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Harrisburg council approves police testing contract, park design and two redevelopment plans; budget roll‑forward tabled
Summary
The City Council approved four resolutions including a professional services contract for police psychological testing, a Vernon Street park design contract, and two land‑development approvals for Midtown and the former Polyclinic; a key budget roll‑forward resolution was tabled for later consideration.
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Harrisburg City Council on Jan. 20 approved a set of resolutions covering public-safety services, parks planning and two redevelopment projects while tabling a major budget reallocation for further work.
The council voted unanimously 7–0 to approve Resolution 1, authorizing a professional services agreement with WCA Public Safety Assessments to provide psychological testing and evaluations for the bureau of police. The contract sets fee rates for various assessments including $425 for post‑conditional offer and promotional evaluations, $300 per hour for fitness‑for‑duty evaluations, $525 for PTSD evaluations and specialized services for tactical units.
Council also approved Resolution 2 (7–0), which authorizes a $19,500 contract with Flora Teeter Landscape Architects to prepare a concept plan for Vernon Street Park and Playground at 15th and Vernon streets. Parks staff said the concept plan will support future grant applications and that the project timeline runs January through May with two community engagement meetings.
Two land‑development approvals advanced. Resolution 4 (1332 North 2nd Street), submitted by Brennaman Properties LLC, was approved 6–1 after discussion about affordability commitments; the developer proposed converting former funeral‑home space to add eight units (bringing the building to 13 units) and said approximately two of the new units could be designated affordable if financing permitted. One council member voted against the measure because those affordability commitments were not secured.
Resolution 5, approving the preliminary/final plan for 2601 North 3rd Street (the Polyclinic Hospital redevelopment) submitted by Penmark Harrisburg Holdings LLC, passed 7–0. Council members and the planning commission cited the project’s reuse of a large vacant structure, the potential for roughly 130 new residential units, and the aim to attract neighborhood‑serving commercial space including a grocery option.
Earlier in the meeting, Resolution 3 — a proposed roll‑forward of certain 2025 encumbered budget commitments totaling roughly $19.7 million from the general fund — was read into the record and then tabled for further review. Council members said the item needed more time for detailed discussion.
Several other items were referred to committees: Resolution 6 (a PennDOT Greenlight Go grant for traffic‑signal upgrades in Allison Hill), Resolution 7 and Resolution 8 (individual sign‑language interpreter contracts) were sent to the appropriate committees, and Resolution 9 (a USDOT planning/design grant request of up to $3 million for corridor safety improvements) was referred to the public works committee.
The council adjourned its legislative session and moved into a work session where the administration committee met with two certified sign interpreters, and the public works committee discussed grant scopes for ADA, multimodal and traffic‑calming upgrades.
The Council will return the referred items to the next legislative session for formal votes.
