HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CC-1997-06-18
COMMON COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
Special Meeting 7:00 pm June 18, 1997
PRESENT:
Mayor Cohen
Alderpersons (10) Shenk, Mackesey, Efroymson, Vaughan,
Sams, Blumenthal, Hanna, Marcham, Gray,
Thorpe
OTHERS PRESENT:
City Clerk - Conley Holcomb
Building Commissioner - Eckstrom
Planning Systems Manager - Foster
Systems Administrator - Kinne
SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS:
Override of Mayor’s Veto
City Clerk Conley Holcomb read the Mayor’s Veto Message
regarding a Resolution Authorizing the Building Department
to Prepare RFP for Database Project Phase II into the
record:
“I believe Common Council acted on this Resolution without
having all the facts, and the subject deserves more
discussion. The intent of this Resolution is to give public
access (presumably via the internet) to building department
files. To do so would mean starting the building database
development research project over again. A cost-benefit
analysis of this decision does not justify this action.
The first question is whether there is a guaranteed benefit
to issuing another RFP and revisiting the issue of internet
access. We are not even sure there is a cost effective
internet solution for this database, particularly for a
department as small as the Building Department. On top of
that, only 1% of the department’s work requires human
interface rather than an electronic one, to explain the
complexities and options one has based on the variables of
their particular situation. The database as developed to
date will allow the Building Department to provide better
service to their customers, while not precluding the
provision of it’s data on the internet at a later time.
We have expended 42 days (336 hours) worth of Planning
Department staff time and 21 days (138 hours) of Building
Department staff time on this project already. If I were
convinced that starting over would net us a better solution
that we could afford, I would not be concerned about the
time investment we have already made.
Staff morale is an issue here too. Staff has put in a great
amount of time and energy into this project. The goal of
their efforts was to address the workflow of the Building
Department, and design a database to support their day to
day activities. We have encouraged our staff to be more
involved in finding solutions, and now we are invalidating
their work because we want to focus on the 1% of their work
that has relevance to the public, rather than the 99% that
has relevance to them. The 1% of Building Department data
that is applicable to public access can be provided for in
another, more cost effective manner at a later time.
June 18, 1997
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I support our efforts to provide public access to everything
we possibly and legally can. To do so, we need to provide
an infrastructure that we can use as a platform from which
our various departmental databases can be launched into the
internet. To do this requires a comprehensive look at all
of our databases, and an investigation of the best way to
integrate them for public access. Once we have built the
hardware foundation for the internet, we must build a
software foundation that not only provides for public
access, but also integration of our different departmental
databases. Up until now, we have been approaching this in a
piecemeal fashion that does not allow for this integration.
I am vetoing this Resolution for these reasons.
Alan J. Cohen”
Building Commissioner Eckstrom requested that Common Council
not override the Mayor’s Veto, but support an Amended
Resolution which he distributed to Council members.
Building Commissioner Eckstrom requested that the Building
Department be allowed to administer parallel projects that
would continue the development of software to address the
department’s individual needs, but also work with staff to
explore ways in which Building Department data could be made
accessible through the internet.
Amendment of Capital Project #211 for Building Department
Software
By Alderperson Blumenthal: Seconded by Alderperson Hanna
WHEREAS, Common Council at its Regular meeting in September
1995 approved a conceptual computer plan in the amount of
$52,150 to purchase various computer hardware and software
to assist the Building Department in becoming more effective
and efficient, and
WHEREAS, of the $52,150 computer plan $28,120 was authorized
by Common Council at its September 1995 meeting to upgrade
the Building Department’s computers and office software
leaving a balance of $24,030, and
WHEREAS, the second part of the computer plan was to include
Building Department specific software to automate the
department’s information systems and processes, and
WHEREAS, the Building Department received responses to a
request for proposals dated November 8, 1996 from several
different vendors of software products that will manage
building permit processing, inspections of various types,
and zoning and approval information, and
WHEREAS, the Building and Planning Department staff has
examined all of the responses to the request for proposals
and recommended that a phased approach be used that will
segment the software development project in order to better
manage the project and stay within the conceptual computer
plan budget, and
WHEREAS, phase 1 of the software development project has
been completed by Geodemographics, Inc. and the team of City
staff working on the project has concluded that proceeding
to develop the application and the database structure with
the same vendor is the best choice to stay within the
existing budget, time constraints and develop software that
suits the needs of the Building Department staff, and
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WHEREAS, the City staff and Geodemographics, Inc. have
determined that proceeding to develop the software will
enhance the future provision of public access to information
because the software system will allow the Building
Department to build and maintain the data and that the
software development will insure easy ways of developing
appropriate public access, and
WHEREAS, City staff are proceeding expeditiously to explore
and pool resources to allow for development of public access
systems to appropriate parts of Building Department data and
other information on the internet and intend to develop such
systems to provide such access alongside the development of
the Building Department software; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That Common Council, based on the recommendations
from the Building and Planning Departments, authorizes the
Building Department to proceed to contract with
Geodemographics, Inc. to develop the management software,
and, be it further
RESOLVED, That Capital Project #211 Computer Acquisition be
amended to include the balance of the funds approved in the
conceptual computer plan which is an amount not to exceed
$24,030 to be used for this purpose, and, be it further
RESOLVED, That said funds will be derived from the issuance
of serial bonds.
Extensive discussion followed on the floor regarding the
future provision of internet access, and the creation of a
City Web policy. Alderperson Hanna stated that he has
polled software vendors who say that including internet
access at this point is viable, and many of them would be
ready to go forth with the project. Alderperson Hanna
further stated that he is willing to support this resolution
with the understanding that the City is truly committed to
move forward with public access.
A vote on the Resolution resulted as follows:
Carried Unanimously
Alderperson Efroymson requested that the following
information be included in the record:
M E M O R A N D U M
To: Common Council
From: Richard L. Eckstrom, Building Commissioner
Re: Building Department Software
I am coming to Common Council tonight to ask you to vote for
the attached resolution reinstating the Building
Department’s software project as it was proposed by the
software selection team. Therefore, I am asking that you
not override the Mayor’s veto of the resolution passed at
the last Common Council meeting.
While I viewed the June 4th resolution as an opportunity to
take the Building Department software project in a new
direction, on further thought and after talking to
department heads, I don’t think the City is ready to head in
June 18, 1997
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that direction in a time frame that will still meet the
department’s software needs.
The question of public access to City records is not for the
Building Department to answer alone. This is an issue that
must be addressed by all City departments working together.
There are profound policy decisions that must be made about
access to City information. Simply put, some portions of
City records should not be readily accessible to the public
via the internet because it invades the privacy of
individual citizens. Should direct marketers, for example,
be able to harvest the names and addresses of people who
have violated building codes in order to try to sell them
vinyl siding and replacement windows? These privacy issues
must be tackled by Common Council - not the Building
Department - and the solutions must be policy-driven.
Another issue raised by this conflict is the apparent
misconception that simply displaying our data will answer
people’s questions. In my experience, the public usually
needs our help in interpreting the data. The questions
people most often ask are: “What does this mean I can do
with my property?” and “What would I have to do to
accomplish my goal?” Neither question can be answered
easily by allowing an inexperienced property owner to search
the data in the department’s proposed system. The goal of
our project is to make this data available to the Building
Department’s professional staff to help us interpret
property rights and manage our work flow to deliver our
services. Please remember that the software was originally
proposed as a solution for the department’s permanent loss
of a Housing Inspector through an early retirement program.
It is not the intention of the Building Department to hide
data from the public. As many of you know, we have an open
file policy. If the public wants to review information in
our paper files, those files are available at any time the
Building Department is open. There are two exceptions -
court ordered sealed records and records relating to
litigation. We are in favor of providing data to the public
through the internet which allows the public access to what
is happening in their community.
Our proposal as originally conceived would allow public
access to Building Department data in the future, but its
primary purpose is to give our department the software tools
it needs. there can be no public access to the data before
the Building Department itself can create, maintain and use
the data. As a team member put it, you cannot install the
landscaping before the house is built. The application we
have proposed will build and maintain our data. That same
data will be there for the public when Common Council deems
public access to be appropriate.
The Building Department has a great deal of information that
would be useful to include on the internet. In fact, for
some months now I have been working on a web site by first
compiling material that would be useful. This project is
now expanded to include Planning Systems Manager, Doug
Foster. Together we are designing a site that would mine
Building and Planning Department data and provide public
internet access to information that does not conflict with
privacy rights. You will be hearing about this project as
it develops.
BUILDING PERMIT TRACKING SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS - 1997
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1. THE WHAT
The following is what the database application will do:
A. BUILDING PERMIT PROCESSING
Building Permit Review & Issuance
Pre-Issuance Search - search by address, tax parcel number,
owner, etc.
Link with and search existing databases for the
following data:
a) tax parcel/tax assessment data
b) zoning districts, permitted land use categories
c) history of existing approvals
Display owner and land use data by parcel and building
Determine which zoning districts the tax parcel or
building is located in (derived from GIS files)
Display zoning requirements that apply to property
Display history of approvals
Print requirements of zoning ordinance
Building Permit Issuance
Input building permit application data
Track status of required approvals prior to issuance
Print issued building permit
Print receipt of payment
Input and print a list of required inspections
Building Permit Tracking
Track status of building permit application or issued
permit
Link with inspection tracking function
Input inspection results
Print lists and notices
Search by parcel number, address, and inspection
variables
Related Reports and Notices
Print monthly and annual reports
Periodic and special reports to be defined as part of
work-flow analysis
User-defined queries and reports
B. BUILDING INSPECTION TRACKING
Tracking of Inspections
Type I - Input and search inspection results for each
inspection related to a building permit
Type II - Input and search inspection results on
periodic inspections of owner and renter-
occupied housing
Scheduling of Periodic Inspections of Owner and Renter-
occupied Housing
Automate scheduling of periodic inspections of owner
and renter-occupied housing - Type II
Display and print list of properties due for inspection
- Type II
Track Status of Inspections
Search and print lists of inspections in progress -
Type II
Billing for Period Inspections Type II
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Automated billing for periodic inspections
Track inspectors’ time spent
Calculate fee
Print bill and receipt
Certificate of Compliance
Input approvals and print COC
Issuance of Temporary or Permanent Certificate of Occupancy
Input approvals and print TCO and CO
Related Notices and Reports
Request for Inspection
Periodic and special reports to be defined as part of
work-flow analysis
User-defined queries and reports
C. CODE VIOLATIONS AND COMPLAINTS PROCESSING
Manage Complaint and Code Violation Occurrence and
Resolution**
Input incidence of complaints and violations
Print STOP WORK ORDER and other notices
Track resolution of complaint or violation
**All violations and complaints are related to either a
permit or inspection
2. THE WHY
Provide rapid, one-stop access to key information*in
order to answer the questions of building permit applicants
and would-be applicants more quickly**
Flood zone proximity Zoning district
Historic district Other special districts
Property ownership Building history
*Used in pre-application, application and review stages
**Currently searching in several sources
Record permits, inspections, violations and complaints and
store in a format that makes it easy to retrieve (searching
based on criteria, such as address, status, owner name,
contractor, etc.)
Ascertain quickly the status of any given permit,
inspection, violation, complaint and assure that each is
brought to closure/resolution for
Inspectors Plan Reviewers
Rental Specialist Management
Provide access to information in a format that is easily
summarized and analyzed (i.e. reports and selective
searches) by
Management Public
Council Staff
Minimize the number of sources a review officer or
inspector would normally need to go to for information
(maps, tax rolls, and the property file)
Remove any duplication of effort on making determinations
on a particular property if the caller follows up with
someone else
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Issue (and print) standard permits, notices, certificates
of compliance and occupancy and routine letters directly
from the application, thereby reducing the amount of time
spent preparing these and
Provide a tool for workload management and planning
RECESS:
On a motion Common Council recessed at 8:00 pm.
RECONVENE:
Common Council reconvened into regular session at 8:10 pm.
BOSNIAN PROJECT:
Mr. John Weiss addressed Council to introduce the children
from Bosnia, along with their Principal, that were brought
to America for a visit with funds raised by KIDSREACH, a
local group of Youth that was recently awarded Common
Council’s Distinguished Youth Award. The group thanked
Common Council for their donation to this project, and
shared their experiences, both during the Bosnian War, and
their trip to America, with Council members.
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
By Alderperson Marcham: Seconded by Alderperson Mackesey
RESOLVED, That Common Council adjourn into Executive Session
to discuss a personnel item.
Carried Unanimously
RECONVENE:
Common Council reconvened into Regular session with no items
being brought forth.
ADJOURNMENT:
On a motion the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 pm.
Julie Conley Holcomb,CMC Alan J. Cohen,
City Clerk Mayor