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Home My WebLink AboutMN-GPA-2012-10-17 GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting 6:00 p.m. October 17, 2012 PRESENT: Alderperson Mohlenhoff- Chair Alderpersons (4) Murtagh, Proulx, McCollister, Smith Mayor Myrick OTHERS PRESENT: Chief Plumbing Inspector—Albanese DAC Chair— Robert Approval of the Minutes of the August 15, 2012 and September 19, 2012 GPA Committee Meetings - Resolution By Alderperson McCollister: Seconded by Alderperson Murtagh RESOLVED, That the minutes of the August 15, 2012 and September 19, 2012 GPA Committee meetings be approved as published. Carried Unanimously An Ordinance to Amend Chapter 348 of the City of Ithaca Municipal Code entitled "Water and Sewers", Section 348-29 "Sanitary Services" to Amend Sub-Sections 348-29(E) and (J) By Alderperson McCollister: Seconded by Alderperson Proulx Ordinance #2012 - BE IT ORDAINED AND ENACTED by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca as follows: Section 1. Section 348-29(E) of the City of Ithaca Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: (E) All installations of service drains or sewers between the curb and the building shall be made by a {der} Plumbing Contractor or [sewer layer] Water and Sewer Installer licensed by the Examining Board of Plumbers or any homeowner working on his/her own single-family residence. Section 2: Section 348-29 of the City of Ithaca Municipal Code is hereby amended to add the following subsection: (J) All sanitary services connected to the public mains shall have a house (building) trap installed between the property line and the building to prevent sewer gas and other potentially harmful gases generated in the public mains from entering the building. The house trap shall be installed as close to the building as GPA Committee October 17, 2012 possible. The trap shall be a service weight, cast iron, double hub running trap with a minimum of 4" inside diameter. A Fresh Air Inlet shall be installed on the building side riser of the trap and terminate at 12 inches above grade with an approved air inlet fitting to allow the internal vents to draft and remove accumulated gases from the plumbing system. A brass cleanout cover shall be installed at grade level on the street side of the trap for cleaning and maintenance of the trap. A wye, 45degree fitting with riser and brass cleanout at grade level is required immediately down-stream of the trap to facilitate cleaning between the trap and the public main. Section 3: Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this ordinance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, then that decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. Section 4: Effective date. This ordinance shall take effect immediately and in accordance with law upon publication of notices as provided in the Ithaca City Charter. Chief Plumbing Inspector Albanese explained that the City's petition to implement a more restrictive standards to the Plumbing Code was denied by the NYS Codes Committee so the Ordinance adopted by Common Council in August, 2012 never went into effect. These proposed changes do not require the approval of the NYS Codes Council; however, will continue to improve the safety of the City's sanitary sewer; services. A vote on the Ordinance resulted as follows: Carried Unanimously An Ordinance to Amend the City of Ithaca Municipal Code Chapter 45 entitled "Disability Advisory Council", Section 45-1 regarding "Appointment and Membership" By Alderperson Proulx: Seconded by Alderperson Murtagh Ordinance 2012- 6E IT ORDAINED AND ENACTED by the City of Ithaca Common Council as follows: Section 1. Chapter 45, Section 45-1, entitled "Appointment and Membership," is-hereby amended to read as follows: § 45-1. Appointment and membership. The Mayor, with the approval of the Common Council, is authorized to appoint a Disability Advisory Council, to be composed of 12 members, including representatives of the disabled community and organizations serving it, [2/3 of the members to] no more than fifty percent (50%) may be non-residents of the City of Ithaca and a majority of the members to be considered as possessing a disability. 2 GPA Committee October 17, 2012 Section 2. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this ordinance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, then that decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. Section 3. Effective date. This ordinance shall take effect immediately and in accordance with law, upon publication of notice as provided in the Ithaca City Charter. Larry Roberts, Chair of the Disability Advisory Council (DAC) explained that this change is intended to broaden the scope of representation on the DAC as many people are impacted by accessibility issues in the City, not just City residents. As the "County Seat", many services and medical facilities are located within the City but serve the broader region. The DAC struggles with member recruitment and this change will also increase the applicant pool available to select from. A vote on the Ordinance resulted as follows: Carried Unanimously Taxicab Regulation Legislation Chair Mohlenhoff explained that there have been several requests to review the City's current taxicab regulations as they pertain to rates, zones, livery vs. taxi services, licensing procedures and enforcement. She further noted that the City Clerk has been advocating a regional approach to the needed revisions as many of the issues cross jurisdictional lines and the public often suffers as a result of inconsistent legislation amongst the municipalities. Alderpersons McCollister and Murtagh agreed to serve on a sub-committee with the City Clerk to begin work on this topic. Analysis of Boards/Liaisons/Committees Chair Mohlenhoff led a work session on the analysis of all of the City's boards and committees. She distributed a comprehensive list of the boards that included ad-hoc committees, client committees, etc., along with a draft of the list sorted by topical themes based on the categories used in the Mayor's budget presentation (Government Infrastructure, Culture & Recreation, Home & Community, Economic Development, Public Safety, Transportation: with sub-categories of Youth Services, Environment, and Infrastructure). Chair Mohlenhoff will continue to work on this project with the City Clerk's Office and will share the data collected with the Committee when it becomes available. Performance Measurement Development City Report Card —Overall Design 3 GPA Committee October 17, 2012 Public Information Writer Jason Tucker joined the Committee to discuss the content and design of the 2012 City Report Card. The Report Card will be distributed in place of the January community newsletter. Topics to be included in the Report Card will include city streets, tax dollars (based on 2013 budget), increasing costs, recent successes, the Commons, public safety, and quality of life issues. Alderperson Murtagh recommended that a narrative be provided along with the statistical data so that the public can garner a greater understanding of what the public safety agencies actually do. The following committee members volunteered to be content coordinators: Alderperson McCollister- City streets Alderperson Murtagh — Fire Department, the Commons/DIA Alderperson Mohlenhoff— Police Department Alderperson Proulx - Financials Alderperson Smith/Mayor Myrick— Quality of Life: Festivals, public art, designations/awards, diversity report card, idea of"Ithaca by the Numbers", Information should be sent to Jason Tucker by December 1st and the draft will be reviewed by the GPA Committee at the December 19th meeting. The report card will be 8 pages and will be distributed in the same manner as the community newsletter along with sending it to the media. Report from Communication sub-committee Alderperson Murtagh reported that the sub-committee did not have an opportunity to meet this month. Common Council Rules of Procedure— Council Member Replacement Process - Resolution By Alderperson Proulx: Seconded by WHEREAS, the Government Performance and Accountability (GPA) Committee was charged with fostering greater governmental accountability by setting priorities for analyzing the efficiency of city government operations, and WHEREAS, the Common Council Rules of Procedure have not been reviewed and revised since 2006 and Council believes that it could operate with greater efficiency with the addition of formal procedures to address mid-term vacancies on Council and the removal of Council members for cause; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the Common Council Rules of Procedure be amended to add two new sections (the remainder of the document will be formatted after additional revisions are complete) as follows: "VII. Vacancies 4 GPA Committee October 17, 2012 i. In the event that a vacancy is created on Common Council pursuant to Article 3 of New York State Public Officers Law, Council shall fill such vacancy until the next regularly scheduled municipal election. ii. A Council Selection Committee shall consist of: a. The Mayor; b. The Council member from the same Ward in which the vacancy has been created; c. Another member of Council as selected by the Mayor. iii. Within 7 days of the receipt of written notice of the creation of a vacancy, the City Clerk shall post a notice of vacancy and request that interested candidates submit an application to the City Clerk. iv. The Council Selection Committee shall review applications and schedule a meeting at which candidates have the opportunity to present themselves and answer questions. v. The Council Selection Committee shall, within 30 days of the posting of the vacancy by the City Clerk, present a recommended candidate to Common Council for a vote. The candidate shall be approved upon majority vote of Common Council. vi. Approved candidates shall be seated at the next Common Council meeting.. vii. In the event that Common Council does not approve the recommended candidate, the Council Selection Committee shall have the option of presenting an alternate candidate at the same meeting, or tabling the recommendation until the next Common Council meeting. VIII. Removal of a Council Member i. Common Council may initiate the removal of a Common Council member for misconduct or abrogation of duties, or otherwise being unfit for service, or failure to maintain residence in the Ward for which the member was elected, as defined by New York State Public Officers Law 53-1 and pursuant to New York State Election Law. ii. Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the process for investigating a claim that a member is unfit for membership and ultimately removing a Common Council member from office. iii. Removal of a Common Council member shall create a vacancy, pursuant to Article 3 of New York State Public Officers Law, which shall be filled as outlined in Section VII above." Carried Unanimously Work will continue on updating the Common Council Rules of Procedure at the December meeting. 5 GPA Committee October 17, 2012 Common Council Training & Development Chair Mohlenhoff noted that the GPA Committee has discussed developing a "conference style" orientation program that would be open to Council members, board members, and staff for January but there has also been discussion of joint retreat/strategic planning session for Common Council and Senior Staff that was slated for January. Mayor Myrick and Alderperson McCollister stated that they thought that both programs could be very useful. The orientation would be an all-day program with 6-7 specific sessions. The retreat would be focused more on strategic planning and identifying goals and priorities. Next Meeting: Due to the proximity of Thanksgiving holiday, the next GPA Committee meeting will be scheduled for Monday, November 19, 2012. Adjournment: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.'---- 4.--eUk-(WI LILL i ulieConley Holdk omb, CMC C borah Mohlenhoff City Clerk Chair 6