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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 2009-01-26 Study Session Meeting of the Ithaca Town Board Monday, January 26, 2009 215 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY Aurora Room AGENDA 1 . Call to Order 2 . Discuss February 9, 2009 Town Board Agenda 3 . Report of Town Committees and Other Committees : a. Budget & Management b . Operations Committee c . Personnel Committee d. Planning Committee e. Public Works Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The first Town of Ithaca Town Board Study Session - 5 : 30 p . m. , Monday, January 26 , 2009 Town Board Members Present: Supervisor Engman ; Councilwoman Leary ; Councilman Stein ; Councilman Goodman ; Councilman Levine ; Councilwoman Hunter; Councilman DePaolo . Staff Present : Karen Billings ; Judy Drake ; Dan Walker; Jonathan Kanter; Bruce Bates . Meeting Notes : Supervisor Engman brought the meeting to order and explained the context of the Study Sessions and the intent. This second monthly meeting of the Town Board is meant to : • Discuss the (upcoming) February 91h Town Board Agenda • Discuss how committees operate and what the schedules will be, etc . o There will be an Executive Session to discuss employment history of a particular person and potential acquisition of Real Estate. The Goal is to be finished by 6 p . m. Supervisor Engman asked if there were any additions to the Agenda. Additions : Karen Billings mentioned that Ithaca College sent in an application for a Noise Permit that she copied and placed in front of each of the Town Board Members . The Town Board only needs to set a public hearing; A Town Board Minutes Study Session January 26, 2009 Councilwoman Hunter asked to add a Resolution of Support for the Community Garden Program in order to attach it to a request for funding ; Correspondence Folder circulated. February 9, 2009 Agenda Discussion : Deleted — Agenda Item 7 - Board Protocol and Procedures Manual Because this was approved in 2008 , and only needs to be approved biennially, this item was deleted. Councilwoman Leary said that she has a couple of changes that she would like to work on . She will take this up in the Operations Committee and bring it back to the Town Board when the Committee has recommendations for Town Board approval . Time Change - Agenda Item 5 - Locey and Cahill presentation . The time for the Locey and Cahill presentation was moved to approximately 7 : 00 p .m. , or after the Lakefront discussions and vote . Supervisor Engman explained that Locey and Cahill will be speaking about the TCCOG Health Consortium Proposal . They are giving a presentation to all of the municipalities in Tompkins County about the Municipal Cooperative Agreement . Each of the municipalities needs to decide by June whether or not they want to go with the Consortium. Supervisor Engman said that Judy, Susan and himself have an upcoming conference call scheduled with Locey and Cahill to discuss some of the concerns they have . Annual Reports of Town Officials — Agenda Item 8 — Supervisor Engman said that he will give a Town Supervisor' s Report, and then move to Department Head Reports . Judy asked what the Town Board members are looking for in the Annual Reports of Town Officials . Councilwoman Hunter suggested recapping the year' s activities and provide a forecast for 2009 . Councilman DePaolo suggested bullet points . Supervisor Engman agreed . Of greater importance is what Department Heads are anticipating for 2009 . Councilman Stein suggested a short summary, along with the ability to respond to questions Town Board Members may have . Supervisor Engman recited the Public Hearings on the Agenda and reminded Town Board Members that the Local Laws were distributed to them already . Agenda Item 16 : Fred Noteboom explained more about the street light request for authorization on the Agenda. (Judd Falls Road and Rte . 366) . He said there have been many complaints because the intersection is dark. NYSEG reviewed it and suggested a 250 watt HPS (High Pressure Sodium) light at that intersection . NYSEG will also remove the 400 watt lamp at the next intersection and replace it with a 250 watt HPS . Fred also mentioned that NYSEG will conform to our Town Lighting Ordinance . The Resolution is needed because there is a $ 185 . 57/year cost to the Town and NYSEG is requesting a Town Board Resolution before going forward . Councilwoman Leary asked if there is something in the Lighting Ordinance specifying that the Town does not prefer Sodium lamps ; Jonathan Kanter said that there is not, but from an operational standpoint the Town Board can change this going forward . Supervisor Engman said Page 2 of 6 Town Board Minutes Study Session January 26, 2009 that the lights should be consistent. Dan Walker said that HPS uses less energy. Councilman DePaolo wanted to know if anyone has looked into the feasibility of LED lighting. Hearing no further comments Supervisor Engman moved on to additional items . Community Gardens - Resolution of support Councilwoman Hunter said that the formal Resolution of Support from the Town Board will be used for requests for funding from the Community Foundation and Tompkins Trust. Next, the permitting process and timeline, are items that Councilwoman Hunter wants to review with Dan , Jon and Bruce to make sure everything is in order so that the permits are issued by the spring . Dan suggested that it could feasibly go before the Planning Board in April . Dan said that there is approximately $20,000 in Town expenditures that needs to be discussed at the Public Works meeting . Councilwoman Hunter responded that April is a little late . Dan cited concerns over manpower and financial resources , such as the installation of a water line that will take a crew about a week to work on ; clearing and fencing the site involve access issues that need to be addressed at the Public Works Committee. Councilwoman Hunter wanted to know how these things affect the site plan , and Dan responded that he is short of resources — one person out and a technician out as well . Fred suggested moving this forward to the Planning Board so that they could address allocation of resources . Councilman Stein offered that he understands the staff shortages in existence . Councilman Stein said there is no excess capability in Engineering or Highway, and that the Town Board adds projects without knowing whether or not the projects can be done. Councilman Stein went on to say that the price tag, FTE ' s, is not calculated and we should have this (calculation) because we ' re backing ourselves into a corner. Councilman Stein suggested that a calculation of dollar price tag and manpower price tag should be calculated with projects coming before the Town Board. Supervisor Engman suggested that a water line may not be needed until June and the actual construction can be done later and that we just need the plans done now . Supervisor Engman suggested having a meeting to discuss the timelines . Councilwoman Hunter said that we are at a critical time right now ; we either have to continue with the project or abandon it. Councilwoman Hunter said that everybody has known that this project has been on the table for quite a long time ; if it is going to happen this year, there are things that need to be done . She asked to get going quickly in order to get some of the approvals saying, if we 're going to look for money to do the project we need to have it in motion . Supervisor Engman said that we should be able to get this done . Jon suggested that the site plan should be addressed in order to move the item through the Planning Board. Safe Routes to School — everything in order. Moved quickly through the state . Judy Drake talked about some of the positions that the Town has filled, and she wants to add these items to the Agenda. She wanted to know how to list this on the Agenda. Regarding the Crossing Guard position , Warren Road in front of Dewitt School , Councilman DePaolo was surprised that this is a Town position . Judy suggested that it would be nice to shave the school district take care of filling the crossing guard positions . She said that currently, Public Work ' s employees fill-in when a crossing guard is out. Councilwoman Leary wanted to know how this works . Judy explained that State Law covers this . Councilman DePaolo asked how many crossing guards the Town funds and how much it costs . Judy did not have all of the numbers but reported that the Town employs 3 crossing guards (Warren Rd. , Winthrop 7 : 30 a. m. to 9 : 15 a. m. and again in the afternoon for a slightly shorter period of time (20 min . )) . Page 3 of 6 Town Board Minutes Study Session January 26, 2009 Supervisor Engman said that if more discussion is needed, we should carry this on in a future meeting. The Town is required to have these crossing guards . Supervisor Engman asked if it was OK to put all of the positions on the Consent Agenda. Everyone agreed that it was OK. Committees : Provide a time schedule to Karen and she will post Current meeting schedules : Budget : Second to last Wednesday of each month, first one is Feb . l ph Operations : Third Thursday of each month at 4 : 30 p . m. Personnel : First Wednesday of each month at 4 : 45 p .m. Planning : Second Thursday of each month 4 : 30 p . m. ERC : Second Monday after the first Tuesday of each month (Town Board meeting day) 1 p . m. — 2 p .m. in Town Hall (Aurora Room) Public Works : ? Records Management : Third Thursday of each month at TBA COC : Third Wednesday of each month at 7 : 30 p . m. , except the Feb meeting which will be on Feb 11 Comp Plan : Non-Town Board Committees : Get those meeting schedules to Rich : SJC — second Wednesday at 12 : 30 p .m . Joint Youth Commission Bolton Point : First Thursday at 4 p . m. Ithaca College Community Work Group Supervisor Engman asked when future Town Board Study Sessions should be held. Councilman Stein asked if he is the only conflict, as he meets students until at least 5 p . m. on Monday and Wednesday. A solution is that we could start our meeting at 5 : 30 p . m. through the balance of the school year. Councilwoman Hunter wanted to know whether or not staff is required to be at both meetings . Supervisor Engman said that experience will provide a better picture of who should be available and at which meeting . The next Study Session will be held February 23rd at 5 : 30 p . m. Reports , Budget — has not met Operations — has not met Personnel — will talk about the SWOT Analysis that has been going on ; Councilwoman Leary said that ERC met today ( 1 /26) and the question about training, mandatory or not was discussed . She advocates for not making the training mandatory because of the nature of the training . She said that it should not carry a compulsory flavor to it, and the majority of people at the meeting agreed with her. Supervisor Engman said that training should be mandatory . Councilwoman Hunter said that the final resting place with the discussion settled on , if the employee was to Page 4 of 6 Town Board Minutes Study Session January 26, 2009 come to work that day, they had to go to training ; if they had scheduled vacation, or did not want to participate, they would have to use vacation time . Supervisor Engman said that we have employees who need the training. Councilwoman Leary said that safety training or technical training is different; for this kind of training she does not want the Town to put the employees under duress . She went on to say that attitude is important; there should be buy in , or a sense of willingness coming from the employees ; the employees should be encouraged but a basic assent is needed. Councilman Stein , who also attended the ERC meeting earlier today, asked that we not reproduce the same discussion that took place earlier in the day and wanted to end the discussion with a single quote, [Y]ou can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. Councilwoman Hunter said that if we have individuals who need training, then we should address the individuals and not make office-wide policies to address the behaviors of specific individuals who need extra personal attention . She said that the majority came away saying that this should not be mandatory. Councilman Goodman wondered if the full Town Board is needed to make a decision, if so he would like the committee to come up with a decision , reciting its pros and cons , rather than rehash a discussion that has already taken place at the committee level . Councilwoman Leary said that the committee had come up with a decision . Supervisor Engman said this is a management issue ; training is fundamental . Councilman Goodman said that if this is the Supervisor' s purview , then we should not continue this discussion . Councilwoman Leary responded that the Town Board is the administrative head of the Town, including supervising staff, but that we (the Town Board) delegate it to the Supervisor between meetings . Councilwoman Leary went on to say that this was an issue that had not been brought before the ERC or the Personnel Committee ; it was just made administratively between two people and there was not enough discussion about it prior to a decision . Councilwoman Leary said that she thought that the consensus of the committee was that it should not be mandatory. It was her recollection that, of the three staff people at the meeting, two of the three people were clearly with the joint opinion of herself and Councilwoman Hunter that the training should not be mandatory; the third person was ` sort of agreeing . Councilwoman Leary said that the training cannot be compelled ; you ' re starting with a bad feeling . Supervisor Engman said that it ' s the employee ' s job not to have a bad feeling and adapt to the situation ; it is the employee ' s job not to create a problem. The employee ' s job is to go there and learn what is being presented . Councilwoman Leary countered that the nature of this training is not training, it' s not a Grammar Workshop. Supervisor Engman said that it doesn ' t make any difference ; these are all skills that our employees need. Councilman Stein said that he agreed with Councilman Goodman that this should not be discussed here ; the committee should take a vote. Supervisor Engman agreed that there needs to be a fuller discussion of this . Supervisor Engman suggested that the Town Board members stick to discussion items and not rehash every single Committee meeting . Councilman Stein said that something more serious came up during the meeting, and it warrants further conversation ; it was the issue of the conflict of interest. Supervisor Engman said that it is going to be discussed in Executive Session . Planning: Councilman DePaolo said that they are getting together with Rod Howe and Jon to go over how things are taking shape . Jon said the next Planning Cmte . Meeting is on the 12`h — Thursday, February 12 . Rod meets quarterly with the Planning Committee . Public Works : Councilman Stein said that the Committee is meeting tomorrow ( 1 /27 ) . Page 5 of 6 Town Board Minutes Study Session January 26, 2009 Supervisor Engman said that each chair should think about how they want to handle their meetings . Complete participation? Guests ? Subcommittees ? These are all under the purview of the Committee Chair. Councilwoman Leary asked to have reports from the Codes and Ordinances Committee and the Comprehensive Plan Committee . Supervisor Engman agreed and said that we will list out those committees on the Agenda. Councilwoman Leary also asked to have Intermunicipal Committees reporting. If the item is something that will be going before the Town Board, Supervisor Engman asked for recommendations from Committees during the reporting process . Councilwoman Leary brought the Town Board member' s attention to the Grammar Workshop flyer in the Correspondence File that is coming up . She asked to have the flyer posted and circulated, because some people could use this . She asked to have it posted in the same area as the Federal Minimum Wage info is posted . Hearing no more comments , Supervisor Engman called for someone to move going into Executive Session to discuss the employment history of a particular person and potential. acquisition of Real Estate , Moved : Councilman Goodman Seconded : Councilwoman Leary Vote : Unanimous Adjourn : Moved : Councilman Goodman Seconded : Councilman Stein Vote : Unanimous espe lly Sub ' t Karen M . Billings , Town Clerk Page 6 of 6