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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 2006-02-16Special Meeting of the Ithaca Town Board Thursday, February 16, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. 215 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, New York AGENDA 1. Call to Order 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Discussion of the Board Protocol and Procedures Manual 4. Consider Adjournment February 16, 2006 Special Town Board Meeting Approved March 13, 2006 Special Meeting of the Ithaca Town Board Thursday, February 16, 2005 at 6:30 p.m. 215 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, New York CALL TO ORDER: Supervisor Valentino called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. and led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance. THOSE PRESENT: Supervisor Valentino, Councilman Burbank, Councilman Engman, Councilman Stein, Councilwoman Leary STAFF PRESENT: Tee-Ann Hunter, Town Clerk; Susan Brock, Attorney for the Town; Dan Walker, Director of Engineering; Jonathan Kanter, Director of Planning; Judy Drake, Human Resources Manager EXCUSED: Councilwoman Gittelman, Councilman Cowie, Highway Superintendent Noteboom, Budget Officer Al Carvill Agenda Item No. 3 -- Discussion of the Board Protocol and Procedures Manual The Board continued its review of the draft on page 23 of Councilman Stein's 2/6/2006 version. Supervisor Valentino asked for Board agreement to adopt resolutions for individual changes to the draft only when there is disagreement. The Board agreed, 4.01 - Meeting Schedule change in second paragraph - add the phrase "the Board can designate an alternate date" in place of "meeting will be held the following week" 4.02 - Public Notice of Meetings and Hearings change - "Preliminary" to "final" following "hearings and the..." edit - typos in paragraph "A" format - correct so lettering is "A", "B", "C" change - change "Preliminary" to "Final" in what will be heading "C" under 4.02 4.03 - Special Meetings change - add "if the Board members asking for a special meeting so request, the Supervisor will make every effort to schedule the meeting for the earliest possible date" at the end of the first paragraph. change - "two" to "ten" in the first paragraph. February 16, 2006 Special Town Board Meeting Approved March 13, 2006 Flag - second paragraph for rewrite. ^ 4.05 - Site Visits change - "advertised" to "announced". 4.06 - Poilticai Caucuses Flag - Supervisor Valentino asked if "political caucus" means that every member of the legislative body that is of the caucusing party is notified and invited. Mr. Stein told her that his understanding of the law is that it does not have that provision in it. Supervisor Valentino asked if the Board wanted to put that provision in. Mr. Stein stated what appears in the draft is the law and the Town Board cannot define what a political caucus is. Supervisor Valentino told him that when the County holds their caucuses prior to their meetings, every member of the political party gets invited to intend. She asked Mr. Stein why such a group would want to exclude anyone. Mr. Stein stated he didn't know but did not think they had the power to do that. He stated it was a law that allows people to do this if they want to. Ms. Valentino quoted it read "a private meeting of members". Mr. Stein told her the law does not say all the members. Councilman Engman thought this might be one of the topics about which they might want to talk to folks at the Association of Towns Conference. It seemed to him to be a highly technical question. The Board agreed to so talking with people at the conference about this issue. 4.07 - Development of Agenda I 4.07 A change - delete "Director of Building and Zoning" change - last 3 sentences in paragraph should read "Board members are welcome to attend. The Town Clerk will notify the media of the meeting schedule. The Town Clerk will notify Town Board members of the place and time of meetings. 4.07 B fonnat - correct formatting problem change - First sentence in paragraph should read "A Board Member may place an item on an agenda either by submitting it at a prior Town Board meeting or submitting it at least 7 days prior to the meeting..." 4.07 D (should be 01 - Advisorv Bodies and Civic Organizations change - In the last sentence replace "issue" with "item". ^ j I 4.07 E (should be D) - Members of the Public February 16,2006 Special Town Board Meeting Approved March 13, 2006 edit - Add "that" following "request" In the first sentence. change - Replace "issue" with "item" in the last sentence 4.08 - Recording of Meetings and Retention of information change - delete the phrase "in accordance with State Archives Records Administration requirements" from the third bullet. 4.09 - Order of Business 4.09 E - Persons to be Heard and Board Comments change - add the phrase "or make a comment" at the end of the first paragraph. change - delete "This is the time when a Board member may request a topic to be added to a future agenda" from the second paragraph. 4.09 F - Pubiic Hearings change - In the first sentence of the second paragraph, replace the word "giving" with the phrase "being invited to state" Regarding paragraph 4, Attorney Brock asked if the language in that paragraph might trip the Board up because it really seems to imply where feasible the Board is going to delay their vote until the next meeting? Councilman Stein stated he thinks it creates a better impression if people don't vote immediately after the public hearing. Conceivably between the public hearing and a subsequent meeting a person has a chance to sit and think about what was said and maybe have their mind changed. When the Board has a public hearing and then immediately takes a vote, he thought people got the impression, rightfully, that in fact listening to the public changed nobody's mind. Mr. Stein stated he agreed with notion that, if possible, the Board should delay their vote. Supervisor Valentino stated that sometimes things are time sensitive. Councilmen Stein and Engman agreed that when time sensitive a vote could be taken at the same meeting. Ms. Brock cautioned that the Board may not want to give ammunition to people when they see "when feasible you will vote on it at a subsequent meeting." There may be practical considerations that make it desirable to go ahead and vote on an item at the same meeting. Councilman Stein commented that a Board member could accomplish a delayed vote by moving to postpone consideration until a subsequent meeting. Councilwoman Leary remarked that for people who attend the meeting, there is a certain satisfaction in having the Board make a decision that same night. Not voting could almost be interpreted the other way; the Board does not want to face the embarrassment of making a decision in front of the people who opposed it. The Board discussed possible rewording. Mr. Stein suggested deleting the paragraph in its entirety. In response, Mr. Engman stated he pushed for this paragraph. He has gone to dozens of meetings where he has spoken and, quite frankly, it's very discouraging for a citizen to go say something and have the group vote immediately, all the time, automatically n February 16,2006 Special Town Board Meeting Approved March 13, 2006 right after. He got to the point where he thought, as a citizen, it's not worth his time or energy anymore to go to the County Legislature or the City of Ithaca. He felt it was really discouraging to the citizen who comes and tries to do their civic duty by saying something. He thought the Board needed to have something like this in their rules of procedures so the Board can think about trying to get things on the agenda earlier so that they can, if necessary or desirable, postpone it for a month to give people a feeling that at least the Board tried to take into consideration their thoughts. He felt strongly they needed something about this in the manual. Ms. Brock suggested adding "and desirable" after "when feasible". Councilman Stein moved to take the paragraph out in its entirety because he did not think it does anything. He thought the problem Herb raises is very real and the right way for the Board to do something is not to put some meaningless language in a rules of procedure which isn't going to effect anything, but to move to postpone if the situation arises where the Board thinks that it makes sense. He felt that would send a stronger message to the people than putting the language in the manual. Supervisor Valentino seconded the motion. Supervisor Valentino brought the motion back to the Board for discussion. There was discussion of alternate wording. Councilman Stein asked that the Board vote on the motion on the floor. IB RESOLUTION NO. 2006-056 : Delete Last Paragraph in Section 4.09 F - Public Hearings of the Draft Board Protocol and Procedures Manual BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca delete the last paragraph in section 4.09 F - Public Hearings of the Draft Board Protocol and Procedures Manual. MOVED: Councilman Stein SECONDED: Supervisor Valentino VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilman Burbank, nay; Councilman Engman, nay; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye. Motion Defeated Councilman Engman moved to accept the new language "when feasible and desirable may". Councilman Burbank seconded the motion. Supervisor Valentino brought the issue back to the Board for discussion. She state she would be willing to vote to have the language left in at this time if they flagged it for further discussion on the wording. Councilman Burbank stated he was comfortable with that. ^ TB RESOLTUION NO. 2006-057 : Accept New Language in Section 4.09 F - Public Hearings of the Draft Board Protocol and Procedures Manual February 16, 2006 Special Town Board Meeting Approved March 13, 2006 BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca accept the new language in Section 4.09 F - Public Hearings of the Draft Board Protocol and Procedures Manual "when feasible and desirable may" MOVED: Councilman Engman SECONDED: Supervisor Burbank VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, nay; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye. Motion passed. The Board agreed to flag the paragraph for further consideration. 4.09 I - Reports of Town Officials Supervisor Valentino stated she would like the reports of Town Officials to be more along the line of officials reporting to the Board on their various projects or other boards that they are on. She would like to have the language a little stronger. She thought it was something that has caused difficulty and people not feeling they are getting all the information they need. She told the Board she was thinking of moving this item up on the agenda, because the item is so important and it would give the staff a chance, if there is nothing else on the agenda that concerns them, to go home a little early. She felt making these reports a focal point seems to be important in the scheme of the Board's understanding of things. Councilman Burbank felt the Board may want to think of a way to restructure things so that staff did not have to spend the whole night at the meetings. He thought, however, that they may want to think more about the good way to do that. Councilman Stein commented that the Board's meetings are very long, they run for 4 hours. If Official's Reports is moved up on the agenda, then something else is going to be at the end, or the meetings are going to get longer. He felt the Board needed to think careful before taking a move that will lengthen their meetings. Councilman Stein hoped that by having more oral reporting, it won't cause people to read the official's monthly reports less than they do now. Part of the goal of the manual was to try to say to Board members that they have to read the materials provided them in order to be prepared for the meeting. 4.09 G - Action and Discussion Items change - add "records" in front of "disposition listings" in the seventh bullet. 4.09 K - Executive Session change - in the last paragraph in the section, replace "should with "need" following "such summary" February 16,2006 Special Town Board Meeting Approved March 13, 2006 4.10 A Seating Arrangement of the Board f*] change - replace "with the approval of individual Board members shall" with "will, with the approval of the Town Board,". 4.11 - Open Meetings Law 4.11 A - Applicability change - The paragraph under Applicability should read, "The Open Meetings Law applies to the Town Board, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, Conservation Board, and Town Board committees. Flag - Is the Conservation Board subject to the open meetings law? 4.11 D-Actions Flag - The Board flagged "At a Special Meeting, action can be taken only on those items appearing on the posted agenda" for further consideration. 4.12 - Emergency Evacuation Plan typo - delete hyphen between "no-one" fH I 1 Chapter 5 - Rules of Order Change - Throughout the chapter, replace "2/3 vote of those present" with "majority of the entire Board" 5.01 - Basic Steps to Conducting Business Supervisor Valentino questioned the phrase "any motion authorized by this manual or Robert's Rules of Order". She stated she could understand where it is used in the back of the manual and the Board needed to decide what version they would be using, but as used here it's kind of a conflict. Mr. Stein replied stating that for the things that aren't covered by this manual, Robert's Rules of Order is the default. If there is some motion that is in Robert's that isn't in the Town's manual, then that can be raised. If you take out Robert's Rules of Order, then Robert's Rules of Order is not the default. Supervisor Valentino stated that was not what the sentence said. It doesn't say "by default", it says "...or Robert's Rules of order" and that sounds like either. Mr. Stein told her that was right. Supervisor Valentino felt the Board should follow any motion that is authorized by the manual in the first instance. If it is something that is not covered, then the Board can use Robert's Rules by default. Mr. Stein stated he was happy to take out the "i.e., any motion..." sentence telling the Board he was asked to put it in. Mr. Stein explained what he meant was any appropriate procedural motion and an appropriate procedural motion is any procedural motion authorized by the manual or a procedural motion that is in Robert's and doesn't n February 16,2006 Special Town Board Meeting Approved March 13, 2006 conflict with this manual. He suggested the following wording, "or by Robert's Rules of Order that does not conflict with this manual". Regarding version, Mr. Stein recommended the current version 10. There was further discussion and the Board agreed on the following: Mr. Stein explained the meaning of the parenthetical sentence stating the basic structure of Robert's is that only one motion can be on the floor at any time; so a main motion is introduce. In Robert's Rules of Order there are a lot of things that can be moved even when another motion is on the floor, but not an unrelated motion. It has to be a motion that relates to the main motion and these are called procedural motions. Mr. Stein reported that when he originally drafted the sentence, he wrote down procedural motions and then one of his friends said they wanted a definition of what a procedural motion is. He defined it as any motion that is authorized by the manual or by Robert's Rules of Order that does not conflict with the Town manual so long as it is not another motion. There was further discussion and the Board agreed to delete the parenthetical phrase. change - delete "(i.e., any motion authorized by this manual or Roberts Rules of Order even when another motion is already on the floor.) 5.09 - Stating the Motion change - Last sentence in paragraph should read, "Motions relating to a pending main motion are permitted." 5.11 - Postponement of Business change - Add "the" at the beginning of sentence 5.12 - Tabling a Motion Flag - for rewrite by Councilman Stein (5.12 in draft) should be 5.13 - Voting Procedures The Board discussed whether or not it was necessary to declare that a vote to "abstain" was considered a negative vote versus a non-vote and how to reflect that in the manual. change - Add "an abstention is counted as a no vote" after the sentence "If a Board member abstains he/she is encouraged to state the reasons for the abstention. change - Last sentence of third paragraph should read, "Adopted motions cannot be reconsidered by the Board at another meeting in the same calendar year except by a majority vote of the entire Board." (5.13 in draft) should be 5.14 - Other Protocol change - add "10^^ addition" after Robert's Rules of Order in 7*^ bulleted item. February 16,2006 Special Town Board Meeting Approved March 13, 2006 n6.03 - Freedom of Information Law A. Correspondences - Generally Councilman Burbank and Councilman Engman objected to the restrictive tone of the first paragraph and the Board discussed possible rewording options. Attorney Brock thought the phrase "unless the item is not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law" should be included in the paragraph. Flag - "A. Correspondences - Generally" for rewrite. B. Written Correspondences and C. Electronic Communication Flag - "B - Written Correspondences" and "C. Electronic Correspondence" for rewrite after research by Attorney Brock. Attorney Brock asked whether they should include language stating that letters to individual members of the Board in their official capacity as Board member should be filed with the Town Clerk. Mr. Stein did not think so stating he did not think it was a public record. I thought that people ought to have the right to send a confidential letter to an individual member of the Board if they want. Ms. Brock thought it was considered a record. Mr. Stein restated his thinking that it was not a public record. Supervisor Valentino felt the ^ determination should be based on the content of the letter. Mr. Stein asked if it was a matter s of law. Ms. Brock told him it was, it's the Freedom of Information Law; it requires access to records. She told the Board she would check and see. Attorney Brock noted that the phrase "the use of email communications to form a collective decision of the Board is inappropriate" was dropped in Councilman Stein's draft manual and she thought the Board might want to consider adding that phrase back in. Councilman Stein reported that, before deleting that phrase, he had called the Office of the Comptroller to find out whether it was true or not. He was sent a rather lengthy memorandum that was written on the issue and he decided it was much more nuanced and subtler than that. It turns out that nothing that a Board member does that forms a collective decision is legal, be it at a meeting, over the telephone. You don't have to have a conference call. If someone calls up the members one by one and says, "Will you support me on this?" that's against the Open Meetings Law. Mr. Stein stated he was, therefore, opposed to singling out email as being the form of communication. If the Board wanted a primer on the Open Meetings law in the manual, that's okay though he felt it was a bit much, but it has to be complete and not just one part of it. Mr. Burbank asked for confirmation from Mr. Stein that it would be okay to survey what other Board members felt about something. You can sort of do a nose count essentially by what they are saying, but you just can't get people to commit in advance. Mr. Stein stated that ^ there was a fine line by which the Open Meetings Law can make government not function at j | all; part of government functioning is to try to develop a majority support for a decision. I have something I want to do and I want to get it passed. If we are saying that I can't have 8 February 16,2006 Special Town Board Meeting Approved March 13, 2006 any discussion with people trying to get my motion passed, then it doesn't work. The meetings are not long enough to have it done in the public light. To write it too strictly is to put Board members in a cocoon. Mr. Stein felt it was too late to go into the issue further. There was no further discussion. Chapter 7 Ms. Drake distributed the new version of Chapter 7 to the Board. OTHER BOARD Local Law to Allow for Citizens Committees Councilman Stein asked that the Board consider setting a public hearing to consider A Local Law Amending The Code Of The Town Of Ithaca To Add A New Chapter 18 Governing The Creation And Appointment Of Citizen And Staff Advisory Committees For The Town Of Ithaca. Supervisor Valentino questioned setting the public hearing before any of the Board members have had an opportunity to discuss the proposed law. Mr. Stein stated he would like a public hearing on it. Supervisor Valentino asked Ms. Hunter when the public notice would need to be published. Ms. Hunter told her it would need to go to the newspaper on March 3^^ or 4*^^. Supervisor remembered the Board had talked about trying to get some of the issues surrounding committee structure ironed out at the Annual Association of Towns Conference. She did not want to set a public hearing and then find out they had to make changes in the proposed local law. She guessed they'd be fine to approve setting the public hearing at this meeting, it does not have to be posted until March 5 . If the Board find something that is in conflict, it gives the Board a chance to pull it back until they straighten it out. Councilman Stein thought if the Board took a vote to put it on the agenda, they ought to have a Special Meeting to pull it; whether it is fine or not may be subject to interpretation. Supervisor Valentino asked if it could be discussed at the meeting on March 13^*^, rather than holding a special meeting. Councilman Stein said it could be discussed at the meeting on the 13**^ and he wanted it kept on as a public hearing. TB RESOLUTION NO. 2006-058: Set a Public Hearing to Consider a Local Law Amending the Code of the Town of Ithaca to Add a New Chapter 18 Governing the Creation and Appointment of Citizen and Staff Advisory Committees for the Town of ithaca BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hold a public hearing at the Town Hall, 215 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, New York, on the 13th day of March 2006, at 7:15 p.m. for the purpose of considering a proposed Local Law Amending the Code of the Town of Ithaca to Add a New Chapter 18 Governing the Creation and Appointment of Citizen and Staff Advisory Committees for the Town of Ithaca RESOLVED, that at such time and place all persons interested in the proposed amendment may be heard concerning the same; and it is further February 16, 2006 Special Town Board Meeting Approved March 13, 2006 RESOLVED, that the Town Clerk of the Town of Ithaca is hereby authorized and directed to publish a notice of such public hearing in the Ithaca Journal published in the City of Ithaca, Ithaca, New York, and to post a copy of same on the signboard of the Town of Ithaca, said publication and posting to occur not less than ten days before the day designated above for the public hearing. MOVED: Councilman Stein SECONDED: Councilman Engman VOTE: Supervisor Valentino, nay; Councilman Burbank, aye; Councilman Engman, aye; Councilman Stein, aye; Councilwoman Leary, aye. BOARD PROTOCOL AND PROCEDURES MANUAL The Board returned to discussion of the manual. Mr. Engman thought the last two sections of the draft manual were fairly non-controversial. If Board Members have a chance to look at the new Chapter 7 and the flagged sections, he felt a new document could be prepared for the next meeting. Councilwoman Leary asked if they would be trying to do the appendix at the next meeting. Mr. Stein told her they were not going to be able to do the appendix. She questioned whether or not they were ever going to look at the appendix. Mr. Stein did not want the manual to be delayed for another month because of the appendix. Councilman Burbank felt they could approve the manual without the appendix. Councilman Engman asked why so much was cut out of Chapter 7. Attorney Brock told him a lot of it was inconsistent with what was in the Town's Code of Ethics and a lot of examples were given which she felt might have been incorrect. She, Ms. Drake, and Ms. Hunter thought it would be better to attached the Town's Ethics Law as an appendix and make a few brief references to things they thought new Board Members would be especially interested in. ADJOURNMENT On motion by Councilman Stein, the meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m. Re^ectfully submitted, \ Tee-Ann Hunter Town Clerk Next meeting March 13, 2006 10