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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CES-2007-08-08 Communications & Emergency Services Regular Meeting August 8, 2007 7:00 p.m. PRESENT: Chair J. R. Clairborne Alderpersons (2) Michelle Berry, Shane Seger OTHERS PRESENT: Mayor Carolyn K. Peterson City Clerk— Julie Conley Holcomb Director of Information Technology— Duane Twardokus Asst. Fire Chief—Thomas Parsons Police Chief— Lauren Signer Superintendent of Public Works —William Gray EXCUSED: Alderpersons (2) David Gelinas, Robin Korherr ADDITIONS TO OR DELETIONS FROM THE AGENDA: Mayor Peterson requested the deletion of Item #5, 2008 Departmental Budget Highlights and requested that the item be replaced with an Update from the Public Information Officer Team. No Committee member objected. PUBLIC COMMENT: Doria Higgins, Town of Ithaca, addressed the Committee regarding the City of Ithaca water sources and the Water Plant decision. She stated that she supports keeping both water supplies to ensure adequate service in the future. Steven Williams, Board of Fire Commissioners, addressed the Committee regarding the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. He voiced concerns regarding the Cliff Street construction and the increased traffic volume on Hector Street. He stated that traffic on the West End is increasing and reducing the available traffic arteries is not a good idea. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC BY COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Aldersperson Seger thanked the speakers for coming and responded to comments made regarding the City Water Plant decision. Alderperson Berry also thanked the speakers for sharing their thoughts. She extended her sympathies to the Hart family for their recent loss of Joycelyn Hart. She shared fond memories and voiced her appreciation for the work that Joycelyn accomplished on diversity issues and her kind and helpful ways. ' August 8, 2007 Alderperson Clairborne thanked the speakers and provided an update on the GIAC facility. He stated that GIAC has been experiencing both building structure issues and plumbing infrastructure problems. He noted that Common Council will need to lend the GIAC community support both financially and emotionally. Alderperson Berry noted that GIAC Director Marcia Fort has expressed her appreciation for the support that city staff and the staff at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School have extended to GIAC. She further noted that GIAC staff members are concerned that these issues could impact their daycare license and the GIAC Board would like this item to become a priority issue for Common Council. Superintendent of Public Works Gray reported that additional sewer problems were discovered in the GIAC building yesterday. The sewer lines were plugged and water backed up into the building but the pipes are not broken. He noted that once an older system is disturbed by the replacement of newer parts, this type of action can occur. Major renovation work was proposed when the kitchen work was being completed however the Department of Public Works now feels that major replacements should be undertaken next Friday when the summer programs end and before the fall programs begin. Public Information Officer Team (PIOT) Update: Mayor Peterson reported that the PIOT Team has been meeting twice a month and would like to identify a course of action for the use of the $15,000 placed in restricted contingency for public information purposes. The team has been reviewing new templates for the City's website that utilize the homepage as an information source and include enhanced navigational tools. They have also been reviewing modules that can be purchased to expand the City's on-line presence such as a calendaring program, e- mail subscription service, electronic survey capabilities, electronic payments, GIS service integration, and a citizen relationship management tool. The PIOT team is recommending hiring an individual or firm to be supervised by the PIOT Team with a strong interface with Manager of Organizational Development Leslie Moskowitz to work on an external newsletter. Ms. Moskowitz coordinates the City's internal newsletter. The external newsletter would most likely be in an electronic format and would include information on all of the City's initiatives, department highlights, Frequently Asked Questions, etc. The PIOT Team will continue to work on content management of web materials, developing sustainability for new programs, exploring future communication tools and process development. Alderperson Clairborne noted that Alderperson Korherr had forwarded him a question regarding the status of a comprehensive communication plan. 2 August 8, 2007 City Clerk Holcomb responded that the Communications Team has nearly completed a comprehensive communication plan that includes a situation analysis, guiding principles, tips on how to customize communications, clarified roles and responsibilities and a listing of communication objectives and strategies. The Communication Team's goal is have the Mayor and Department Heads establish communication priorities each year and to create sub-committees of key stakeholders to work on specific projects. The uncompleted areas of the plan include an evaluation and accountability tool/process and the identification of an organization-wide communication system. TIME WARNER CABLE AND THE ACCESS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: Alderperson Seger reported that the Access Oversight Committee has not met since the last Communications and Emergency Services meeting. A meeting was arranged between City staff and Time Warner Cable representatives but due to scheduling conflicts it needed to be rescheduled. The City Attorney's Office is working on this task and no date has been set at this point. Alderperson Seger noted that he was not sure who was following up with Time Warner Cable regarding the financial information that the City is seeking regarding the funding for the Access Studio. He volunteered to draft a formal request for information with the Mayor's support. Discussion followed on the floor regarding having the Access Oversight Committee make an annual request to Time Warner for a funding status report. The next Access Oversight Committee meeting is scheduled for August 14, 2007. EMERGENCY SERVICES AND EFFECTS AND STUDIES ON WEST END TRAFFIC: Ithaca Police Chief Lauren Signer, Superintendent of Public Works Bill Gray, Fire Commissioner Steven Williams, and Assistant Fire Chief Tom Parsons joined the Committee to discuss the effects of West End traffic on emergency services. Chair Clairborne noted that Timothy Bangs of Bangs Ambulance, Inc. submitted a letter written to Transportation Engineer Tim Logue on June 30, 2006 pat details his opinions on this matter. Asst. Fire Chief Parsons stated that the Fire Department has had ongoing discussions regarding the West End traffic and the proposed Cayuga Waterfront Trail development. He stated that modified traffic patterns throughout the City caused by development in downtown, the Southwest area and the West End have resulted in Fulton and Meadow Streets becoming bottlenecks. He further noted that contributing factors to this growing problem include traffic signal sequencing, train schedules, and higher traffic volumes. The Ithaca Fire Department is advocating for additional studies that could result in a comprehensive solution as opposed to a localized solution that could create impacts in other areas of the City. Fire Department staff is still evaluating the Cayuga Waterfront Trail proposal. IFD would like to see further simulations conducted and have had cameras installed on fire trucks to document the traffic response to fire trucks. Fire Commissioner Williams stated that the Board of Fire Commissioners passed a Resolution requesting the City to further review the Cayuga Waterfront Trail plan to 3 August 8, 2007 restrict traffic to one lane on the West Buffalo Street Bridge as it would be a detriment to emergency services. He noted that traffic studies were conducted in April (near Easter and Spring Break) and in May when Ithaca College was no longer in session. He stated that the traffic studies should be repeated in September through late April when the students are in town. He further stated that when trains are added to the traffic congestion it creates a very difficult situation for emergency service vehicles. Superintendent of Public Works Gray stated that he is waiting to hear from the Fire Department staff on their determination. He explained that the modeling study was received and reviewed by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYS`DoT) artet y indicated that the proposal would work without significant impact to traffic. He further noted that there is a fine balance between what the community would like in terms of roads and traffic conditions and what they are willing to pay for. Superintendent Gray stated that Tompkins County Planning and Public Works Director Ed Marx apologized for not being able to attend this meeting. Police Chief Signer reported that the Traffic Safety Division conducted an analysis of traffic data regarding the proposed reduction of 1 lane of traffic for a 1 block area on the West Buffalo Street Bridge and based on that data the Ithaca Police Department is not vehemently opposed to the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. She noted that the Police Department works cooperatively with the Tompkins County Sheriff's Department and can deploy vehicles on the West End when needed. She stated that one of the primary traffic issues the Police Department continues to work on is the trash haulers that are infiltrating residential streets instead of staying on the highways so they can avoid tolls. IPD is working with the DoT on truck inspection sites and have already conducted 10 DoT check points in 2007 and continue to pursue the steady enforcement of the Vehicle & Traffic Law. Alderperson Coles submitted a message that stated that the Ithaca Police Department has been very responsive to traffic complaints on Hector Street during the Cliff Street construction detour. Alderperson Clairborne noted that it was important to have these discussions before the Tompkins County West End / Route 96 Corridor Traffic Study is conducted. Mayor Peterson noted that the vote for the Board of Fire Commissioners Resolution was 3-2 (1 Commissioner voiced concern that the Fire Chief had not yet provided an opinion and the other Commissioner was new to the Board and felt that they did not have enough information on the topic.) Transportation Engineer Logue met with members of the Ithaca Fire Department and they indicated that the "pinch points" were Cliff Street and Fulton Street, not necessarily the bridge. Mayor Peterson stated that she agrees that further simulations should be conducted to demarcate what the Cayuga Waterfront Trail would look like. She noted the improvements that have occurred during the past 10 years including the construction of a Lire Station on West Hill, expanded capabilities of EMS crews due to improved equipment, and years of public education regarding calling 911 at the first sign of trouble. 4 . August 8, 2007 Assistant Fire Chief Parsons addressed the train blue light system and explained that when long trains come through town, the train dispatcher calls the 911 Dispatch Center who in turns notifies both the Fire Department and the Police Department. They typically give approximately 1 hour advanced notice. No advanced notice is given for short trains however there is radio access to the trains to make them aware of an emergency in progress. The blue light is a reminder that the train is coming because there are no crossing arms across the intersection. He further explained that the West Hill fire engine regularly responds to calls occurring downtown, and in the Southside and Southwest areas of the City. IFD tries to leave the East Hill engine on East Hill due to the call volume as there are only 5 engines to respond to emergencies. Further discussion followed on the floor regarding truck route regulations and the legality of the posted signs. The city is working with the NY§DoT to correct signage issues. Further discussion followed on the floor regarding the 1,000 apartment units that have been added to the West End in the past 20 years and the West Hill residents' concerns regarding traffic volumes, lack of sidewalks, and the Elm Street/ Floral Avenue/ Hector Street intersection. Alderperson Berry thanked everyone for voicing their different perspectives and questioned whether there had been any inter-municipal discussions regarding how to educate residents of the value of development versus focusing on the negative impacts. Assistant Fire Chief Parsons explained that the difficulty for the Fire Department is that call volumes have steadily increased while staff positions have remained the same. Fires have decreased due to improved fire safety regulations and technology however residential development significantly increases their call volume. Police Chief Signer noted that the opposite is true for the Police Department, commercial development significantly increases call volume and residential development does not. She further noted that inter-municipal cooperation in law enforcement is good and includes training, sharing equipment, and mutual aid agreements. The Project Coordination Committee (PCC) meetings have opened an opportunity for the Police to provide feedback on proposed construction projects. Mayor Peterson left the meeting at 9:00 p.m. Next Steps: Assistant Fire Chief Parson suggested that various studies be combined to provide a comprehensive view such as creating a larger study of the whole West End. 5 • August 8, 2007 Alderperson Clairborne questioned when this issue should be re-visited, and whether a sub-committee should be established consisting of representatives of the Fire Department, Police Department, Board of Fire Commissioners, and the Transportation Engineer. Alderperson Seger noted that the West Hill Civic Association is ready to embark on a series of public meetings regarding West End traffic issues. MOTION TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION: By Alderperson Berry: Seconded by Alderperson Seger RESOLVED, That the Communications and Emergency Services Committee adjourn into Executive Session to discuss a matter that if disclosed could impact public safety. Carried Unanimously Reconvene: The Committee reconvened into regular session with no formal action taken. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 9:50 p.m.go-byt-olo )CIA; e Conley Holcomb, J. 14. Clairborne ity Clerk Chair 6