Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BPW-2010-05-12BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS PROCEEDINGS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting 4:45 p.m. May 12, 2010 PRESENT: Mayor Peterson Commissioners (5) - Jenkins, Brock, Goldsmith, Tripp, Wykstra OTHERS PRESENT: City Attorney - Hoffman Deputy City Controller - Andrew Superintendent of Public Works - Gray Acting Assistant Superintendent of Streets and Facilities - Benjamin Assistant Superintendent of Water and Sewer – Whitney Common Council Liaison – Zumoff Information Management Specialist - Myers City Clerk – Holcomb Director of Planning and Development - Cornish Senior Planner – Nicholas EXCUSED: DAC Liaison – Roberts PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Peterson led all present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. Mayor Peterson stated that the property owners of item 11.1 entitled “Appeal of Water Service Repair Invoice for 525 West Buffalo Street” emailed her this afternoon to request that the Board postpone discussion of the appeal until they could attend the meeting. They suggested May 26, June 9, and June 23, as possible alternate dates for their appeal to be heard. The Board agreed to postpone this item until one of the dates suggested above. Commissioner Wykstra made note that he did not want the Board to begin the practice of setting their agendas based upon individual's ability to attend meetings; otherwise, he supported postponing this item. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Approval of the January 6, 2010 Board of Public Works Meeting Minutes - Resolution By Commissioner Tripp: Seconded by Commissioner Jenkins RESOLVED, That the Minutes of the January 6, 2010 Board of Public Works meeting be approved with noted corrections. Amending Resolution: By Commissioner Brock: Seconded by Commissioner Wykstra RESOLVED, That an additional paragraph be added to the minutes on page four as the last paragraph that would read as follows: “Board members requested that Common Council Liaison Zumoff make a request to Common Council for a joint Board of Public Works/Common Council meeting to discuss the charter and the rules and responsibilities of the Board and Mayor within the Charter. CC Liaison Zumoff stated that he would put the request to Common Council.” Ayes (5) Peterson, Brock, Tripp, Wykstra, Jenkins Nays (0) Abstentions (1) Goldsmith Carried Main Motion As Amended: A Vote on the Main Motion As Amended Resulted as Follows: Carried Unanimously Board of Public Works – May 12, 2010- Page 2 Approval of the April 14, 2010 Board of Public Works Meeting Minutes - Resolution By Commissioner Tripp: Seconded by Commissioner Wykstra RESOLVED, That the Minutes of the April 14, 2010 Board of Public Works meeting be approved with noted corrections. Amending Resolution: By Commissioner Brock: Seconded by Commissioner Tripp RESOLVED, That the first amending resolution on page two of the minutes be amended to read as follows: “Commissioner Wykstra thanked Mayor Peterson for her statement to the Board, apologized for any misunderstandings that he may have caused, said that he would not answer it and is satisfied that we are moving forward with the project.” Commissioner Wykstra stated that he was happy about what had taken place, but may have said he was satisfied and that if Commissioner Brock thought he said he was satisfied then he was fine with the proposed change. Mayor Peterson requested that City Clerk Holcomb come forward to discuss requirements for minutes. City Clerk Holcomb explained that minutes are required to contain who was in attendance at the meeting, what action items were considered, who moved and seconded the action items, and how members voted. She stated that the City Clerk’s office has tried throughout the years to summarize for clarity some of the discussion that takes place during meetings to help researchers in future years understand the context in which the item was considered. The Clerk’s office has also tried to show both sides of the opinion when the item being discussed is controversial to help the reader in future years understand why something was done a certain way. She further explained that most times the support staff person taking minutes at the meeting is coming in “cold” to the items being discussed, when members of the board or committee have been in other meetings and discussed the topic and are picking up discussions where they were left off at the last meeting. The staff person tries very hard to capture and summarize the discussion, but it is difficult. When minutes are being approved and non-substantial corrections to the minutes are being debated and taking up meeting time, support staff put off doing minutes as they become very unsure of what to keep in the minutes and what not to keep in. They begin to include in the minutes just what is required by law to avoid debates and discussions about statements made by Board members and non- substantial matters. By doing minutes to provide just what is required with no discussion included it become difficult in future years to determine why something was done a certain way. She further explained that when staff put off completing minutes it becomes a problem for the City because draft minutes are required to be done within two weeks of a meeting. She stated that when the Clerk’s Office completes the draft minutes for Common Council they are e-mailed to Common Council members for their review. If Council members have corrections (non-substantial such as grammar, punctuation, spelling, and that sort of thing) they would like made, they “reply to all” in their e-mail to the Clerk’s office so everyone can see the suggested changes and they can be made to the minutes before the meeting at which they are approved. That way when the minutes come to Common Council only substantial suggested changes need to be discussed on the floor and minutes can be approved quickly and easily at the meeting. This same process could be done for the Board of Public Works meeting minutes. She went on to explain that very soon the City will begin to video stream meetings. She stated that Common Council Meetings, Standing Committee meetings, and hopefully, Board of Public Works meetings will be able to be video streamed. She further stated that when that happens, minutes will only need to contain what they are required to and people can refer to the video of the meeting to hear the discussion. She explained that staff will still need to prepare minutes and have them approved, but they will be short and concise with only what is required. Commissioner Brock thanked City Clerk Holcomb for this very helpful information. She stated that she appreciates the efforts by staff to complete minutes. She explained that she would like to see minutes continue to contain discussion because not everyone has access to computers and if they were doing research in the future, the abbreviated minutes would not contain all the information that someone might need. Board of Public Works – May 12, 2010- Page 3 Commissioner Goldsmith requested, in an effort to get to other items on the agenda today, that the discussion of minutes be continued at a later date or later in the meeting, if time allows. He stated that the information provided by City Clerk Holcomb was very useful and he appreciated it. He further stated that he feels that it is important for the Board to move on with the other agenda items at this time. Commissioner Brock withdrew her motion for an amendment and Commissioner Tripp seconded that motion. No Board member objected to moving onto other agenda items and returning to discussion of minutes later in the meeting, if time allows. The Board thanked City Clerk Holcomb for coming to the meeting and sharing information about minute requirements and future plans for video streaming of meetings. ADDITIONS TO OR DELETIONS FROM THE AGENDA: There were no additions to deletions from the agenda. CREEKS, BRIDGES, AND PARKS: Dredging and Southwest Site Visit - Discussion Director of Planning and Development Cornish, Senior Planner Nicholas, and Liz Moran from Ecologic joined the Board for the discussion related to site selection of an upland disposal site. The current time line calls for a vote on or before June 9, 2010, in order for Common Council to consider the Board’s recommendation in July. The main purpose of the Board’s discussion was to determine where the best site would be for the placement of the dredged material. Extensive discussion followed on the floor regarding the site selection statements on the Draft Site Reconnaissance Report prepared by EcoLogic and the City of Ithaca. Further discussion followed on the floor with questions and answers being offered and shared with those present on the following topics: potential flood hazards before and after dredging, how dredging will work at various locations, how hydraulic dredging works, and costs which can’t be determined until a site is selected for the dredged material. Supt. Gray explained that the DEC will implement the project once the City selects the site, and will be responsible for the dredging; the Army Corps will determine how much material to dredge. Mayor Peterson suggested that a well thought out and thorough resolution should be prepared for the Board to consider at one of its next two meetings. It was not clear who would write the resolution – Senior Planner and Project Manager Nicholas, Director of Planning and Development Cornish or Supt. Gray with direction of City Attorney? Commissioner Wykstra requested that a straw poll of the Board members be taken to get an idea of the direction that members are leaning towards in their preference for a site for disposal of the dredging material. That straw poll resulted as follows: Commissioners Wykstra, Goldsmith, Tripp and Jenkins support the proposed Southwest site; Commissioner Brock wants to look more at multiple sites, and Mayor Peterson stated that she was not ready to comment at this time as NYS is in financial distress right now, that is where some of the funds are coming from for the project, the NYS Budget has not been approved for 2011, and the City might be able to use its alienation rights for a site somewhere else in a similar time frame. Commissioner Wykstra thanked Mayor Peterson for that statement. BUILDINGS, PROPERTIES, REFUSE, AND TRANSIT: Approval of Sites for Public Art Commission’s Mural and Street Art Program - Resolution WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca Public Art Commission (PAC) has been established to, among other duties, review and advise Common Council on proposals for the exhibition and display of public art in City spaces – buildings, facilities, and infrastructure – and to review development proposals for decorative elements in the city’s public spaces, and Board of Public Works – May 12, 2010- Page 4 WHEREAS, the PAC is interested in creating a city-wide mural and street art program that will beautify blank walls within the city while providing local artists from all sections of the community an opportunity to showcase their work, and WHEREAS, a subcommittee of the PAC was established to work toward the creation of this program and has identified possible locations for murals and street art throughout the city, and WHEREAS, a number of the proposed sites are on City-owned property and require the approval of the Board of Public Works, and WHEREAS, the PAC will work with staff from the Department of Public Works to coordinate the future pairing of artists and available sites, and WHEREAS, the PAC members presented the Mural and Street Art Program and the proposed sites to the Board of Public Works at its meeting on March 10, 2010, and WHEREAS, the Board of Public Works has already approved a mural to be installed on the south side wall of the Aurora Street bridge underpass on Green Street, a location previously identified by PAC as a possible location for public art; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works approves the attached list of City-owned sites for inclusion in the City of Ithaca Public Art Commission’s Mural and Street Art Program. Director of Planning and Development Cornish and the following members from the Public Art Commission joined the Board for the discussion of this item: Sally Grubb, Caleb Thomas, and Gary Ferguson. Commissioner Tripp expressed her concern about the following proposed locations for the public art: South Hill Recreation Way lower entrance fence on Hudson Street, the retaining wall on West Spencer Street, and the retaining wall downstream next to the George Johnson bridge as they are part of someone’s neighborhood and she feels that neighbors should provide input before any artwork is installed. Mayor Peterson expressed her desire to keep the proposed natural areas as natural areas. She further stated that the City does not own the City Court building and that the State would need to be contacted to obtain permission for any artwork installation on that building. She also asked that the Public Art Commission talk with the staff of the Police Department before any artwork is installed on their building and that ownership of the Hotel Ithaca proposed site would also need to be determined. Commissioner Goldsmith stated that he would like to give blanket approval subject to further description of the program. He further stated that he hopes the Public Art Commission will contemplate the involvement of school classes which could provide free artwork. Ms. Grubb stated that the Public Art Commission is looking for conceptual approval in an effort to cut down on the amount of time needed if each site were to be approved individually. She further stated that each site will need funding, an artist, and noted that the Public Art Commission would work with staff from DPW, the State, and the various neighborhoods for each proposed site. She explained that these sites were chosen because they have graffiti on them already. She stated that there is proven evidence that where there is a specific piece of art it doesn’t get defaced as graffiti artists respect other artists work. Discussion followed on the floor regarding what the Public Art Commission is looking to the Board for as far as approval. Further discussion followed on the floor regarding where funding sources are, what information grant applications are required to provide, locations for proposed art work, how artists are chosen for particular locations, and that some artists do not want payment and are just interested in a site to display their work for the exposure it would provide them. Additional discussion followed on the floor regarding the need for maintenance of these city owned sites and who would be responsible for costs involved for any maintenance work that is required. It was also Board of Public Works – May 12, 2010- Page 5 determined that the new Chapter 170 of the City of Ithaca Municipal code entitled “Use of City Real Property” does not apply in this case. Public Art Commission Member Caleb Thomas noted that the Public Art Commission is interested in contacting Tompkins County to work with them on some of their buildings as possible sites for the public art work, such as the old library building. City Attorney Hoffman stated the form of the resolution should be to list the proposed sites rather than say the proposed sites on the “attached” list because as time goes by attachments can become misplaced. BUILDINGS, PROPERTIES, REFUSE, AND TRANSIT Award of Contract for Ithaca Police Department Command Unit Storage Building – Capital Project 751 - Resolution By Commissioner Wade Wykstra: Seconded by Commissioner Goldsmith WHEREAS, bids were received on April 6, 2010 for construction of a storage building for the Ithaca Police Department Command Unit, and WHEREAS, the 2010 General Fund Budget included capital funds for construction of a facility to house the command unit, and WHEREAS, Secor Building Solutions, Inc., 13140 Route 31710 Savannah, NY 13146 submitted the low bid for General Construction work in the amount of $68,891.99, now therefore be it RESOLVED, That the City of Ithaca Board of Public Works hereby awards the contract for General Construction work related to the Ithaca Police Command Unit Storage Building to Secor Building Solutions, Inc., 13140 Route 31710 Savannah, NY, for its low bid of $68,891.99, and be it further RESOLVED, That the Mayor be and hereby is authorized to execute this contract, and that the Superintendent of Public Works be and hereby is authorized to administer the same. Carried Unanimously HIGHWAYS, STREETS, AND SIDEWALKS: Award of Contract for Route 89 Repairs – Capital Project 756 – Resolution By Commissioner Wykstra: Seconded by Commissioner Tripp WHEREAS, bids were received on May 4, 2010, for pavement repairs to a portion of Route 89 in the City of Ithaca, and WHEREAS, the 2010 General Fund Budget included capital funds for street and road construction, and WHEREAS, Paul F. Vitale, 7665 North Street Road, Auburn, NY submitted the low bid for General Construction work, in the amount of $108,100.00, now therefore be it RESOLVED, That the City of Ithaca Board of Public Works hereby awards the contract for General Construction work related to the Route 89 Repairs to Paul F. Vitale, 7665 North Street Road, Auburn, NY, for its low bid of $108,100.00, and be it further RESOLVED, That the Mayor be and hereby is authorized to execute this contract, and that the Superintendent of Public Works be and hereby is authorized to administer the same. For the record, Commissioner Brock stated that she was not happy with the new language in the resolutions provided by the City Attorney regarding signatory power. She further stated that she feels it is cumbersome and would like to see the resolutions revert back to the previous language that authorizes the Superintendent of Public Works to authorize and enter into these contracts rather than the Mayor. Supt. Gray explained that purchase orders are a less formal way to purchase goods and that capital projects are handled through a contract which is reviewed by the City Attorney’s office and then signed by the Mayor. Board of Public Works – May 12, 2010- Page 6 City Attorney Hoffman agreed with Supt. Gray’s explanation and explained that the City Charter says that the Chief Executive Officer of the City signs contracts. He stated that the Mayor feels that part of her responsibilities is to be aware of and approve commitments for city funds. He further stated that previous administrations delegated that responsibility. Commissioner Brock stated that she could understand that reasoning and just needed clarification of who signs what. A Vote on the Resolution Resulted As Follows: Carried Unanimously PARKING AND TRAFFIC: Award of Contract for Professional Services for Evaluation of Seneca Parking Garage – Resolution By Commissioner Brock: Seconded by Commissioner Jenkins WHEREAS, proposals were solicited for professional services in the form of engineering services for evaluation of the Seneca Street Parking Garage, and WHEREAS, staff recommends award of contract for evaluation of the garage for a not- to-exceed fee of $61,350, and WHEREAS, staff also recommends acceptance of the consultant’s proposal to provide maintenance and protection of traffic for an additional, not-to-exceed fee of $2,500, now therefore be it RESOLVED, That the City of Ithaca Board of Public Works hereby awards the contract for Professional Services for Engineering Services for Evaluation of the Seneca Street Parking Garage to Stantec Consulting Services Inc., 2060 Brighton-Henrietta Town Line Road, Rochester, NY, for its not-to-exceed fee for such services (including maintenance and protection of traffic) of $63,850.00, and be it further RESOLVED, That the Mayor be and hereby is authorized to execute this contract, and that the Superintendent of Public Works be and hereby is authorized to administer the same. Carried Unanimously WATER AND SEWER: Appeal of Water Service Repair Invoice for 525 West Buffalo Street – Resolution WHEREAS, on Monday, October 19, 2009, City Water & Sewer personnel located a suspected water main leak surfacing in Buffalo Street. The water leak was excavated on Tuesday, October 20, 2009, and was found to be a leaking water service for 525 West Buffalo Street, and WHEREAS, because of the badly deteriorated condition of the leaking steel water service, repair was not feasible and the entire water service from the water main to the curb was replaced, and WHEREAS, in accordance with City Code Chapter 384 Water and Sewers, Article II, §348-17 F, a bill was prepared and sent to the property owner on December 31, 2009, and WHEREAS, upon review of the bill at the request of the owner, it was noted that the usual cold patch asphalt “Stock It” had not been used since Streets & Facilities was available and made the final hot asphalt surface fix. The Working Supervisor recorded the hot mix as cold mix and $153.00 was incorrectly billed as a result, and WHEREAS, 3-CY (5.4-T) of topsoil was billed based on estimates for final spring site restoration of the area around the new curb box set in the tree lawn. The Working Supervisor recorded the estimated topsoil, as is customary, and $105.30 was billed to cover the spring replacement of 3-CY topsoil, and WHEREAS, the property owner has requested that the topsoil not be placed or billed, now therefore be it Board of Public Works – May 12, 2010- Page 7 RESOLVED, That the charges for both the “Stock It” (cold mix asphalt) and the topsoil be removed from the bill, reducing the bill by a total of $258.30, making the total due on invoice #11552 the current sum of $1,232.61. The Board postponed consideration and discussion of this item until such a time that the property owners could be present at the meeting. ADMINISTRATION AND COMMUNICATIONS: Mayor’s Communications: Mayor Peterson noted that her office received a noise permit application for a bag pipe band to practice every Tuesday evening from May 11 through October 12, 2010 at DeWitt Park. This is not amplified sound so does not require a noise permit but she thought it should be brought to the Board’s attention considering that the Board had never resolved the use of DeWitt Park as a “contemplative park”. She requested that this item be placed on the May 19, 2010 Board agenda for discussion. Mayor Peterson further noted that the Scottish Games are coming to Ithaca in July and she is not sure if this band plans to participate in that event or is separate from it. Mayor Peterson further announced that she would like to form a special committee on review of the Board of Public Works’ charter and regulations. She explained that, as the Board knows, there is a special Common Council ad-hoc working group working and talking about charter and code issues. She further stated that this task is so big that this group recognizes that it needs to be talked about but prefer to have another group address it. So she would like to form a special committee to talk about this with the charge to: ƒ Understand the history of the Board of Public Works in Ithaca ƒ To research how other New York cities handle public works related decision making ƒ To study the legality of such authority of the Board in contrast to the constitutional governing authority of Common Council ƒ To examine overlapping authority with Common Council ƒ To recommend any changes to Common Council and the Board of Public Works She would expect a recommendation from this committee by November 1st; at least and most likely twice a month meetings with assignments in between and a group as appointed by herself of Board members, Common Council members, appointed staff (i.e. the Clerk, Attorney, Supt. of Public Works, and possibly experienced community members). So, that is what she has decided to do, rather than have a discussion and with all Common Council members and all the Board of Public Works members. It’s very detailed and in-depth information as Commissioner Brock likely knows from trying to go back a hundred years and looking at the Charter and the whys and wherefores. She stated that her first question would be is there anyone on the Board who would be willing to serve on something like this? She stated that this item could be brought back next week for further discussion. She just wanted to get it out there because there has been so much wondering about what’s happening, what is the Mayor thinking, what Common Council is doing about this and so forth. Commissioner Wykstra asked how large the Mayor pictured this body being. Mayor Peterson responded that she hasn’t decided how large, certainly optimal size for getting work done, she hasn’t decided on a total number of members yet. First, she wanted to see how many people were really interested in serving on something like this. She has not asked this question of Common Council yet. It’s similar to the other ad-hoc group committees which meet twice a month, for one hour, that are very focused with assignments given after each meeting and then people come back in a couple of weeks to go through things. She stated that those meetings have been working extremely well. The parking committee is a very large group, but has broken into two or three sub-groups and then it comes together twice a month or so to review and discuss information from the sub- committees. The Board requested that the Mayor e-mail this language to them that explains the charge of the committee. Commissioner Brock questioned whether this was a charter review committee if it is recommending changes. Mayor Peterson responded that no, it is not a charter review Board of Public Works – May 12, 2010- Page 8 committee. It is a distinct small piece of the Charter to look at and is not a charter review committee. She further stated that the City doesn’t have to have a charter review committee, and this is not advising the City to have a charter review committee. It’s a special committee reviewing this particular piece of the charter. Motion To Table – Approval of the April 14, 2010 Board of Public Works Meeting Minutes - Resolution By Commissioner Tripp: Seconded by Commissioner Goldsmith RESOLVED, That approval of the minutes of the April 14, 2010 Board of Public Works meeting be tabled until the May 19, 2010 meeting. Carried Unanimously Mayor Peterson stated that since the March 17, 2010 minutes were not moved, she would request that they be added to the agenda for next week’s meeting. No Board member objected. Commissioner Wykstra requested an addition to a future agenda and an opportunity to provide a liaison report from the Natural Areas Commission (NAC) to the Board today. He stated that the NAC talked about the proposed development on East State Street and that they’re working on putting a letter together with their opinion. He further stated that Rick Manning and Scott Doyle were at that meeting and gave a presentation regarding the dirt parking lot that is directly across Cayuga Street from the High School, which apparently the City owns. It is used by the school district and also by folks who are fishing. The embankment is eroding, and Rick Manning had a very nice drawing of what could be done for plantings along the stream bank, but also to serve as, he didn’t know if it would be called an anchor the way it was described, but as a sizeable chunk of a trail going from Ithaca Falls to Fuertes and from there north into Stewart Park. He stated that it looks as though throughout most of the year, you can now go under the railroad tracks. He explained that Mr. Manning had some nice drawings to show that. He would ask that Mr. Manning give a presentation to the Board at some point and invite Scott Doyle as well. No Board member objected. Mayor Peterson asked Board members if they received minutes electronically well before the meeting and Board members responded that sometimes they get them that way. Information Management Specialist Myers stated that she would coordinate with Executive Assistant Gehring to e-mail all minutes to the Board as soon as they are done as draft. That way the Board has plenty of time to review them and can send any non- substantive changes back to the sender to make before the meeting. Board members requested that they still receive hard copies of the minutes in the agenda packets as well. Mayor Peterson stated that perhaps the Board could choose one of its three meetings at which minutes would be approved so that they don’t have to be done at each meeting. No Board member objected. ADJOURNMENT On a motion the meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m. Sarah L. Myers Carolyn K. Peterson Information Management Specialist Mayor