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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-C&NS-2006-06-14 r Community and Neighborhood Services Committee Minutes June 14, 2006 Committee members present-Shane Seger,Michelle Berry,Robin Holtham-Korherr(chair),Gayraud Townsend,Carolyn Peterson Staff and other Council members present—Brian Wilbur,Dave Burbank,(IFD),Lana Milton,Marcia Fort,Travis Brooks,Travion Brooks O(GIAC),Phyllis Radke(Building Dept.),BURMESE community members. 1. Meeting called to order at 7:15 p.m. 2. Approval of minutes—March and April 2006-motioned by Shane Seger and 2°d by Michelle Berry. 3. Agenda review—Add 1 item—#9 Resolution—June 19`x'Burmese Democracy Day in Ithaca.Welcome Lana Milton(GIAC)— notes. 4. Public comment—Faye Goukakis—expressed her concerns about the heavy,fast moving traffic on Cayuga Street near Gimme Coffee. Ideally would like to see maybe a stop sign or traffic cop to slow the traffic. An accident waiting to happen. Pleaded for aggressive drivers to slow down and be considerate of bicyclists,walkers,etc. Joe Harlan—violence in our community. Suggested that council members get out in the neighborhoods—commons,soup kitchen etc. Shared his feelings of the community is very tense and there is more violence to come. We need a bigger community center for everyone from children to senior citizens to have activities to do i.e.BINGO,square dancing,arts and crafts etc. There are many things for the college kids to do but nothing for the community people to do to have fun. 5. Response to Public/Privilege of the floor—Michelle Berry—Informed Mr.Harlan that escalation in violence in our community is being addressed and reassured Mr.Harlan that in no way is the violence in our community being ignored by any political candidate. Community has come together for a meeting at St.James AME Zion to discuss community members concerns about violence in our community as well as have on-going meetings to address violence and work on what as a community we can do. 6. Building Department—Phyllis Radke spoke about the Exterior Ice&Snow Removal Ordinance— a success although it was not fully utilized because the extraordinarily mild winter we had—many new ideas were not utilized. There were no long periods of time where there was snow on the ground,but we need to make sure in the future that we do have enough laborers when needed. Some other things that need to be worked on is the fact that some people are ticketed in error because home owners buy/sell their home and information is not updated promptly—better communication in the works. Phyllis has offered to work with the Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Thank you to the Building Department for their quick response to ticket the homeowners who were not immediately in compliance with the snow shoveling policy. 7. GIAC Building—the state and condition of the building&programs—Marcia Fort(GIAC Director)shared that there is a pile of ruble in front of the building which means that the contractors have arrived and began removing old bricks and replacing them with new bricks. It looks like things are moving along although not as quickly as anticipated. The deterioration is more that they previously had thought,which moves the completion time frame back about 2 weeks the originally scheduled. Court Street entrance is accessible to the public as well as a second entrance on Albany Street. The fust entrance on Albany Street is completely closed off until work is completed. As of now there are no expected interruptions to the summer camp program. One room is unable to be utilized—Pee Wee room which is the room directly located below where the piece fell from the roof. The doors and windows to the Pee-Wee room are completely boarded up inside and outside. Although the second floor windows are covered on the outside they are not covered on the inside. We are very grateful to the quick action,cooperation,prioritizing, contactors,building secured promptly,communication—awesome—overall fine example that the City provides to the public. Very grateful to all the community organizations to offer space for the kids,staff,programs etc. Overwhelming amount of support from the community—at-large. We are happy to be back home. The senior program was the least effected because majority of their programs are held outside of the facility. Big Thank You to the Southside Board of Directors and Southside Director—Olan Mack—for housing GIAC staff and teens in their building for programs and overall continuance of our everyday work. An additional Big Thank you to BJM principal and staff—who provided immediate response to our needs. Where do we go from here? Marcia's wish is that the Thomas Associates report be looked at thoroughly. Much hard work and money was put into the report and there is very valuable information provided within the reports. Travis Brooks (GIAC Administrator)shared that things are going good. The programs were temporarily housed at BJM for two(2)weeks,on June 7,2006 we were cleared to move back into the GIAC Facility. OCFS guidelines had to be followed for the 4 year old program—so upon return to GIAC the 4 year olds were placed in the 5&6 year old area—with the 1"grader transitioned into the larger program. Very minimal interruptions for the kids. The Pee-Wee room closure will have a big impact as summer camp approaches—but we'll work it out! Being licensed by the NYSOCFS has opportunities and its challenges. Kudos- Barbara Lifton and her immediate response&advocacy to allow BJM to house GIAC. Having the kids at GIAC was a very likeable situation no worries because BJM is not a public building.How can we control access to our GIAC building during program? As we look ahead to the new facility that will be a priority.GIAC board will meet this Thursday,June 15`s,2006 to discuss building. Michelle—response to GIAC- commended GIAC staff and the work they do. A new building is critically necessary. When work being done is completed it needs to be compared to the cost for a new facility. Much better idea to see a new building— cheaper to break down and rebuild. GIAC has outgrown the building. Gayraud—opposed to the band-aid approach and fixing the building. We understand the financial budget issues but the issue at GIAC is critical because of who we serve—mainly the community youth. The Thomas report should be utilized. Carolyn—Department heads have been asked to review the Thomas report from 2002 to spur memories about what needs to be done. Common council has approved$200,00 for the GIAC Capitol project. Robin—Thanked Marcia&Travis for continuing to make things happen at GIAC. 8. Ithaca Fire Department—Chief Wilbur,Dave Burbank,Bill Gilligan and Tom Parsons—Budget priorities presentation. The Fire department is a high performance/low maintenance facility which was outlined in an informative power point presentation that included: What the IFD does today? How did the IFD get where they are? What are the issues facing the IFD? What are the most critical issues at the IFD today? What are the IFD's next steps? Robin—Seriously urged committee and council to fulfill IFD's requests for 2007 which include the Town of Ithaca as an equal partner. 9. Resolution—declaring August 8(annually each year Burmese Democracy Day—in Ithaca,NY Robin moved resolution—Michelle 2° Maura Stephens spoke on behalf of the Burmese community. Thanked the IFD for their presentation. Ithaca will be the 2nd city in the US to declare Burmese Democracy Day. Public Invite for the community to join the Burmese community on June 18d',2-5 p.m. at the Bernie Milton Pavilion—on the commons for food,music and fun! Amendment By Korherr,Seconded by Berry That the following language be added as the new fourth,fifth and sixth whereas clauses: WHEREAS,on August 8 the people of Burma rose up in peaceful protest against political and economic oppression;and WHERAS,they were violently oppressed when the military opened fire on the peaceful demonstrators,killing hundreds and forcing many more into exile(including many of our Ithaca Burmese community members);and WHEREAS,the 1988 protests paved the way for the 1990 elections in which Aung San Sun Kyi's opposition party won a landslide parliamentary victory;and Carried Unanimously Amended Resolutions as follows: RESOLUTION DECLARING AUGUST 8 EACH YEAR AS BURMESE DEMOCRACY DAY IN ITHACA By Korherr,Seconded by Berry WHEREAS,for more than four decades,Burma's military junta has ruled without constitutional provisions providing any fundamental rights;and WHEREAS,abuses by Burmese government security forces are well documented and include rape,torture,extra judicial killings,arbitrary arrests,incommunicado detentions,infringements on citizens'privacy,forced relocations,and conscriptions of child soldiers;and WHEREAS,the ruling junta continues to detain hundreds of political prisoners,including Aung San Suu Kyi,Novel Peace prize laureate of 1991,who has continued to champion the causes of democracy and justice for the people of Burma,despite having been in and out of arrest and detention ever since she became the people's leader in the 1988 democracy uprisings;and WHEREAS,on August 8 the people of Burma rose up in peaceful protest against political and economic oppression;and WHERAS,they were violently oppressed when the military opened fire on the peaceful demonstrators,killing hundreds and forcing many more into exile(including many of our Ithaca Burmese community members);and WHEREAS,the 1988 protests paved the way for the 1990 elections in which Aung San Sun Kyi's opposition party won a landslide parliamentary victory;and WHEREAS,the current junta in Burma has been condemned for ignoring the results of the 1990 elections that resulted in a landslide victory for Aung San Sun Kyi's National League for Democracy party;for severely restricting fundamental human rights as put forth in the UN's UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS;for ethnic violence against its people,including torture,displacement,and murder;for further abuse of its people including failure to put an end to the trafficking of women and children;and WHEREAS,the people of Ithaca and its region have a history of concern,compassion and involvement with human rights struggles around the world;and WHEREAS,we note with admiration that several members of our Ithaca community were forced to flee Burma because of their unrelenting defense of democracy;now therefore,be it RESOLVED,that the city of Ithaca's Mayor and Common Council declare August 8 annually BURMESE DEMOCRACY DAY in the City of Ithaca,and be it further RESOLVED,that copies of this resolution be sent to Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer,Congressman Maurice Hinchey,and the U.S.President's office at the White House. A vote on the main motion as amended resulted as follows: Carried Unanimously 10. Updates a. Reality Check— No tobacco controlled program went to the Commons Advisory Board—brief discussion—interest to talk about—more information needed—City Attorney other area research. b. Youth Council Development—David Gelinas wants to work on this with Gayraud—next 2 weeks—gather and discuss —really important and definitely want to respond. c. Pedestrian Awareness—Chair&Committee members @ July Community Services Meeting. Will ask Maria Coles to include: Term walk or pedestrian in Mission Statement and evaluate time frame. d. Effects of Racism—learned from teens work to be done—immediate action necessary. Draft resolution has not yet been presented to the ISCD—will be presented at August meeting. Organizing and planning inventory of our community—Marcia will try and recruit some teens to assist. Robin will get with Mayor to make sure the kids who do choose to participate receive a stipend—they will collaboratively give ides for better communication. e. NIMS—Human Resources and Department Heads still working on who needs to take the courses and schedule them in. Robin motioned to adjourn—Gayraud 2°d—Meeting adjourned @ 9:30 p.m.