diff --git a/.github/resources/github_workflow.properties b/.github/resources/github_workflow.properties
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aa039e8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/resources/github_workflow.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# The script that abides by the multi-language protocol. This script will
+# be executed by the MultiLangDaemon, which will communicate with this script
+# over STDIN and STDOUT according to the multi-language protocol.
+executableName = sample_kclpy_app.py
+
+# The name of an Amazon Kinesis stream to process.
+# Important: streamArn takes precedence over streamName if both are set
+streamName = STREAM_NAME_PLACEHOLDER
+
+# Used by the KCL as the name of this application. Will be used as the name
+# of an Amazon DynamoDB table which will store the lease and checkpoint
+# information for workers with this application name
+applicationName = APP_NAME_PLACEHOLDER
+
+# Users can change the credentials provider the KCL will use to retrieve credentials.
+# Expected key name (case-sensitive):
+# AwsCredentialsProvider / AwsCredentialsProviderDynamoDB / AwsCredentialsProviderCloudWatch
+# The DefaultCredentialsProvider checks several other providers, which is
+# described here:
+# https://sdk.amazonaws.com/java/api/latest/software/amazon/awssdk/auth/credentials/DefaultCredentialsProvider.html
+AwsCredentialsProvider = DefaultCredentialsProvider
+
+# Appended to the user agent of the KCL. Does not impact the functionality of the
+# KCL in any other way.
+processingLanguage = python/3.8
+
+# Valid options at TRIM_HORIZON or LATEST.
+# See http://docs.aws.amazon.com/kinesis/latest/APIReference/API_GetShardIterator.html#API_GetShardIterator_RequestSyntax
+initialPositionInStream = TRIM_HORIZON
+
+# The KCL defaults to us-east-1
+regionName = us-east-1
+
+# Idle time between record reads in milliseconds.
+idleTimeBetweenReadsInMillis = 250
diff --git a/.github/scripts/clean_up_stream_table.sh b/.github/scripts/clean_up_stream_table.sh
index ee8967f6..a5ff3a13 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/clean_up_stream_table.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/clean_up_stream_table.sh
@@ -1,19 +1,31 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-aws kinesis delete-stream --stream-name $STREAM_NAME || true
+# Delete stream
+if aws kinesis describe-stream --stream-name $STREAM_NAME &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "Deleting stream $STREAM_NAME"
+  for i in {1..10}; do
+    aws kinesis delete-stream --stream-name $STREAM_NAME && break ||
+    echo "Stream deletion failed, attempt $i/10. Retrying Stream deletion in $((i * 3))s" && sleep $((i * 3))
+  done
+else
+  echo "Stream $STREAM_NAME does not exist and does not need to be cleaned up"
+fi
 
-# Delete all tables
-for i in {1..10}; do
-  echo "Deleting table $APP_NAME"
-  aws dynamodb delete-table --table-name $APP_NAME && break ||
-  echo "Table deletion failed, attempt $i/10. Retrying DynamoDB Table deletion in $((i * 3)) seconds" && sleep $((i * 3))
-done
-for SUFFIX in "-CoordinatorState" "-WorkerMetricStats"; do
-  if aws dynamodb describe-table --table-name $APP_NAME$SUFFIX &>/dev/null; then
-    echo "Deleting table $APP_NAME$SUFFIX"
+# Delete table
+delete_table() {
+  table_name=$1
+  if aws dynamodb describe-table --table-name $table_name &>/dev/null; then
+    echo "Deleting table $table_name"
     for i in {1..10}; do
-      aws dynamodb delete-table --table-name $APP_NAME$SUFFIX && break ||
+      aws dynamodb delete-table --table-name $table_name && break ||
       echo "Table deletion failed, attempt $i/10. Retrying DynamoDB Table deletion in $((i * 3))s" && sleep $((i * 3))
     done
+  else
+    echo "Table $table_name does not exist and does not need to be cleaned up"
   fi
+}
+
+# Delete all tables
+for SUFFIX in "" "-CoordinatorState" "-WorkerMetricStats"; do
+  delete_table "$APP_NAME$SUFFIX"
 done
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/scripts/manipulate_properties.sh b/.github/scripts/manipulate_properties.sh
index 92b07f44..1b50fab2 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/manipulate_properties.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/manipulate_properties.sh
@@ -1,29 +1,23 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
 
-# Manipulate sample.properties file that the KCL application pulls properties from (ex: streamName, applicationName)
+# Manipulate github_workflow.properties file that the KCL application pulls properties from (ex: streamName, applicationName)
 # Depending on the OS, different properties need to be changed
 if [[ "$RUNNER_OS" == "macOS" ]]; then
-  sed -i "" "s/kclpysample/$STREAM_NAME/g" samples/sample.properties
-  sed -i "" "s/PythonKCLSample/$APP_NAME/g" samples/sample.properties
-  sed -i "" 's/us-east-5/us-east-1/g' samples/sample.properties
-  grep -v "idleTimeBetweenReadsInMillis" samples/sample.properties > samples/temp.properties
-  echo "idleTimeBetweenReadsInMillis = 250" >> samples/temp.properties
-  mv samples/temp.properties samples/sample.properties
+  sed -i "" "s/STREAM_NAME_PLACEHOLDER/$STREAM_NAME/g" .github/resources/github_workflow.properties
+  sed -i "" "s/APP_NAME_PLACEHOLDER/$APP_NAME/g" .github/resources/github_workflow.properties
 elif [[ "$RUNNER_OS" == "Linux" || "$RUNNER_OS" == "Windows" ]]; then
-  sed -i "s/kclpysample/$STREAM_NAME/g" samples/sample.properties
-  sed -i "s/PythonKCLSample/$APP_NAME/g" samples/sample.properties
-  sed -i 's/us-east-5/us-east-1/g' samples/sample.properties
-  sed -i "/idleTimeBetweenReadsInMillis/c\idleTimeBetweenReadsInMillis = 250" samples/sample.properties
+  sed -i "s/STREAM_NAME_PLACEHOLDER/$STREAM_NAME/g" .github/resources/github_workflow.properties
+  sed -i "s/APP_NAME_PLACEHOLDER/$APP_NAME/g" .github/resources/github_workflow.properties
 
   if [[ "$RUNNER_OS" == "Windows" ]]; then
     echo '@echo off' > samples/run_script.bat
     echo 'python %~dp0\sample_kclpy_app.py %*' >> samples/run_script.bat
-    sed -i 's/executableName = sample_kclpy_app.py/executableName = samples\/run_script.bat/' samples/sample.properties
+    sed -i 's/executableName = sample_kclpy_app.py/executableName = samples\/run_script.bat/' .github/resources/github_workflow.properties
   fi
 else
   echo "Unknown OS: $RUNNER_OS"
   exit 1
 fi
 
-cat samples/sample.properties
\ No newline at end of file
+cat .github/resources/github_workflow.properties
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/scripts/start_kcl.sh b/.github/scripts/start_kcl.sh
index e8f8c273..2082c70d 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/start_kcl.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/start_kcl.sh
@@ -2,22 +2,15 @@
 set -e
 set -o pipefail
 
-chmod +x samples/sample.properties
+chmod +x .github/resources/github_workflow.properties
 chmod +x samples/sample_kclpy_app.py
 
-# Get records from stream to verify they exist before continuing
-SHARD_ITERATOR=$(aws kinesis get-shard-iterator --stream-name $STREAM_NAME --shard-id shardId-000000000000 --shard-iterator-type TRIM_HORIZON --query 'ShardIterator' --output text)
-INITIAL_RECORDS=$(aws kinesis get-records --shard-iterator $SHARD_ITERATOR)
-RECORD_COUNT_BEFORE=$(echo $INITIAL_RECORDS | jq '.Records | length')
-
-echo "Found $RECORD_COUNT_BEFORE records in stream before KCL start"
-
 if [[ "$RUNNER_OS" == "macOS" ]]; then
   brew install coreutils
-  KCL_COMMAND=$(amazon_kclpy_helper.py --print_command --java $(which java) --properties samples/sample.properties)
+  KCL_COMMAND=$(amazon_kclpy_helper.py --print_command --java $(which java) --properties .github/resources/github_workflow.properties)
   gtimeout $RUN_TIME_SECONDS $KCL_COMMAND 2>&1 | tee kcl_output.log  || [ $? -eq 124 ]
 elif [[ "$RUNNER_OS" == "Linux" || "$RUNNER_OS" == "Windows" ]]; then
-  KCL_COMMAND=$(amazon_kclpy_helper.py --print_command --java $(which java) --properties samples/sample.properties)
+  KCL_COMMAND=$(amazon_kclpy_helper.py --print_command --java $(which java) --properties .github/resources/github_workflow.properties)
   timeout $RUN_TIME_SECONDS $KCL_COMMAND 2>&1 | tee kcl_output.log || [ $? -eq 124 ]
 else
   echo "Unknown OS: $RUNNER_OS"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/python.yml b/.github/workflows/python.yml
index 0d05ac08..43f93e63 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/python.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/python.yml
@@ -112,8 +112,8 @@ jobs:
           echo "STREAM_NAME=$STREAM_NAME" >> $GITHUB_ENV
           echo "APP_NAME=$APP_NAME" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
-      # Manipulate sample.properties file to use unique stream name, application name, and OS specific program changes
-      - name: Manipulate sample.properties file
+      # Manipulate github_workflow.properties file to use unique stream name, application name, and OS specific program changes
+      - name: Manipulate github_workflow.properties file
         run: |
           chmod +x .github/scripts/manipulate_properties.sh
           .github/scripts/manipulate_properties.sh