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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-C&OI-2008-05-20Community and Organizational Issues Proceedings Regular Meeting May 20, 2008 7:30 p.m. PRESENT: Chair J. R. Clairborne Vice Chair, Dan Cogan Alderpersons (8): Robin Korherr, Svante Myrick, Joel Zumoff, Mary Tomlan, Jennifer Dotson, Maria Coles, Eric Rosario, Nancy Schuler OTHERS PRESENT: Mayor — Carolyn Peterson GIAC Director — Marcia Fort City Attorney — Daniel Hoffman Supt. of Public Works - Gray Information Management Specialist — Sarah Myers MODIFICATIONS TO THE AGENDA: Alderperson Coles requested the addition of a couple brief reports from City Administration under Cross - Committee Topics. No Committee member objected. Alderperson Dotson requested the removal of the item under New Business — Access Oversight Committee Capital Projects Budget as information was not available. No Committee member objected. Alderperson Tomlan arrived at 7:45 p.m. Public Comment: Sara Hess, Assistant Coordinator, Community Coalition for Healthy Youth, addressed the committee in support of the proposed ban on smoking and the creation of smoke - free zones. Fay Gougakis, City of Ithaca, addressed the Committee on the proposed ban on smoking and the creation of smoke free zones. Announcements from the Chair: Chair Clairborne expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Assistant City Attorney Khandikile Sokoni, Manager of Organizational Development Leslie Moskowitz, and City Clerk Julie Conley Holcomb for their recent Common Council orientation /training program that was educational, informative and very useful for Common Council members. May 20, 2008 Chair Clairborne extended his condolences to the friends and family of the victim of the recent house fire on West Clinton Street. He stated that he has heard nothing but praise for members of the Police Department and Fire Department for their efforts in rescuing the victims. Department Presentations Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC): GIAC Director Marcia Fort addressed the Committee to report that she was at a meeting recently and was asked if the City had included a diverse group of people from the community in developing its strategic plan. She stated that Chair Clairborne had asked that she investigate this question and report back to this committee. She explained that she believes that the individual was referring to the City's Comprehensive Plan in which case it would be very important to include input from community members as it is developed. GIAC Director Fort explained that Mr. Rivera, from the Justice Department, shared his thoughts during a community forum relating to the issue of race at Ithaca High School. He suggested that an ad hoc committee be created within the community to address issues of race relations as it is a community -wide issue, not just an issue within the Ithaca City School District. She stated that the forums have ended and the question now is what to do with the information learned, and how the community can come together to continue efforts or start new efforts that will include Tompkins County, the Ithaca City School District, and the City of Ithaca in the process of developing a plan. She reported that a small group of community members have been meeting on an ongoing basis since the public forums that include herself, Kevin Brew, Paula Younger, Judy Saul, Audrey Cooper, Bridget Hubberman, Kirby Edmunds, and Duane Scott. The group has discussed strategies on how to make the community one where everyone feels that their voices are being represented and heard. She stated that the process forward needs to be established so the results would be visible and measurable. She further stated that the community also wants to see what role the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County take in this initiative. She reported that people within the community are very interested and committed in this effort to work towards the goal of better race relations within the City of Ithaca and the community by including a wide variety of people with different perspectives and experiences in the process. Discussion followed on the floor regarding how the process for this initiative is not yet defined. The City is looking for people to serve and to develop stakeholders including representatives from the local business community. Further discussion followed on the floor regarding how Common Council can support this effort and what can be done to reach out to, and involve as many community members as possible. The committee requested that updates on the status of this initiative be provided at their next meeting. Ithaca Police Department (IPD): Chair Clairborne reported that the Police Department has been successful with a number of grant applications for different projects. He further reported that the department has done some recent hiring of new officers and received commendations and recommendations as well for their work. 61 May 20, 2008 Old Business: Smoke -free Zone Legislation Chair Clairborne explained the back -up material that was provided regarding the proposed legislation and asked City Attorney Hoffman to join the committee for discussion of this item. City Attorney Hoffman explained that the material is limited to New York State because it is important to focus on examples of legislation already in place in New York State. He stated that not all municipalities responded to the request for information, and noted that most of the legislation in place was adopted by a resolution as opposed to an ordinance. He stated that if the City of Ithaca were to regulate the ban on smoking it would be done through an ordinance which would be part of the City Code. Alderperson Schuler arrived at 8:30 p.m. City Attorney Hoffman explained that the legislation already in place in New York State tends to be fairly narrowly focused on particular areas such as recreational facilities known to include children. He stated that Allegany County designated all County facilities as smoke -free but he doesn't know what that includes. He further reported he distributed Cornell University's policy on smoking which does not extend to outdoor areas beyond bus stops and entrances to buildings. Cornell's general policy is no smoking within 25' of any entrance; however a building coordinator could impose stricter restrictions in areas surrounding the buildings they manage. Chair Clairborne asked how designating a building coordinator for city buildings might work and what affect it might have to control smoking. City Attorney Hoffman responded that designating a building coordinator would be up to departments because typically when there are laws within a municipality they are known and fixed and would not vary by building. He stated that the City cannot regulate smoking on private property. Mayor Peterson asked if the City Attorney's research included how other municipalities enforce their regulations. City Attorney Hoffman responded that they did not ask that question when contacting other municipalities. He stated that as most of these regulations were adopted by resolution, it could mean that it was intended to be more of a symbolic gesture without penalties. He reiterated that it is unusual to enact laws by resolution. Discussion followed on the floor regarding how Common Council should proceed with reviewing information, establishing regulations, and whether the intent was to establish smoke -free zones or smoking zones on City property. Alderperson Myrick stated that no matter what regulations are adopted, well placed and clear signage will be the key to compliance. He further stated that he has been a volunteer for "Reality Check" of Tompkins County which is administered through the 41 May 20, 2008 Cornell Cooperative Extension office and has been a long time proponent for smoke - free programs and initiatives. City Attorney Hoffman suggested that each section of the spreadsheet relating to potential areas of regulation be reviewed and an informal poll taken by committee members of whether they would support the ban on smoking or the imposition of a twenty -five foot restriction on the specified regulated areas for each section. Extensive discussion followed on the floor regarding whether or not a 25' restriction would be adequate in some locations and perhaps imposing a 50' restriction in an area where children would definitely be exposed to second hand smoke may be more appropriate. The committee invited Ted Schiele, Coordinator of Tobacco Free Tompkins with the Tompkins County Health Department to join in the discussion. He stated that he is familiar with the regulations currently in place within surrounding municipalities and one college campus where a restriction of 50' has been imposed for buildings. Instituting a 50' restriction on certain city properties would not be unique. Alderperson Schuler asked how the existing regulations in the New York municipalities (Oneonta, Oneida, and Watertown) are working, and whether it would be advisable for the City of Ithaca to implement similar legislation to save the work of drafting completely new legislation. Mr. Shiele responded that he doesn't know how the legislation is working in those other communities; however, he has yet to hear that any municipality is having problems with their legislation, enforcement measures, or community outrage over the regulations. He further stated that he contacted Carousel Center in Syracuse, New York regarding enforcement issues because they are completely smoke -free both inside and outside their facility, but has not heard back from them yet. Discussion followed on the floor regarding imposing the restrictions where childcare centers are involved because some childcare is done from private homes as well as the larger day care centers. After further discussion, the Committee decided to create a sub - committee to review in more detail the information provided by the City Attorney's office. The sub - committee will make recommendations to this Committee at next month's meeting. The following Committee members volunteered to serve on the sub - committee: Alderpersons Rosario, Myrick, and Cogan. Resolution to Create A Sub - Committee to Review Proposed Smoking Regulations: By Alderperson Clairborne: Seconded by Alderperson Schuler RESOLVED, That the Community & Organizational Issues Committee designate a sub- committee of its members, to be chaired by Alderperson Rosario, to review and make recommendations regarding proposed implementation of smoking regulations for various city owned properties and buildings. Cl May 20, 2008 Ayes (9) Coles, Dotson, Rosario, Clairborne, Zumoff, Tomlan, Schuler Cogan, Korherr Nays (1) Myrick Abstentions (0) Carried Alderperson Myrick stated that he voted in opposition to this resolution as he feels that the Committee is over - thinking the proposed legislation and that installing appropriate signage would work and would clarify what the regulations are. He further stated that he is disappointed that this matter will have to come back to the committee next month for further review, discussion and consideration. Alderperson Rosario stated that he would like to request that people with technical expertise in this area participate in the sub - committee meetings as well. He suggested that a representative from the Police Department participate in the meetings relating to enforcement issues. Mr. Schiele from Tobacco Free Tompkins was pointed out by Chair Clairborne as a technical resource to call upon. Water (discussion only) Superintendent of Public Works Bill Gray distributed a timeline to Committee members outlining the schedule of meetings that need to take place with the Board of Public Works, the Community & Organizational Issues Committee, and Common Council in order to make a decision on the City of Ithaca's drinking water source. He gave a brief history of the project and described what has already taken place, what needs to take place, and provided information regarding the environmental review process. He further explained that the final decision is not the complete action. The action will take years to complete. Alderperson Rosario explained the process he followed with staff to put together the schedule, which is very tight and optimistic. He stated that demands on staff are difficult but efforts will be made to stick to the schedule. He urged everyone to make a commitment to attend these meetings throughout the summer since this is such a big decision and there is so much information to be reviewed and considered. He further stated that this would become a fixed agenda item for the Committee and that each meeting should allow between 45 minutes — 1.5 hours for discussion. Chair Clairborne requested that staff prepare brief summaries for the topics to be discussed at each meeting so they can be included in agenda packets and committee members can review them prior to the meeting. Discussion followed regarding whether it would be more time efficient to block out different dates for the water meetings so that these committee meetings could be used for other topics. Mayor Peterson explained that this committee had been created specifically to include all ten members of Council because there would be a couple of large issues this year where everyone would be needed. It is very difficult to try to schedule different dates for meetings where all ten members of Common Council can attend them. She stated that committee members should be prepared to be flexible in their schedules to accommodate additional meetings if needed and perhaps starting time for this meeting should be made earlier to accommodate discussion and the tight timelines. '61 May 20, 2008 Supt. Gray reminded committee members that the Board of Public Works would be meeting to discuss this item as well and invited them to attend those meetings to preview the topic in preparation for the committee meeting. Alderperson Cogan stated that a number of Common Council members have been discussing this topic for four years and are still not budging on their decisions. He stated that everyone should be prepared to adjust their expectations and allow a lot of time at these committee meetings to discuss this topic. He further stated that in the end everyone will have to make their own decision and there may not be consensus. The committee thanked Supt. Gray and Deputy Director of Planning and Development Cornish for their time and the information they provided. New Business: Access Oversight Committee Capital Projects Budget This item was removed from the agenda. Cross - committee Topics Alderperson Coles reported that the City Administration Committee meeting on May 28, 2008 would include a discussion on the budget meeting schedule for the 2009 budget and a presentation from City Controller Thayer on preliminary budget information. Inlet Island Development (presentation and discussion) Acting Director of Planning and Development Cornish presented information and drawings to committee members regarding the history of Inlet Island and development to date. The vision for Inlet Island is to create a vibrant waterfront district with mixed uses. She explained that through the years different vision plans have been developed and they are available in her office for anyone interested in reviewing them. She explained that there are plans to create public access with a promenade and ample public views of the water, as well as connectivity to the West End and the Commons. She stated that work has begun to improve the connectivity starting with the reconstruction of West State Street. She further stated that the long -range plan should include parking structures /areas and a decision on whether the City or developers should pay for parking. Acting Director Cornish reported that the Brindley Park work has been completed along with the Cayuga Waterfront Trail and it is a stunning piece of public property. Included in the information distributed to committee members was the Complete Urban Design Guidelines for projects on Inlet Island. She explained the zoning amendments that have been made to restrict building heights in the area. She stated that the soil on Inlet Island is very poor and remediation work is required. The City is responsible for this clean -up work unless it gets deducted from the developer's costs. An Urban Design Committee was formed and met three times a month for over a year to bring all of the visions for the island together to create a Waterfront Zoning District. These plans were what the developers had hoped and thought would be in place when they invested in the area. She explained different scenarios that could come into play depending on May 20, 2008 whether a hotel or housing is built and the projected tax revenue that could be collected annually. She stated that she is always available if anyone wants further information or has any questions. The committee thanked Ms. Cornish for her presentation and for her hard work on this project. Advice of Counsel: Cayuga Waterfront Trail Update The Committee recessed into an advice of counsel session and returned into open session with no formal action taken. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Sarah L. Myers J. R. Clairborne Information Management Specialist Chair 7