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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BPW-1990-09-19LIM BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE September 19, 1990 NOTES Present: Commissioners Berg, Cannon, Cox, Reeves (Connor excused) ; Council Liaison Blanchard, Supt. Thadani, Acting Asst. Supt. Carpenter, City Engr. Gray, City Atty. Kennedy. Commissioner Reeves chaired the meeting. The following were deletions to the Agenda: Tioga Street - review of options. Central School Parking. Cliff Street Sidewalk Parking. Request for four -way stop at Jay and Utica Streets - discussion tabled from July 25, 1990 meeting. Parking ramps: reserved spaces - ruling from Asst. City Atty. The following are corrections to the September 5, 1990 Committee of the Whole meeting. Time schedule and review of job description for hiring of Transit System Manager should have been a deletion to the Agenda, pursuant to a memo from Valerie Saul, Personnel Administrator, dated August 30, 1990, noting Transit System Manager Carpenter has indicated that he would be willing to postpone his retirement until June 1991, when an Civil Service eligible list will probably be available. If Mr. Carpenter is unable to do this, he has recommended an individual to serve as "Acting Transit System Manager" until an eligible list is available. Regarding Item #C under Staff Reports, Cornell Transit Study - Park and Ride lot at East Hill Plaza, attached is a letter from the Town of Ithaca to Commissioner Reeves regarding their position on this lot. 1e neporr. rrom interim Parks Commission. Vicky Romanoff, Chair of the Ithaca Interim Parks Commission, was present to give the BPW an update of what the Parks Commission has been doing for the past 6 months. She noted that they have spent a great deal of time deciding if a commission is really necessary. She further noted that they have helped with the redesign of the entranceway to Stewart Park and done alot of BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS Committee of the Whole September 19, 1990 tw background research getting acquainted with all City parks. She further noted the Parks Commission is charged with overseeing shoreline preservation, historical structure preservation and pavilion work. Vicky asked the BPW about their charge, and it was noted that the BPW was established in the City of Ithaca Charter, and Vicky will obtain a copy of the BPW's responsibilities. City Engr. Gray asked Vicky who the Parks Commission will be reporting to, will it be a subcommittee to the BPW, will the Parks Commission projects affect the DPW 1991 budget and personnel? Vicky noted that the Parks Commission will probably be a permanent one and expected to have detailed written material to the BPW regarding this in a few weeks. Council Liaison Blanchard asked if the Parks Commission had any planned projects for Stewart Park that will affect the DPW 1991 budget. Vicky noted the only project scheduled for Stewart Park is the entranceway which is to be funded through the leftover Centennial Committee funds. Vicky will come back to the BPW with written material regarding a permanent Parks Commission. 2. City of Ithaca Energy Commission - City Energy Coordinator. Lew Durland from the Energy Commission was present for discussion. He noted that the Energy Commission was formed about 10 years ago under the direction of the Planning and Development Committee. He further noted that many of the issues that the Energy Commission deals with are more building related, thus, being more like the issues the Board of Public Works deals with. He requested that the Energy Commission be reorganized to be under the charge of the BPW. Lew also noted that the P &D Board has already dismissed this Commission. Discussion followed about an Energy Coordinator job position. The BPW discussed the concept of putting these energy duties under current staff. Commissioner Reeves felt reluctant to give staff any more duties, as they are so overworked already. Commissioner Cox noted that he does have someone in his office that does this type of work, and it has been successful in saving money and obtaining energy grants. City Engr. Gray noted that staff may be able to help out in this facet, as currently the City spends close to a half million dollars for electricity and gas operating the Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants. Lew noted that it would be helpful if staff could take energy usage counts periodically. City Engr. Gray noted that the previous Purchasing Agent used to have alot to do with the Energy Commission. City Engr. Gray further discussed the concept of the BPW passing a DPW work schedule - noting that former Asst. Supt. Fabbroni always objected to this as he wanted a "can do" department. Discussion followed about a work schedule, which the BPW did not agree to. Discussion followed further about the Energy Coordinator job position. The BPW decided to take in the Energy Commission and asked for a liaison to report to them, and the City Engr. will met with Lew and Commissioner Cox's staff member to discuss energy concerns. Page - 2 BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS Committee of the Whole September 19, 1990 (W 3. "No Through Truck Trafficle signs on North and South Titus Ave, I'Not Through Street" on 500 block of South Cayuga Street, "Dead -end Street" on 600 block of North Cayuga Street, and "Children at Play" sign on Grandview Place. Alderperson Daley was present to request that the above signs be installed. Discussion followed. "No Through Truck Traffic" signs on N. and S. Titus Ave Alderperson Daley noted that this request is due to the large number of trucks using these streets to avoid the lights at Clinton and Green Streets. City Engr. Gray noted that the City has a truck route system in place and therefore, these signs are not necessary. Commissioner Reeves noted the "No through traffic" signs on Spencer Road and how they are illegal, since you cannot ban traffic on City streets. The BPW denied this request for a "No Through Truck Traffic" sign on North and South Titus Avenue. "Children at Play'@ sign on Grandview Place The BPW denied this request noting they receive many requests of this type, and there are many in place already. "Not Through Street" on 500 block of South Cayuga Street & "Dead - end" sign on 600 block of South Cayuga Street. The BPW discussed these signs and approved the installation of these signs. 4. Elmira Road Sidewalks. Commissioner Berg noted that there is a request in the Capital Projects Review for the installation of sidewalks on the Elmira Road, for $250,000. These sidewalks will be paid for by benefit assessments. Commissioner Berg suggested that the Planning and Development Director come and speak to the BPW regarding this project. Council Liaison Blanchard noted that the property owners in this area are anxious to speak to the BPW regarding this too. Discussion followed about inviting the property owners and Thys to the next COW meeting to discuss this. Commissioner Cox suggested inviting only Thys to hear his reasons for installing these sidewalks, which the BPW agreed to. Council Liaison Blanchard asked the BPW to look at the survey regarding pedestrian traffic done by Titus Towers, and also the Elmira Road merchant employer survey. She also asked the Asst. City Atty to consider two questions; 1) if sidewalks are installed on the Elmira Road, is the City telling people that it is safe to walk Page - 3 BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS Committee of the Whole September 19, 1990 there, that is, if an pedestrian /car accident were to occur, could the City be held liable ?, and 2) trees that were planted in the late seventies appear to be in the areas where the sidewalks would be installed, will these trees have to be cut down? The BPW will ask Thys to attend a future COW meeting to discuss the installation of sidewalks on the Elmira Road. 5. Criteria for sidewalk inspections. City Engr. Gray discussed the criteria for condemning sidewalks with the BPW. Council Liaison Blanchard noted that many sidewalks on West State Street were condemned this year and that this raised alot of questions, as many of the sidewalks did not look to be in bad shape. City Engr. Gray noted that the sidewalk criteria has been amended due to many lawsuits stemming from people falling. Discussion followed about this criteria. Commissioner Cannon noted the City's appeal process for condemned sidewalks. The BPW asked that Asst. Civil Engr. West attend a future COW meeting to further explain the process of sidewalk inspections. 6. Namina of street at Meadow Street Industrial Park. Commissioner Cannon noted that the proposed name for the street that was built at the Meadow Street Industrial Park is "Meadow Way". He noted that this could be confusing, i.e. Meadow St., and suggested that the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency submit 3 or 4 more to the BPW. It was noted that the BPW is responsible for naming City streets. The BPW agreed that they would like to choose from a list of proposed names to make a decision and will ask for other names. 7. Night -time residential parking permits in Downtown garages. Commissioner Cannon noted that this request was a result of discussions with the Commons Advisory Board. He noted the recent renovation of the Leonardo Apartments and the owner's concerns for night -time parking permits for their tenants. He asked if it would be possible to reserve a section of the garage for night- time parking to make it easier for the Police Dept. to enforce. Commissioner Reeves noted some concerns regarding confusion between the night -time parkers and ensuring they are out of the garages before the day -time parkers arrive. City Engr. Gray noted that the City does issue night -time permits for the Dryden Road Parking Garage, but there is also 24 hour operation of this garage to monitor this. Discussion followed. Asst. City Atty. Kennedy noted that Assemblyman Luster's office has been working on the possibility of residential parking permits, which Commissioner Berg noted that the Assembly adjourned without establishing a decision on this. Commissioner Cannon will go Page - 4 BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS Committee of the Whole September 19, 1990 back to the CAB to discuss the BPW's concerns and report back if necessary. 8. Reuest for 2 hour narking limitation on North Aurora Street. This request came from Dr. Richard Gardner of 450 N. Aurora Street and has been discussed several times before. It was noted that there was a resolution tabled from a BPW meeting in September of 1988. Discussion followed about long -term parkers in this area and how difficult it is for Mr. Gardner's patients to find a parking space near his office. Council Liaison Blanchard noted that Mr. Gardner will probably be happy with anything that moves traffic. Discussion followed about putting meters in this area, noting it would be inconsistent with the current metered areas on Aurora Street. The BPW decided to lift the tabled resolution regarding two hour parking zones in this area at their next voting meeting. 9. Alcohol consumption in City parks - possible discussion of rules and regulations. Commissioner Reeves noted the background for this discussion as there are has been recent correspondence between Alderperson Peterson and the Supt. regarding this. She further noted discussions held two years ago regarding banning alcohol in Stewart Park and that a public hearing was held to see if the public wanted alcohol banned from Stewart Park, which they did not. She further noted that the Police Dept. then increased their patrols of Stewart Park which seemed to help with the alcohol behavior problems that people were complaining about. She asked the BPW if they would like to reopen this topic, which they did not want to do. 10. Recycling Center costs discussion. Supt. Thadani noted the costs the City has been paying for operation of the Recycling Drop -off Center. Supt. Thadani is recommending that the County take over all operations of the Center. The City is currently using full -time staff, paying them at overtime, to staff the Center. It was noted that only 3% of the City residents are users of the Center. Discussion followed about changing the number of days that the Center is open, which the BPW did not want to do. The BPW decided to honor the current contract with County regarding the Recycling Drop -off Center until the contract expires on December 31, 1990. ********************************** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** City Engr. Gray asked that future Committee of the Whole agendas contain initials of the person who requested each item for the Page - 5 BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS Committee of the Whole September 19, 1990 CW agenda, along with the date of when materials (from earlier meetings) were sent out. Meeting adjourned at 6:02 pm. Notes by Lisa Cornell Administrative Secretary Page - 6