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Council approves multiple contracts, grants and capital amendments; key votes at a glance
Summary
At its October meeting the council approved a series of procurement awards, professional services engagements, grant appropriations and capital amendments, plus four police appointments and two sewage planning modules. Most items passed with unanimous recorded votes; where recorded, tallies are noted below.
The Allentown City Council approved a package of executive and budget items, including procurement awards, professional service contracts, grant appropriations and capital budget amendments. Most items were approved unanimously or by recorded tallies reported at the meeting.
Key approvals
- R141: Awarded a contract to American Fireworks Company for the 2026 July Fourth fireworks display at $30,000 per contract year (one bid received). Vote: 7 yeas, 0 nays.
- R142: Awarded Aspirant Consulting Group $18,500 per contract year to design and administer a two‑phase promotional exam for police sergeant (three proposals received; evaluation committee ranked Aspirant highest). Vote: 7 yeas, 0 nays.
- R143: Heritage Conservation Collective engaged for $19,050.50 to conserve Works Progress Administration structures at Lehigh Parkway (one proposal received). Vote: 7 yeas, 0 nays.
- R144: MGT Impact Solutions LLC awarded $39,339 for a comprehensive planning and zoning fee study following competitive RFP and oral presentations. Vote: 7 yeas, 0 nays.
- R145: Michael Baker International engaged for $72,708 to provide NPDES post-construction stormwater plans for the MLK Trail phase 1 (single‑source justification: firm completed phase 1 and holds CAD drawings). Vote: 7 ayes, 0 nays.
- R146: Authorized cooperative contracts greater than $40,000 with PR Commercial Painting LLC and Traffic Logics Corporation. Vote: 7 yeas, 0 nays.
- Bills passed on final reading with recorded tallies included: Bill 70 (new subdivision and land development ordinance) passed 6–1; Bills 75 (DCED $26,703), 76 ($2,000,000 RCAP pass‑through), 77 (equipment fund increase $27,910), 78 (Roosevelt Park spray park appropriations $77,805 and $1,684.91), and 79 (Allentown partnership $72,869 for a basketball court) passed as noted on the floor; most were recorded as unanimous where stated.
- Consent agenda: R147 and R148 (sewage planning modules for two projects) approved. Vote: 7 yeas, 0 nays.
- R150: Appointments of four police patrolmen contingent on physical and psychological examinations and state certification (Andrew Waterman, Mark Johnson, Alexander Rossi, Gregory Solinski). Vote: 6 yeas, 1 nay; one councilmember recorded a no vote.
- R151: Transfer of $24,000 to cover actuarial/Chiron costs resulting from late invoicing passed unanimously.
- R152: A large transfer (approximately $5.9 million) into risk management to cover increased health and prescription costs was approved; staff described the city as self‑insured and experiencing higher health costs. A public commenter raised a question about weight‑loss medication coverage; staff said coverage is provided for medical reasons. Vote: 7 yeas, 0 nays.
Several grant‑funded capital and safety projects were introduced for committee review (Bills 80–82) and will return to committee for detailed consideration.
