# City Council Meeting 10/26/26 | City of Reading, PA


**Body:** Berks Community Television
**Date:** October 25, 2026
**Jurisdiction:** SLED

**Tags:** Construction & Infrastructure, Professional Services, Physical Infrastructure, Grants & Funding


The Reading City Council formal meeting on October 26, 2026, included several procurement and spending actions. Through the consent agenda, council approved two plan-review and inspection service contracts, each capped at $45,000 per year for an initial two-year term with three optional one-year extensions, and bulk engineering contracts with multiple firms, capped at $250,000 per firm annually for three years, with two optional extensions. Council also approved applications for a $25,000 reimbursable Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission grant, requiring a $2,500 local match, and a $3 million PennDOT multimodal grant for Penn Street improvements, requiring a $900,000 match. The agenda additionally authorized an electricity purchase agreement with the lowest responsible bidder, allowing a 10% renewable-energy option if it adds no more than 5% to projected cost. By roll-call vote, council approved a 2027 solid-waste collection fee increase to $413.87 per unit, a $27,000 IT communications budget amendment, a four-year AFSCME agreement effective January 2027, and a Hampden Boulevard traffic-calming plan for submission to the regional transportation board.

Public comment focused heavily on concerns about proposed reductions to historic-preservation staffing and the future of the city’s historic-district review process; council members said the issue would be considered during upcoming budget review and expressed interest in working with residents on improvements. Other public concerns included erroneous parking citations, the Reading Parking Authority’s administration said it would meet with the authority to seek an immediate fix, and efforts to reopen a local post office. Council also approved an ordinance requiring lateral-transfer police officers to provide a full training waiver and at least one year of prior law-enforcement employment. No final decision on historic-preservation staffing was made at this meeting.

**Source:** Berks Community Television