HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-27-11 City Administration Committee Meeting AgendaCITY ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
7:00 PM
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
AGENDA
1. Chairperson Greeting & Opening Statement
2. Announcements
3. Agenda Review and Amendments
4. Approval of Minutes
5. Statements from the Public
6. Employee Comments
7. Common Council Response
8. Workforce Diversity Committee
9. Safety Committee
10. Diversity Actions Report
Police Department – August
Clerk’s Office - September
Chamberlain’s Office - October
11. Mayor’s 2012 Budget Updates
12. Fire Department
12.1 Amendment to Budget - Fire Alarm Superintendent Position – Resolution
13. Youth Bureau
13.1 Request for Authorization to Apply for a New York State Office of Parks, Recreation
and Historic Preservation Grant for the Cass Park Ice Rink Project – Resolution
14. Police Department
14.1 Request to Approve Funds for Boiler Replacement – Resolution
15. Attorney’s Office
15.1 Approval of Easement for Emerson Power Transmission Vent Stack (re: South Hill
Remediation Program) - Possible Resolution
16. Common Council
16.1 Suggested City of Ithaca Policy on Sweatshop-Free Procurement of Apparel and
Textiles – Ordinance
16.2 Authorization of Membership by the City of Ithaca to the Sweat-free Purchasing
Consortium in Furtherance of the City’s Commitment to its Policy on Sweatshop-Free
Procurement of Apparel and Textiles - Resolution
17. Human Resources
17.1 Director’s Report
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CITY ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Continued
18. Finance/Controller’s Office
18.1 Controller’s Report
19. Reports
19.1 Mayor’s Report
19.2 Sub-Committee Updates
19.3 Council Members’ Announcements
19.4 Next Month’s Meeting: August 31, 2011
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12. Fire Department
.1 Amendment to Budget - Fire Alarm Superintendent Position
WHEREAS, as part of the 2011 Authorized Fire Department budget, the Fire Alarm
Superintendent position was funded for three quarters of the year in 2011 because the Gamewell
Fire Alarm System that was the primary responsibility of the Superintendent was being
discontinued, and
WHEREAS, $74,710 was appropriated in the 2011 Fire Department Budget for two recruit Fire
Fighters, and
WHEREAS, these two recruit Fire Fighters will NOT be hired in 2011 resulting in salary savings
for 2011, and
WHEREAS, the Department will have continuing work dismantling the Gamewell System,
alarm testing and station electrical work, and
WHEREAS, the cost of funding the Fire Alarm Superintendent’s position for the remainder of
2011 (3 months) is $14,798; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That an amount not to exceed $14,798 be designated from current funds in
Account A3410-5110 to fund the Fire Alarm Superintendent position for the remainder of 2011,
and be it further
RESOLVED, That Common Council hereby amends the 2011 Authorized Personnel Roster for
the Fire Department as follows:
Fund the position of Fire Alarm Electrician from 10/1/11 – 12/31/11.
Memorandum
To: City Administration Committee
From: J. Thomas Dorman, Deputy Chief
Date: 7/21/2011
Re: Extension of Fire Alarm Superintendents’ Position
Some explanations of the material contained in the proposed resolution.
We have not hired the two Fire Fighter positions that were authorized and
funded in the 2011 budget due to a disagreement between the City and the Fire
Fighter’s Union concerning payments to the retirement system in which these
employees would be enrolled. The parties are currently at impasse and this issue
has not been resolved.
As we stated during the 2011 budget discussions, we felt that the majority of the
work to dismantle the Fire Alarm System would be accomplished in ¾ of a year.
That is still the case. The Fire Alarm Boxes will be removed and most
components of the system will have been dismantled. However, removal of the
wire and other work will still remain. Extending the position through the entire
year will allow more, still not all, of the system to be decommissioned.
1
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13. Youth Bureau
.1 Request for Authorization to Apply for a New York State Office of Parks, Recreation
and Historic Preservation Grant for the Cass Park Ice Rink Project
WHEREAS, the Ithaca Youth Bureau would like to apply for a grant from the New York State
Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation on behalf of the City, and
WHEREAS, the Cass Park Ice Rink opened in 1972 and is now almost 40 years old, and
WHEREAS, the 2002, the Thomas report recommended that the City address serious spatial
deficiencies at the Cass Park Ice Rink that negatively impact year round programming, and
WHEREAS, the grant funds would enable the City to move forward with the next stage of
refurbishment of the antiquated Ice Rink facilities at Cass Park; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Director of the City of Ithaca Youth Bureau, is hereby to file an
application for funds from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic
Preservation in accordance with the provisions of Title 9 of the Environmental Protection Act of
1993, in an amount not to exceed $400,000.00, and upon approval of said request to enter into
and execute a project agreement with the State for such financial assistance to the City of Ithaca
for the Cass Park Ice Rink Project.
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14. Police Department
.1 Request to Approve Funds for Boiler Replacement
WHEREAS, the 1999 Police Department Facility Boiler has recently failed and is in need of
replacement prior to the upcoming heating season, and
WHEREAS, DPW staff have estimated the new boiler cost at $45,000, and
WHEREAS, a portion of the funds can come out of Capital Revenue #24 Energy Program
Improvements with the remaining funds to be derived from the Unrestricted Contingency
Account, and
WHEREAS, the boiler replacement will need to be bid out as it exceeds the public works project
bidding threshold of $35,000; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That Common Council hereby approves the appropriation of funds in an amount
not to exceed $45,000 for the purposes of replacing the failed boiler at the Ithaca Police
Department Facility, and be it further
RESOLVED, That the sources of funds for the boiler replacement shall be derived from the
following:
Unrestricted Contingency $25,000
Capital Reserve #24 $20,000
$45,000
and be it further
RESOLVED, That Common Council hereby directs the City Controller to transfer an amount
not to exceed $25,000 from Account A1990 unrestricted Contingency to Account A3120-5225
Police Department Other Equipment for purposes of accounting for a portion of the cost for the
boiler replacement at the Police Department.
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16. Common Council
.1 An Ordinance Amending the Municipal Code of the City of Ithaca, Chapter 39
(“Contracts”), and the City of Ithaca Purchasing Policy, So as to Enact a City of Ithaca
Policy on Sweatshop-Free Procurement of Apparel and Textiles
WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca endorses efforts to improve working conditions and to eliminate
illegal and exploitative practices, such as the operation of “sweatshops,” in the garment industry
(and elsewhere); and
WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca recognizes that the violation of labor or human rights standards in
the garment industry, whether in the United States or internationally, is not “responsible,” as that
term is intended when applied to the selection of the “lowest responsible bidder” for a contract
with the City; and
WHEREAS, the State of New York gives local governments the authority to enact local laws,
ordinances, regulations and policies not inconsistent with the provisions of the State constitution
or any general law, and thereby allows the City of Ithaca to define what constitutes a responsible
bidder, and to investigate a bidder’s skill, judgment, and integrity in considering whether a
bidder is the lowest responsible bidder; and
WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca is a participant in the marketplace and seeks to protect the
interests of local residents, workers, and businesses, while respecting international concerns
about protecting workers’ labor rights and human rights, by exercising its home rule powers to
establish a sweatshop-free procurement policy so as to ensure that textiles and items of apparel
(such as uniforms) procured by the City of Ithaca are produced in workplaces free of sweatshop
conditions; now therefore
BE IT ORDAINED AND ENACTED by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca as follows:
ORDINANCE NO. ___
Section 1. Chapter 39 (“Contracts”) of the Municipal Code of the City of Ithaca is hereby
amended as follows:
(1) Addition of the following as Subsections 39-2(A)(12) and 39-2(A)(13):
(12) Noncompliance by any bidder proposing to supply apparel or textiles with any
wage and hour, health, labor, environmental, safety, building, or fire laws, rules,
codes, regulations or standards of the country of manufacture or assembly, or
contained in the ILOCORE International Labor Standards (whichever is stricter).
Evidence of such noncompliance may include, but shall not be limited to:
(a) citations or other evidence of employment-related violations of laws, rules,
codes, regulations or standards;
(b) credible information or reports from the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium or
its agency members submitted to the City Controller;
(c) credible information from interested third parties submitted to the City
Controller; or
(d) failure by the bidder or contractor to certify compliance with applicable laws,
rules, codes, regulations or standards.
(13) Discrimination by any bidder in hiring, promotion or compensation, on the basis
of race, disability, national origin, gender, ethnicity, color, age, religion, familial
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status or sexual orientation. Evidence of such discrimination may include, but shall
not be limited to:
(a) citations or other evidence of employment-related violations of applicable
laws, rules, codes, regulations or standards;
(b) credible information or reports from the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium or
its agency members, submitted to the City Controller;
(c) credible information from interested third parties submitted to the City
Controller; or
(d) failure by the bidder or contractor to certify compliance with applicable laws,
rules, codes, regulations or standards as required by the City Policy on Sweatshop-
Free Procurement of Apparel and Textiles.
(2) Renumbering of the former subsection 39-2(A)(12) to 39-2(A)(14), so as to maintain
the numerical sequence.
(3) Insertion of the following in alphabetical order into Section 39-3:
APPAREL OR TEXTILES
All articles of clothing, cloth or goods, produced by weaving, knitting, or felting,
or any similar goods.
SWEATSHOP-FREE
Refers to a supplier of apparel or textiles that are manufactured or assembled
without violating laws, rules, codes, regulations or standards regarding wages,
labor, safety, health, and employment discrimination, that are applicable in the
country of manufacture or assembly, or that are contained in the ILOCORE
International Labor Standards (whichever is stricter).
(4) Insertion of the following [underlined language] into Section 39-3, in Subsection “A”
of the definition of “BIDDER, CONTRACTOR AND SUBCONTRACTOR:”
A. Any person or business entity submitting a competitive bid for, receiving the
award of, or submitted for approval as a subcontractor on a contract by any
one of the contracting agencies. A subcontractor on a contract for the purchase
of apparel or textiles shall also include any beneficiary of bankruptcy,
assignment, transfer, sale of operations, or other successorship intended to
evade liability or responsibility for assertions or certifications made in a bid
submitted to or contract with the City of Ithaca or a contracting agency.
(5) Modification of the definition of “CONTRACT,” in Section 39-3, as follows:
CONTRACT
Any purchasing, construction, or service contract that is required to be let by
competitive bid to the lowest reasonable responsible bidder., not including the
individual purchase of employment-related apparel or textiles, e.g. uniforms, by
and for individual employees of the City of Ithaca, pursuant to the provisions of a
collective bargaining agreement.
(6) Insertion of the following as Section 39-4:
§ 39-4 Administration and Enforcement of Sweatshop Free Purchasing Policy
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(A) The City of Ithaca and its contracting agencies shall enter into a contract to
purchase or obtain for any purpose any apparel or textiles only with a bidder
confirmed to be sweatshop-free, except that in the event that the Controller
has certified that no confirmed sweatshop-free bidders of apparel or textiles
are available and that the acquisition of the apparel or textiles sought is
essential or time-sensitive, the contracting agency may select a bidder that is
not confirmed to be sweatshop-free.
(B) For the purpose of implementing this policy, a bidder may be confirmed to
be
sweatshop-free by either of the following means:
(1) Certification as such by the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium or other
comparable independent monitoring organization as selected by the
Common Council; or
(2) Self-certification by affidavit of the bidder, provided that such
certification is not contradicted by credible information received by
the City Controller.
(C) The City of Ithaca Controller shall collect and maintain information
concerning the
City’s apparel and textile contracts that are awarded after the effective date of
the
enactment of this section, and shall ensure that the following information is
available to the public, upon proper request:
(1) For each such contract, a statement that such apparel or textiles are
manufactured in accordance with the sweatshop-free criteria set forth in this
chapter;
(2) A list of the names and addresses of each subcontractor to be utilized in
the performance of each such contract;
(3) For each such contract, a list of each manufacturing operation of the
contractor and all subcontractors involved in performance of the contract, and
the location, address, and telephone number of each such facility; and
(4) For each such contract, a statement signed by the contractor showing that
it agrees that it will, at the request of the contracting agency, allow
independent monitoring of the contractor’s or any subcontractor’s facilities, to
verify compliance with the requirements of this section, and that the
contractor shall be responsible for ensuring that its subcontractors comply
with the independent monitoring requirements of this subdivision.
(D) Upon information and belief that a contractor or subcontractor may be in
violation of this section, the City Attorney may take such action as may be
appropriate and provided for by law, rule or contract. In circumstances where a
contractor or subcontractor fails to perform in accordance with any or all of the
requirements of this section, and there is a continued need for the service, a
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contracting agency may obtain the required service as specified in the original
contract, or any part thereof, by issuing a new solicitation of bids. Administrative
charges may be assessed against the breaching contractor by the City. The City
may, as appropriate, invoke other sanctions as are available under the contract and
applicable law.
(E) A contractor shall be liable for a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 upon a
determination, made through litigation or arbitration, that a contractor or
subcontractor has made a false claim under the provisions of this section, to the
contracting agency.
(F) Every bid solicitation for supplying apparel and textiles to the City shall
contain a contain a statement notifying bidders of the provisions and requirements
of this section. Every contract for the supply of textiles and apparels shall contain
a provision or provisions detailing the requirements of this section.
(G) Any investigation conducted under the provisions of this section by the City
Attorney shall not extend to work performed more than two years prior to (i) the
filing of a complaint pertinent to any provision of this section; or (ii) the
commencement of the investigation, whichever is earlier.
(H) This section shall not apply to any contract entered into prior to the effective
date of this ordinance, except that renewal, amendment or modification of such
contract occurring on or after said effective date shall be subject to the conditions
specified in this section.
(I) This section shall apply except when federal or state law precludes the City of
Ithaca from attaching the procurement conditions herein.
Section 2. The section entitled “AUTHORIZED LIMITS AND CONTROLS” paragraph
4(F) City of Ithaca Purchasing Policy is hereby amended as follows:
F. Award will be made to the lowest responsible bidder. The term “responsible”
means: financially responsible; accountable; reliable; sufficient resources; skill;
judgement judgment; integrity; responsive; and moral worth. In deliberating the
responsibility of a bidder or a subcontractor, all contracting agencies shall give due
consideration to any credible evidence or reliable information of the guidelines set forth
in Chapter 39 of the City Code.
Section 3. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this
ordinance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, then that
decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance.
Section 4. Effective date. This ordinance shall take effect immediately and in accordance with
law upon publication of notices as provided in the Ithaca City Charter.
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16. Common Council
.2 Authorization of Membership by the City of Ithaca to the Sweat-free Purchasing
Consortium in Furtherance of the City’s Commitment to its Policy on Sweatshop-Free
Procurement of Apparel and Textiles
WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca supports the enactment of the City of Ithaca Policy on
Sweatshop-Free Procurement of Apparel and Textiles, and
WHEREAS, the Sweat-free Purchasing Consortium is organized for educational and charitable
purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The
Consortium’s purpose is to assist public officials and others who seek to ensure that taxpayer
dollars are not spent on products made in sweatshops. The Consortium serves as a coordinating
body and resource center for public entities and other organizations that share this goal by
sharing information and providing forums for collaboration in order to improve the economy and
efficiency of procurement policies designed to eliminate sweatshop labor from supply chains,
and
WHEREAS, as a member of the Sweat-free Purchasing Consortium the City of Ithaca will refer
to the resources of the Consortium and its members with regard to bidders proposing to supply
apparel or textiles in a City Contract, and/or have the Consortium perform a preliminary
verification of the bidder; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Common Council hereby authorizes City of Ithaca to enroll in the Sweat-
free Purchasing Consortium as a member city, to pay annual dues, and to participate in annual
membership meetings.