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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CA-2019-08-21CITY ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting 6:00 p.m. August 21, 2019 PRESENT: Alderperson Mohlenhoff – Chair Alderpersons (3): Gearhart, Kerslick, McGonigal EXCUSED: Alderpersons (1): Nguyen OTHERS PRESENT: Deputy Director of Economic Development – Knipe Manager of Organizational Development – Moskowitz Director of Engineering Services – Logue Superintendent of Public Works – Thorne Director of Parking – Messmer Chief of Staff – Cogan HR Director – Michell-Nunn Controller – Thayer 1. Call to Order 1.1 Agenda Review. None. 1.2 Review/Approval of Minutes: Alderperson Kerslick made a motion to approve the minutes from the July 17, 2019 meeting of the City Administration Committee. Seconded by Alderperson Gearhart. Motion carried unanimously. 1.3 Statements from the Public. None. 1.4 Statements from Employees. None. 1.5 Council Response. None. 2. Consent Agenda Items. None. 3. Finance, Budget and Appropriations 3.1 DPW - Amend Capital Project #799 for DPW Fuel Island Moved by Alderperson Kerslick. Seconded by Alderperson McGonigal. WHEREAS, Capital Project #799 was established in 2014 at $488,000 to design and construct a new fuel island at Streets and Facilities to serve the entire City fleet fueling needs, as well as decommissioning the existing fuel island and tanks; and City Administration Committee Meeting August 21, 2019 Page 2 WHEREAS, on June 18, 2019, the Board of Public Works, acting as Lead Agency, declared that the project would not have a significant negative environmental impact in accordance with the City and State Environmental Quality Review laws and ordinances (CEQR and SEQR), and WHEREAS, bids were opened on August 13, 2019 for this scope of work and the low bidder for General Construction was Boland’s Excavating & Topsoil, Inc. of Conklin, NY at $ 615,000, and the low bidder for Electric Construction was Diekow Electric, Inc. of Marathon, NY at $147,850 (after LaValley Bros. Construction Inc. of Wolcott, NY withdrew an unbalanced bid for the electric work), and WHEREAS, Engineering staff is recommending award of contract to the low bidders conditioned on additional budget and completion of the full scope of work, plus an allowance for construction inspection and material testing and a contingency; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That Common Council hereby amends Capital Project #799 by $ 505,000 for the project, bringing the total authorization to $ 993,000; and, be it further RESOLVED, That funds needed for said amendment shall be derived from issuance of Serial Bonds. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Passed unanimously. 3.2 Finance – Request to Waive Penalty on Taxes Moved by Alderperson McGonigal. Seconded by Alderperson Kerslick. WHEREAS, Common Council established guidelines for the waiver of penalty on taxes to assist in consistency when considering requests; and WHEREAS, Nick Lambrou has made an appeal to have late penalties removed from his 2019 City 2 nd Installment tax payments; and WHEREAS, the circumstances leading to his request do not fit the guidelines allowing for waiver of penalty as previously established by Common Council; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the request to refund paid penalty is denied. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Yes (3): Gearhart, Kerslick, Mohlenhoff No (1): McGonigal Motion passed 3-1. 3.3 Creation of Grant-Funded Capital Project #XXX Downtown Ithaca Transportation Management Association and Authorization to Enter into Agreement with the Downtown Ithaca Alliance for Project Implementation City Administration Committee Meeting August 21, 2019 Page 3 Moved by Alderperson Gearhart. Seconded by Alderperson Kerslick. WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca, in partnership with the Downtown Ithaca Alliance (DIA), applied for and was awarded a grant through the 2018 Consolidated Funding Application – New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Climate Smart Communities (DEC-CSC) Grant – for the purpose of creating a Transportation Management Association and providing an ongoing downtown area Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program; and WHEREAS, Common Council voted unanimously at its July 5, 2018, meeting to support and encourage this application; and WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca, as described in the grant application and the previous Common Council resolution, intends to contract with the Downtown Ithaca Alliance (DIA) to fulfill the terms of the grant; and WHEREAS, administration of the five-year contract between the City of Ithaca and New York State (March 2019-March 2024) and administration of the subcontract between the City of Ithaca and the Downtown Ithaca Alliance will be managed by the City’s Department of Planning, Building, Zoning & Economic Development; and WHEREAS, all of the match requirements for the grant will be met by the DIA and its affiliated TDM partners, and no City funding is required as a match for this grant; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That Common Council hereby establishes Capital Project #868 “Downtown Ithaca Transportation Management Association” in the amount of $460,397 for implementation of DEC-CSC contract #C00777 to create a Downtown Ithaca Transportation Management Association and an ongoing downtown area Transportation Demand Management Program; and be it further RESOLVED, That funds needed for said Capital Project shall be derived entirely from DEC-CSC grant funding; and be it further RESOLVED, That the Mayor or his designee is authorized to enter into agreement with the Downtown Ithaca Alliance for implementation of this grant-funded project; and be it further RESOLVED, That any payment to the DIA through this grant-funded project will be subsequent to the approval and payment of vouchers from the DEC to the City of Ithaca. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Yes (2): Gearhart, Mohlenhoff No (2): McGonigal, Kerslick Motion failed 2-2. City Administration Committee Meeting August 21, 2019 Page 4 After a discussion about questions that needed more information and that would be answered at the next City Administration Committee meeting, Alderperson McGonigal made a motion to reconsider the resolution. Seconded by Alderperson Kerslick. Motion passed unanimously. Alderperson McGonigal made a motion to table this resolution with the understanding that a presentation would be given on this item at the next City Administration Committee meeting. Seconded by Alderperson Gearhart. Motion passed unanimously. 3.4 Resolution to Amend Capital Project #857 for the Comprehensive Parking Study Moved by Alderperson Kerslick. Seconded by Alderperson Gearhart. WHEREAS, Capital Project #857 was established in 2019 in the amount of $50,000 for the purpose of scoping both a Comprehensive Parking Study and a separate Transportation Study; and WHEREAS, the Department of Public Works sent out a Request for Qualifications for a Comprehensive Parking Study on March 5, 2019 to fourteen consulting firms, The New York State Contract Reporter, and the New York Upstate Planning website; and WHEREAS, The City received Statements of Qualifications from ten consulting firms by the deadline of April 12, 2019; and WHEREAS, The Parking Division of the Department of Public Works established and convened a Consultant Selection Committee consisting of: 1. City staff: Chief of Staff, Superintendent of Public Works, Director of Parking, Director of Planning, Deputy Director of Economic Development, a Senior Planner, and the Director of the IURA; 2. The Director of the Downtown Ithaca Alliance; 3. Two members of the Mobility, Access, and Transportation Commission; 4. One representative of Allpro Parking; and WHEREAS, the Consultant Selection Committee evaluated, ranked, and fully vetted the Statement of Qualifications submitted, and selected Stantec Consulting Services Inc. as the preferred consultant; and WHEREAS, Stantec Consulting Services Inc has worked collaboratively with the City to produce a Scope of Services; and WHEREAS, the proposed schedule to complete the full Scope of Services is planned to begin no later than September 16, 2019; and WHEREAS, the fee for the Scope of Services mutually agreed to by the City and Stantec Consulting is $174,458; now, therefore, be it City Administration Committee Meeting August 21, 2019 Page 5 RESOLVED, That Common Council hereby amends Capital Project #857 by $126,900, including financing costs to fully fund the Comprehensive Parking Study, bringing the total authorization to $177,900; and be it further RESOLVED, That funds necessary for said project amendment shall be derived from the issuance of Serial Bonds. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Passed unanimously. 4. City Administration, Human Resources, and Policy 4.1 Modification of Odd/Even Parking to extend hours when in effect and to change where parking is permitted on the 31st of the month Chief of Staff Cogan sent a letter to Common Council regarding Odd/Even Parking. His letter answered some of the following questions:  Rationale for modifications: Under the current odd/even parking regulations, odd/even parking is in effect from 2am-6am. With City employees working only until 3:30am, it leaves only 90 minutes for effective-street cleaning to take place or if employees were working around the clock, it only leaves a 4-hour period to plow the side of the streets with no cars.  Can odd/even parking be in effect outside of the current November 1 to April 1 timeframe?  Would it be helpful if odd/even regulations go into effect earlier than 9pm?  Would signs leading into the City need to be changed to announce this regulation? After discussing ways to get more input from the public, the Committee unanimously agreed to circulate the Chief of Staff’s letter to the public on the City’s social media, in the City’s newsletter, through list servs and through neighborhood associations. 4.2 Establishing the Platinum Plan Offered Through the Greater Tompkins Municipal Health Insurance Consortium as an Option Available to All Active City Employees for Health Coverage Provided by the City Moved by Alderperson McGonigal. Seconded by Alderperson Kerslick. WHEREAS, in 2109, the City added the Platinum Plan offered through the Greater Tompkins Municipal Health Insurance Consortium, to the health benefit plans available to certain active City employees; and WHEREAS, the Greater Tompkins Municipal Health Insurance Consortium makes periodic adjustment to the Platinum Plan it offers in order to maintain an Actuarial Value as defined by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that is equal to an overall plan benefit for the average participant of 90% for the Platinum Plan, meaning that co-pays and deductibles may vary from year-to-year in order to preserve a 90-10 split of approved medical costs between the insurance plan and covered members; and WHEREAS, the City now wishes to add the Platinum Plan, or equivalent plans that may succeed it, to the options available to all active City employees; now, therefore, be it City Administration Committee Meeting August 21, 2019 Page 6 RESOLVED, That Common Council hereby authorizes the Director of Human Resources and the City Controller to make the Platinum Plan option, or its equivalent successor plan, available to all active City employees. A vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Passed unanimously. 5. Discussion 5.1 Council Rules of Procedures Alderperson Gearhart went over the major changes to the Council Rules of Procedures. The Committee agreed that this item will be a standing item on the agenda and that the initial discussion should include Alderperson Fleming, who worked with Alderperson Gearhart to update the Procedures. This would, also, allow the Committee time to read over the material. 5.2 City Hall Security Chief of Staff Cogan distributed a letter giving background information on how City Hall came to have security and whether it should continue. If City Hall security continues, should measures be increased to include visitors showing ID and/or signing in upon entering City Hall and should City employees be subjected to security screening? The Committee discussed some potential benefits and drawbacks to visitors being required to show ID and/or sign in upon entering City Hall such as:  Visitors may not have photo ID or if they do, they may not bring it to City Hall  Some members of the public may feel that this is an additional government intrusion  Non-citizens or members of historically marginalized and targeted communities may feel less welcome in City Hall  Checking IDs could slow down the screening process when there are large groups  If visitors are required to identify themselves, it could discourage mischief-makers Chief of Staff Cogan responded to questions about the safety of employees in other City buildings and the Committee offered some suggestions for security in City Hall:  Change the physical appearance of the 1st floor  Have staff come down to meet visitors  Have a meeting area on the first floor  Lock the door leading to the elevator. People would get buzzed in and employees would swipe ID card Chief of Staff Cogan thanked the Committee for their feedback and stated that the process of asking for IDs during working hours only would be tested to get the reaction from the public. The data obtained City Administration Committee Meeting August 21, 2019 Page 7 would be shared with the Workplace Violence Prevention Committee and brought back to the City Administration Committee. 6. Budget 6.1 Updates and Special Topics There is a special Common Council meeting on Wednesday – August 28, 2019. Topics to be considered at this meeting:  Special events – challenges faced by City helping festivals or events. The Special Events Committee met today. They discussed the cost to City for events. The City does support special events  Capital projects Proposed agenda items for the Special Common Council meeting on Wednesday – September 25, 2019:  Police Department  Transportation Management Group  Common Council/Mayor salaries 7. Meeting Wrap-up 7.1 Announcements. None. 7.2 Next Meeting Date: September 18, 2019. 7.3 Review, Agenda Items for Next Meeting. None. 7.4 Adjourn: With no further business and on a motion by Alderperson Kerslick, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.