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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-03-11 Common Council Meeting AgendaOFFICIAL NOTICE OF MEETING A Regular meeting of the Common Council will be held on Wednesday, August 3, 2011, at 6:00 p.m. in the Common Council Chambers at City Hall, 108 East Green Street, Ithaca, New York. Your attendance is requested. AGENDA 1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: 2. ADDITIONS TO OR DELETIONS FROM THE AGENDA: 3. PROCLAMATIONS/AWARDS: 3.1 Quarterly Employee Recognition Award Presentation 4. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS: 5. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS BEFORE COUNCIL: 5.1 Creating Healthy Places Grant Presentation - Jeanne Leccese and Betty Falcao from the Human Services Coalition 6. PETITIONS AND HEARINGS OF PERSONS BEFORE COUNCIL: 7. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR – COMMON COUNCIL AND THE MAYOR: 8. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS: City Administration Committee: 8.1 Fire Department - Amendment to Personnel Roster - Fire Alarm Superintendent Position - Resolution 8.2 Police Department - Request to Approve Funds for Boiler Replacement - Resolution 9. CITY ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE: 9.1 Youth Bureau - 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 9.2 Attorney’s Office - Approval of Easement for Emerson Power Transmission Vent Stack (Re: South Hill Remediation Program) - Resolution 9.3 City Controller’s Report 10. PLANNING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE: There were no items submitted for the agenda 11. REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES: 12. NEW BUSINESS: Common Council Agenda August 3, 2011 Page 2 13. INDIVIDUAL MEMBER – FILED RESOLUTIONS: 13.1 Mayor Peterson - Designation of Marriage Officers – Resolution 14. MAYOR’S APPOINTMENTS: 14.1 Appointment of City Historian – Resolution 15. REPORTS OF COMMON COUNCIL LIAISONS: 16. REPORT OF CITY CLERK: 17. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY: 18. MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 18.1 Approval of the May 2, 2011 Special Common Council Meeting Minutes – Resolution 18.2 Approval of the May 12, 2011 Special Common Council Meeting Minutes – Resolution 18.3 Approval of the June 1, 2011 Regular Common Council Meeting Minutes – Resolution 18.4 Approval of the June 22, 2011 Special Common Council Meeting Minutes – Resolution 18.5 Approval of the June 28, 2011 Special Common Council Meeting Minutes – Resolution 18.6 Approval of the July 6, 2011 Regular Common Council Meeting Minutes – Resolution 19. ADJOURNMENT: If you have a disability that will require special arrangements to be made in order for you to fully participate in the meeting, please contact the City Clerk at 274-6570 at least 48 hours before the meeting. ______________________________ Julie Conley Holcomb, CMC City Clerk Date: July 28, 2011 8. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS: City Administration: 8.1 Fire Department - Amendment to Personnel Roster - Fire Alarm Superintendent Position - Resolution 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; now, 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. Back-Up Item 8.1 Memorandum To: City Administration Committee From: J. Thomas Dorman, Deputy Chief Date: 7/29/2011 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. 8.2 Police Department - Request to Approve Funds for Boiler Replacement - Resolution 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 Reserve #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. 9. CITY ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE: 9.1 Youth Bureau - 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 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, in 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. 9.2 Attorney’s Office - Approval of Easement for Emerson Power Transmission Vent Stack (Re: South Hill Remediation Program) - Resolution WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca is the purported owner of a triangular parcel of property between East Spencer Street and Turner Place, at the northerly end of what is known as Block 81 for tax map purposes; and WHEREAS, a City of Ithaca sewer main is located beneath the surface of the above- referenced parcel, in the southerly portion thereof; and WHEREAS, in past decades, said sewer main apparently received contaminated wastewater and/or solvents from the former Morse Chain and National Cash Register facilities, and the Therm, Inc., facility, all of which are located uphill from this parcel; and WHEREAS, said contamination apparently escaped from the sewer main along its route and residues and/or vapors remain in the surrounding soil; and WHEREAS, the Morse Chain property was subsequently acquired by Emerson Power Transmission (EPT), and EPT has been identified by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) as a responsible party, with regard to mitigation of the contamination; and WHEREAS, EPT has proposed to NYSDEC a mitigation program that is intended to allow vapors to enter a passive-ventilation system along the route of a 300-foot-long section of said sewer main, via a new, perforated pipe to be installed parallel to a new sewer main, and to be vented through a 25-foot-tall stack to be located on the above- referenced City-owned parcel (so as to not infringe upon the public sidewalk thereupon); and WHEREAS, EPT seeks a permanent easement and temporary easement from the City, affecting said parcel, within which easements EPT would install, operate and maintain the vent stack (including bollards or other protective elements); and WHEREAS, any environmental review required for said mitigation program, including the proposed vent stack, is the responsibility of the NYSDEC; and WHEREAS, written comments on this request have been received from the City’s Community Advisory Group (dated June 17. 2011); and WHEREAS, a portion of the above-referenced parcel is currently developed with a small, gravel-based parking area that is accessed via a curb cut to East Spencer Street, which parking area apparently serves an adjacent residential property immediately to the south (141 E. Spencer Street); and WHEREAS, to date, the City has been unable confirm that the owner of 141 E. Spencer Street has current permission from the City to encroach upon or use the City-owned parcel for parking or other purposes, and, in any case, any such permission would presumably be in the form of a license that can be revoked on short notice by the City; and WHEREAS, Chapter 170 (“Use of City Real Property”) of the City Code stipulates that “the authority to convey a permanent easement across or involving City land is and shall be vested in the Common Council, and no such easement shall be issued without the Council’s approval;” and WHEREAS, in a resolution approved on July 27, 2011, the City’s Board of Public Works determined that the use of the subject City-owned parcel as requested by Emerson Power Transmission, and the granting of a temporary and permanent easement therefore, would serve a valuable public purpose and will not interfere with any other essential public use of the parcel, now or in the foreseeable future, and recommended that the Common Council grant such easements, subject to certain confirmation and certain special conditions (as described in said resolution); now therefore be it RESOLVED, That, subject to: a. confirmation that any required environmental review associated with the vent stack has been completed by NYSDEC, b. confirmation that the City’s right to convey the requested easements is not constrained by any existing, non-revocable property rights affecting the proposed easement area, and c. the City’s having legal authority to revoke any rights held by a third party pursuant to a City-issued license or other permit, to exclusive use of the relevant portion of the subject parcel, which authority the Mayor is hereby authorized to exercise, as needed; the Common Council hereby approves the request from EPT for temporary and permanent easements across the City-owned parcel at the north end of Block 81, for the purpose of constructing, maintaining and operating a vent stack as described herein, and authorizes the Mayor, upon consultation with and the advice of the Superintendent of Public Works and the City Attorney, to execute an easement instrument that includes standard City provisions, as well as the following: 1. Consideration to be paid by EPT to the City in the amount of at least $2,000 (for 100 square feet of permanent easement area); 2. EPT to indemnify and hold City harmless as to any injury or damages claimed to arise as a result of the installation, existence, operation or repair of the vent stack; 3. EPT shall secure any other permits required for installation of the vent stack (including a building permit). 4. Footprint for permanent easement not to exceed approximately 100 square feet, to be located as close as possible to the southeast corner of the City-owned parcel, and not to interfere in any way with use of the existing public sidewalk in said vicinity; 5. Height of vent stack not to exceed 25 feet; 6. EPT to be solely responsible for all costs associated with the vent stack; 7. Operation of the passive-ventilation system will not be altered without City consent; 8. Appearance and exact location of vent stack to be subject to expedited site plan review; 9. EPT to maintain a schedule of quarterly indoor air quality and soil testing, within ___ feet of the vent stack, with reports to be submitted thereafter to the City; 10. EPT to provide City with timely copies of any performance reports EPT is required by NYSDEC to file, regarding the passive-ventilation system; 11. Stipulation that easement holder maintain vent stack in good repair and safe condition, and that it designate a contact person to handle any complaints about noise or needed maintenance; 12. To maintain easement, EPT must submit to City, on or by every 10-year anniversary of the execution of this easement, a summary report of system performance and statement of continuing need. Failure to submit such report/statement within 6 months of said anniversary shall constitute grounds for revocation of the easement by the City; 13. Easement will terminate if EPT removes the vent stack and does not replace it, or if EPT ceases to maintain it; and 14. Upon termination of the easement for any reason, EPT shall be responsible, at its sole cost, for removal of vent stack, in-ground foundation elements (not including the 300’ perforated pipe), and any other above-ground elements of the passive-ventilation system, and for restoration of the affected area. 13. INDIVIDUAL MEMBER – FILED RESOLUTIONS: 13.1 Mayor Peterson - Designation of Marriage Officers – Resolution RESOLVED, That Alderpersons Daniel Cogan and Ellen McCollister be designated as Marriage Officers in the City of Ithaca with terms to expire December 31, 2011. 14. MAYOR’S APPOINTMENTS: 14.1 Appointment of City Historian – Resolution RESOLVED, That Mary R. Tomlan be appointed as City Historian for the City of Ithaca effective August 4, 2011 with an indefinite term.