now, do I understand that within the $12.5 million on the first line that that is the COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 75 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 money for the Regional Performing Arts Center; is that correct?
Okay. And just so this portion of the record at least -- or for my questioning purposes, so I'm clear on this, this is an additional and a half million dollars? 9
And what is the 11 current investment in this project by the City? 12
I think I'd like to defer that to Mr. Mullin, from the Commerce Department.
My name is Steve Mullin, Commerce Director with the City. The total capital dollars in the overall Avenue of the Arts South project is $20 million. The bulk of that has been used for land acquisition along the Avenue.
Okay. Well, I understand, but how much of the money is in the Regional Performing Arts Center project specifically?
By the way, I was talking about land acquisition there. There was also -- I COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 76 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 believe it's either or $15 million for the streetscape improvements that I was not including in that.
I'll have to get the exact 7 numbers on the amount that has been spent thus far 8 for acquisition of land for the Regional 9 Performing Arts Center, but I believe that -- my 10 estimate is that's on the order of $15 million. 11
So you believe we 12 already have $15 million in capital funds invested in the Regional Performing Arts Center.
Land acquisition for the Regional Performing Arts Center. Okay, and what's the 12 and a half million in this budget for?
The 12 and a half million in this budget is for parts of rest of the project, including the construction of the facility.
Well, what are the other parts, the non-construction parts? COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 77 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002
Okay, what's the total cost of the Regional Performing Arts Center Project?
What's the total cost of the Regional Performing Arts Center Project?
I don't know if that has been completely finalized yet. I believe I'll be able to find out what that number is.
Mr. Mullin, isn't it somewhere like 150 million, 140, 160 million, in there? I mean, it's a pretty big number.
It's on the order of 150 million-plus, that's correct. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002 78 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE/BILL 980001, 980002