COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Tuesday, April 7, 2026 10:15 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT KENYATTA JOHNSON COUNCILWOMAN NINA AHMAD COUNCILWOMAN CINDY BASS COUNCILWOMAN KENDRA BROOKS COUNCILMAN MICHAEL DRISCOLL COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON COUNCILMAN JIM HARRITY COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR. COUNCILWOMAN RUE LANDAU COUNCILWOMAN QUETCY M. LOZADA COUNCILMAN NICOLAS O'ROURKE COUNCILMAN ANTHONY PHILLIPS COUNCILMAN MARK SQUILLA COUNCILMAN JEFFREY YOUNG, JR. BILLS: 260199, 260200, 260201, 260202, 260203, 260204, 260205, 260206, 260208, 260209 RESOLUTION: 260227 - - -
This is the public hearing and public meeting of the Committee of the Whole regarding Bill Nos. 260199, 260200, 260201, 260202, 260203, 260204, 260205, 260206, 260208, 260209 and Resolution No. 260227. Ms. Loughead, will you please call the roll and take attendance.
Present. Thank you. A quorum of the committee is present. This hearing is now called to order. Before I ask Ms. Loughead to read the titles of the bills and resolution, I just want to thank all my members for being here promptly as we start off this budget hearing. Ms. Loughead, will you please read the titles of the bills and resolution.
Bill No. 24 260199, an Ordinance adopting the Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2027. Bill No. 260200, an Ordinance to adopt a Fiscal Year 2027 Capital Budget. Bill No. 260201, an Ordinance to adopt a Capital Program for the six Fiscal Years, 2027-2032 inclusive. Bill No. 260202, an Ordinance amending Chapter 19-2400 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Hotel Room Rental Tax," by providing for an additional excise tax on hotel room rentals, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260203, an Ordinance amending Subcode "A" (The Philadelphia Administrative Code) of Title 4 of The Philadelphia Code (The Building, Construction and Occupancy Code), by adding and revising Zoning Board of Adjustment fees and provisions regarding hearing scheduling, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260204, an Ordinance amending Title 3 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Air Management Code" to modify the amounts of license and permit fees, under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 2602055, an Ordinance amending Section 19-1806 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Authorization of Realty Use and Occupancy Tax," to clarify the imposition of the tax on the use or occupancy of real estate with respect to cell towers, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260206, an Ordinance amending Chapter 6-600 of The Philadelphia Code ("Asbestos"), by adding and providing provisions related to various fees, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260208, an Ordinance amending Chapter 19-1800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "School Tax Authorization," to a add a new Section 19-1808, entitled "Authorization of Rideshare Use Tax," to authorize the Board of the School District of Philadelphia to levy a tax upon the use by a passenger of a transportation network company for a prearranged ride that originates in Philadelphia; all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260209, an Ordinance amending Title of The 16 Philadelphia Code, entitled 17 "Finances, Taxes and Collections," 18 to add a new Chapter 19-4800, 19 entitled "Retail Delivery Tax," to establish a tax on orders for the delivery in Philadelphia of retail consumer and other tangible goods, all under certain terms and conditions.
Today we will hold the public hearing of the Committee of the Whole to consider bills read by the Clerk that constitute proposed operating capital spending measures for Fiscal Year 2027, a Capital Program and a Forward-looking Capital Plan for Fiscal Year 2027 through Fiscal Year 2032. This morning we have scheduled testimony from the Office of Clean and Green, including the Sanitation Department. Before we get started, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge Mr. Omar Salaam, who also represents the Office of the Mayor; Ms. Crystal Jacobs -- where's Ms. Crystal Jacobs Shipman? I want to thank her also, Commissioner of Sanitation; Mr. Carlton Green -- Carlton Williams, Head of Clean and Green, where's Keith Warren at, Deputy Commissioner for Sanitation, I want to thank all of you for always picking up the phone when I'm calling asking for some type of constituent service issue to address in the 2nd Councilmanic District. I want to also acknowledge Antoine Little from District Council 33. Also thank you for being here. Just want to start off by just thanking all of you for your hard work and your dedication to improving the quality of life of the City of Philadelphia. Ms. Loughead, can you please call the first panel to testify.
The first panel to testify from the Administration is Carlton Williams, Director of the Office of Clean and Green and Crystal Jacobs, Sanitation Commissioner.
Glad to see the West Oak Lane Wildcats finally got their turf filled. That's awesome.
How are you doing, Carlton? Always good to see you.
Good morning, Council President and the honorable members of City Council. My name is Carlton Williams and I am the Director of Clean and Green Initiatives for the Mayor's Administration. And I am here today with Commissioner Crystal Jacobs Shipman from the Sanitation Division Department, Casey Kuklick, Director of Clean and Green; Mary Stitt, Deputy Director for Clean and Green Initiatives; Mr. Keith Warren, Deputy Commissioner for Sanitation; and Mr. Christopher Newman, Deputy Commissioner for the Administration. And I am pleased to provide testimony on the Office of Clean and Green and Sanitation's Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget. I'm extremely proud to report that the Office of Clean and Green continues to make great strides in accomplishing the Mayor's bold vision of a cleaner, greener and safer city with economic opportunity for all. Our FY27 operating budget marks a pivot from building and implementing multiple new and expanding Clean and Green initiatives to sustained transformation of city conditions going forward. We have successfully established multiple programs and initiatives that are proactive, data-driven and demonstrably impactful. The goal now is to move towards solidifying and making permanent all of our successes for the long term. Our One Philly, United City citywide cleanup, for example, will continue to serve as a staple framework for a coordinated citywide approach to address quality-of-life issues in our communities. During Fiscal Year 2026 alone, over a dozen government and quasi government agencies worked together to clean 20,000 streets and address more than 150,000 quality-of-life actions across the city. This comprehensive and coordinated approach is now standard operating procedure and will continue to touch each and every neighborhood annually throughout the City of Philadelphia. Twice weekly trash collections have also shown tremendous growth and success, expanding high density neighborhoods, areas in both South and North Philadelphia and yielding a 15% reduction in illegal dumping calls as a result. The success of this initiative that has gone well beyond a pilot concept is now a permanent shift towards a more flexible service delivery model, where collection frequency is based on need and neighborhood conditions in those areas. The overall plethora and scale of these and our various programs and initiatives, including the district-based residential cleaning, the 10-point greening program, the anti-graffiti and highway beautification plans, Sanitation Department's program expansions and increasing extensive partnerships all reflect forward- looking efforts for a multi-agency, coordinated and combined approaches towards multiple quality-of-life issues and have become primary strategies focusing not only on litter reduction, but also greening graffiti and nuisance abatement, stabilizing vacant land and improving environmental resilience. Importantly, all of these efforts have made a huge difference. Not only can residents and visitors visibly observe the difference across communities and neighborhoods, but objectively our litter index scores have improved over 11% over the last two years, and our new, more comprehensive community appearance index has shown significant initial promising results, with zip codes showing 4 improvement overall in community 5 conditions. 6 Equally important is our 7 investment in people throughout the 8 Philly Future Track workforce 9 development program. Over the last 10 two successive years, the Philly 11 Future Track program has successfully transitioned over 260 program participants to full-time permanent civil service positions. And next year, we are projecting an additional 100.
This not only helps support the massive staffing expansion in the Sanitation Department with new work-ready hires to deliver many of our new programs and initiatives, but it has also endured many of the most at-risk city residents in disadvantaged areas that have career pathways to transition to a new and more promising life. In FY27, we are laying the foundation for the sustained cleaner and greener and safer Philadelphia with economic opportunity for all, not just for today but for the future. This is a strategy built on a quality-of- life focus, shared multi-agency coordination and collaboration and adaptability and it positions the city to deliver increasingly better outcomes year after year. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. We will be happy to answer any questions for this testimony hearing. Now, I'd like to ask Sanitation Commissioner Crystal Jacobs Shipman for an introductory testimony on behalf of the Sanitation Department. COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: Good morning, President Johnson and members of City Council. I am Crystal Jacobs Shipman, Commissioner for the Department of Sanitation, and as mentioned joining me today is Deputy Commissioner Keith Warren, Deputy Commissioner Christopher Newman, not mentioned earlier but our Director of Environmental Planning Scott McGrath, and as mentioned, Omar Salaam, and as well joined by Faruq Scott. I'm here to provide testimony on the Sanitation Department's Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget. 2 million all funds appropriation level. This proposed budget reflects Mayor Cherelle Parker's deep commitment towards making Philadelphia the safest, cleanest, greenest big city in America with access to economic opportunity for all and secures the expansive clean and green investments made by the Mayor and this Council over the prior two fiscal years. C. 33 Vice- President Antoine Little. And I would be remiss if I did not recognize and thank the hard- working men and women of the Sanitation Department. Their work is highly visible, challenging, physically demanding, and their commitment to making our streets clean, green and safe is unwavering. On behalf of the leadership of our entire department, I extend my sincerest gratitude for their professionalism, resilience and pride in serving the residents of Philadelphia. This budget proposal solidifies the various new programs and expansion initiatives of the last several years, while ensuring the continued transformation in how we deliver core sanitation services and improvement and accountability, efficiency and a neighborhood-level impact across Philadelphia. We have successfully established and implemented a wide variety of new initiatives over the last two fiscal years and expanded staffing to historically high levels. This has positioned the department to be much more efficient and responsive in delivering core services throughout the city. Our district-based residential cleaning program, for example, has provided a much more localized service model for all Council Districts, better aligning uniquely-needed services with neighborhood conditions. Since the program's inception, we have effectively cleaned over 90,000 total blocks and impressive achievement, further enhanced by the specific delivery of services needed within each district level area. Similarly, a series of program expansion efforts over the last couple years for twice-per-week trash collections and mechanical street cleaning has increased and consolidated specifically-needed services and geographical areas with the most need in Kensington and parts of North and South Philadelphia, greatly reducing litter debris in those areas and enhancing overall neighborhood conditions. We are continuing to intensify our approach to illegal dumping cleanup as well as surveillance and enforcement.
This budget resources six illegal dumping cleanup crews continuing to strengthen our ability to respond quickly and comprehensively to dumping incidents and focusing in particular on chronic hotspots. The increase in illegal dumping cleanup crew capacity funded over the years has resulted in a more than 280% increase in illegal dumping-site cleanups since 2022 and over 2300 additional sites cleaned during the time period. In addition, we will continue to fund expanded illegal dumping surveillance camera coverage and a significant expansion of sanitation enforcement staff. This will ensure we have the enforcement power and the citizen outreach capability necessary to make as big an impact as possible on citywide littering behaviors. Looking ahead, this budget resources the operating costs necessary to support the recent newly-rehabilitated Northwest Transfer Station. This facility will greatly improve operational efficiency for the transport of trash by reducing travel times for collection crews and strengthening our capacity to manage waste more effectively across the city. We are also committed to continuing to improve Philadelphia's recycling rate through targeted education, better bin access and marketing improvements which are supported by this budget, we expect to continue the steady improvement in overall resident recycling participation, which has increased from a pandemic FY21 low of 8% to an expected 14% this fiscal year and a goal of 15% for FY27. A key aspect of this anticipated continued improvement is the recent expansion to our Big Belly trash and recycling compaction units with an expected network of 1500 this fiscal year, representing 600 newly installed and 520 replaced. We are very proud of the remarkable expansion and strivings we've made thus far, and are poised and excited to solidify these efforts moving forward into FY27. This proposed budget allows us to strengthen and continue the Mayor's visionary clean and green strategies, thus institutionalizing comprehensive and long-term solutions to remove litter and blight across the city and drastically improve overall quality of life for our residents and communities. We're therefore requesting your favorable consideration of the budget. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. Our deputy staff and I are happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you very much. I'm going to call on my members and, again, Mr. Williams, thank you for -- and, Crystal, your work around the snowstorm, just being responsive as we dealt with two back-to-back storms, just leading those efforts and being on the front line.
I just want to acknowledge that. I also want to acknowledge the role of our Mayor when we talked about the issue of Philadelphia being known as Philthadelphia and her jumping in head-first and doing a deeper dive in making sure it's a priority to have clean streets here in the city of Philadelphia. I just had a brief, small question. The Future Track program is very near and dear to me. What aspect of this budget invests in Future Track? Do we know how many additional positions we will be hiring for Future Track in the upcoming future? And then also give me an idea of the role of CLIP. Will you be doing an investment in the CLIP program? And also, will you be hiring more individuals to expand CLIP? I know we're doing a lot of work with TCB, Taking Care of Business, which I think is a great program that deals primarily with the commercial corridors. But I have a specific interest in expanding the opportunities that are available for individuals to specifically do work around Future Track because it gives individuals, regardless of their background, an opportunity to have a pathway into the administration through civil service but through actual permanent jobs, which you mentioned inside your testimony, which I think is great. So I want to continue that progress and whatever I can do to be supportive of it.
Absolutely. Thank you, Council President. And let me acknowledge the fact that you, along with this Council, did champion a budget that allows us to hire every year 200 Future Track employees, trainees that eventually can be eligible for long-term city employment for the City of Philadelphia. That is a huge program for us. It's a win-win-win situation for all of us. Number one, it's a win situation for obviously the candidates in the program. They have meaningful opportunities to join city government, for us, for government agencies like the Sanitation Department, but multiple agencies we've expanded to with multiple tracks. It gives them an opportunity to fill much-needed vacancies with trained employees in advance, so that is another benefit from the program. And of course, for the community in the city, they see the direct results of their hard work. They've worked not only during the snowstorms, but also during the work stoppage and they were a valuable asset all year long with the citywide cleanup. These are the initiatives that we are launching. And based on the important roles that Future Track play, they play a huge role. I will get back to you in terms of CLIP's budget and their positions. We are not anticipating any cuts for CLIP in terms of their role and responsibility. They're playing a huge, huge role in not only graffiti removal, but other quality-of-life initiatives as well, vacant lot restoration. They've been on the front lines of our highway beautification project. If you take a ride up 76 now, you'll notice that that graffiti is no longer on that major CSX wall. That is all CLIP and our Mural Arts program working together to remove those eyesores. But not only do they do that on major corridors, they're doing that in the neighborhoods every day with the number of quality-of-life initiatives, over 100,000 initiatives combined, and they're a big part of that as well. TCB is here. They've expanded. Ms. Roxana, Roxy Taginya -- and I'm sorry, Roxy, if I mispronounced your last name -- but she is here. She can tell you about the expansion. But we've improved from 39 TCB programs to 51, and we've expanded to over 450 blocks. And also, not only do they clean the corridors, but they're also cleaning north, south, east and west of each block related to a corridor as well. So they're doing outstanding work. And together, we're accomplishing the Mayor's vision of a safer, cleaner, greener Philadelphia and reducing the monarchy of Philadelphia.
Are we expanding Future Track? And how many positions in this budget are going to provide more opportunities for people to come into the Future Track program?
Yeah. I think we're sustaining it at 200 right now which is the budget, which is a pretty substantial number for workforce development. And we're able to again utilize and give them the skill sets for them to thrive in city government when positions are available.
And can we expand Future Track in the future or that's not a part of the vision at this particular point in time right now?
Well, I mean we can always expand it if funding becomes available. But right now we are happy to hold Pat at the 200 positions that we have --
-- because it's ultimately a great management function for Commissioner Shipman and team to be able to disperse those and manage them accordingly.
And then also, are we expanding TCB? How does one apply when we get phone calls and say, I'm looking for employment and I want to respond and say, TCB may be an opportunity to have a pathway to work for the City of Philadelphia?
Yes. So TCB did expand with their contractual partners from 39 agencies to 51, so they have now 51 locations in --
How do people apply if they're interested? Is it based upon an individual's geographic location, South Philly, North Philly, West Philly?
So they do hire from the neighborhoods, the community groups and who contract with those agencies, are likely to come from the communities in which they serve which is a good thing because they take ownership. They're able to give back to the neighborhood residents who use that community the most. And that's a good thing. But it's not necessarily a law. Someone from another location of the city that's looking for the opportunity could be placed in that program.
So if a person wants to apply, they reach out to their actual partnering locations, is that correct, partnering organizations?
Yes. Well, the partnering organizations actually do the hiring. We contract with the --
Okay. I just wanted to get an idea. And CLIP isn't going to be expanding at the moment. So if a person wanted to apply to be hired by CLIP to do the CLIP type of work, at this present time they won't be expanding slots for individuals to work for CLIP?
Right, we won't be expanding slots. But there's always turnover in multiple departments and those positions will be filled. And so, we do anticipate -- if those opportunities open up, we definitely want to fill them because of the important work that they do.
And I only ask you this line of questioning because I meet people on a daily basis looking for work and civil service may not be the best route. And traditionally, just to be frank, transparent, you can call CLIP, any spots available because you have a young person that's looking for work, even you, Future Track, do you have any spots available, a person looking for work, and I just think that's a good way to provide people who may not have that opportunity to go through the civil service process, but just a straight hiring process to get them involved in the workforce here in the City of Philadelphia. And last, how does all this correlate around CCME, that program?
So CCME at Community College, Future Track members actually learn a different skill set. So it's a way for us to enhance workforce development opportunities for technical work. Many of them go for positions that may not be available to them if they hadn't taken those courses. And I'm thinking about certain maintenance positions that require technical skills. Also, there's a variety of other related programs not related to Clean and Green that CCME offers as well. So I think it's a great program that we need to continue to support because it gives them that added skill and knowledge base that they need to compete, not only with city jobs but out in the professional world as well.
And, Commissioner Shipman, I know you have -- 200 people is a pretty sizable amount of individuals, but I know you're more than capable of managing 1000 if you had the budget to actually operate those 1000 individuals. And so, the 200 people on their path for graduation, that will open up other opportunities for people to come in? Because I guess I'm getting the impression right now that there's a freeze basically on Future Track. There's a freeze on CLIP. And I guess TCB is opening up some positions or expanding partnering organizations. Did I explain that correctly? COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: I wouldn't justify or classify it as a freeze.
Okay. COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: No. So what happens with Future Track is towards the end of the program if it ends in June, graduation is in June, as many of those individuals who finish that program that we have slots for, whether it's Sanitation or Water or Streets, any of the other departments, we place as many of them as we can. They identify a track that they like, something that they become familiar with. And as far as how many spots that we have open that are available to them, that's how we place them. And then we restart the cycle again.
Got you. So if we place 20 people in permanent city positions, there's 20 slots that's available for new people to come and apply for; is that correct? COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: So at the end of Future Track, typically they've graduated out of the program. Last year we were able to place 180 --
I saw that, which is awesome. COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: And so, the hope would be to place as many as we can and then we start over with a fresh 200.
That's what I was trying to understand. All right. Cool.
And, Council President, just to add they are eligible to stay on a civil service list after they complete even though the job may not be readily available immediately after training service. They are now certified to be on civil service lists to be considered for interviews in the future. And we are trying to connect with other departments to open up more opportunities.
I think also y'all work should just be acknowledged as being a part of a larger strategy to reduce gun violence in the city of Philadelphia, reduce the shootings in the city of Philadelphia. We have a blueprint for a safer Philadelphia that also talked about the need of putting young people to work as a way to address violence in our city. And I believe again the more young people you hire -- my Nana taught me as a kid, an idle mind is the devil's workshop. And so, when you got something to get involved in that's positive, you don't want to stand on the corner, you don't want to get involved in drug dealing because you have a pathway to create an opportunity to have sustainable wages to take care of your family. And so, thank you very much, and I appreciate your testimony. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, then Councilmember Jim Harrity, then Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson and then Dr. Phillips.
Thank you, Council President. And good morning, Director Williams and Commissioner Jacobs Shipman, and thank you for the work that you do on behalf of the city every day.
My questions are about the city's waste disposal contracts. We have less than three months until the city needs to have new solid waste and recycling disposal contracts in place. Delaware County commissioned a very detailed and comprehensive lifecycle assessment study of incineration versus landfilling versus adoption of their zero waste plan. It showed that burning trash at the incinerator in Chester is 69% worse for the climate than landfilling, and that it is 15 times as harmful for all other 16 public health and environmental 17 measures combined. The study used 18 EPA and other data to evaluate nine 19 criteria: Climate impacts, smog 20 and related asthma impacts, 21 respiratory and cardiac effects 22 from particulate matter, cancer and 23 noncancer impacts of toxic chemicals, acidification, ecosystems, toxicity, ozone depletion and eutrophication. At the March 24th budget hearing in this chamber, Director Williams, you stated regarding the Delaware County study that "I think we have to consider all of the environmental impacts, not just one section of it." And so, my questions for you are: Have you read the entire Delaware County study? And if so, why did you claim that the study looked at just one section of environmental impacts when it looked at nine of them from landfills, incinerations and zero waste alternatives. And what other impacts are you implying were not examined? And what specific problems do you have with the study that was already completed?
Councilwoman, thank you for your question. First of all, I want to again state for the record that I think what I've been referring to is that we need to evaluate during our RFP process that we need to be able to address it. Second -- (Background interruption.)
Hold on one second. Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me -- (Background interruption.)
Now, either you get them or I'm going to get them. So I know they're here to be supportive. But okay, y'all want to keep coughing? Hold on one second. Council will be at ease. (Council at ease.)
I don't mind y'all coming and I'm not sure how they do business in Chester. This is a democracy. This is the People's House. And you can come down, you can have the opportunity to listen to their presentation. You can come at public comment to voice your opposition or your support for other people who are in this building. But you will not disrupt this hearing by coughing and making noises while these individuals are giving their presentations or any members are commenting on the stated matter. If not, you will be removed today. Now, you can keep coughing all you want, but I'm going to show you. We want to be respectful of everybody inside this room rather we support their opinion or not. Now, keep coughing.
Thank you, Council President. And, Councilmember, just to follow up on your question, what I was referring to is that there are other studies that also can contradict what was presented in the study from Delaware County. For example, and I would like to present for the record the study that was just released by the Municipal Solid Waste Management Association and Recycling edition in March 2026 which states, Thermal chemical waste to energy technologies play a pivotal role in valorizing MSW by converting waste to energy and materials while reducing environmental impacts compared to landfilling. The integration into sustainable waste management systems support global efforts towards resource efficiency and climate change mitigation. In developed countries, WTE complements recycling and source separation. While in developing, undeveloped nations, it offers a pathway to reduce open dumping and improve energy access. Continued advancements in process efficiency, emission control and product valorization will enhance their contributions to a circular economy. By addressing the technical, economic and social challenges, WTE technologies can serve as a cornerstone of sustainable MSW management aligning with global sustainability goals. So what I'm referring to is that there are multiple studies that we need to review before we make a decision as to if we should eliminate it or ultimately continue to use it altogether.
Thank you for reading that, but I did ask a very specific set of questions. Have you read the Delaware County study in full? And since you brought up the other study, I just wanted to point out that the Delaware County study was quite specific to what's happening in our region. In fact, it mostly focused on Philadelphia's trash. It sounded like what you read was more general. And I would ask whether it focused on the Reworld incinerator in particular, which in addition to being the largest trash incinerator in the entire country, is quite old and not like a lot of the other incinerators that do waste to energy in Europe and other parts of the country. But can you answer my questions about the Delaware County study?
Sure. Me and my staff did review some of the findings in that study, and we don't disagree with the emissions assessment that was made, although again we believe that it could be looked at as subjective in terms of how the LCAs are evaluated. But we're not here again, I want to state for the record, to support WTE versus landfilling. We're here to ask this Council to give us the opportunity to evaluate it through the RFP process. And I can ask my staff to come up to talk more in detail about the evaluation and review that we did if time permits. But ultimately, I'm going to just let you know that that's where our position is.
So did you just say that your staff doesn't disagree with the findings of the study that the trash incineration happening in Chester is 69% worse for the climate than landfilling and times as harmful 23 for both public health and the environment? Is that what you said, that you all don't sort of take qualms with the study that was already done and generated those results?
We don't disagree with the study, but we're saying that there are other studies out there that contrast very differently from the one that was presented. And the data that we have ultimately states there's multiple research agencies that did it from 2016 to 2023, which is much more recent than the study that was done in Delaware County.
If you could forward to my office the studies that you have looked at that are as specific to Philadelphia and our surrounding region as the Delaware County study which again focused specifically on our trash, I would appreciate that. And in closing, I would say if your staff looked at the Delaware County study, which was quite thorough and are not pushing back on what it showed, which was quite clear data that incineration is much worse for the environment and public health, I would question why you want to have an RFP process that allows something as harmful to our neighbors as the trash incinerator and Chester. Thank you so much.
Yes, ma'am. And I read in for the record the study, and I'll make sure that Councilmembers each have a copy. We will send some electronically, but that is a hard copy for the record for the study that we also reviewed and contrasted to the one that currently exists and presented by Councilmember Gauthier.
All right. This will be made and presented to members of the Committee of the Whole.
Chair recognizes Councilmember Jim Harrity. And then, as I mentioned before, Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson and then Councilmember Dr. Anthony Phillips.
Thank you, Council President. Thank you everyone for being here this morning. Got a lot of respect for you guys. Thank you for what you do to clean and green in my neighborhood. It's moving right along. We always have little stumbling spots. But you guys, when I tell you, are responsive, you guys are responsive, and that's what our neighbors want. But since Councilwoman brought it up, I have a couple questions about the incinerator stuff too. How much would it cost to change the way we deal with our trash? I know that there's the legislation to terminate the contract in Chester. Can you please talk about how much it would cost Philadelphia to transition to this? And have we given any thought to landfills also cause pollution. So maybe we can make a five year plan just like Chester to explore better options than landfills or trash incineration. I mean, I know that before COVID we were almost there with the recycling, and I know you've been around. So I think we were at 18%. We needed to get to 22 to get the federal money. I'm not sure if the federal money is still there. Technology has advanced now. I met with a company that does sorting recyclables and rubbish, composting-type deal where the AI now -- the employees are there, it's very clean, very organized, and the AI hits it with these lasers and it can tell you there's a banana under that box, please take it out. And then the person lifts up the box, pulls the banana out and puts it in. In reality, neither of these things are good for us, right. What's the cost going to be? And what about making a five year plan also like Chester's doing in order to phase out through a lot of other different avenues, not just burying our trash other than incinerating it, but also trying to recycle more so we can get more of the federal money. And also, compost. I'm a big farmer guy. We got lots of people that would probably use the compost if we had it. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilmember Harrity, for your comment and support. We couldn't agree with you more in this statement that we need to look at other practices away from landfilling and waste to energy programs. I think I also said in that initial five year testimony about anaerobic digestion and the use of organics, which make up 30% to 40% of our waste stream combined with recycling, which can get somewhere to 60% to 70% diversion, which helps us get closer to zero waste. I had the great opportunity last fall to attend the Chicago GPLEX Summit and we actually witnessed one in a neighborhood that was generating safe, productive energy and organic material. It cost them about $20-something million to build for a 90,000-ton-per-day facility. That is something that we should be seriously looking at. Commissioner Shipman is already working with PGW and looking at the infrastructure here in the city of Philadelphia to do exactly what you said, to see what Philadelphia's infrastructure could lead to, to get us away from both waste to energy and landfilling. Commissioner. COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: I just want to add that -- and you stated that very, very well, Director -- that we will be piloting some organic waste opportunities for residential homes to be able to remove organic material out. So you'll be seeing that very shortly, and we'll be talking to Council about spreading the word on how we remove that particular material from the homes.
Excuse me, Commissioner. I have a point of information. Councilmember Jamie Gauthier.
Some quick points of information. There is not an opportunity to come up with a five year plan. This is a seven year contract that will be done June 30th. And if we do not pick another partner or alternative, we'll be in another seven year contract with Reworld, which is not only the largest incinerator in the country. It's the largest industrial polluter in the region. And so, the timeline for that would be past the Parker Administration. I wanted to point out that there is no sorting that happens at this facility. I went to visit and also had a number of colleagues and staff visit with me. They sort of eyeball it, so they don't know really what they're burning. And then lastly, we've looked at the cost. It's about 6 million more to switch to a landfilling alternative, which in a $7 billion budget, is almost a rounding error and a lot cheaper than what you have to pay for the public health costs associated with asthma and cancer in both Chester and Philadelphia. Thank you. (Applause.)
I would also recognize that, as you just said, if we did do a five year plan, say seven years, we would be in the same time frame as Chester is planning to do theirs. They're planning a five to seven year phase-out. If we do a five year plan with a seven year, so you're talking the same amount of time, we would all stop together. Maybe we can get a better price on the landfill. But thank you, Commissioner. Could you please answer the question?
Member Gauthier, could you let the gentleman who's on the floor continue to keep speaking. Member Harrity.
Yes, thank you. That's what I had to say. I mean, listen, it would bring us to around the same time that Chester wants to stop too. That way maybe we can work on together getting better prices, and by that time we'll also have better recycling and all. I'm just saying we need a lot more planning here, and still would like to know, if you don't have it here, the cost analysis.
Just one second. Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, point of information.
Again, the Philadelphia contract will be finished. Chester is not in the same position. Neither does Chester make that decision for their city. Delaware County does. And they are not at the end of their contract. Philadelphia is at the end of its contract where it has the opportunity to make another choice and to decide whether clean and green also means being kind to our neighbors. Thank you.
Chair recognizes Commissioner Carlton Williams.
Yes. Just a point of clarification. Councilmember, the contract is for a guaranteed four year with one three-year renewable option year. So in theory, four years is what we're committed to. We can renew the contract in its fifth year, Councilmember. I just wanted that stated for the record because it's not a straight seven year contract.
This is just information too. Ohio, Maryland and the five other counties in Pennsylvania that are currently burning trash there also, they have no intentions of stopping, right?
Not to my knowledge, but I'll turn it over to the Commissioner. COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: Based on what we know, we have not received word that the counties that you've mentioned or the other states, New York, New Jersey have any plans to pull out. We have not received any of that information.
Thank you guys. And if you could just give me that cost analysis, if you could send it to us so we'd all have that information in our comparison. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Chair recognizes Councilmember and Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson, then Councilmember Dr. Anthony Phillips, then Minority Leader Kendra Brooks.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Council President, and thank you to our colleagues. I also wanted to mention that you asked my questions regarding Future Track. You know that I was going to ask about workforce development. But I'll start with my thank-yous. Again, thank you to our Commissioner Crystal Jacobs Shipman; to our Director of Clean and Green Carlton Williams; to Keith Warren, who I think I email at all times of the day and night, we are currently working on I think at least five or six constituent cases just from the last week or two. I must mention Community Life Improvement Program, CLIP, with Tom Conway, the long-time founding Executive Director, and also Rochelle Hand, the Deputy of Operations, the CLIP staff from all the way down from Tom to all the crews who are on the street. We thank you for all of the work that you all are doing to really help us address a myriad of issues across the City of Philadelphia, and we thank you for being responsive and for always getting back to us. I wanted to go back quickly to recycling, and I heard that our rates are improving, particularly from the pandemic period, which is wonderful. And we always talk about the education, the enforcement and the compliance as it relates to recycling. So can you just talk about the staffing from a Class 100 perspective complement that you all have proposed in this budget specifically for recycling and talk about the goals, if any, around ensuring that we can increase the rate of recycling in the city? I know we had that program years ago and I'm forgetting the name of the program. This may have been 10 or 15 -- COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: Philacycle.
Philacycle, and you would receive rewards and points for recycling -- COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: Yes.
Can you just talk about that and what we're doing to try to incentivize recycling to increase our rate in the city?
The program Philacycle was Recycle Bank as well. It had two names --
So it used to reward people for participating in the program with gift cards or coupons to locations and local businesses and stores. We thought it was a great idea. It was a great program. But that's when recycling was actually benefiting the City of Philadelphia and we were actually making money. Believe it or not, Councilmember, it was a time where we made $6 million a year off of recyclable material. Unfortunately, now we're paying close to $10 million and to sustain a program like that was very difficult. We need to reinvest in domestic markets so that we can get those rates back to favorable productivity, and we're working on that. But we need to continue and maintain our program for the environment and for future generations to use because it does continue to preserve our natural resources. But because of the shift in dynamics, what particularly happened to overseas markets, we unfortunately had to discontinue the program. I'll turn it over to the Commissioner for follow-up.
Sure. But how has that impact -- so we've, I'm sure, had to increase our recycling costs year over year as a result of that. And I thought that was a great program. I even used that program. I remember the wonderful program. How has that impacted how much we are needing to invest year over year in recycling? But again, we need to focus on the education, the enforcement and the compliance. So what do we have relative to a proposed staffing complement for recycling? COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: So our Sweep Unit is the primary unit that educates or provides education specific to recycling. They're also responsible for enforcement. They are the folks who are more commonly seen traversing in the business corridors, our residential corridors to provide education. They also staff the events that are hosted where we're able to reach out to our constituents specifically. At present, we're budgeted for a number of sweep officers and I don't have that number right in front of me. We're continuing to staff up in that particular unit. In fact, I think there are interviews taking place right now to increase the number of people who serve in that unit to provide the education and the campaigns that we need to roll out. In addition to that, you'll start to see going back to the basics, us being able to communicate directly with the public to say, hey, this is what is recyclable, make sure that you get the good materials so that we can continue to increase the rate, get us back to that 21% that Councilman Harrity mentioned.
Thank you. Thank you very much. I heard the bell and I want to honor the clock. But I have to give a shout-out to the sweep officers who have come to the block parties that we've had, Councilmember Jones. And also put my plug in, you know I have to say this, Jones, for twice-weekly trash collection for the Wynnefield community. That's for you, Sheila Wilson. That's for Sheila Wilson. So thank you very, very much.
Thank you, Councilmember. COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: Councilwoman, Deputy Commissioner Newman let me know we are budgeted for 76 sweep officers and 54 are filled.
Oh, okay. And are there any vacancies? COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: Those are the vacancies, 22. Like I said, we're interviewing now and hopefully we will get that staffed up as possible.
Great. Thank you so much. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you, Majority Leader. Thank you for honoring the clock. Next is Councilmember Dr. Anthony Phillips, then Minority Leader Kendra Brooks, and then Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmad.
Thank you so much, Council President. I just want to begin by thanking Carlton Williams for his leadership as the Director of Clean and Green --
Time out. Council will be at ease. Time out. (Council at ease.)
Don't both of y'all -- all three of y'all are from the Northeast.
It has nothing to do with efficiency and effectiveness. We just bring great --
I know the Madam is out there somewhere watching this. Dr. Phillips, the floor is yours, sir.
Thank you. And also, I want to thank our Commissioner Crystal Jacobs Shipman as well, the Sanitation Department, to me that I believe is the best department in the City of Philadelphia. From the idea of the twice-a-week mechanical sweep cleanup to the cleanup teams that we have, to the incredible focus on illegal dumping, and then also even when there's an error that happens, you all tend to clean it up that same day or the next day. And so for me, that's what Philadelphia is looking for in terms of greatness. So I just want to say thank you all so much. And I do want to ask you this question that can hopefully help other departments. You all have a 3% vacancy rate, which is roughly around 60 people that you haven't hired out of 1000 or so people on your staff -- no, 1800, excuse me. And what are you all doing, right, to make sure -- you're doing well, your HR department is doing well to make sure that hiring is taking place, because clearly you all have a great model for that?
Sure. So I'm going to ask Deputy Commissioner Chris Newman to talk about HR work, but I will say Future Track plays a huge role in that, because we have workready people ready to fill positions once they're open. That is a huge advantage of the program. By allowing them to come in, get trained, have experience and then when a position opens up or have a waiting list, you don't have those long delays. And so, those workforce development programs are awesome. They really do work and they provide again that win-win-win situation. That's the win for us. We get people who we've already trained, we know they can do the job and we have put them in positions and they're able to fill it right away.
And right before the Deputy Commissioner's response, I just want to also add our office met with Trash Academy, which is a community-led initiative. They have some questions around the H.O.M.E. Initiative. They're concerned that that construction and demolition is going to cause debris that can contribute to higher levels of dumping, illegal dumping. Given that, does the department have a plan to work with the construction companies that are going to have to respond to illegal dumping and demolition debris? And how is the department coordinating with developers and contractors and other agencies to ensure proper disposal happens? So I guess that question can be answered after we hear from -- those are my only two questions -- three, I think.
Good morning, Councilmember. My name is Chris Newman. I'm the Deputy Commissioner for Administration in the Sanitation Department. Thank you for noticing the vacancy rate. Director Williams is correct, most of it is Future Track, our Future Track workforce development program. If you look at how many people have been hired just this year alone, it's over 300 that we've hired. 100 of them were Future Trackers. But in addition to that, the other thing that we do is we're just continuously in hiring mode. We learned a number of years ago that we could just continuously have new hire classes on a monthly or bimonthly basis to keep up with our attrition rates. In some of our jobs, we do have high turnover rates so it requires us to kind of just keep on moving forward with hiring. And we've established a great relationship with the Office of Human Resources in helping us do that.
Sure. We had a very productive meeting with Clean Philly Now maybe about a week ago to talk about the concerns that they had in reference to the H.O.M.E. Initiative. Obviously we would work definitely with our Administration within Planning and the Housing Division with Jesse Lawrence and Ms. Angela Dixon to talk about those initiatives. But to ensure -- they're just basic commonsense requests to ensure that any contractor that's doing construction in this city is following the rules and not dumping it and recycling the material as much as possible and to make sure that we have checks and balances and to make sure that happens. So I'm looking forward to continuously working with them to make sure that those things happen, either through policy or through any other form of legislation that we can assist with.
Thank you for your incredible work. And, yes, please share with the HR departments how you all are doing that across the -- Streets has 17% and I'm so confused by that, so thank you so much, as to vacancy rate. Thank you all for what y'all do.
Thank you very much, sir. Chair recognizes Minority Leader Kendra Brooks, then Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmad, then Councilmember Nicolas O'Rourke.
Thank you, Council President. And thank you guys from the Office of Clean and Green for all the work that you do. One of the initiatives that I have been proud to lead is my work on community gardens. We are currently years into the process, and many of those gardens are now making their way through the Land Bank thanks to this Council and the advocacy of the community gardeners. I want to see what, if any, role the office of Clean and Green Initiatives can help pay for community gardens, and if you haven't been involved this far, how can we get the office to be better engaged and involved with community gardens?
Thank you, Councilmember. We're happy to report that we are launching a new initiative this spring called Lotscapes. And Lotscapes is exactly what the community gardeners have been doing on their own for years, but it's a formal process for us to transform lots into a usable, viable open space that the community can enjoy, driven by the community, so they can either put an organic garden in that location. They can have a sitting area or a play area for young people or a mural design, 3D version of a lotscape, as you can imagine, that beautifies the neighborhood. We think this makes a huge difference not only in the quality of life, but it also reduces crime. There are studies that show from the University of Penn that when you have green open space communities, there's a 30% decrease in crime, violent crime. So this is why we're making this investment. There's locations this year, this spring that we're hoping to complete and finish and show as examples of what we can do across the city and then to formalize the process. There are some policy issues that we have to work through about ownership and who's going to be insured by it, who's going to take responsibility for it. But we think working with PHDC and the Land Bank, that we can get through those and helping the community by making those lots active and viable for community residents.
So the conversations you're having in the policy pieces, will it be coordinated with the current work that's being done around community gardeners? Because it took us so long to even move to the point that we are and we're in some of the same discussions and have been in discussions for five years now -- as long as I've been in office, that's one of the first things I started working on. So I just want to make sure as we're creating this system, that it's the same conversation to streamline the efforts of the many community gardeners around the city that are getting stuck in some level of policy around this work, and making sure that we're working with all the agencies that are already existing and not just lifting up new programs. So I would love if we can do some coordination. Because right now, we've worked on saving 90 gardens in the city.
So we need to make sure those 10 have the same opportunities as the 90 that we're still trying to get legalized in the city.
Absolutely. My Deputy Director Casey Kuklick is directly working very closely with him and he can reach out to your office to ensure that community gardens is definitely a part of that conversation.
Thank you. Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmad, then Councilmember Nicolas O'Rourke, then Jeffrey Jay Young and Rue Landau.
Thank you, Council President. Good morning. Good to see you all, and thank you. To echo everybody in my thanks for being so highly responsive, I try not to bother you but you always answer the calls. I deeply appreciate that. I have a question about a specific item. I see that the 1.5 million contract with PHS to enact the Land Care program is being cut. That's on the supporting detailed professional services segment. I just wanted to know why that has been cut, because this was the same day pay work that happened in lots with young people I believe? I saw it be very, very effective using young people on weekends redirecting them. So I just wanted to know what was that -- it goes to zero. So I just wanted to ask that question.
I'm going to ask Deputy Commissioner Chris Newman to come up and talk about the cut and then we can then follow up.
And a point of information as well. Could you also add that if there is a cut, PHS, Philadelphia Horticulture Society, but if there is a commitment from the Administration to build I guess it's 1000-plus trees, who's actually doing the work if we're actually cutting back in the area of the organization who is actually helping us plant trees?
It's not cut. I'm happy to report it's not cut. So what you're looking at, we actually had that budgeted under what was called the Solid Waste program, budgetary program. We created and established the Office of Clean and Green program in the budget. It wasn't in there before, so it was just moved from one program to another. The 1.5 is still there.
Still there. And it will still do that program of the, you know, having young people work on the corner lots, empty lots to do the cleanup? Because that was the -- I was actually going to see if you need more resources there because we've had nonprofits who've come and told me how well that has been working and the redirection of our young people to feel pride in cleaning up their own corners has been immense. So I'm so glad to hear that. Second question quickly is there's a lot of conversation about recycling and I know it costs, but it costs not to do it is part of the issue. And just a very mundane matter of recycling just in our offices. There seems to be a confusion about who does what in terms of clearing our waste and different contracts are operating and they don't all do the same thing. So if we are going to really do recycling, we have to showcase what we are doing and model the good behavior. So I just wanted to know what goes on there and how we can resolve that? COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: So I'll first speak specifically to what's going on in City Hall. Council President did bring to our attention that there was some confusion as to whether or not the materials that leave City Hall are actually being recycled. And so, I will say that we do provide both trash and recycling collection here at City Hall. And I think the confusion has been in the collection process itself, whether or not the workers, the folks who are working here are actually separating once you've separated. So we are working very closely with the three different organizations that collect trash from this building to, one, provide different types of collection receptacles. So the hope is that there will be an investment in a bag that is able to be recycled, so maybe a brown bag for your recycling and then a bag for your trash so that you have the ability to make sure that the items are separated when you're in and then they're collected separately and placed downstairs in the basement in two separate bins.
Good to hear, because the prevailing thought is told to me we don't, it all goes in the same place, why are you -- because I'm religiously separating my trash and I'm told it's useless, but I hear you. Just quickly my last question, and this has been touched upon briefly by some of my colleagues, including Councilmember Harrity, about using technology to really, really reduce our garbage, the ones that need to go to either incinerator or landfill. What are we doing in real terms to employ what we have current technology to really reduce that? And also, how are we investing in composting? And that is going to really -- we are going to need to separate and then do something with that separated trash. So I wanted to know -- we had a very successful campaign to get people to recycle before, right. So we know we can change culture in terms of people doing it. If we're really going to address incineration and landfills and the pros and cons of that, we have to make a commitment as a city to reduce our waste -- (Applause.)
-- number one, and then to actually do things with the waste that makes sense without causing detriment to our health.
Yeah. I'll start and then I'll turn it over to Commissioner Shipman to talk about organics. And thank you for your comment, Councilmember. We think that there's a real opportunity here in the City of Philadelphia to do organics. Right now our Water Department uses digesters in the City of Philadelphia to do sludge waste and turn it into energy. So the capability is there. We could do the same thing for food waste organic material, whether it be using existing city resources or having a public-private partnership, where one is built here like in the city of Chicago. We're also working with PGW to explore what those can mean in terms of dollars. There's energy credits available when we do make that transition. So I think that is a very real opportunity for us to do so. I think that there definitely needs to be a commitment. We're working on an RFI to see what companies could come in and actually build here in the City of Philadelphia. I also want to say for the record that in our existing contract there's always provisions for us to move tonnage. So there was a 25,000-ton stipulation that we can use to pilot programs that would allow us to see what technologies could work best for Philadelphia. We anticipate putting that same clause back in this upcoming contract to give us those opportunities to explore what works here in the city. So if we can do it on a small scale immediately, then we can grow it out to a larger scale and eventually transition our entire waste system to that. But I'll turn it over to Commissioner Shipman for additional comments on organics. COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: As mentioned, we are piloting a small organic program that will help residents to remove the materials that are in their home. A big portion of that comes with the education and just telling folks, hey, you don't need to put the organic materials in the trash, it can go to a place where it can be easily reused, repurposed. And so, we will be focusing on that in this upcoming fiscal year and again working very closely with you all to make sure that those locations are known where people can drop off their material and how it will be utilized from there.
Thank you so much. I look forward to a robust program that signals to the city that we can be a number one city to really look at our trash in an environmental justice manner to make sure we're not impacting people. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you. Chair recognizes Councilmember Dr. -- Nicolas O'Rourke, Jeffrey Jay Young and Rue Landau.
The Doctor's worked too hard for them titles. I ain't gone take one unduly, but thank you --
Appreciate you, sir. And thank you for your time and all those that are with us today. I want to start my time by talking about Councilmember Gauthier's Stop Trashing Our Air Act legislation that I've supported through the Committee on Environment, as I have the pleasure of serving as a part of that committee and I will be personally proud to celebrate it on final passage as well. Before I get into my questions, I wanted to share something because the beauty of being an At-Large member is that you represent the entirety of the city. You don't have necessarily the focus of a District member, but you have to amplify the voices of your constituents. I was not here the day that a number of children came through the chamber to share their views and beliefs on the topic, but I did want to share a few things I thought were pretty interesting from what they said, if I may use a little bit of my time to just read this to you. On the 11th of March, Dear Mayor Parker, I believe that we need to stop trash burning in Philly. We need to do that because 70% of Chester's population is Black and that is environmental racism, literally what they wrote. Everyone in Chester deserves the right to live in a clean and green place. Everyone deserves the right to breathe clean air. There are other industrial places next to the incinerator and that is a lot of pollution for one neighborhood. If we can make people healthier, why wouldn't we? (Applause.)
I thought that was stark -- there was more that they wrote, but that was from Poppy from Fanny Jackson Coppin. They're a 2nd grader. There was another one. Dear Mayor Parker, I believe we need to stop burning trash because when the trash gets burned, the trash gets buried. It pollutes the groundwater and the ash is toxic. Kids get asthma because of the air pollution. A greener job would be like a composter or a gardener. 70% of Chester is Black. The smoke can spread here too. We used to have trash incinerators in Philadelphia and even the District Attorney then sued the city because they were causing so much pollution. And now, we are letting Chester deal with all that deadly pollution. How was that fair for Chester? That's why we should stop the trash incinerator. Sincerely, Leo. I liked that one. (Applause.)
This one was like a little booklet. I didn't even get this one beforehand. This was actually on my desk already. This is kind of cute. They put it together. Once there was a land where people were sick and the world was smoke because all that smoke was coming from the incinerator, exclamation mark. The incinerator is bad, the people say. But the Councilmembers and the Mayor did not listen, so they protested and rallied just to shut it down. Let Chester breathe. Save our air. They got a little protest picture in the booklet. And then at the end it says, and that's why we should shut the incinerator down. The end. I thought that was good writing. So I wanted to share those with you because as the President said, this is what democracy looks like and their voices particularly matter. I said during the committee that I was struck by this. It wasn't read up on prior to the bill being proposed, but it's amazing to me that we would have such a close example of environmental racism to the City of Philadelphia, and that we would miss the opportunity to act on that to resist it. I hear the bell. I basically wanted to ask with these students that, you know, cut through all the bureaucracy and get to the heart of the red tape. What they're saying is burning trash pollutes our air and it makes people sick, especially them. So with that in mind, can you either, Commissioner Jacobs Shipman or Director Williams, tell us clearly when will the Administration submit the waste disposal contract to City Council for approval? I ask that question and again, I want us to just sit with what they're sharing here, because there are very rare opportunities for us to be able to affirm what seems to be a growing and bustling moral compass. I thank God that we have children to look up to. But for their clarity on this issue, I think we ought to keep that in mind as we try to address this very I guess complex issue. But can you share with us when you might submit those?
So let me first of all acknowledge and thank those young people for taking action to voice their opinions in regards to their health and concern, not only for the city of Chester but for the environment. And we recognize that and we're not ignoring it. What we're simply asking for, Councilmember, is the opportunity to evaluate because just as those many people, including those children, say it's dangerous, others say it's not and then we have the dual responsibility because what we decide on this contract will impact the citizens of Philadelphia and the city of Chester. If we send it to landfills, they have health issues as well. They distribute methane gas that globally affect not only the city of Chester, Philadelphia, but the entire planet. We have to take advantage and look at what's right for Philadelphia, what's right for Chester and what's right for our environment. We have a responsibility to do that environmentally and fiscally because we don't know the impact of if we're forced to move one way or another, if we don't fully evaluate it, this is all we're asking. We're taking those in consideration. We appreciate Councilmember Gauthier's passion for this issue, but we need the opportunity to look at the RFP in its totality, look at objective data that is able to say this is dangerous, this is not, this is cost-effective, this is not. These are the things that we need to do in an RFP process. And unfortunately, I think if we preempt that, we don't have that opportunity.
Thank you for the response. I'm wrapping up because I did hear the bell. I'll just say that I want to echo the clarity that Member Gauthier brought in her point of information to Member Harrity that we've seen this particular process before in 2012 as well as '19. Contracts were submitted in early June just weeks before they were set to take effect, and that effectively forces Councilmembers to a take-it or leave-it position, which I think that we need to be mindful of the time frame. And so, government is difficult. This is slow. There's a lot of moving pieces, but I want to keep bringing up the timeline point because I think that urgency, it can demand an urgency of us to be clear and to act before we get into a situation where we can't move or address that particular issue. But I hear the interest in taking the time necessary to observe those things. I just want to make sure that I repeat and echo that sense of urgency I think that we need on this particular matter.
Absolutely. And I just want to also acknowledge that the process did change because of Councilmember Gauthier. We met prior to the announcement to talk about evaluating the environmental impacts, which is the first time out of those contracts that you stated would be our first time looking at an environmental factor that not only looks at cost, but it looks at the impact that it's having, and having objective outside agencies from MSW and CEC, which looks at particulate in the air environment to tell us recommendations as to what this actually means. So that's why we're asking for that time. But I do want to acknowledge Councilmember Gauthier's efforts. It did make changes in the RFP process. And that's the process that we want to follow.
That's good. That's very good that we're moving forward and changing the way that we move based off the way things are being proposed. I appreciate your consideration. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Chair recognizes Councilmember Jeffrey Jay Young, Councilmember Rue Landau, then Quetcy Lozada and then Bass.
Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to thank this office for your hard work. You are one of the hardest working I'll say service departments in the city. So again, thank you to the Office of Clean and Green for what you do for our city. First question I have is regarding the recycling budget. Mr. Director Williams, you said there was $10 million that the city pays in recycling. Can you tell us is that on average of what other cities are paying in their recycling costs? And also, could you tell us how much of our recycling actually gets lost because of whatever reason, damage or things like that and it has to go into our landfills or incinerators?
Sure. I'm going to ask Deputy Commissioner Newman to come up in reference to cost. And then also, I think our Recycling Director Kyle Lewis, is she here -- she's not here. Okay. Environmental Services Director Scott McGrath, he can talk about contamination, I think is what you're referring to, things that don't make it to the processing facility because it's soiled or contaminated or just is not part of the recycling stream. I think those are the things that impact our ability to process the material, which drives up costs. But the $10 million certainly goes to the cost for processing. And unfortunately, if we don't have markets that we can actually sell the material on the open market, it then comes at a price for us to have to warehouse it and so forth. And that's at the industry level. In comparison to other cities, I think Environmental Services Director Scott McGrath will tell you that this is probably a good rate for Philadelphia because other cities are paying much higher to recycle material.
I would ask what is New York paying, right, as a comparable East Coast city?
We're paying about $90 a ton to process recyclable material.
I'm going to ask our environmental services expert to come up and he can give you that information. MR. McGRATH: We can check on the New York rate, which is actually based on a long-term 20-year contract that involves both city and vendor investments in both buildings and equipment. So it's really difficult to compare the two.
Great. Thank you for that. I want to move on to my next question because you answered that part of my question for me, but you led into the next question about longer-term trash and recycling contracts. You can say they reduce stable pricing, but what specific procurement timeline, contract structure, pricing controls and vendor accountability measures will be in place for these long-term contracts to ensure that that can happen so we can get some of those lower costs that other cities are paying when it comes to recycling?
Sure. That is a part of the negotiation process that we're going through right now. The recycling contract is also up for negotiation in terms of what the city can get in terms of best value and that's what we're working towards now. So we won't know that until this process is complete, but we are working to get the best deal for the City of Philadelphia under our current terms and conditions and facilities available.
Thank you. Madam Leader, I have one more question please, if you don't mind.
Thank you. So this question is about the twice-a-week trash collection. What evidence shows that this trash collection expansion is reducing litter, illegal dumping, missed collections and complaint volume? Is this enough to justify the cost of the twice-a-week trash collection? I'll tell you that we get mixed reviews about it. Some communities love it. Some people I'll say will complain about it because they see more trash. What can we do regarding the twice-a-week trash collection to ensure that it's not creating a negative impact on our communities?
So to answer your first question, 311 data shows us the reduction in the number of calls and complaints that we're getting in terms of illegal dumping. It's down in some neighborhoods in South Philadelphia, 20% which is a significant number. It's too early to tell in North Philadelphia yet because we haven't run a full scale program to get enough data to show the difference if it's making an impact. We have had challenges because of the storms disrupting our collection processes. So we're trying to get back on track so that we can deliver the service that the program is expected to achieve. But we are working with the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner and the whole team to be able to do that so that we can mitigate some of those problems. They're not incorrect when they make those complaints. It has been sporadic because we were off schedule, but we expect to address those issues very soon.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilmember Young. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Landau.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Hi. Thank you for being here. I've got two buckets of questions for you and I want to start first with recycling. Again, increasing people's recycling is really all about education. I've heard from many constituents who have talked about the fact that if our recycling numbers reduce to 9%, it's as if we don't have recycling at all. When I first started in 2024, you told me that we're recycling for 13%. And now, we're only up to 14%. And I think as somebody who's around a lot of teenagers all the time, they do not believe that recycling is real. They actually tell me it's a myth. They throw things that should be recycled in the trash can. And I wanted to know very seriously, my numbers are a little different from yours. It seems that we're spending $10 million on recycling. And if we have 85 tons of recycling, we're spending about $117 a ton, not just 90. So I wanted to talk about reducing that cost, increasing education. And then I have some incinerator questions as well.
Sure. You want to talk about the recycling education? COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: Sure. I'll just say, Councilmember Landau, that it's a national challenge for people to believe that folks are recycling. It's not just a Philadelphia issue. What we saw over COVID, and I know it seems so long ago but it actually isn't that long ago, was you had communities that have completely stopped recycling. Even more recently you've had communities completely stop recycling. In Philadelphia, we never stopped recycling. And so, what we're trying to do through the educational campaigns that we're bringing back, one, get back to the basis of explaining exactly what goes in so that it's not confusing and then getting that messaging out into the schools. And Deputy Warren would be kicking me right now if he was close enough, just to mention that we have programs like our Green Schools program, where we help to encourage different recycling efforts and get into the schools so that we fund the different programs that they utilize to help educate each other. We're doing a program right now with City Year to also get the messaging into the schools about recycling. Because we do realize if we get them in the schools, we catch them early, they can take that messaging home to their parents and then we can help to further build up our recycling rate.
And, Councilmember, just clarification, we budgeted because it was over $100 a ton and the rate did improve, so it's closer to $9 million in what we're paying in actual cost. But last year, we budgeted and that's the number that I gave when I said $10 million so that gets you closer to the $90 per ton that we were stating. So I wanted to clarify that.
And a couple of quick questions. I wanted to clarify something you submitted on the record. The study, was that your study on the impacts of burning trash?
The study that you gave to Council President, was that your study that you did on burning trash?
No, that was an existing study that was done by researchers from Idaho. And it was done in a recycling magazine, an agency that's very credible, the Municipal Solid Waste Managers Association of America.
When will your study be done? How much did it cost? What's the difference between your study and the one commissioned by Delaware County?
I think what we're doing is having an independent objective review process from MSW Consultants, which is a nationally known agency, that looks at all waste strategies that we've worked with for a number of years to give that data. And then we also are adding a component from CEC. And what does CEC stand for, Scott? I forget their name. MR. McGRATH: Oh, CEC, Community Environmental Consultants.
So the combination of these two studies will give us the data that we need to objectively include in our factorization of what the impacts are and those will go into evaluating it. So it's not that we're not believing Delaware County, but we also have another report that says different than Delaware County, and this is why we need an objective review that we need to do on our own.
We knew the deadline was coming up for this contract. When did you launch this concept that this information that will come to you will give you the information that you need? We've always known the deadline.
I mentioned earlier that Councilmember Gauthier changed the game when we met last year and said, we need this as a part of the review process. That's what we agreed to. And that's why it started last year, in order for us to start gathering contracting information to be able to include in this RFP. So this is not a small item. This is a huge deal in terms of us being able to determine what the environmental impacts of these facilities offer versus what they submit in terms of pricing.
Okay. And you will submit to us how much it's costing you?
Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilmember Landau. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Lozada.
Thank you, Madam Leader. First, good morning and thank you for being with us today. I also would like to begin by expressing gratitude for both of your teams in the 7th Council District. I know that I text like many other Councilmembers at all hours of the night and always get a response. Special shout-out to Keith Warren because it doesn't matter the day, the time, the time of the year, he's always very responsive. So I want to express my deep gratitude to him. Many of my questions have been asked by my colleagues, but I think that although we have come a long way, especially as it relates to litter in the 7th Council District, I think part of what I believe we need to be doing is around education, right. We need to change the culture in neighborhoods around short-dumping and throwing out trash and how we put out our trash and we need to be able to hold ourselves accountable. And I know that we depend very highly on our amazing block captains. But what can we do better? What are we looking to do to change the culture in neighborhoods that are consistently dumped on and how do we work to better hold each other accountable, but also educate residents on how to prevent those who come from the outside into our neighborhoods and think that it's okay to short-dump?
Thank you, Councilmember. I know you're very passionate about this issue because it impacts all of our city, but your district in particular you've expressed concerns about locations that have been problematic. I think you touched base on a couple of them already. And one of the things that we're working on currently right now, as you know we've launched the Illegal Dumping Task Force to increase the fines and ultimately hold people more accountable. We've added more cameras. But that may not be enough and we need to do more, and that part of it starts with education. We are launching an educational campaign for illegal dumping to let people know, first of all, what can you do when you see it, how to report it and what we can do about it. Secondly, we want to offer resources as well. I'm going to turn it over to Commissioner Jacobs Shipman in a moment to talk about how successful the bulk collection program has been across the City of Philadelphia, which many people are taking advantage. Many times people would take these materials and just discard it. But now that we have this program in place, they now have an opportunity to get rid of it. So just enforcement alone won't do it. It takes a combination of different resources, education that you talked about enforcement definitely, because people should know better not to come into a community and dump their construction, their trash and anything else. But it also takes programs to help people who are struggling the most. And Commissioner Shipman can talk a little bit about those programs as well. COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: So specific to what we offer in the department, as the Director mentioned would be our bulk collection program, which directly supports the types of items we see dumped on our corners unnecessarily. One, we offer the opportunity for people to bring them to our sanitation convenience center. And it's available, we have six locations. They're open six days a week. But if you can't do that or you need someone to pick it up from home, it's as simple as calling 311 or go onto phila.gov and you fill out a very simple form. I'm telling you it takes you less than three minutes. We'll come get that refrigerator, we'll come get that washer and dryer. We take up to four tires at one time. And so, we've seen a lot of success with that program. But we do need to continue to try to get the word out so people will know the corner is not the solution. You do have viable options within the City of Philadelphia to place the materials that are in the homes. And one thing I was surprised Director Williams didn't mention were just the partnerships that we have with a lot of the community organizations. And one that comes to mind is North 10 and the pilot that they're doing regarding illegal dumping, where they're actively going out more like on a foot basis, grassroots effort, to tell people, hey, if you're going to illegally dump, we do have an opportunity for you to get a voucher that if the materials are not the types of materials we accept at our convenience centers or that will pick up curbside, you can use this voucher to drop them off at a location that accepts it for free.
And one last item is that transforming neighborhoods so that people don't think dumping is okay. And we mentioned Lotscapes with Councilmember Brooks earlier. We think this is going to be a huge program. HACE is one of the programs that we're going to be working closely with as a pilot area so that we can demonstrate how effective a transformed and beautified lot can have on a community.
Thank you. I work very closely with many of the schools in the 7th Council District and I can't tell you how often some of the young people in classrooms tell me that one of the things that bothers them the most is seeing trash. And so, how are we partnering with some of our schools, particularly in our younger grades, right, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th grade where again we're starting to shift the culture of trash and throwing out trash and how we dispose of trash? How are we working with our schools in local neighborhoods to make sure that we're doing the work intentionally to shift the culture? COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: So I will bring up Green Schools, again, as one of the programs that we do offer that provides grant funding directly to the school. We don't have to go through the school district. The school itself applies and they can utilize it either for recycling or green-friendly projects that will allow them to pick what it is they want to support, an effort they want to support. So that's one of the ways in which we partner with our schools to be able to support their specific efforts and their specific needs.
I haven't heard about that. I want to be a partner in that. I want to work towards making sure that community residents know, particularly our students, about these types of programs. And then one of my other questions is around employment. I see that you guys have done a lot of work in making sure that you fill some of those vacancies. But I see that as it relates to the equipment operators, that is still challenging. When you are working with some of our Future Track folks or some of these community-based organizations, have you all talked to them about the support that you need to be able to fill positions like this?
And thank you so much, Councilmember Lozada. If you could give an expeditious response. We still have eight additional members in the queue.
Sure. We have a CDL training program that when they become a full-time employee, we strongly encourage them to take part of it. After six months being employed with the City of Philadelphia, they're eligible.
If you can share that information with me too, that would be great.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilmember Lozada. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Bass.
Thank you, Madam Chair. How are you? Good to see you all. I want to say a big thank you. I text you all morning, noon and night. And Crystal, Keith and Carlton, of course and you always respond. And I'm going to give a big shout-out to Keith because I know that you're really -- you and your crew are out here, you know, again morning, noon and night, getting up trash. Doesn't matter what's going on, whatever else is happening, you make it happen. So I just really want to tell you how much we appreciate all of the hard work by the Streets Department, so thank you.
And I also wanted to shout out Philly Future Track, the work that you do on that program. It's so important. So many people want to get into it. I'm excited to hear that it's coming back. More is going to be happening around Philly Future Track. And I also want to give a shout-out to Myra Brown and NWON who helps provide some of the professional services. I know for a time you were working at the Nicetown Tioga Library. We have the only library in the system that also has a jobs component to it. And so, I know that she was working with you all to help provide jobs from that location at one point. I know she's got other locations now. But again, I just want to say a big thank you. And I wanted to talk, you know, the problem with going near the end is that everybody's asked all the questions that you wanted to ask. But I wanted to ask you about trash and dumping because we call you and you all know, you come out, it's the same spots over and over and over again. But I'd really like to dig into technology and the use of technology to try to solve the problem. It's very frustrating for me and I know it's frustrating for you as well that I'll call you about the exact same sites over and over and over again. And I know we have cameras. That's great, but it's not really moving the needle in terms of you not having to go to these same spots over and over and over again.
In some areas they've worked very effective. And others, as you mentioned they haven't been effective as much.
Can you tell us how many people have been identified and prosecuted as a result of the cameras onsite? Do you have an idea of what that is?
Yeah, I can submit this also for the record. But this year there was 113 notices of violation issued by our law department under the new policy in which our Council and our Mayor passed several years ago where you can get up to $5,000 per item per incident if you use a vehicle, and 2000 if it's independently dumping. Of those cases, 17 of them have been closed. 40 of them have been filed in court. There's a sum of $10,000 in restitution. And for a total of all judgments of $908,000. This was on top of the previous year's $3.2 million, so well over --
This is a judgment, so they still have to collect that. The real restitution money is about $70,000 we've collected off of people who have agreed to pay for the restitution to give back to the City of Philadelphia. But the judgments remain on business records and they have to be collected by the law department.
We have passed -- and Councilmember Squilla is here, along with City Council, who's championed legislation to allow PPA to tow a vehicle, not necessarily confiscate it, but to tow it in the act, and they have to pay to actually get it out of storage for committing an illegal act of dumping. So that was just passed last summer and we're excited about that, because that's another tool in the toolbox for us to be able to hold people accountable. I think we need to do what you guys always ask us to do, is this needs to be advertised and told publicly so people understand what the options are to be able to address these issues. And that's what we're going to work on.
Okay. I just want to add a couple little things. I know the bell has rung so I'll be brief. The Stop Trashing Our Air Act, so I'd like to get a little more clarity. I don't know if we have time right now, but I would like to get a little more clarity in terms of what the city is doing and how we are approaching this. I think it's a good thing that we're having this conversation thanks to the sponsor. You know, something's going to happen. We already know. This is going to change. And it's going to be better. It's going to be better for Philadelphia. It's going to be better for the residents of Chester. But I'm not really clear as to exactly how we're navigating this situation. But it sounds like you're saying that you basically need a little more time.
We need time for the RFP to be presenting proposals to you in City Council from the Administration.
We hope to have it late spring, early summer. If necessary, we can ask for an extension on our existing contract to accomplish that because we want to make sure that we get it right. We certainly don't want to rush it. Adding that component does take some time to evaluate those systems, and we want that to be an important part of the process, as evidenced by all the people here who are very concerned about it.
In the Administration's mind, what's the timeline to address this?
So the contracts that we currently have expire June 30th. If it continues -- of course we have to finish the negotiation period as part of that evaluation with the waste contract. Once we do that, then we have to prepare contracts to be submitted and approved. And if it's under the current terms and conditions, it comes to City Council for review and approval. Once that happens, then contracts are then executed and then the waste contract goes into place. So we're looking at the summer to have it in place. If it extends beyond that, because we need more time for review and evaluation, we will request an extension on our existing contract.
Oh, definitely 2026. It's no 2027. We're talking months. We're not talking years.
Maybe even weeks. That's part of the process in what we expect to do.
I mean, it would be great to pull the plug today -- (Applause.)
I understand the spirit behind getting this done quickly, but we should not rush this. This is a very important contract for not only Chester, but the citizens of Philadelphia. So we just respectfully, Councilmember, ask for the time to do our jobs correctly.
No, I agree. I want to make sure that we get it right and we get it right the first time. Because I've seen in this body when we don't get things right, we have to come back, we have to make other adjustments. It's a mess. So it's better to take your time and do it right, as long as your time happens in 2026.
Very quickly, Councilmember Bass. Thank you.
Can you explain the difference between lotscapes that you said you were doing and PHS lots, you know, when they come in and they redo a lot and they make it a neighborhood space? Is that the same thing or is it something -
So we clean lots, make sure they're green, make sure trees are planted, make sure any dead grass or dumping or trash removed. That's maintenance. So that's what PHS Land Care program does.
That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about when they come in and they do sort of like a whole community space. They put in benches, they mulch it, they really sort of, you know.
Right, so that's similar. But again, we want to enhance that. We're giving them more amenities to the program through Lotscapes.
Okay. I'm excited about that. Look forward to getting more information and a list of if any of those spaces are in the 8th District. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilmember Bass. Councilmember Jones will be our last Councilmember for Round 1. Then we will proceed to Round 2. I'll only be able to recognize maybe two to three members before we break. Okay. So we have a hard stop at 12:30. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Jones.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to add to the chorus of compliments, but I want to give real tangible stories. You are my number two, Commissioner -- not you, but number two, only because of your choice in amateur football teams that compete with the West Philly football teams. But I just downgraded your grade a little bit. But my number one guy is Keith Warren. Rains, sleet, snow, shine, he comes through and I really appreciate everything that he does. I'm going to give you two stories real quick. So I was newly-elected, Madam Chair, and I was in a part of North Philly that I had not really been in and made enough of an impact. You may remember this. We were looking at lots that would take me on a neighborhood tour. So this is for the newer members of this body. So I'm walking through and they're pointing at this lot, looking at this refrigerator, short-dumping tires. And I said, well, let me make a call to see if I can get this taken care of. Now, we had already worked it out that there were trash trucks in the area doing other sundry things. But when I called, minutes later they pull up, 10 right, they got their shovels, hut, hut, and they're taking the trash out. The people in the neighborhood looked at me like amazing. Now, to your credit, I've gone past those lots most recently and they're still well-maintained. So I am very grateful and thankful to you.
The second story real quick is Marion Avenue, which you are aware of, Madam Chair, is a notorious dump spot in -- is that the 52nd Ward still or is it --
Marion Avenue. That might be the border. And so, we're down there and every week we're going through this tire dumping. There have been more dangerous things found down there, but this one time there must have been 50 tires out on Marion Avenue. And when he went to confront the individual that dumped the tires, they kind of brushed him off and said, so what, sue me if you want to recover some money. And what he amazingly did was calculated and counted every tire. And I think you gave the maximum fine on every tire. When this bull got this bill, he stopped short-dumping on Marion Avenue. And that's the kind of hard results that I appreciate from the departments. And I will say to you that until we increase the fines to make it cost-prohibitive to do the dumping, we're hustling backwards. So we need to as a body or working with our partners in the state, increase the fines for these short-dumpers. But until we do that -- go ahead. It's all right. I like the claps, but I don't do it for that -- (Applause.)
-- but I like it. So my only question is, how are you integrating -- you talked about lot cleaning and beautifications and 2.0-ing this. How are you integrating with the Consortium and some of the state money for trails and parks that I know about? Are you collaborating, so on 49th and Parkside, we want to do a thing called edible landscapes and be able to organically pick things from the garden and work it into your diet. Is there a collaboration on that kind of level?
So I'm glad you asked that question. Thank you for your comments, Councilmember, as well. And I don't take offense that I'm number two, but --
-- my football team is still better. But to answer your question, we're looking at establishing a conservation district here in Philadelphia. We are the only municipality or county in the state of Pennsylvania that does not have one. And what that does is it makes those connections and resources to the state to ensure that there's synergy to what their goals are to an environmental aspect, from a green space landscape that we can transform these things. So I think we're making progress. I'm working with our very own Jerome Shabazz on that project, and we're looking forward to bringing more resources in the City of Philadelphia so we can promote those types of programs and also coordinate our efforts with the state to be able to do that. And those conversations have really picked up over the last couple of weeks, so we're excited that that is something that we're looking forward to doing here in the city to understand what potential opportunities exist to be able to transform vacant, industrialized land into something that's very productive like Mr. Shabazz did out at the Overbrook Environmental Education Center.
So, Chairman, just so you have geographic reference, there is the underpath that leads on Parkside to Wynnefield. You make that left and you're in Wynnefield. And imagine being able to find a way for walkers, hikers, joggers to start there, go all the way around Parkside Avenue on a trail into the Container Village, for example, where there should be by then a fish aquaponic garden with tilapia and stuff like that. And you can walk through the garden and cut your own vegetables that are organically sourced and then be able to walk back across the street to Parkside, go around the two lakes that are there in an arboretum, where you can see the difference between oaks and pines and cypress and things like that, and then walk all the way down to the Delaware River. Those are the kinds of visionary -- everybody's not going to see the Sixers, but some people want to commune with nature and we want to give them every opportunity to take advantage of the zoo, take advantage of the bird observatories and all kinds of things in between. So carry on, young men and women to do that. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilmember Jones. We are now officially entering Round 2 prior to break. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Gauthier.
Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Thank you, Councilmember Bass, for your line of questioning. I think I'm hearing some of your answers, Director Williams, for the first time. I just wanted to get very quickly on record, the last time this contract came up, I know Council got it, and there was only a few weeks before we had to make a decision. Can you commit to the body that when you do make this decision, there will be adequate time for Council to consider such an important contract?
Yes, Councilmember, and that's the reason why we requested an extension. Because while we may submit the data to you, we know you need time to review and make a conscious decision, and we know this is not an easy one. So absolutely, we want to commit to giving you the time necessary for you to implement.
Thank you. It's also the first time I'm hearing you requested an extension. How long of an extension have you requested?
Well, right now if it goes past the June 30th deadline, we've asked for an extension for -- what is it, a year, Commissioner? COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: (Inaudible).
I believe it was a year if, if it requires. But we'll verify that with the law department because that's where we requested it.
Okay. Thank you very much. I just want to echo that this is important and not something that we can kind of kick the can down the road on. Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson, in fact, did a hearing on this same topic in 2020. There's been plenty of time for us to consider. The time is fast approaching for us to make a decision that is the right decision for both Philadelphia and Chester. I know time is coming up. I wanted to end, like my colleague Nicholas O'Rourke, with the voice of one of our young people from Chester because I think young people have a way of seeing straight through an issue and a level of moral clarity that sometimes can get lost. The letter says, My name is Disera and I am a 7th grader at Toby Farms Middle School. Things I like to do with my friends when we are outside is go to the park and play games there and do TikToks and other fun things outside. The negative pollution in my neighborhood stinks and it makes everything dirty and makes people's eyes burn. The air smells horrible and it makes people have asthma and other health conditions. I demand you to keep your trash out of my lungs and keep your trash out of Chester. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Disera. And I've gotten probably a couple hundred letters from young people in Chester and throughout Philadelphia that I would like to deliver to you. I haven't had the opportunity to make my way through all of them. Most of them are addressed to Mayor Parker. I hope you take the time to read them because again, it is very important, I would say ultimately important, for us in this chamber to uplift the voices of our young people because that's who we're ultimately making decisions for. Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
Thank you so much, Councilmember Gauthier. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Harrity.
Thank you, Councilwoman Richardson. Hello again. As the Chair of Labor and Civil Service, I just have to get some questions on the books about the same day pay workers we used for the cleanup and some of the miscommunication let's say that happened between District Council 33 and the Administration as to the use of those employees. The winter storm season is over, but we're going to end up in hurricane season soon. And to be honest, we haven't had a rough hurricane season in a while either. So have we made any attempts to try to talk to District Council 33 so that if we have to do that at some point again for another emergency or something like that, that there is an agreement in place? And also, is there a mechanism for those same day pay workers since we are short in certain areas, right, to become civil service? Are we making -- people who are working those same day pay jobs, I mean if they're coming in for a number of days and they seem to be a good employee, it would make sense to try to fill some of those positions we have. I know there's civil service, but we can make exceptions at some point to help them in that process, whether it's tutoring or something like that. Are we thinking along those lines? And like I said, are we in contact with the unions that are involved so that we don't have the disruptions that we had last time and the miscommunications because our city employees, you know, we all praise you and your guys and Sanitation and all. They do hard work and they do good work and work that nobody really wants to do. So I get it, and I get the theory in the same day workers. But I also want to make sure that our union members are protected and our jobs are protected. And also, if there's a path for some of these same day workers to become members of District Council 33 and the others?
And thank you. And I apologize for the brief interruption. I'm going to respectfully request that you respond to Councilmember Harrity, Director Williams, in an expeditious manner. And then thereafter, we have four additional members that will receive two minutes each so that we are able to break on time. Thank you so much for the accommodation.
Absolutely. Really quickly, Councilmember, we've had extensive conversations, especially after that first major storm to definitely have an open relationship and dialogue with D.C. 33. My good friend Antoine Little was here and he was a part of that process as well. And we made good on that during that second storm by opening up opportunities for our city employees. As far as the same day work and pay, they would have to go through the same process as any other individual. Future Track is a great way to try to apply for getting through the program. And I think that's what makes us all comfortable when we can move forward that program.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilmember Harrity. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Brooks.
Thank you so much. I am going to start off with a letter and then I'm going to put my three questions on the books. So my letter that I have says, Dear Mayor Parker, I believe we need to stop burning trash in Chester. Many people have asthma and cancer. The kids should be able to go to school and they need to breathe. The ash is very toxic and the people are getting sick. It's also hurting nature and animals. Instead we can create green jobs that help our earth. That's why I think we need to stop burning trash. Sincerely, Nate. My questions are, how is Clean and Green prioritizing equitable neighborhood efforts with some of the more high profile work around the 250th anniversary? One of the criticisms that I've heard about the Office of Clean and Green Initiatives is that there isn't a lot of focus on the green portion of the office. And to that point, I want to understand how this office works with the Department of Sustainability? I understand that installing LED lights and some of the other initiatives work towards making us a more efficient city. But what else specifically are you working on that will lower the carbon rates to hit our 250 goals? And has there been any discussion about incorporating more of the Office of Sustainability's work within the Office of Clean and Green Initiatives?
Yeah. Thank you. And I'll be very brief, per our Madam Chair's request. But I will say we have a 10 point greening plan. Deputy Director Casey Kuklick can share that with you at a later time for the record. We will submit that for the record, Councilmember, since we don't have time to really go into detail what that plan requires. But it does talk about tree canopies, neighborhood greening improvement programs, vacant lots and also streetscapes. That is part of actually the 250th celebration where we have 20 commercial corridors that we're greening in the neighborhoods, not down in just Center City, so that they can benefit as well. But that's just a snapshot of some of the things that's in that plan for long-term greening, and we appreciate it as well. We'll get that information for you.
Thank you very much, Councilmember Brooks. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Young.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to talk about the illegal dumping again. I know it's something that is still prevalent in our Council District. So can you tell us how many dumping cameras are currently deployed? And how many are planned in this FY27 budget, what they cost? And what's the measurable results again to having existing cameras already produced?
If we don't have the exact number, we can get that for you. We will forward that to you for the record given the time that we have. But I can tell you that the cost is about $6,000 per camera. It's used -- the same cameras that our police department utilizes for major crimes and the DVIC, we're connected into that system, so that we can expand not only the ones we buy, but to also cross-reference the ones that police use because a lot of the times the dumping occurs in those high crime areas, so we utilize those things as well. I'll let Commissioner Shipman talk about the cameras that she has. She's found the number. Thank you.
Thank you. COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: Thank you, Councilmember Young. We do have 400 surveillance cameras that are specific for illegal dumping, but we utilize the full network of cameras that are available to us that are through the police department and other departments and other entity agencies altogether. We do anticipate for this fiscal year an additional 100 cameras to be purchased.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilmember Young. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Landau.
Thank you. One statement and two questions. And I wish I could do this all day but I know the Chair is going to cut me off. The statement is that the Stop Trashing our Air Act is a very serious initiative to protect the health of folks in Chester as well as in Philadelphia. As somebody who has asthma, I got to tell you it is essential that we are continually working towards cleaning our air for everybody in Philadelphia. And I would just ask that you come to the table a little more directly. Somewhere in your testimony, Commissioner Williams, you said we could maybe ask for an extension of our contract. You then said, we've asked for an extension of our contract. If you asked for a one-year extension of contract, you could have started right there. It could have happened even before today where we could have had a conversation where we're really getting to the same point. I believe we all want the same result, but we have to be honest brokers with each other. That's just a statement. I don't think we need to talk about it.
Thank you. Clap, clap, clap. The second thing I want to talk about is data. In your written testimony or the statement you put in you talked about working with OIT to modernize or replace outdated systems in the sanitation operation centers. I'm the Chair of the Tech Committee and I wanted to know what new systems you're looking at to put in place to update our systems. And the last thing I want to know is why is the Office of Sustainability not here this year? There is so much that we have to do with the urgency of the climate crisis of making sure that we're safe and clean and green in Philadelphia. And I wanted to know why sustainability isn't here and will they come?
I'm sure that they will be here, whether it be with the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure and Sustainability. That's where they fall under, not to say that we don't work very closely with them with some of the initiatives. And we do appreciate your comments in reference to being open and transparent. That's what we always strive to do and I'm certainly going to continue to do that with this process. As far as the data- driven in IT, we can have a conversation about that also. But we're trying to fix outdated systems in terms of how we track information and data, especially through 311, that's important for us, and to do realtime information- gathering. We're looking at things like AI for our cameras so that we can catch people in the act and not after the fact and have to go back, but that's just an example of the things that we're doing.
I don't know if there's anything else to add, but you'll commit to a conversation with the Technology Committee for us to get more updated on what your systems are?
Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilmember Landau. And for the record, we have the Office of Sustainability under our nontestifying departments this year. If you could just make a request of Council President Johnson for that to be modified. Okay. That request must go to the President. Thank you. Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Bass.
Thank you very much. I just have one quick question. Can you talk to us really quickly about why can't I put a trash can out in front of my house without getting a ticket and collect trash? There's not enough trash cans in the city. There's just not enough trash cans.
Thank you, Councilmember. I'm going to let Commissioner Shipman just talk about her new initiative about trash cans.
I will say in general some people want them out in front of the block. Some people don't. But we have a program called Philacan that the Commissioner can address. But in general, some of the residents don't want other people to have trash cans out because it creates litter conditions if you don't maintain them.
No, I understand if you're not responsible with it, taking care of it, maintaining it.
But if there's a collective majority on that block that says this is what we want, I'm going to turn it over to Commissioner Shipman and she can explain how we can get that done. COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: So I will say that we do still offer the Community Can program if folks want to have a community can on their block. They have a block captain, we can partner with them to allow that. As far as Philacan 2.0 is what we're referring to, this next pilot that we'll be rolling out. It will allow for larger cans for both recycling and trash and will give the ability for folks who don't have the ability to store the trash in the back of the home. If your block is selected, you would be able to store that can outside. Other folks would be able to utilize it, if that's the appropriate use for that particular can. But --
What -- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off. What about Big Bellies? COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: We are still rolling out additional Big Bellies on our commercial corridors primarily, in some instances adjacent streets. But it's primarily to serve in those highly-traffic areas.
How many new Big Bellies are we rolling out this year, would you say? COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: I mentioned it in my testimony. I do apologize. I don't recall the number offhand. But in total, we're looking at having a network of 1500 in total once we've completed this --
Do you remember how many we have now? COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: Right now on the street, I'll find it in my testimony. I could tell you --
The Chair recognizes Councilmember Young with a point of information. COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: 1200, Councilwoman, on the street now.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just really quickly on the trash cans, I've noticed other municipalities have municipal trash cans, right. We have our municipal recycling cans, but are we able to do municipal trash cans like other places have so we can collect our trash in a more, I'll say, better enforced way essentially? COMMISSIONER JACOBS SHIPMAN: So the pilot that will be rolling out through Philacan 2.0 will provide the tall 64 or -- are they 96- or 64-gallon trash cans, and then a matching recycling bin, so it will be both trash and recycling that we're piloting for.
Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Councilmember Bass.
Thank you, Councilmember Young. The Chair now again recognizes Councilmember Bass.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm done with my questions. I was looking to see if I had anything else, but I'm done. Thank you very much.
Well, thank you very much, Councilmember Bass. Seeing no additional Councilmembers in the queue for the Office of Clean and Green and Sanitation, we'd like to thank Director Williams, our Sanitation Commissioner Crystal Jacobs; Casey Kuklick, Deputy Director for Clean and Green; Mary Stitt, Deputy Director for Clean and Green; Keith Warren, Deputy Commissioner for Sanitation; and Christopher Newman, Deputy Commissioner for Administration, for your testimony today and all the Councilmembers for your questions. At this time, we will take a break until 1:30. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Councilmembers. Thank you, Madam Chair. (Lunch recess.)
We would like to welcome to the table Streets Commissioner Kristin Del Rossi; First Deputy Commissioner for Streets Richard Montanez; and Deputy Commissioner for Administration Christopher Newman. Please approach the witness table and provide your testimony. Thank you so much for being here. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
While they are approaching, thank you so much, Commissioner Del Rossi, First Deputy Commissioner Martinez, Chief Engineer Steven Lorenz. And I have to say, he always, always goes above and beyond and out of his way to inspect a location himself and has assisted us with so many cases, anything having to do with repairs to streets, resurfacing, curb cut-outs. You name it, he's there. So thank you so much, Steven Lorenz. Kasim Ali, Chief Design Traffic Engineer; Harry, District Traffic Engineer; Nicholas, District Traffic Engineer who assists with the speed studies, traffic signs and lights; Patrice Nuble, thank you so much, Chief Street Lightning Engineer, for all of your street light assistance, as well as Amber Porter, Administrative Assistant. And then, of course, OTIS, Mike Carroll. Thank you so much, Mike Carroll. So you now can begin your testimony. COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Good afternoon, Majority Leader Richardson and members of City Council. I am Streets Commissioner Kristin Del Rossi. Joining me today are Richard Montanez, First Deputy Commissioner for Transportation; Christopher Newman, Deputy Commissioner for Administration; Michelle Brisbon, Chief of Staff; Thomas Buck, Transportation Operations Director; Angela Dixon, Transportation Strategic Planning Director; and James Kelly, Streets Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs. Thank you for the opportunity to present the Streets Department Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget. The Streets Department is excited to advance our ambitious agenda this upcoming fiscal year as we move forward with multiple strategic initiatives and successfully manage our extensive operations, to achieve our objectives, we are requesting transportation fund appropriations totaling 87 million for Fiscal Year 2027. Before discussing the framework of our FY27 operating budget, I want to begin by recognizing and thanking our employees. Their work is highly visible, challenging and physically demanding. Yet their commitment to making our streets and roadways safe is unwavering. On behalf of our entire department, I extend my sincere gratitude for their professionalism, resilience and pride in serving the residents of Philadelphia. Our FY27 operating budget reflects a continued focus on our core transportation services, while making strategic investments to improve overall operations. Safety remains the forefront of our work and this budget reinforces our commitment to Vision Zero and its goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries. We will continue to implement effective traffic- calming measures, improve street and intersection designs, enhance signage and roadway markings, improve street lighting and advance critical and innovative transportation public works projects. These efforts are essential to creating safer streets for all users, including pedestrians, drivers and cyclists. And a recent significant decrease in traffic fatalities during 2025 is indicative of our ongoing commitment and success in this regard. A central priority in this budget is addressing street conditions and repairing roadway defects. By improving roadway repair activities, we intend to extend the life of our streets, reduce long-term cost and provide safer, smoother travel for users of our transportation network. This is clearly demonstrated by the department's recent and highly successful resurfacing activities. I am proud to report that for the second consecutive year Streets anticipates achieving over 100 miles of city roadways resurfaced, a feat that has not been accomplished since Fiscal Year 2004. 5 million investment establishing the One Philly pothole squad, six new pothole response crews deployed throughout the city, each exclusively dedicated to repairing potholes and identifying other street defects quickly and comprehensively.
These new squads will have a considerable impact on the number of potholes and defects fixed throughout the city and on improving roadway conditions for streets not scheduled in paving out years. I would be remiss if I did not mention my sincere appreciation for the tremendous snow and ice removal services performed by our Streets employees as well as employees from other partner agencies during the very challenging winter season that included nine winter events, two of which featured significant accumulations and one that involved historically prolonged below- freezing temperatures over a multi- week period. Winters in Philadelphia demand readiness, and our FY27 budget ensures we are prepared to respond effectively to treat all our streets, keeping roads safe and passable during severe weather. The Streets Department and its employees continue to rigorously pursue our mission to design, construct, repair and maintain safe streets in a cost-effective and efficient manner, making Philadelphia the safest, cleanest, greenest big city in the nation with access to economic opportunity for all. We are excited to present our proposed budget today, which we believe will allow us to make tremendous progress in achieving many of the department's strategic objectives. We therefore request your favorable consideration of this budget request and we thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. The deputy staff and I are happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Commissioner. Before we proceed with additional members in the queue, I wanted to get a few questions on the record relative to your testimony. But I too want to take the opportunity to thank the hard-working employees of the Streets Department, particularly after so many back-to-back winter events this past winter season and very difficult storms, not normal, typical, fluffy snow. You had a layer of snow, then a layer of ice and then it froze for days and days. And so, we want to uplift and appreciate the work of all of the workers who were out on the streets on our behalf during that time. And again, thank all of the team members that we recognized earlier. I wanted to start because I was going through the QCMR for the last couple of quarters for FY26, but also what we know to be true for FY25 and then what we know to be true for FY26. And in the Q2 of the QCMR, it states that Streets has 164 million in general obligation carry forward obligations; is that correct? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: I'd like to call up Deputy Commissioner Newman.
Okay. Thank you so much for being here. Please state your name for the record and proceed.
Good afternoon, Councilmember. I'm Chris Newman, Deputy Commissioner for Administration for the Streets Department. That 164 million does sound correct for carry forward. And that's not unusual because what we'll have is carry-forward capital that we get in January, but don't get an opportunity to spend until the next fiscal year.
Right. And that's why I'm asking, because it also seemed as if there's about a little over 100 million in carry-forward operating revenue. But if you add together all of the state, federal and the other sources, it says that it's $1,110,230,000 in FY26 carry- forward appropriations; is that correct?
Okay. If you'd be able to get us a response, that would be great because I know in FY25 we had 993 million in carry- forward appropriations, and that was from Quarter 4 of FY25 for the QCMR.
Okay. If you could just check the number and I'll say it again. I know that she's taking notes. That includes state, federal and other resources, over 1 billion in carry-forward appropriations, which is not too far off from the 993 million that was notated in FY25, Q4 for QCMR.
Yes. And my question is what is the plan to spend down?
So I don't think that that's a correct number, and I think we'd have to look into it and get back to you in terms of how much is actually there and what we're going to be doing to spend it down.
Okay. Well, that would be great because I have the QCMR here. So if you could get back during the hearing, you know that's important to me. I would never say an incorrect number and I have it here. So if we could get that information before the conclusion of the hearing, that would be helpful. But really the question is, what's the plan around spend- down? Okay. And particularly because on the capital side for FY27, there's an additional request of 73.7 million in new capital funding. And over the entire plan for capital is $497.5 million, so I'm trying to understand the additional request relative to the carry forward. That's really what the question is. In addition to that, in FY24 you encumbered $82 million in general obligation funds. The actual expenditure was $38 million. In FY25, you encumbered 161 million in general obligation. But only 67 million was expended. On the operating side, 82.6 million was encumbered. 3.9 million was expended. In FY26, you encumbered and expended roughly half of the FY26 adopted appropriations. The question is, do you anticipate to be around that number for this year? And it's a question that I've sort of asked of each department, but it really stood out for Streets. And I've asked this of all of the departments.
So I know in prior years the fund that we typically did not spend all of was our Class 100, so we would have a surplus in Class 100 by the end of the fiscal year. That's not anticipated to happen this fiscal year. We anticipate to spend all, if not most, of our money for this fiscal year. So I think you're going to see a difference this time around.
Okay. That'll be great. If you all could just check and also from the QCMR fund balance summary for transportation. Okay. And then please get back to me. That's important to me. You know I would never say a wrong number.
Sure. And just to let you know, Councilmember, we're looking at our carry-forward funding that we have right now total for Streets, our number is for January 2026, 39.5 million. So I think we have to look into what you're looking at and try to come to some conclusion about what that number is you're looking at.
Excellent. Okay. Thank you so much. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Phillips.
Thank you, Majority Leader. So I want to begin by saying that the paving list through the Five Year Plan and ultimately determines which neighborhood receives roadway investment. I want to start with how that list is actually built. Can you walk us through step by step how the streets are selected for paving and what particular factors are used to determine which streets are prioritized first? Thank you, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Thank you, Councilmember, for your question. The city primarily completes resurfacing in a multi- step process. Currently, we are using a two-fold approach to assess our streets. We are, one, using a system that is a little bit outdated. We're in the process of looking at other information and also we have visual inspections that are conducted on the street. And then we take that information from the system, current system, that's called PRISM, the current system we use now, and visual inspections that are conducted citywide and each street is ranked, and the volumes are considered conditions, roadway defects, utility cuts, projects, and then they get ranked on a list of streets that are then on a paving list.
Understood. And the only issue of concern is that you're making a decision through PRISM. But what if there is a neighbor or neighborhood that is interested in saying, our streets need to be repaved? They're not on a Five Year Plan. What is the process they need to take in order to get reviewed to get on the Five Year Plan? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Well, we do take 311 calls and we assess the streets that residents call into us. And if we have some contingency in our paving contracts that go out, so if we inspect the street and it doesn't indeed need to be resurfaced, we can add it to the project. Just like Van Kirk was just recently milled, and we're in the process of getting Gilham on the schedule. So we received a request and we assess the streets and we pave them when we're in the area.
Thank you. Appreciate that. And just wanted to follow up on that even more. What happens if a neighbor wants to report that their street needs to repave, but they want to get a better sense of when the street is going to be repaved, right. Is there a service level agreement that can be given to neighbors on the street repaving process? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Yes, we do have service level agreements for paving. Street repaving, it's a 60-day SLA for street paving. But, Councilman Phillips, what we're looking into right now is we're piloting two programs -- two vendors currently in a one mile square radius that is using technology to assess our streets to better accurately assess and add them to the paving list.
Can I just jump in with a little bit of an overview and I'm going to give you a little detail on PRISM so you understand how that's come about. So PRISM goes back a couple decades. Basically what it's intended to do is to provide cities an overview of the expectation for the life of a street. And it incorporates information about the dimensions of the street, how it was constructed, the depth of concrete, a lot of details about the construction of the street. And it compares it to kind of an estimate of the amount of traffic and the kind of traffic that's on that street. So you might have buses or trucks or that kind of thing. It's very coarse, but it does give you a tool to figure out what parts of the city are going to need to get repaved more frequently, and you can compare that to the last time a street was paved. And I think what Commissioner Del Rossi is talking you through some of the improvements we're going to implement in the future to get eyes on specific streets. We're looking at using AI tools and cameras, video surveillance. As maintenance vehicles go through different parts of the city, they can kind of take a picture of the street, feed that back into an algorithm, tell us whether that street needs to be paved or not. To the question of SLAs, there's a service level agreement around a street that is designated to be paved in a specific year. So when we tell you we're going to come out, we're going to start paving on that street, 60 days is the window for that job. It's different than what I think you may be asking about, which is when a neighbor says, hey, our street hasn't been paved in a while. The fact is Philadelphia, because of decades of underinvestment, I would say 90% of the streets are overdue for pavement. And so, that's why we really appreciate the investment that Council has made in paving streets at a more accelerated rate over the last few years and that's going to put a dent in that. But there's no process, unlike for something like speed cushions or even potholes, for neighbors to reach out and say, hey, I need paving on my street, when are you coming and for us to give them an answer, because we're taking a fraction of the city every year with the investment we have, given that there's about 2000 miles of paving we need to do to cover the whole city, and we're taking about 100 miles at a time. So it's always the streets that are in the worst condition based on what we see in the PRISM system, plus what the Highways Division visually inspects. And also, we get information when we see that there's an increase in potholes on a street, if you have a situation where a street seems to be failing, so cave-ins is a major factor in something like that. A lot of the paving that takes place in the city also includes utilities and developers taking a block at a time. But the Streets Department when they're putting blocks and blocks and blocks together to come up with their plan, that's something that's programmed in a way that it's very hard for us to jump around the city to different places. If a neighbor on one block says, hey, my street's an issue, that tends to be a maintenance issue we address with resurfacing around potholes, that kind of thing.
Thank you. I would just kindly ask if we can just to quickly follow up on that because of my time, but I just wanted to say that if it would it be possible for you to provide in the future, in this budget, like a service level agreement that neighbors will have a clear understanding of what you just said that we can share with them, here's how you look at the Five Year Plan, here's the reasons why we can't necessarily provide a service level agreement, all that and more, 60 days, that would be really helpful for a lot of our neighbors. And then also just really quickly, Commissioner, it's not even in our district, but it's something that happens often, even just saw a post in West Philadelphia where people were complaining about some sort of crater in the middle of the street, and they said it's been over 60 days. How do we work on for the next round, hopefully we get more questions, answers on communication about these potholes even around the neighborhood so people know when it will be taken care of. Should she answer or wait --
Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilmember Phillips. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Lozada -- was your question answered?
Can you just take 30 seconds? And as a reminder, colleagues, for this round we're on three minutes. Okay. We have a long list of folks. If you could quickly respond to Councilmember Phillips' last question, and then I'll recognize Councilmember Lozada. COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Councilman Phillips, can you repeat the last part of your question please?
I wanted to just really quickly, if you can talk about the communication behind when you have these large craters in the middle of the street, neighbors are wondering -- it made the news, like why is this not done? Do we have a communications team with the Streets Department that's making sure people understand what's happening? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Thank you, Councilmember. Yes, we are definitely trying to put out some things on social media because not all roadway defects are potholes. It isn't indeed like a utility ditch or something of that nature or sinkhole. So we're trying to educate everyone on the SLAs behind potholes, utility ditches and sinkholes, but we will do better with putting that information out there.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Commissioner. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Lozada.
Thank you, Madam Leader. Thank you for being with us this afternoon. Like every other district, you know, I'm going to continue on in the conversation of potholes because I feel like this winter was brutal and we have more than we have seen in the past. Just like my colleague, I'm trying to figure out how we get better response on getting them filled and responded to as well as the need for us to proactively go out into different communities to just see the conditions of our roadways right before they become these big sinkholes that take longer to fill, create bigger problems for our community? What are we doing to be able to more proactively respond to the infrastructure in our neighborhoods that sometimes cause some of these sinkholes, right? And I recognize that sometimes it's the responsibility of residents for broken laterals, but often times it's just condition, weather conditions. How do we respond to those or how can we better respond to those? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Thank you, Councilmember, for your question. So to maintain a transportation network, we need to both resurface and do roadway maintenance. So while we've paved and we're on target to pave, we paved 104.7 miles last fiscal year. And we're on target to meet our goal of 90 miles and could potentially exceed it this year. The pothole squad would be in addition to our paving crew. So our request for the pothole squad would help us actually maintain the roads to keep them in a condition of good repair until we're able to pave them. So we have to do it in two-fold, so pave and maintain. So while we're paving the miles that we'll be paving this fiscal and into next, the pothole squad will be in addition to that to help us maintain the roadway defects and to help us assess the situation to be out there actively inspecting the six districts that they will be in to make us more proactive in addressing these roadway conditions rather than reactive when we're receiving phone calls and 311 requests.
This pothole squad that you're referring to, it says that it's 21 positions and you're increasing 22 funding from 577,000 to close to $2 23 million. But what is not clear is 24 if this is a full-time type of a position or is this part-time? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Full-time, full-time positions. 4
5 And it looks like they're only 6 going to be paid $24,000 an hour -- 7 24,000 annually? I'm sorry. 8 COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: 9 They are semi-skilled laborers and 10 streets crew chief 2s. 11
I 12 don't know about y'all, but $24,000 13 a year for a full-time position 14 from city government is not 15 responding to the need -- what can 16 they -- they can't live with 17 $24,000 a year. What is that? And 18 why, why is it so low? Is it just 19 me? I don't know. But $24,000, 20 we're talking about getting people 21 out of poverty. The city 22 government is going to pay you 23 $24,000. Come on. 24
Councilmember, Chris Newman, Deputy Commissioner for Administration again. It's not $24,000. It's 42,000 at the minimum level for our semi-skilled laborers. And it's 52,000 to 54,000 for our heavy equipment vehicle operators. So that's what they --
Our heavy equipment vehicle operators make in the neighborhood of about $52,000 to $54,000 annually. And our semi- skilled laborers who are part of that pothole response crew make about $42,000 to $44,000. It's not 24,000.
Okay. To me it's still not enough. However, we'll move on. This is my last question. In districts like mine, we have a lot of development that is occurring and many of those blocks see multiple projects happening at the same time which cause issues to some of those roadways. I know that I've talked to Deputy Commissioner Montanez in the past, who has said this is the responsibility of the developers, depending on the number of units that are being built for them to do the entire street. That's clearly not happening in districts like mine. How do we hold some of those developers accountable to make our roadways free from all of these bumps and holes and everything, all of the issues that they create? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: There is a private paving agreement. When the developers come into the city of Philadelphia to have their project reviewed, there is an agreement between the city and the developer. When they dig up so much percentage of the street, they're responsible for repaving it. So --
Clearly, that doesn't happen, right. I can give you -- Howard Street, for instance, is one of those streets that has had a lot of development but no street repaving. And so, who's responsible for that? Who are we calling to say, these streets need to be repaved? There's been development. It's clear, right, you go onto the block and you can see the development has occurred and the developers have not done their due diligence. How do we respond to that?
So this has been an issue for a really long time. We have some tools that seem like they've worked okay. We do the best we can to obligate developers to take out bonds in some cases in order to make sure that when they're done, the paving is what they leave behind is fresh. I think the main issue we have is that there's a lot of loopholes. And often we're in situations where unscrupulous developers, they create entities that do the building and then the building's done, and then they kind of move on to the next thing. And we can't go after those entities because they're only talking about one property here or a property there. And the condition of the street that we have to manage and the size of the inventory that we have to manage doesn't give us the wherewithal to chase each individual LLC. So what we were trying to look at, and you may see some proposals come forward from us, is a way to upfront create sort of an impact fee or an impact program where based on the size of the development that comes in, we as the department and as the city can get funds so that we can have a pool of resources that we can then, as the city, make sure that streets are in the best condition possible. This is something we've been working on for a long time. There's constraints in terms of state law what we can do, in terms of local practice what we can do. So it's taken us literally years to get to the point where we're preparing proposals. We're interested in having conversations with Councilmembers to compare ideas moving forward. There's a lot of different interests in this and a lot of different angles, but we would love to work with your office to understand better some impacts you're seeing on the ground and use those as examples to move these kinds of proposals forward, but there's certainly a lot more work we hope we can do.
We have to do better. We have to do better. Like I said, right, districts like mine are seeing high levels of development. And the ones that get stuck with the aftermath and the frustration of having their streets look the way that they look are the long-term residents. And so, there has to be a better way for us to do that, whether it means before the project is sealed and the developer gets their next permit for their next project, which we know they're going to come back for, they need to make community residents where they are doing projects and make them whole.
And that's one of the issues frankly. Because what happens is often, not all the time, but often you sort of have like ABC company comes and builds this project and then leaves things a mess and then they turn into XYZ company and go somewhere else. And you can go after ABC company, but ABC company doesn't exist anymore. They've reincorporated as a different bunch of people and legally, it's a whole different thing. And we as a city don't always have the tools to connect the two entities together. And we haven't had, you know, a pathway to work with either the state or anybody else to make both entities responsible for both outcomes. And so, that's the trick that has been out there for a while, but we're certainly interested in trying to solve that, trying to solve that problem.
Thank you, Member Lozada. I want to first thank my Majority Leader for keeping this process going while I stepped out for a second. And I want to take a moment to acknowledge Rich Montanez and my friend Michael Carroll as well as from the great part of Philadelphia known as South Philly, Commissioner Kristin Del Rossi, I just thank you and your team for your hard work and your dedication on addressing all quality of life leading the streets and overall the infrastructure of how we operate as a city. Thanks for always answering my calls on the weekend, text messages when I see potholes riding down the street. Same thing for Steve Lorenz, when I call him, I'm like I just saw this pothole. As a matter of fact, I hit one pothole one day I thought I was in another world, and that was in the Land Rover but that's a different conversation. But I thank you and your team for staying on top of this as well as our Mayor for coming up with the Pothole Posse, which has been duplicated by the mayor of New York City. And so, Philadelphia leads. The same with same day pay during the winter storm, so followed New York City. So again, Philadelphia leads. So I do want to acknowledge the Mayor and her team for just being on the front line. That's what leaders do, we lead. I have a couple questions about Vision Zero and that we have $5 million in the current proposed budget, and I know there's going to be some significant cuts on the federal level from the infrastructure standpoint. So I would want to get an idea, do you think that $5 million is sufficient to carry out the goals and objectives of Vision Zero for FY27? I see you smiling. And also, I want to get an idea of an issue that's near and dear to me is the issue of daylighting. And I would like to begin to start advocating around that process of what it looks like if we can do daylighting across the City of Philadelphia and come up with a comprehensive study to move forward with daylighting intersections throughout our city. So those two initial questions.
So I'll just give my quick response and I'm going to ask if Kelly Yemen can step up and talk about some of the Vision Zero capital program. My stock response is that I never turn down resources when it comes to traffic safety and Vision Zero. So I hope I don't get in trouble for saying that, but every little bit counts. We're very grateful for the $5 million in the proposal. And we're going to take on a variety of things, including traffic-calming measures and there's some items that, like I said, Kelly can talk about in our Vision Zero capital plan. So it's not just the 5 million. We're going to leverage that state money, the federal money and other resources we have in order to get those projects done. So I'll turn it over to Kelly so she can talk about that.
Good morning, Council President. Kelly Yemen, Director of the Office of Multimodal Planning within the Office of Transportation Infrastructure Systems. I oversee the Vision Zero program for the city, and we use that $5 million, as Mike Carroll was saying, to match a lot of both federal and state grants. So while things are changing at the federal level, the state is still providing a number of grants, whether it's multimodal transportation fund grants or others to the city, and we'll use those funds to start design or provide construction match. We're working on things such as improvements up on Tabor Road, in the Northeast on Lehigh Avenue where we've had a number of fatalities and been working with community members and those locations as well as numerous corridors throughout the city to do traffic safety improvements and do that in conjunction with those neighbors.
Are we doing any comprehensive plans around traffic- calming measures around schools beyond speed bumps? I'm going to advocate first for the 2nd Councilmanic District Marian Anderson Academy. Some of the parents approached me and said, hey, you did a great job with the playground, but could we also be looking at traffic-calming measures outside of the school, so that's Marian Anderson Academy. And also, Southwest Leadership Academy in the southwest part of my district as well. Same request, hey, cars are speeding, we want to look at traffic-calming measures around the school. And I'm advocating for those two, rather it's publicly as well as we have official requests and to take a look at traffic- calming measures regarding those two schools. But have we also did a 30-foot, 1000 view of all of our schools here in the city of Philadelphia and begin looking at -- I know we're doing speed bumps, right. But beyond the speed bumps, have we begun taking a look at a comprehensive approach around traffic-calming measures?
Yeah. And I think it's important on traffic calming or just in general traffic safety, especially around schools, to look at it holistically. So we have the speed cushions and daylighting that's happening around schools that the Streets Department is leading. We've got five schools right now that we're putting in pilot speed enforcement cameras during the school day where you're supposed to be going miles an 9 hour through a school zone. Those 10 cameras were authorized by the 11 state and have been installed and 12 are now in a warning phase in front 13 of those schools. So we're trying 14 that technology out as permitted by 15 the state. And then we also have our Safe Routes Philly program, where right now we're working with a number of schools where they're in spring training, as we like to call it, to get ready for Walk to School Day in May, where we teach kids how to walk and bike safely to school. And then every May and every October we have events at those schools to celebrate all of the work that kids have done to learn how to walk and bike safely. And we're really working with the school district right now and their service network 2 district in South Philly to get to all the schools in that district as a first pilot and then ideally moving to other service areas within --
It's the school district's service network, learning network, so it's a number of different schools that are connected through the school district to get into them to do education. So it's important to do education, the engineering and the enforcement. And we're moving on all three of those levers right now.
Okay. Another area regarding Vision Zero, how often do we do the evaluations and the replacement of flex posts? When they first go up, they look great, right. And as time goes on -- I'm particularly advocating for -- I talked to Michael Carroll about this before. In the past, any given day when you ride across the South Street Bridge, particularly in the morning during rush hour, you will see hundreds of people literally on bicycles, either students going to Penn or working nurses and doctors working at Penn. But I do see from my eyes that it's being utilized, right. And at one time, we had flex posts that actually I advocated for when CHOP did the new building and we negotiated making sure we had a protected bike lane and at that time was flex posts. And so, how often do we look at replacing the flex posts when people tear them down or when they just totally look like we need to change them because they're white and as time goes on, truthfully it becomes an eyesore of more than just a protective measure to keep bicyclists safe? And so, give us an idea of what that looks like. And also, I'm going to advocate publicly and privately regarding when you get past South Street Bridge and you're going from 76 to University of Pennsylvania where the stadium is, that whole area should just have a flex post all the way down that corridor, right, just to keep bicyclists safe when they go from South Philly and to Southwest. So I would like to figure out what that looks like, Michael Carroll. And then we have to advocate for a budget on my behalf to get that done. I just think it's a worthy cause.
Commissioner, do you want to talk to replacement -- I can talk to -- we are doing an evaluation, so I'll talk about the evaluation and then leave questions on the regular maintenance to the Streets commissioner. We are currently evaluating the lifecycle cost of all of the number of delineators throughout the city. So we're going out and evaluating multiple times a year how long is that delineator lasting in certain locations, so we can provide better information to the Streets Department on where it would be most effective to maybe replace or upgrade something with concrete and where delineators are performing just fine and they're not having a high turnover rate. So that is something that my office is working on. But I'll turn it over to the Commissioner. COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Thank you, Kelly. The flex post that you're referring to will be installed in the spring on Spruce Street.
I can't hear you. Say it again. COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: They're going to be installed in the spring, the flex posts you're referring to on Spruce Street. Yes.
Yeah, I was really -- COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: South Street Bridge. I'm sorry.
Yeah, South Street. I was referring to South Street. But since we touched on it briefly, I see my colleague over there, Councilmember Squilla, we share this issue together as South Philadelphians, where are we with concrete barriers along Spruce and Pine Street? What's the status of that proposal/vision?
And I know that we have lawsuits going on and the Spruce and Pine lawsuit and we just want to get an idea. We obviously want to find a win-win for everybody, right. We also want to protect pedestrians who bike as well. So we're trying to find that balance.
Good afternoon, Council President. James Kelly for the Streets Department. The answer is not going to be satisfactory in terms of the sound bite for where we are, because during the pendency of this litigation we've been advised frankly by the law department in consultation with our colleagues in multiple units of the law department that we are going to wait on a final decision until the pendency of that outcome and we can't comment frankly on that.
I would love to give you a better idea. Thank you for the question.
All right. Everything is on hold for the moment. Okay. Thank you. At this time, the Chair recognizes Majority Leader Councilwoman Kathy Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. President. I think I was still in the queue, but I wanted to also thank Noelle Marconi from Streets. Thank you so much, Noelle, for being our legislative liaison. We appreciate your work. Also, we were able to get the additional information. So I just wanted to circle back to the last question so we have clarity.
Thank you, Councilmember, for allowing us to get back to you on this. What we're looking at or what you're looking at is called appropriations, and that's grants that we hope to receive mostly from the federal government. We usually ask for five, six times what we're actually going to get. So it's not the money that we got. It's the appropriations that we requested.
Received. Thank you very much for the clarification. But I just wanted to notate for the record, colleagues, that the number that was stated was not incorrect. This is a budgeting matter that takes place relative to federal, state, mostly, primarily federal funds that the city is seeking to get on behalf of the City of Philadelphia. It's not that the number is incorrect. The number that I stated was correct and can be found on in the latest QCMR. And I just wanted to say that for my colleagues for the record so that they know from my perspective the numbers I stated were correct, but that this is a budgeting matter relative to how we hope we receive support from the federal government. Okay. Thank you very much, Council President. And thank you all so much for the clarification.
Thank you. Chair recognizes Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmad and Councilmember Jeffrey Jay Young.
Thank you, Council President. Thank you all for being here and for your service. A broad question about these awful snowstorms that we had. And many of the speed bumps across the city have been destroyed, partially removed, and the remaining metal spikes are causing problems for cars and flat tires. So how are we addressing that and how are we going about that and is there a priority in how you're addressing this? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Thank you for your question. We are actively assessing every rubber speed cushion throughout the city and repairing each one. Some of them we're completely taking out and putting on a list for asphalt. The other ones that are damaged, we are repairing. So we had an inventory of speed cushions that were damaged during the snow that we are addressing, inspecting and repairing. And if there's any others out there, we just ask everyone to report it to 311 so that we can get to it.
So the 311 list is what is the priority of how they get fixed if somebody asks my street has this sitting for so long, I reported it, but maybe you had another priority because there's a high volume traffic somewhere and you were doing that first even if it was reported after that? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: We're addressing the High Injury Network first, and we're addressing like the ones that are most dangerous first. And then the ones that are just missing a few bolts that are shifting, we'll get to them. But the ones that are obviously dangerous, we're getting to them first.
Just want to know what to tell our constituents. Quickly the second piece, I just want to circle back to the issue that Councilmember Quetcy Lozada brought up because I had the exact same question. This was Class 100 funds of 577,758, FY27 with a salary of -- it 24 seems to come to 24. Unless we don't understand that's an addition and there's other money and we're not getting the full number, because 24,000 for a full-time job is problematic so I just wanted to clarify and understand that number. It's that I found this on.
Councilmember, the math is correct in terms of the 577,000 that you're looking at. The positions are 12 real though. And what they will be 13 doing is we'll incorporate them as 14 part of our overall budget. 15 Typically when we get new 16 positions, it takes some time for 17 us to fill them. So that 24,000 of 18 what you're looking at is when we 19 fill them how much we're actually 20 going to be spending for that 21 fiscal year. 22 But upfront, we're using 23 existing vacancies to fill those 24 positions right away, if that makes sense. So the amount of money they're actually making is based off of their annual salary, which I mentioned before, semi-skilled laborers at about 42,000, 44,000 and heavy equipment operators at about 52,000, 54,000.
So just to be clear, it says plus 10 positions. This is adding to the 11 existing budget that's there and 12 the salary rate will be adhering to 13 the 42 and you're being 14 aspirational in this plus 24? 15
The 24 16 positions are real. They're going 17 to be filled. As a matter of fact, 18 they're getting filled this fiscal 19 year. They actually become 20 budgetary positions. We're filling 21 them now, we're filling with vacant 22 positions. But by the time we fill 23 those extra positions later on, by 24 the time we fill them, it'll be later on in the fiscal year. So we don't need the full $42,000 per position. The 24,000 covers it because we fill them later on in the fiscal year. I know that's confusing.
Yeah. Where's the balance going to come from of the 24?
If you look at FY28, the next 577,000 amount comes in to cover those positions when we go into the next fiscal year after that.
The reason we ask these questions, our constituents do not understand this at all, let alone us understanding it. So there has to be a more clear way of presenting this information so we know what are we actually dealing with, because all we have are these numbers and this divided by this is what we come up with. Both of us came up with that. So I just behoove you to give more detail somewhere so we are clear about what we are telling -- because we tell people to apply for these jobs and we have to tell them this is the salary range. And quickly, my last question is about the Schuylkill River Trail. I got complaints from constituents about it's very crowded at certain times of the year and certain times of the day. And there seems to be all kinds of vehicles, people on foot, people on ebikes, people on bicycles whizzing by. There's no demarcation of where any kind of lanes for anybody and it is actually quite dangerous. I've walked it myself. So I just wondered how you control who rides on that, who walks on that and how they maintain speed or how do we manage that space for Vision Zero kind of question?
Yeah. So it is a Vision Zero issue. Sort of like the designation of space and the maintenance and any improvements on the trail would be taken up by the Parks & Rec Department in coordination with the Schuylkill River Development Corporation. We can take those concerns to them. I do have a seat on the Board with the Schuylkill Development Corporation. These aren't new issues. I think the trail turned out to be a lot more popular than a lot of people thought. So there's always going to be some competition for space, but we'll try and explore some measures we can take to improve safety on the trail.
It's a wonderful addition. It's beautiful. People are out there. Great job. I think we're a victim of our success in terms of how we're using it, so thank you for that. We'll look forward to hearing about who has jurisdiction to regulate those pathways. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you very much. Jeffrey Jay Young, Councilmember Mark Squilla.
Thank you, Mr. President. So first, I just want to say as Chair of the Streets and Services Committee, I want to give my condolences again to the family of Mr. Timothy Sapp, Sr. of D.C. 33 Local 403 and I want to commend all the members of Local 403 for the hard work this winter. One question I have is regarding when we had this emergency storm and we utilized the same day work and pay, those folks got uniforms. Can you tell us what is the plan, I guess, for those uniforms now that we're no longer in an emergency? Do men and women of D.C. 33 get Streets Department- issued uniforms to perform their jobs? Can you tell us what investments the city is making, if not into those uniforms, those proper uniforms to ensure the safety of the men and women in the Streets Department?
Good afternoon, Councilmember. So we're going to have to refer those questions to the Office of Clean and Green, which administered the work that was being done by the same day work and pay team. The Streets Department played a role in terms of the highway operations, specifically in the clearing of the cartway with its own equipment, but that aspect of the operation was stood up independently from the Streets Department or from the Office of Transportation Infrastructure.
Thank you. I'll make sure that we get that question over to that correct office. Thank you for that. Earlier today I was hearing testimony about the repavement schedule. I think it was Dr. Phillips who was asking this question regarding the 100 miles at a time. And it seems like that for our constituents, that 100 miles at a time just doesn't work for them because who knows when they're going to get to that block, right, to their block. So what can we tell our constituents? I mean, because that doesn't fly for them to say, oh, well, we have a 100-mile schedule, you got to wait your turn when they've been waiting for the repavement for years, it seems like. So what is it that we can give our constituents, right, because they're on us? What can we give them to kind of ease their mind about the pavement schedule? I mean, I have the schedule for my district, but it seems like there are streets that were repaved a few years ago that already need it again, right. And so, what can we do to really reassure the taxpayers that their tax dollars are being put toward things that affect their everyday life when they're using our roads?
There's no 23 easy answer here. I just want to be clear about that. It always comes down to budgetary priorities. The fact is some streets are going to get paid more frequently because they bear more traffic. The role that they play in the transportation network is more central. So you'll see a street like Broad Street in good times could get paved every six or seven years. And then in contrast, if you're living on a neighborhood street, there's plenty of places in the city where you're in good shape, for every years. 15
I 16 mean, I can tell you in parts of my 17 district, particularly in 18 Fairmount, their repaving is 19 happening near Lemon Hill, but 20 that's great. But once you go a block off Lemon Hill and continue going west, I mean going east on Poplar Street, that street is horrible. That street is going to be used heavily during this summer because of the FIFA Fan Fest. We're asking for some investments into that entire street, not just that street that's near Lemon Hill because of the heavy traffic that's going to happen throughout this summer during that time. So can we get that little sped up on our timeline? I think those residents in that community would really appreciate that given the amount of traffic that's going to be in that neighborhood this summer.
Well, speaking to that, Philly Soccer, anybody who's listening should not drive to Lemon Hill. You should not drive to --
They're going to be catching Ubers. It's going to happen.
There might be some Uber traffic and we'll try and accommodate that. We certainly want to make sure people are taking advantage of enhanced public transportation options. So there'll be a lot of SEPTA vehicles using Girard and Philly Flash, who is going to stand up some additional service. I don't want to go on and on, but I really do want everyone to get the message, ride a bike, walk, take a bus, take a train, go on the trail if you're going to Fan Fest this summer. But to your point, we will try and take a look at Poplar Street. And you may have heard before some of the tools we were looking at, you know, streets that are in bad condition that carry arterial levels of traffic definitely need to get a good assessment, and we're looking for better tools to do those assessments. But we certainly appreciate all the investment that we've seen in the most recent budgets. And I feel like if we can keep up this pace of paving, things will get better. We have to do that paving in conjunction with ADA ramps, which is also important. So it comes down to budgets. It just comes down to making sure we have the resources to do the work.
Thank you for that, Mr. President. Is there a second round of questioning for this panel? I just want to know.
We will try to stretch to get to it, if y'all want to stay after 4 o'clock.
All right. I just have one more question then. Line painting, can you tell us what's in our budget to restripe our streets this year? I think that's the most simplest way we could do traffic calming, just by repainting the lines that are in our streets so the cars actually know which lane they need to be in or vehicles. All vehicles need to know which lane they need to be in. So can you tell us about what's in our budget for line painting and what is the process to I guess have our lines repainted in our streets?
We have two line-striping crews, Councilmember. And from what I'm looking at here, that should be a little over 2.5 million in operating.
And so, how many miles does that give us a year for the most part? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: The line-stripping crews are -- the intent of the line-stripping crews are to keep up with the paving. That's why we have the second line- striping crew. When we only had one, we were falling behind. But with the two, the intent is to be directly behind paving.
Thank you very much. Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla and Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, Phillips, Bass, Lozada and Driscoll.
Thank you. Thank you all for being here and always taking our calls and trying your best to get to our services. But my question is, we have past resolutions in Council to have the speed cushions at parks and schools and I know we've been rolling them out . What is our budget for the speed cushions around those facilities? And when do we expect them to be done? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Our speed cushion budget is 1.5 million.
Will that -- COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Our target is 50 schools per calendar year.
And so, how many years would that be before -- COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Well, our backlog we have about 300 -- I did the math. It was like six years to get all schools in the backlog.
So is that something that if we increase the budget on those speed cushions, we would be able to do more in that year? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: We are actively installing speed cushions as our crews are paving the streets and then we have two contracts, on-call contracts that will help us install the speed cushions as well. So we anticipate to pick up the pace.
If there's an increase in the budget, then we should see an increase in those schools because it's always some schools have them, some schools don't have them? And the ones who don't have them feel like nobody's paying attention and you can't do them all at the same time because of budgetary restraints. So I guess the question is, if that was increased, then you could do more? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Yes. If the funding is increased, we could definitely do more.
All right. Thank you. A question about crossing guards because crossing guards, we always get calls and concerns about filling in the vacancies when people leave. Where are we with hitting our complement on crossing guards? And do we have a budget to account for the needed open spaces that we are required to do for schools? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Thank you for your question. We have 837 budgeted school crossing guard positions, of which 774 as of today are filled. We have 63 in the vacancy as of today. When the Managing Director's Office testified, the last time we said there was a vacancy of 80. It varies. So today's vacancy rate is there's 63 vacant positions. In your district, we are 77% staffed.
Okay. Now, out of that 800 that you're budgeted for, is there also a need to have more than that? Are there areas that aren't getting crossing guards because we don't have a budget for them? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Yes.
And how much do we need to make sure we have crossing guards for every school? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Well, we have 1000 -- the number fluctuates. It's 1037 or 1041 actual school crossing locations according to the schools that are open currently. So we would need the difference in budget between the 837 and 1041. We can get you that number and get back to you --
I do want to flag if I may, Councilmember, that it depends like the Commissioner said on the schools that are open in any year, and we know that there may be changes in the schools that are open over time. It also depends on the families and where the families live and where the students are coming from. So sometimes that'll add a need. And sometimes a need will go away when students leave elementary school, for example, and they go --
Yeah. I think we're just trying to get a round number on what we need. So we need to increase the budget to be able to add another 200 crossing guards basically is what my question was. So thank you very much.
I don't know, Mark. You know Kristin is from South Philly. You asking her all them questions. You know when Phillips is -- you know, when the Northwest come like Clean and Green and Sanitation, he just get all softballs. She's from South Philly, man. Take care of our own. But I'm just having fun. Kristin can handle herself. I'm just joking. The Chair recog -- now, Rue, you came back and you're in the queue.
I'm ready now? Great. Thank you so much, Council President. Thank you all so much for being here. I wanted to follow up on outdoor dining. Thank you, first of all, especially you, Mike Carroll, for our conversations around outdoor dining and what you are helping to move along. But small business owners are looking for creative ways to increase revenue and we believe that outdoor dining can be a potential source, especially that Philadelphia will play a host to the world with numerous 2026 events. Far too often, my office works with business owners who cite a cumbersome and confusing application and permitting process for streeteries and sidewalk cafes and get frustrated with the program. We've seen instances where applications can take up to a year, which our partners in the industry find unacceptable. Again, thank you so much for the conversations you've been having with us. But can you tell us how has the department worked to simplify and streamline the application and permitting process and to work with the Commerce Department to actively engage establishments around the program and its benefits? If I could put a couple more questions in there too. In December 2025, I passed my outdoor dining bill in an effort to improve opportunities for restaurants to operate sidewalk cafes by right. How has or will the Administration and department work to increase outdoor dining capacity ahead of welcoming the world for the 2026 World Cup and other 2026 events? And have there been revisions made to the eCLIPSE system for better communication and transparency between Streets and Licenses and Inspections? And I hope to get some bike lane questions in too, but I'm going to throw that out for now.
Thank you, Councilmember. Yeah, I appreciate the chance to work with you and your staff on these issues. And I'll say that legislation you passed will hopefully simplify things for businesses so that they can avoid in many cases the ordinance process, which certainly added a lot of time and work on everyone's part. The work you mentioned with Commerce I think is key. As you're aware and your staff's aware, we are working on a guidance that's specific to sidewalk cafes. We'll continue to refine the guidance that exists for streeteries. And I think with those two tools and maybe some graphical-based summaries, that it should make it a lot clearer what people need to do so they can understand and visualize some of the constraints on what they can do. We certainly want to make as much as possible some of the information that restricts where these things can be automated or part of the process of applying so that people don't waste time and then find out at the end that they're talking about a location that's not eligible either because of the width of the sidewalk or the location in the city, make sure people understand ADA requirements, which is a big factor in this. So those things are in the works. We're pretty confident we'll be in pretty good shape in a few weeks rolling some of the stuff out in draft form, and look forward to having a second conversation so you guys can get an eye on the product that we have and that we propose to put in front of the businesses there. We feel like we're in decent shape I think based on some of the things that you heard, working with L&I in making some user-help user prompts available in the eCLIPSE system. I think that should help quite a bit. Talking a little bit more with the folks in the Right Of Way Unit in the Streets Department, I'm very confident that they can take appointments with folks who feel like they have problems, do the outreach directly, especially on the technical issues that come up as folks are working their way through applications. We're certainly interested in making it clear when people do not need to have a design professional involved in the process. We heard from you several times that that was a real sticking point with different businesses. And again, I think I'm hearing good stuff from Commerce Department in terms of, let's say, a more concierge-like point of contact. And that sort of customer care aspect is something that they excel in. The business action teams are really exceptional at that. We want to make sure that they're making that very visible towards people who want to do more business this summer, so we're working every day with them to figure out how to make that available for the restaurants that you're hearing from.
So I'm sorry I had to step out and I hope these were not asked. I really did want to ask Vision Zero questions and to see how much funding was allocated in the FY27 budget for Vision Zero for installation, planning and maintenance of bike lanes across Philly? How is the department ensuring equitable distribution of bike infrastructure investments across Philadelphia neighborhoods? What portion of bike lane funding supports protected lanes with physical barriers versus painted lanes? What community engagement processes are used before redesigning or installing bike lanes in neighborhoods? And finally, how does bike lane expansion integrate with broader transportation goals, including climate initiatives and public transit access?
Yeah. We talked a bit about Vision Zero. I think the gist of your question, we have $5 million of Vision Zero funding. We leverage that with a lot of other funding. We try to incorporate Vision Zero on everything the Streets Department does. And a lot of the projects that we're looking at in terms of the capital side, we're talking about $70 million of investment that we're trying to bring online, these projects take time so you won't see all those projects delivered in FY27. And some of what you see delivered this year was stuff that we got funding for two or three, maybe even four years ago. So we're always trying to churn as much infrastructure out as possible. I recommend people look at the Connect Plan from 2018 and some other planning documents, Vision Zero annual reports and you'll see the progress that we've made going back a decade or so. So we intend to keep the progress moving forward, I'll say the pedal down and keep rolling along here with these types of investments.
Thank you. Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, Councilmember Dr. Anthony Phillips, Councilmember Cindy Bass and Quetcy Lozada. Then we'll have Driscoll. And then actually, Member Young, there will be a second round.
Thank you, Council President. Good afternoon, Commissioner Del Rossi, Deputy Managing Director Carroll, thank you to you and your whole teams for the work that you do every day. But I have to give a special thank you to Deputy Commissioner Rich Montanez, who is always just very responsive and willing to join us out in the community for community meetings about infrastructure and street safety. And my constituents are very engaged and they tend to care very loudly, but he always handles it with a lot of grace and I really appreciate your partnership. So I have some questions about roadway infrastructure. And then if I can get to it, I have questions about the timing of neighborhood traffic safety projects. So last summer in my district we had so many streets that got repaved in such a tight vicinity at the exact same time that my constituents coined it "The Great Repaving." And while I'm certainly grateful for the attention and the resources, especially as I listen to my colleagues ask about when their districts are going to get attention, I do think that we have to do a better job at communication. And so, I want to specifically ask how we can improve community engagement and notification so that so much chaos doesn't ensue as it did in my district last summer? And to be clear, my question is not about courtesy towing. I know that that practice is being modified, but most neighbors do not receive specific information ahead of time about when paving projects are happening, which creates quite a lot of disruption and stress, and that is especially magnified when the city is tearing up to streets 4 within a couple-block radius, 5 because then no matter where people 6 move their cars, they end up moving 7 to a street that is getting worked 8 on. And so, I wanted to ask how 9 the Streets Department plans to 10 improve your public notice process for the upcoming paving season to ensure earlier and clearer notices of street work? And also related to street paving, I heard us just have a conversation where we acknowledge that the contractors have a 60-day service level agreement. But the current process is that contractors rip up all the streets they intend to pave at one time and then they don't come back to actually finish the work for weeks or sometimes months at a time, and that leaves our residential blocks dusty and also hazardous. And so, while that might be an easy process for contractors, it causes a lot of distress to homeowners and people living on the block. And so I wanted to ask, what would it take to change this practice so that blocks are repaved much sooner after they are milled? So, one, about the communication and public notice and then just about the process and getting the repaving done a little faster once the milling is completed. COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Thank you, Councilmember, for your question. In your particular case, the notifications were -- they forgot to put the notifications on the doors. So typically, what happens during the paving season is when we're coming to an area, we will put these on the doors and it's in English and Spanish, and they're put on and you notify and it gives you the information if you have any questions and things like that. So in your particular case, we apologize they were not put on the residents' doors. Between the milling and paving, it's a five-week period from mill to pave and sometimes it's extended due to weather. But in that five-week period, we also need to reset the utilities so the manholes that are in the blocks that are being paved, they also need to be reset. Once they are reset, then the contractor can drop back or city forces can drop back and pave the streets after the utilities are reset.
Okay. I'd like to just maybe follow up. I feel like in a lot of instances the streets just remain milled for much longer than five weeks. And I understand that we have to work according to weather, but we can also kind of time that out, right, we know when the bad weather is going to come. So I'd like to reserve the opportunity to follow up with you all. COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Yes.
And then I wanted to ask about the timing of traffic safety projects. Routinely Streets tells me and my office that a priority project in the 3rd District will be completed in a particular year, but then it almost never ends up happening on the timeline that we're told. For example, there were five or six streets in my district slated to be restriped or to get speed bumps last year and it never happened. And perhaps most egregiously, two new traffic lights that I helped fund at a key location between SEPTA's trolley portal and the Woodland Cemetery were supposed to get done in 2024 and then we were told they would get done in 2025. And now, we're being told that it's getting delayed yet again because the Streets Department has to do FIFA- related improvements first. And again, this project was approved over two years ago, and it's especially concerning because these traffic lights were part of a multi-agency process that our government crafted and supported. And so, that's something frankly that since there were so many important stakeholders involved, I don't understand why my office and I now have to fight or constantly bug you guys to get the project to actually happen and to prevent it from falling off of your list. So what assurance can you provide that this important work is actually going to happen this summer? I'll also add that this is -- because the trolley portal is there and people run in the woodlands and there's a bike lane there, it's kind of a key area for us to be concerned about as it relates to traffic safety. COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Thank you for your question. I believe Deputy Commissioner Montanez -- Mike, Deputy Managing Director.
It probably makes sense for us to meet with your staff because there's a little confusion about which projects you're referring to. So I think we should probably sit down and go through that to make sure that we're all on the same page. In general, different things come up in different projects. And the time period you're talking about has been one where there's been incredible inflation. And so, sometimes what happens is that we run short from the estimated funds to what we actually need to spend to complete a project. And so, we have to accumulate the funds to finish the job and close it out. So that seems like that might be an issue on some of the jobs that you're talking about. There are often a few other things that can creep in the way. There's been a few emergencies that have come up in different places. I think around the trolleys in particular, SEPTA had to do some work, which was an emergency work project that they had to take on. So we probably should sit down and fairly, methodically walk through project by project to find out what details apply to the things you're talking about. We always want to get products done on time, because the longer they're open, the more expensive they are. So we are very incentivized to close projects out. And if it's a matter of communication where we need to improve, like many of the things we're talking about, we'll do better. We'll try and coordinate with you and figure out the best way to get the information you need in a timely way.
Thank you. I look forward to talking about the project and this would be a great one to get done for FIFA, right, so that people can actually visit this part of the 3rd District. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. I just have a question just following up on the Councilwoman's line of questioning around repaving. And it brought to my mind that -- I'll just use my own neighborhood as an example. We had our streets repaved. It looked very nice about two years ago. And then about six months ago, the streets were just ripped up and for pipes to be installed by Water or Gas or whoever it was. Why? Why have we not been able to get this down to a science by now that, okay, there's going to be piping laid in 2026, in January 2026, so we shouldn't tear up the streets and redo them in July of 2024? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Thank you, Councilmember, for your question. We do have a GPIS system that utility workers, they're supposed to put their information into the system and it's supposed to flag conflicts. And there's also a moratorium in place where, if a street was paved within a certain time frame, this should not happen.
It did. It is. It's still happening. COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Unfortunately that frustrates me more than anything when we go out there and pave because we know what it's like to get streets paved in the city of Philadelphia. So when that happens, we have the same frustration --
On average, how much does it cost to get a street repaved? How much does it cost you? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: One block with ADA ramps at each intersection is about $350,000.
So I would say in this little area it was probably to blocks at 6 least that were paved. And so, 7 it's just very disturbing that this 8 coordination doesn't seem to 9 happen. It didn't happen then. I 10 don't know how we can get it to happen now. And even with all of the things that we have in place, clearly there still needs to be more. So I'm hopeful that you all will go back to the drawing board and try to figure this out. Because listen, I can't walk my dogs around a block without a neighbor saying, we just got it done, like what's going on. And I'm going to give them Commissioner Del Rossi's phone number and they'll be calling -- COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: I understand.
Because people are very mindful of the fact that it's expensive. A lot of blocks want to be repaved and need to be repaved and then we now have to go back over another repaving. So just a thought. COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: I'll get in touch with your office for the location and we'll look into what the time frame was.
Thank you, Chairwoman Bass. I too want to just say thank you so much, Commissioner, I forgot to say and, Deputy Commissioner Montanez, for working with me this past year on several different initiatives. It's really appreciated. I'm looking forward to doing more though. I want to direct this question to Director Carroll. Director Carroll, you oversee OTIS, which sits in a position that connects the streets, the Water Department, SEPTA and other agencies that often have work that overlaps with the Streets Department. Why are these agencies still not communicating effectively when it comes to coordinating street work such as the one we just mentioned?
Yeah. So there's a few factors and the goal is always to improve that coordination when it comes to the Water Department and the Streets Department, for example, and those are the two agents that I have direct oversight over. There's a fair amount of the work that takes place in the Water Department, which is emergency in nature. And that's the clearest way of putting it. And the fact is there's a determination that needs to be made when an emergency takes place as to whether that remediation is going to be taken on in a manner where then a contractor is brought in or whether the Streets Department is going to play the role of the contractor. And there's no way to know that until you begin the construction work itself. So when there's a contractor that's brought in, sometimes that's something that happens on an emergency contract. There's a certain amount of contracting capacity that exists in the region and in the city. And when we're bumping up against that, there's going to be delay because we need to wait for them to be finished with what they're doing to free up resources, to free up equipment before they go to the street. And that delay can affect sometimes the work in the street itself to restore something like a cave-in or it can affect the finishing, the sort of restoration of the street after that work is done. And so, you may see that the pipe was fixed, but it'll take a week or two for a crew to come out and to backfill a hole and to pave the hole. With the Streets Department, it should be cleaner because the Water Department can communicate more directly with Streets Department staff. Sometimes though you have a similar issue where the Streets Department is engaged in other maintenance activities at the same time. And this winter was one of the bad examples there, because the Streets Department was engaged in snow fighting at the same time we were trying to address the restoration from some pretty significant main breaks that the Water Department was able to address on their own, but waiting for the Streets Department to come after them.
Okay. I also want to thank you for that response. I think there should be -- I don't know what to say. But even with all these changes, I don't know how to phrase it, but I would love for us to come up to a commitment to coordinate these entities better in that regard. But I do want to say that the Streets Departments deliver core services and quality of life, such as signage, pavement marking, street lighting, traffic-calming measures, however, many neighbors are unclear on what services -- some neighbors, a lot of neighbors, but some neighbors don't know what services they can request. That's only a few. But a lot of neighbors don't know how to request them correctly and they also don't know how long these services should take. Can we get a commitment from you all? We see it on the department website all the services that are offered, but maybe a commitment that we can pass out to our neighbors in a nice visual, like how to request these services, a service level agreement for these services so that we, even our neighbor service people and constituent service people, can be able to direct our neighbors to that as well? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Thank you, Councilman, for your question. We will share our service levels and we can absolutely work with your office, and we are in the process of revamping our website. We can definitely help you with the residents so that they can understand what they can reach out to the Streets Department for, because that's a challenge that I've had for years in this capacity because no one really understands what the Streets Department does. We are traffic signals, signs, markings, right-of-way, contracts, bridges. I mean, I could keep going on the things that we do. But we can definitely work with your office and get together a pamphlet or core services that you can hand out.
Okay. Just dedicated communications customer service team. Is there a dedicated leader on your team that deals with community relations and so forth? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Yes.
Who's that? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: We have our Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs who works with Council, who works with constituents, and then we also have a communications manager who handles our social media and things of that nature.
Thank you, Councilman. Chair recognizes Councilmember Driscoll.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me I guess begin, Commissioner and Director. You're probably aware I've had my fair share of catastrophes in the 6th Councilmanic and my comment is, I just want to go on the record thanking both of you and Richard Montanez and I see Steve Lorenz back there for the professionalism and rapid response that I've received. And we're always working together on routine things, but you guys have surpassed expectations when it came to these big events. So I just wanted to put that on the record. The other thing I just want to comment on, I think we want to get ahead of the PR curve as the speed cameras go on, particularly on Frankford Avenue. So I have Roosevelt Boulevard in my district. When I was in the House of Representatives, I co-sponsored the legislation to enable the city to have these speed cameras. And it appears, and I think we're going to face this problem when Frankford Avenue goes online, there's this notion that it's a money grab by the city or the state. And that's the furthest thing from the truth. My district office is on Frankford Avenue. And I would say in the post-COVID world, there's this kind of chaos in the driving world that a stop sign is a maybe or a red light is a maybe. And the reason that we're doing these speed-calming measures and these light cameras and speed cameras is because we have to, to save lives and to restore order on the streets of Philadelphia. So I guess what I'm asking is perhaps through whatever districts it's going to affect, that as they go online, that we communicate in an effective way both from the legislature and from the executive branch, that we're doing not just warning notices, but sort of a PR campaign that we're doing this to help and it's not a money grab?
So thank you for the question, Councilmember. And I will assure you that Mayor Parker is already on the case and she has implored both the Commissioner and I to get out there and to share that message, to get on social media. We've had productive conversations with some of your colleagues to try and enlist folks in the community to echo that message. And so, that is the order of the day, for us to make sure people understand what we're doing and why we're doing it and how effective it has been where we've done this work in the past. And you're familiar with a lot of the statistics on the Boulevard. But the number of speeding violations went down by over 90% when the cameras were put in place. We saw dramatic improvement in terms of lower numbers of people getting killed and lower numbers of people being injured when those cameras went up. And so, we hope to replicate that experience in other parts of the city where it's needed. Like you say, it's not for nothing. People are dying and they're having life-altering tragedies in these places. And so, we need to come in and we need to do something. And this is one of the most effective tools that's out there to manage those sorts of events. So we really appreciate your support and we get the message. We need people to understand that.
I'm glad to hear that, but I just will caution you that the driver on the Boulevard is going to be a little different than the driver on Frankford Avenue. It's going to be the residential people that have gotten into these bad habits. And so, I think that that communication is going to be key. So thank you and thank your entire department for your hard work.
Thank you, Councilman. Chair recognizes Councilmember Young.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So the City Controller in February issued a report that found that 133 of 140 inspected speed cushions, 95% has slopes exceeding 10% grade specified in the blueprints and recommended by safety guidelines. And were at 13 least twice at grade. We 14 introduced a resolution to hold a 15 hearing on this particular matter, 16 because I believe that it's that 17 grave of an issue that we have in 18 the city. So given this finding, 19 what immediate corrective actions 20 is the department taking to 21 inspect, remediate and reconstruct 22 the noncompliant speed cushions? 23 COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: 24 Thank you, Councilman, for your question. What the Controller's report kind of enlightened for us was inspection. We were so focused on installing speed cushions because we receive about traffic- 6 calming requests per day for speed 7 studies. So fully staffed up, we 8 can complete about 12 a day. So 9 with 9 coming in a day, in that we kind of lost the inspection piece. You're working with asphalt. You're working, you know, it's a skill. On a hot day you're working with asphalt. It could go either way. So in some cases the slopes were affected. They are slightly higher. We thought that maybe in some cases the temperature would work with us. But what we did do is go out there and inspect and we are correcting. And prior to the Controller's report, we were receiving some 311 requests about traffic calming and the speed cushions and we were out there looking at them, so we were already addressing them. We're working with Law to go after the contractor to see what ramifications we can do with the contractors in those cases, but we are out there addressing them. We also put inspections in place and we're working on a modified design so that it's easier to install in the field.
Thank you. You mentioned that you're getting 9 a day, but staff can handle 12 a day. So it seems like it's not fully operational. It seems like that there's room for staff to handle 9 requests I guess adequately a day if I guess they're able to handle 12. So there's three less that they're getting a day. So I just think that that's something that we should really take a little bit more deeper dive into because I know just driving just anecdotally, you know, on certain streets your car is on two wheels when go over a speed bump popping wheelies, and then on others you're kind of coasting over. So it's like what's that rationale in the location of the speed cushions, the type of speed cushion that is in place? I think that's something that I am requesting that our Streets Department really take a deep dive into because it affects our quality of life. Yes, neighborhoods want speed cushions. They want traffic calming, but they don't want to create other issues with their vehicles. I mean, if I hit a speed cushion and I bend my rim, can I call Risk Management? Do I put my risk management complaint similar to what we do with potholes? Like, what can we do because I'm thinking about, what's that, 11th Street in my district, right, when you get south of Temple University campus. I mean when you're on a bus, the 8 bus going over that speed bump, 9 you're flying going over those 10 speed bumps. So I think that's 11 something that we really should 12 take a deep dive into as we are 13 continually going to install 14 traffic-calming measures, 15 particularly around our schools 16 where it's needed. 17 But we need to ensure 18 that it is done properly and 19 safely, because some of these 20 cushions can end up -- I mean, 21 again they're over the recommended 22 safety guidelines so they're 23 deemed -- to me, that means they're unsafe. So I just want to make sure we really, really ensure the safety of our communities when it comes to speed measures. I want to echo my colleague Councilmember Mike Driscoll about the 25-mile-an-hour speed limit, particularly on Broad Street where I represent from City Hall up to Hunting Park. And essentially, I think it has created a safer Broad Street for our city. I mean, we do get complaints from constituents for some reason who want to use Broad Street as the Indy NASCAR series or something, but that's not essentially what it is. So I do want to commend the city and let folks know and go on the record to show that I am supportive of slowing these cars down as we look to have a safer city. So thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Councilman. And I just wanted to mention along those lines, because in some parts we represent the same area, I have one side of the street and Councilman Young has the other side of the street along Broad Street. And one of the things that I've mentioned for the last few years is Broad and Lehigh. So again, I have one side, he has the other side. And there was a time I want to say during the pandemic, maybe 2021 or 2022, when there were I want to say three fatalities, back-to-back-to-back. And we talked about it quite a bit and we still haven't seen any changes. And the problem is if you're speeding, if you go north on Broad Street, by the time you reach Lehigh, the pitch is too high of the street. You cannot see over the other side of Broad Street or the other side of Lehigh Avenue going northbound on Broad Street. And so, we've talked about. It's part of the High Injury Network, for whatever that's worth, but we haven't seen any sort of speed-calming measures right there. And again, there were three fatalities I think almost three months apart that really didn't get a lot of attention. And yet you have other traffic fatalities where someone will get hit and killed and they get a lot of attention. And it's not saying that they shouldn't. But it just feels as if there's an inequity that because it happened at Broad and Lehigh, that there's not the same value on the people who lost their lives to these traffic fatalities.
I just want to assure you that that is getting as much attention as we can here in the city. We did put in a grant agreement. We put in a grant, a federal grant. We were awarded the grant. Unfortunately, this is one of the grants the Trump Administration has been slow- walking with us. And so, we need to get that to agreement so we can implement the project that addresses the issue that you're referring to that was highlighted by the three tragedies that you mentioned. That area though is covered by the cameras. So we hope that that at least slows people down on Broad Street as they approach the intersection. Hopefully, that has a good effect too. But we hear you loud and clear.
Yeah. I don't know that anyone was ever arrested, if there was any arrests. I think in one case there was an arrest and then it's been very difficult to get someone to trial, that same person to trial on this vehicular homicide. And so, I think you all do a great job, but I have to push back on this particular situation a little bit in terms of the amount of attention. Because where there's been again other traffic fatalities, you know, you can see things that actually have been put in place as a result of what happened there and they happened after these three fatalities. And so, I'm glad that we're working with the federal government to try to get some additional resources to try to address the problem, but the sooner, the better. But I thank you all for your work. Chair recognizes Councilmember Landau.
Thank you. Thank you, Chair. I am the Chair of the Technology Committee, and I wanted to talk about StreetSmartPHL, which I'll be honest, I didn't know existed for a long time, but I've been diving into it. And it is a program where you put in an address and you can click a variety of things from paving to permits. And it at least has some colors show up and some things you can find to see what is happening around your neighborhood. They show you current projects and future projects. I know we tried. I'm sure we did this many, many years ago. It is slightly cumbersome, worse on the phone than it is on the desktop, and it doesn't really give you everything that you need. You've got to keep layering on top of it. So the first few questions are about what metrics do you know about the website? Do people use it? Do you have a sense of how many residents use it? Do you know what functions are used most often, the paving, plowing, sweeping? Any possibility you can get the Water Department in there? Any possibility you can get some more realtime work in there, right? Sometimes it'll tell you a permit, there's going to be work. You go by that street and there's nothing happening. It's not really a change in realtime. And so, do you have improvements planned on it? Any expansion, any other layers? And I think that's it for now. Thanks. COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Okay. So for our permits -- in StreetSmartPHL, you know, it's a GPIS-based tool. So there's time frames for our permits. So the contractor will pull a permit for, say, a week period, but it doesn't drill down on the exact day it's working. It just has the time frame in which it's open. We just recently with our GIS -- our GPIS application, our paving is in StreetSmartPHL. That's the paving that we'll be doing this April. And it's from last year's funds because our funds for paving won't be available until February, January. So our next year's paving will be in StreetSmartPHL there. So it loads the information in and we use the (inaudible) and snow. But I do believe in one event we had an issue with it because it's married to the root, so we are working with our IT folks to be more innovative with our technology and things like that. I don't know if, Deputy Commissioner Montanez, you wanted to add something.
Good afternoon. Deputy Commissioner Richard Montanez. Yes, so the contractors, the plumbers have a certain window to do work. For example, a plumber's permit is 30 days. That's the amount of time they're given to do the work. So you will click or PermitPHL and you'll see that there's a permit issued here for 30 days. The main goal that the Streets Department had is for residents to be aware of what is happening out there and notify us if there is something happening and it does not have a permit, because the illegal plumbers is what's causing a lot of our issues too or people doing work that are not supposed to be doing work in our streets. There are emergency contracts at times. They do not make it. It usually takes us 5 hours to put that permit in there. 6 But we try to stay on top of it as 7 much as we can. 8
9 It's a manual input of the 10 information. There's no way of 11 just having an automatic 12 extraction? 13
The 14 information comes automatically out 15 of our permit program. We're 16 currently in the process of trying 17 to update that system, trying to do 18 at least a refresh of the system. 19 And then after that, you might see 20 some improvement. That refresh has 21 taken us a little time just because 22 trying to marry a couple systems 23 together. 24
Is there any way to get the Water Department and PGW and PECO in there also so that when they shut down streets, people know about it?
So PWD does put their permits in there. We issue their permits. PGW, we try to get them to put it in there. A lot of them, if you see their permit, would say EUN, which is emergency utility notice, so we can't control that. SEPTA puts theirs in. PECO, unless it's an emergency, they do put theirs in. Verizon, Crown Castle, AT&T, so we're able to get a lot of them in there.
Thank you, Council Lady. Chair recognizes Councilmember Harrity.
Just a quick question. My pothole bill, 250066 I believe it was, are we enforcing that now? Are we going after these contractors? Are we still using the fact that we don't have enough employees to do it?
No. We are going after contractors who are unlicensed or unpermitted to go in the city. As soon as we find out, we still depend on residents to notify us. We are working as part of the pothole crew to be able to then start notifying or be more proactive as we're looking at things where they're happening. Our goal is to try to catch them actively doing the work without a permit and at that point, then we'll know who it exactly is. We've gotten a couple calls. And when you talk to the residents like, well, her nephew is a plumber and came and did the job. Unfortunately, nobody's giving me the name of the nephew or the company. And, therefore, I don't have an individual to go after.
Okay. Well, then that just gave me an idea. Maybe I need to then amend the bill to include the resident doing the right thing too, right, maybe?
Okay. Thank you. I appreciate if you have an idea on how we can make it work, because the whole idea is to stop this. Because a lot of times the resident, like in some cases like you said, the resident's, it's his brother or whatever. But a lot of the cases where I talk to the people, they actually paid for a permit on their bill, the contractor just didn't go get it. So it's actually not a pothole bill. It's a bad actor contractor's bill.
It is the contractor trying to make an additional $700 to $900. And so, they tell the resident that this is the cost the city is charging you for a permit. The resident pays it. But now, however, the contractor does not get the permit.
My man, thank you so much. Appreciate you guys. Thank you.
Thank you. Can we talk about the issue that we have with our crossing guards? I know crossing guards are under the Streets Department now. Can you tell us what are some of the impediments that your department is seeing to hiring crossing guards and the placement of crossing guards at some of our high-need locations of high-need schools? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: So with our school crossing guard program, we see a lot of turnover with retirement, because actually in some cases retired folks come out and get a second job as a school crossing guard. So we see a lot of turnover with that as well as it's an opportunity when you come into the city as a crossing guard, it opens you up to other opportunities throughout the city. So we see people vacate positions for that as well. But we are actively working with communities and schools to try to get these vacant locations staffed. Our next session is April 20th to bring in a new round of crossing guards and then we'll have one more May 4th. And hopefully, we can get additional crews in. But we are working in those areas that are lacking the most, which is the 24th and 25th Police Districts.
Thank you. And one more question. I know we've been beating this to death, but it's because our constituents are hitting us with the potholes again. And so, when we are filling potholes, we have our crews go out there. I believe that they're doing the cold patch potholes for the most part refilling the potholes. I do know that when PennDOT has their crews out, they're refilling potholes. They get a call from I guess whatever their command center is, and their crews go hit the streets right away to refill those potholes and there's a separate number to call. I want to say that 311 is very helpful, but sometimes in other places can get in the way. And I think that potholes is one thing that 311 can get in the way of efficiency for our residents. And so, is there a way where we could have a separate line that goes directly to the Streets Department that goes directly to those in operations to fill some of these emergency potholes because there are potholes that if you don't see it, you are literally destroying your car. So what is the process for getting these type of emergencies potholes filled? Like I said, PennDOT, they call, if a pothole causes an accident, within a couple hours that pothole is filled if it's on a PennDOT road. Can you describe to us what that process is for Philadelphia? And is there a separate line again that we could call, that constituents could call, to have these emergency potholes addressed other than calling 311?
Okay. So I'm going to take on the part of the question about whether we could do something besides 311. I think that's not something the Streets Department can answer for. I think the way 311 is designed, it does address a lot of issues that the caller, maybe we don't see, in terms of flagging things, for example, that look like potholes or maybe think is a pothole but it's actually something else. So you heard the conversation about ditches, plumbers' ditches, for example. There's issues that we talked about earlier about cave-ins, so it's important that there's one point of contact that can sort out what type of thing we're looking at. And 311 has proven to be the most efficient way to get that information to the right people. Sometimes what we see in the street is not going to be the Streets Department's responsibility, either because it's the Water Department's responsibility or PGW's responsibility. And it takes a burden off the Streets Department to have a dedicated entity that has folks who kind of can read through a script, process the information and then reach out. And when we know it's the Streets Department and then Streets Department gets the information from 311, they can just go deal with what they're good at dealing with as opposed to something that's actually PGW that may involve a potential gas emergency. We wouldn't want Streets Department getting those calls. We want that to get flagged separately for PGW. So it's probably worth incorporating some feedback. We can work with the folks in the Managing Director's Office who run 311, to think about ways it could be a little bit more efficient given some of the feedback that you're getting. But I just want to make that clear that's not something that the Streets Department should volunteer to take out of a 311 system. But it's probably worth some more conversation. As far as the process, there's probably some things that the Commissioner or the Deputies can add. The Streets Department actually does often step in and take care of issues which are properly PennDOT's jurisdiction because we see, we have an ability to react more quickly. I think in general between the Streets Department and PennDOT, because those are the arterial streets where people are traveling faster, collectively we just want to partner up and get that stuff done as quickly as possible. So some of the avenues, some of the major streets are going to get that attention just because of the fact that the traffic travels faster and there's much more traffic out there. Not to say that we don't take the issues seriously on the local streets and some of the neighborhood streets. But in terms of the risks involved and the consequences of having more time to sort things out, that tends to get a little bit more attention. And we certainly are thankful for PennDOT's responsiveness. But I think the Streets Department does get some credit for some of what you see out there as well. But I'll pass it off to the Commissioner to talk about process.
Chair recognizes Councilman Phillips for a point of information.
Just a real quick point information. On Councilmember Young's point, I don't see anything reflected in his budget regarding communication and just the idea of helping residents understand processes of when and how things are going to happen. As Councilwoman Bass just mentioned, you just provided valuable information, but I'm not sure if every resident knows these things. I don't know if this is specifically her case, but just in general like communication standards are flawed in the Streets Department, which is why even our department, we don't hear from our legislative person as much, right, about all the things that happen in the Streets Department. So I just feel as though communication has to get better and it has to be someone leading that a little better.
I'm not sure it's a budgetary item as much as just us coordinating with you guys and understanding, getting your feedback and figuring out how to implement it in the regular operation. We do have quite a bit of focus in the Parker Administration on communications. You know there's a very strong team in the Mayor's Office of communications. MDO has some staff and we're trying to build that staff up. So I think independent of the budget, we should just get down to the ground with you and get around the table and figure out some of these ideas.
I even think during the snow emergency you can communicate, we came by with this street, have a car come by, put a little tag on a utility pole. Because I know people say direct people to the online website. But sometimes just having that visual can be really helpful. Just everything that y'all do, you just have to tell us at that time to communicate, communicate. Thank you, Councilmember Young.
Thank you. And just on the same note, can you tell us what is I guess the timeline from when a complaint goes to 311, it is verified that it is a Streets Department issue to correct and then that pothole gets fixed? Because I've been complaining about a particular pothole in front of 16th and Cecil B. Moore for about, I don't know how long now, months where the residents stuck a cone in the middle of the street because that has happened. Can you just describe to us what that timeline should be when the complaint is in, it's verified that it's the Streets Department's issue to fix and then the Streets Department goes out to fix that issue? COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Once confirmed it's a pothole, our turnaround time is three business days. If the inspection is conducted and it is identified as another roadway condition, depending on what it is, if we have to call in another utility like Water or Gas or another agency that needs to come in and conduct repairs or inspection before we can do the final restoration, that takes a lot longer because it's coordination. But if it's a confirmed pothole, it's three business days.
And if it is not a Streets Department issue, what we've been getting is that the 311 complaint gets marked complete, right. And so, then because it's not a Streets Department issue, how can we address that issue when it's marked complete? It may be complete for Streets, but the total job itself is not complete. So the resident is saying, I got this thing saying it's complete but the hole is still here. COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: That was brought to our attention. We meet with 311 regularly, so we will make sure there's different codes when it is referred to another department and then the message goes back to 311 which is associated with that code. So we will work with 311 to make sure the right message goes back.
Thank you, Councilman. Chair recognizes Councilmember Gauthier.
Thank you, Madam Chair. In the last year's submitted Streets Department budget testimony, it said that "Streets is on track to spend $567 million in bipartisan infrastructure law funding and has already committed 327 million for projects supported by BIL funds. Streets will work with OTIS to identify, prioritize and plan the remaining BIL-funded projects." Can you speak to how and where the $327 million has been committed? And then next, in last year's submitted Streets Department budget testimony under paving and roadway maintenance and repair, the department stated that a strategic goal is to "continue its resurfacing program through FY26." Are Complete Streets projects given priority for resurfacing?
Out of the sort of paving and roadway maintenance and repair budget, are Complete Streets projects given priority for resurfacing?
I mean, so Complete Streets project would be potentially any project where we try and incorporate some of the multimodal infrastructure or some of the Vision Zero infrastructure. So the simple answer is yes. I mean, when we're out there doing projects which do more than just resurface, so if there's changes in line striping or incorporating other safety measures, then we would consider those to be Complete Streets projects. I felt like you had a couple other questions worked into that about the spending. And so, I want to try and address some of that. I've asked my colleague Chris Puchalsky to help with that as well. Just --
The other question was about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds?
Yes. So the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law covered a very broad range of things. And in general, I would break that into a category of what we would say is federal discretionary grants that we brought in. So there were some pretty high profile ones we brought in and we're looking to move forward. Some of those grants were canceled unfortunately and some of them have been hung up with the Trump Administration under additional review. It's probably where it's kind of sitting down and going through case by case. But one of the big ones that we were very regretful that we did not see move forward was the Chinatown Stitch Project, which was about $150, $170 million, so a big chunk of that money would have been tied up in that. Other projects though, like the paving funds we get from the federal government, have moved forward, and that's mostly arterial, higher traffic streets and what we call the National Highway System. And so, that funding, even though it's let's say just paving is considered BIL funding, we count that in that number as well.
Thank you. Can you speak a little bit more to the 327 million that you all state was committed? I know that we might have lost some of it, but can you speak in a fuller sense to what kind of projects were in that mix?
So we'll include what we call formula funding. So the paving is in that, but I'm going to ask Chris Puchalsky to talk about some of the projects that are moving forward.
Yeah. Some of the projects are moving forward. Although it's unfortunate we lost $150 million of funding for the Chinatown Stitch Project, we did retain $12 million of funding for that project, so we are continuing to move that project forward. And the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission did just award $10 million of additional funding to allow the design of that project to move through the final design process so that it will be 100% shovel ready. In terms of working with our colleagues at the Streets Department, there are a number of projects that either we were able to get under grant agreement or we're finding other ways to move forward. So one is replacing bridges in the Wissahickon Valley -- not replacing, but rehabilitating old bridges in the Wissahickon Valley. Another is the Great Streets PHL project where we're doing safety improvements on a number of facilities throughout the city in districts. I believe -- is it Springfield in your district? I can't remember exactly, but we could get you a list, and those projects are continuing to move forward. There's a bridge grant to try to replace or figure out how to efficiently replace bridges over railways that is moving forward. And then we've been working hard with colleagues in the Streets Department, the Federal Highway Administration to get the Safe Streets for all 2022 grant under contract. So trying to find a way not only to get that under contract, but a way to efficiently deliver it once it is under contract.
Thank you. If you could follow up with that detail, we'd be grateful. And any additional information about how you prioritize Complete Streets as it relates to your resurfacing schedule, we'd be grateful to see that.
Okay. And I'll just add there was a TASA round. That's the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside. That's federal formula dollars that goes through the state and gets awarded both at the region and at the state level. And the city got a number of different awards under the TASA, including for the Woodland Avenue project in the latest round.
Any other questions from members of the committee? Councilman Curtis Jones.
Thank you, Mr. President. I was down the hall partially listening to the hearings today. I was dealing with some of Member Gauthier's constituents that represent like 900 homes that are in jeopardy. And come to find out that you're way ahead of the game on the briefing. So you're going to have to do a brain-dump to help me catch up to represent those that are in my district. But thank you for your work. Real quick question, thank you, and I'm going to be brief. I have four bridges in my district that are about to undergo major repairs. And of them, can you give me a sense of the East Falls, the 59th Street Bridge and when they are going to close because that impacts traffic patterns from Chestnut Hill all the way down to Center City, Parkside, Wynnefield and Wynnefield Heights included? So East Falls, Roxborough, Manayunk. COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: Okay. So for 59th Street, we're having a final decision. There's going to be a public meeting on 4/8 to make a determination of the closure. And once it is, we'll do a full closure. The project will take two years. If we leave partial lanes open, it could take up to four years.
So I know you guys don't make bridge repairs based on politics, but do you have to do it right in my re-election to make people have to go minutes out their way each 14 way? You know who they're going to 15 be mad at? Not you. They're going 16 to be mad at me. So is there any 17 way we can -- 18 COMMISSIONER DEL ROSSI: 19 Are we talking about Falls or 59th? 20
All of them. In 2028, I'm going to be for it. In 2027, I'm going to be leading the protest.
Falls Bridge has to be worked on. I think everyone on this side of the chamber is concerned about the state of repair there. And I think you will have many --
-- constituents who will be happy to see it under construction. So we'll rally them for your cause, if that helps you. But my main thing there is the state of repair there. I mean, anyone who's on the river who looks up and looks at the condition of that bridge has nightmares for what they're looking at. And it's safe for pedestrians. We feel like that weight restriction is something that keeps it safe for vehicles, but we don't have a lot of time to fix that bridge. And like many things, the cost and the time and effort accelerates the more you let it go. We do, I think, have a little bit of leeway on 59th Street. And so, we can certainly coordinate around other priorities there. And I think like the Commissioner's saying there's issues that we need to engage around the method we take. There's a possibility that by extending the project, we can maintain traffic on the bridge. In general, even if we're looking at a period of full closure, we want to get something open quickly so people can use the bridge and we can work with you to figure out when that can take place mid-project when we can open it up for vehicles so that maybe half of the bridge is open. It could be a direction that --
Whatever the least amount -- I know the difference between a full closure for work versus half closure twice the time.
Yeah. And that's a conversation that your office should be included in, because that's a difference in priorities, and people being willing to see the project last longer makes it easier for us to make the closure less significant. So it's worth sitting down and talking about.
A good example is the bridge that connected the West River Drive to the Art Museum area. What was the estimated time it was going to take and what was the actual time?
So I think we ended up being about a year longer than we had thought.
So what I will say, to your credit it is gorgeous. I don't mind walking across that bridge, the pedestrian lighting. That bridge is going to last 100-plus years, but it's worth walking. It connects to the Schuylkill River Trail that you have and it is befitting of -- it's beautiful. So it was well worth waiting for except if you were stuck in traffic trying to get downtown. It has cut like 15 minutes off my commute time. And so, do what you can but be considerate of the fact you guys, you know, y'all think in 10-year things. We kind of think in 4-year.
Thank you very much. As there are no more questions from members of the committee, the Chair recognizes Councilmember Cindy Bass for a motion that the public hearing and meeting on the bills and resolutions before the committee stand in recess until Wednesday, April 8, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 400, City Hall.
It has been moved and properly seconded that the public hearing and meeting on the bills and resolutions before the committee stand in recess until Wednesday, April 8, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. All those in favor signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. This committee will stand in recess until Wednesday, April 8th at 10:00 a.m. Thank you all very much, members. (Committee of the Whole concluded at 3:15 p.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. ________________________________ TANEHA CARROLL