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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-B&A-1998-07-22 9viaR. BUDGET AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING 7:30 P.M. JULY 22, 1998 MINUTES Present: Committee Members: Marcham, Vaughan, Manos, Farrell, Shenk Other Alderpersons Present: Sams (did not vote) Others Present: Mayor Cohen City Controller Cafferillo Deputy Controller Thayer Human Resources Director Michell-Nunn Fire Chief Wilbur s's City Attorney Geldenhuys City Prosecutor McCarthy Towing Operators Members of the public Members of the media 1 . Opening Comments: Chairperson Marcham stated that the Planning Department acquisition of property item was deleted from the agenda. No other agenda changes were made. Members of the public were asked to speak; no members spoke. 2 . Common Council A. Proposed Tow Ordinance City Attorney Geldenhuys presented a new draft of the City' s Tow Ordinance. Geldenhuys discussed the draft ordinance with the Committee and the tow operators. She explained that the revised ordinance enacts a licensing system discussed at the last B & A meeting. Geldenhuys explained that section 1 of the ordinance outlines the reasoning behind the proposed ordinance; section 2 repeals the existing Chapter 346 and replaces it with the new ordinance. Sections 3-15 describe the licensing scheme. Other parts of the ordinance describe the penalties for violation and permissible towing and storage rates, and procedures governing the Police Department and the tow operators concerning non-consensual tows for various tow- aways. A discuss-ion regarding the tow ordinance followed. 1 BUDGET & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING JULY 22, 1998 Fingerlakes Wrecker Service operator, Bruce Shindhelm, discussed the ordinance with the Committee. He explained that case law states that section 4, as written, is illegal. He also explained that the operators have felt the City Attorney' s,Office has not been enforcing the ordinance that is currently do the books. He explained that the operators are unhappy about not being included in the draft of this ordinance. He further explained that the operators have problems with sections 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 14, 17, 18, 19, 21 and 22 . He further stated that the operators question whether licensing is needed to ensure the protection of the health and safety of the community. He explained that passing of this ordinance will place undue hardship on the tow operators of the City and operators passing through the city. During the Committee discussion, two Committee members supported the licensing system, and three members were opposed to the system. The Committee voted, 5-0, to move the previously-agreed-upon fee structure forward to Common Council. The remainder of the ordinance will be revised to provide enforcement without licensing and incorporated into the ordinance for final approval at the August B & A meeting. B. Approval of Counseling Memo Policy for Managerial and Confidential Staff Chairperson Marcham stated some minor revisions to the Counseling Memo Policy for managerial and confidential staff have been made and both senior staff and the B & A Committee have agreed with the changes. After a brief discussion, the following motion was made: WHEREAS, a request was made to the Budget and Administration Committee to review and clarify the removal process of counseling memorandum from employees' personnel files, and WHEREAS, an Ad Hoc Committee, the Budget and Administration Committee and Senior Staff reviewed the counseling memorandum removal process and are recommending the following policy, applying to managerial and confidential City employees only, be approved for implementation: 1 . A Counseling Memorandum, which is the equivalent of a warning letter, is an initial step in disciplinary action and not subject to a grievance procedure. 2 . Any managerial and confidential City employee may request the removal of Counseling Memoranda from his or her 2 BUDGET & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING JULY 22, 1998 personnel file after two working years of active employment with the City from the date the behavior occurred. Such a request shall be granted provided that no similar behavior reoccurs during the two-year period. The employee must make a written request for the memorandum' s removal, addressed to the Director of Human Resources. The Director of Human Resources must respond in writing to the employee within 30 working days on the status of the memorandum' s removal; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That Common Council hereby adopts said policy and recommends its transmittal to all parties involved. The motion passed 5-0. C. Managerial Pay Raise Requests Chairperson Marcham reported that a resolution shall be made at the next Common Council meeting concerning managerial pay increases . D. Community Survey Funding Alderperson Vaughan reported that she is still working with individuals from Cornell on the Community Survey issue. She ' stated that she will have additional information at the next B & A meeting. 3. DPW - Approval of Quit Claim Deed for Miller Street A discussion followed regarding the possible abandonment of Miller Street, east of Pearl Street to the City line. Both the Attorney' s Office and the BPW have researched this issue and both are recommending to abandon the unopened paper street due to the fact that the City does not have clear title to the property. The following motion was made: WHEREAS, the city has been approached to either open or abandon the unopened paper street of Miller Street, east of Pearl Street, and WHEREAS, the City Attorney's Office has advised DPW staff that after researching title to the property it does not appear that the city holds clear title to this property, and WHEREAS, DPW staff has advised that there are no utilities, nor plans for any in the paper street and after reviewing the attorney' s comments recommended that any city interest be transferred to the interested property owner as driveway access, 3 BUDGET & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING JULY 22, 1998 and WHEREAS, the Board of Public Works considered and approved this recommendation; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That bommon Council hereby approves of a quit claim deed which will abandon Miller Street east of Pearl Street to the city line. The motion was approved 5-0 . 4 . Human Resources - Request Fund Transfer for the Human Resources Department Consulting Services Human Resource Director Michell-Nunn and City Attorney Geldenhuys presented a request to transfer funds for consulting services related to labor issues. Geldenhuys. explained that the City now wants the Human Resources Department doing most of the labor issues, including negotiating, for the City. She explained that at least for the short term an outside labor consultant should be hired to assist the Human Resources Director with City labor issues. It has been recommended by the City Attorney to enter into an agreement with the firm of Brock & Schwab to do this consulting. The cost would be $6, 000 to $12,000. Geldenhuys explained that the funds will be derived from the salary lines from open position funds. She stated she originally wanted $12,000 for the contract, but will settle for $6,000 as long as it is known that additional funds may be needed. The Committee agreed with the $6, 000 contract and requested that a status report be made by October 1, 1998 to the B & A Committee and the contract shall be re-evaluated at the end of the year to determine if a contract extension is needed. After a discussion, the following motion was made: WHEREAS, the Human Resources Department is in need of consultation and advice with regard to labor issues; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the Human Resources Department is authorized to enter into an agreement with Brock & Schwab, LLP as an independent contractor for consulting and legal services to be reimbursed at the rate of $75.00 per hour, not to exceed 80 hours for a total amount not to exceed $6,000, and be it further RESOLVED, That the sum of $6,000 shall be transferred from Account A1430-5105 Salaries to Account A1430-5435 Contractual Services, and be it further 4 BUDGET & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING JULY 22, 1998 RESOLVED, That a status report shall be made to the Budget and Administration Committee by October 1, 1998, and be it further RESOLVED, That qt the end of the 80 hours of consulting services, the contract shall be re-evaluated by City staff to determine possible extension of said contract. The motion passed 5-0. 5. City Prosecutor - Request Funds for Online Legal Research Services City Prosecutor McCarthy presented a request to transfer $595 from the Unrestricted Contingency Account to the Prosecutor' s Contract line for the purchase of an unlimited access Westlaw subscription. McCarthy explained that the subscription would allow the Prosecutor's Office to perform online legal research which has become the standard for legal research in the past few years. After a discussion regarding the program, the following motion was made: WHEREAS, the City Prosecutor's Office is in need of an unlimited online legal research service to assist the office with 24 hour t, access to statutes, and WHEREAS, the City Attorney' s Office currently uses and recommends a Westlaw subscription for online legal research, and WHEREAS, the legal research service on New York State Contract would cost the Prosecutor' s Office $119 per month for a 1998 total cost of $595; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That an amount not to. exceed $595 be transferred from Account A1990 Unrestricted Contingency to A1110-5435 for the purchase of said unlimited online legal research service. The motion passed 5-0. 6. Committee to Proceed into Executive Session The Committee voted, 5-0, to move into executive session to discuss two personnel items. 7 . Report from Executive Session After the Committee voted, 5-0, to move back into regular session, Chairperson Marcham reported that the following 5 BUDGET & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING JULY 22, 1998 action was taken during the executive session: A. Human Resources - Approval of Salary Ranges for Director and Deputy Director of Human Resources RESOLVED, That 'Common Council hereby establishes the positions of Director of Human Resources and Deputy Director of Human Resources, both to be designated as managerial positions pursuant to Section 201 .7 (a) of the New York State Civil Service Law, and be it further RESOLVED, That the 1998 annual salary ranges for the position of Director of Human Resources and the position of Deputy Director of Human Resources be established as follows: Minimum Midpoint Maximum Director of Human Resources $47,289 $58, 644 $69,999 Deputy Director of Human $41, 302 $51,220 $61, 137 Resources The motion passed 5-0. B. Fire Department - Personnel Item The Committee discussed a Fire Department personnel item. Direction was given to the Fire Chief, but no formal action was taken. 8. Fire Department - False Alarm Ordinance Fire Chief Wilbur discussed the possibility of developing a false fire -alarm ordinance with the Committee. Wilbur explained that within the City, the department has seen an upsurge of false alarms. However, both I.C. and Cornell' s false alarm rate is decreasing. Wilbur presented false alarm graphs to the Committee. After a discussion concerning alarms and possible false alarm ordinances, the Committee agreed that the Fire Department should continue to proceed with the development of a false alarm ordinance. 9 . Reports A. March, April and May Committee Minutes Approval The Committee reviewed March, April and May B & A Committee minutes, and after a correction to the April minutes, the following motion was made: 6 BUDGET & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING JULY 22, 1998 RESOLVED, That the B & A Committee minutes for the March 25th meeting, April 29th meeting and May 27th meeting are hereby approved. The motion :passed 5-0. B. Vacancy Review Chairperson Marcham reported that the Vacancy Review Committee met and took the following action: Fill Traffic Sergeant vacancy with another sergeant and not fill the open sergeant position C. Council Member Announcements Chairperson Marcham reported that the Committee reviewed the grant requests for Community Services. The Committee agreed to fund 20 grants at approximately $76,000 which included Tompkins County Celebration funds. The Committee consisted of Marcham, Farrell, Hershey and Taylor. Alderperson Shenk reported that she would be out of town for the August Common Council meeting. 10. Consent Agenda The following item was agreed upon by the Committee to be placed on the Consent Agenda for the next Common Council meeting: Finance/Controller - Request to Approve 1999 Civil Service Agreement RESOLVED, That the Mayor and City Clerk be authorized and directed to execute an agreement between the City of Ithaca and the Ithaca City School District for performance of services by the City in connection with Civil Service matters for the period July 1, 1998 to June 30, 1999, in the amount of $29,217 .00, payable to the City of Ithaca on or before November 1, 1998. The meeting adjourned at 10: 15 P.M. NOTE: In many cases the actual texts of the resolutions presented in these minutes were prepared following the Committee' s deliberations and decisions on the matters involved. The resolutions presented here are in complete accord with decisions made by the Committee. 7