HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CES-2007-06-13 Communications & Emergency Services Committee Proceedings
Regular Meeting June 13, 2007 7:30 p.m.
PRESENT:
Chair J. R. Clairborne
Alderpersons (3) David Gelinas, Shane Seger, Robin Korherr
OTHERS PRESENT:
Mayor Carolyn K. Peterson
City Clerk— Julie Conley Holcomb
Deputy Fire Chief—Thomas Dorman
Police Chief— Lauren Signer
Ithaca Police Department— Sergeant Douglas Wright
Alderperson — Joel Zumoff
Information Management Specialist - Cindie Day
EXCUSED:
Alderperson Michelle Berry
ADDITIONS TO OR DELETIONS FROM THE AGENDA:
Chair Clairborne requested that Item 8A on the agenda be moved up to Item 6.
No Committee members objected.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Approval of Minutes of the May 9, 2007 Meeting
By Alderperson Korherr: Seconded by Alderperson Seger:
RESOLVED, That the Minutes of the May 9, 2007 meeting be approved as published.
Carried Unanimously
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Jean McPheeters, Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, addressed the Committee
regarding the Cayuga Waterfront Trail and the proposed closure of a lane of traffic on
West Buffalo Street. She stated that she does not believe this closure would have a
negative impact on local traffic based on the traffic studies that have been completed.
Rick Manning, City of Ithaca, voiced his support for the conversion of a lane of West
Buffalo Street traffic for the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. He stated that this would be a cost
effective solution to connect the trail and would provide a safe crossing for pedestrians
and space for bicyclists.
RESPONSE TO PUBLIC BY COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Alderperson Korherr thanked Ms. McPheeters and Mr. Manning for taking the time to
share their thoughts with the Committee.
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REPORTS FROM COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Alderperson Seger announced that the Public Access Committee would be meeting
Tuesday, June 15, 2007, in the Aurora Room of the Ithaca Town Hall at 5:00 pm.
Chair Clairborne announced that there would be a meeting on Phase III of the Cayuga
Waterfront Trail on Thursday, June 14, 2007 from 4:30 — 6:30 pm at the Ithaca Youth
Bureau. Questions can be referred to City Planner Lisa Nicholas at (607) 274-6550.
Chair Clairborne further announced that the James L. Gibbs Scholarship awards would
be presented on June 23, 2007, at 12:00 pm at the Southside Community Center. The
awards will be presented to 2 high school students and 2 middle school students.
City Clerk— Request to Amend 2007 Budget
By Alderperson Seger: Seconded by Korherr
WHEREAS, Common Council, as part of the 2007 City Budget, included $15,000 in the
Restricted Contingency account for the purposes of funding a public information
initiative, and
WHEREAS, the City Clerk is requesting that $660 be released from Restricted
Contingency for the purposes of investigating what services a Public Information Officer
position or a Community Relations Division might provide to the City and what the
related staffing costs would be; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Communications and Emergency Services Committee supports
this initiative and requests that Common Council authorize the City Controller to transfer
an amount not to exceed $660 from Restricted Contingency Account#A1990 to
Account #A1315-5120 City Clerk PT/Hourly to hire an intern to develop job
descriptions, and a compensation plan for the proposed position(s) for a Public
Information/Community Relations division.
City Clerk Holcomb explained that Jessica Myers, who has worked as a temporary
employee in several City departments, is a senior at the Cornell University Industrial
Labor Relations School and has expressed an interest in working as an intern with the
Human Resources Department. Ms. Myers has secured funding from the Cornell
University Public Service Center to cover 75% of the costs for this internship and the
Human Resources Department and City Clerk's Office would like to cover the remaining
balance. City Clerk Holcomb stated that this would be an excellent opportunity to
provide Ms. Myers with the experience that she is seeking while having this work
completed at little cost to the City.
Discussion followed on the floor regarding the City's use of student internships, and the
possibility of creating a formal program for utilizing students from the local university,
colleges and high school.
A vote on the resolution resulted as follows:
Carried Unanimously
City Clerk's Office: Construction Notification — Internet Mapping Service Project
City Clerk Holcomb provided a short presentation on the new construction database and
internet mapping service that is accessible to the public via the City's website. She
noted that this information includes all of the larger, planned projects for the 2007
construction season but not the short-term projects (less than 1 week) or emergency
repairs. She explained that this notification initiative was expanded to include maps and
visual tools for the benefit of emergency service agencies that needed a better way to
organize the City's construction information.
City Clerk Holcomb thanked private contractor Michelle Thompson for her hard work on
this project, the Planning Department for funding the project and Tompkins County ITS
Director Greg Potter for sharing his resources and time, which were instrumental in the
completion of this initiative.
Report from the PIOT: Possible Development of an Internal News Team:
Mayor Peterson explained that the Public Information Officer Team (PIOT) has been
discussing the best use of the funds placed in restricted contingency for public
information purposes. Upon consideration of program weaknesses and discussions
with Department Heads, it was decided that the development of an internal news team
could be beneficial to both the organization and the public. Mayor Peterson expressed
an interest in using the funds to hire someone who could perform news writing services,
and help the City develop systems that would allow us to utilize different information
dissemination tools such as newsletters, web pages, and e-mail subscription services.
Discussion followed on the floor regarding the changes in news delivery trends and how
to reach different constituencies. Alderperson Seger and Chair Clairborne noted that
changes to the City's website should be made in conjunction with this project as
information is currently hard to find.
Emergency Management Exercise Design Team Training:
This item was referred to the July 11, 2007, meeting.
End-of School-year Activities of Local Campuses — Part II
Ithaca Police Sergeant Wright reported on the special police detail that was created to
monitor end-of-academic-year activities on both South and East Hills. He explained that
the detail operated for 36 days in April and May with six Officers. There were 576
regular hours and 166 overtime hours dedicated to this detail that resulted in 116
arrests for violations such as underage drinking, possession of a criminal substance,
DWI, forged instruments, noise, open containers, etc. He stated that improved planning
initiatives with both campuses and the increase of on-campus activities should result in
fewer street parties, arrests, and resident complaints.
Discussion followed on the floor regarding requesting campus assistance in planning
large-scale activities (Slope Day and Ithaca College last day of classes) on the same
day as it strains City resources. Chair Clairborne expressed his thanks to the Ithaca
Police Department for their efforts in this initiative.
IPD Staffing:
Police Chief Signer announced that the department is currently at full staff with the
addition of three police officers. Two officers are at the training academy and one
Officer was a lateral transfer from another department. She further noted that one
Officer has been called into service in Iraq with the potential of two more officers being
called up.
Chief Signer further reported that the department is still recruiting officers to prepare for
impending retirements. An open competitive test will be held in December 2007.
Board of Fire Commissioners Resolution on Cayuga Waterfront Trail:
Alderperson Korherr explained that the Board of Fire Commissioners has been
discussing the impact of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail on the Fire Department and
emergency services for a couple of months. The following Resolution was tabled by the
Board in May but approved at their meeting on June 12, 2007:
"OPPOSITION TO BUFFALO STREET LANE CLOSURE"
MOVED: Chair Robert Romanowski
SECONDED: Comm. Steven Williams
WHEREAS, the Waterfront Trail Phase 2 program is in the process with preliminary route
decisions being formulated; and
WHEREAS, a leg of this Trail, on the West Buffalo Street bridge between Taughannock
Boulevard and Cliff Street, is to be facilitated by changing a westbound vehicular travel lane to
Waterfront Trail usage; and
WHEREAS, the traffic study being used, in considering the lane closure, was done at a time of
year when the college and university were not in session; and
WHEREAS, since the traffic study was conducted the west end of the City and Town of Ithaca
have seen massive buildup of housing, medical and business facilities; and
WHEREAS, the West Hill area is being promoted by the County as a tourist destination thereby
increasing tourist related traffic; and
WHEREAS, to reduce the number of available lanes on the Buffalo Street bridge will increase
the congestion in an already congested area; and
WHEREAS, the lane closure will impede the passage of Fire, Police, and Ambulance
emergency vehicles going to the hospital and the West Hill Fire Station and invite delays in
providing assistance in emergency situations; and
WHEREAS, the community's emergency response personnel have all expressed concern
regarding the proposed lane elimination; Now, Therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Ithaca Board of Fire Commissioners is opposed to the closure of a
vehicular travel lane on Buffalo Street for the construction of a walking trail and recommends
that the Cayuga Waterfront Trail Commission reconsider the closure of said lane, until further
traffic studies and alternate design proposals are fully explored.
VOTE: 3 Yeas (Chair Romanowski, Comm. Williams & Comm. Alexander)
2 Nays (Comm. Gilligan and Comm. Farlow)
Discussion followed on the floor with Committee members expressing an interest in
receiving an assessment from Bang Ambulance Service, Ithaca Fire Department, and
Ithaca Police Department regarding the impact that a traffic lane restriction on the Route
96 Bridge would have on public safety. Alderperson Korherr also requested information
regarding the timeline of the Phase II project and information from the related traffic
studies.
Deputy Fire Chief Dorman reported that the Board of Fire Commissioners had
requested Fire Chief Wilbur's opinion on this issue. The Fire Chief distributed a
memorandum to the Board at last night's meeting reporting that he has not yet
formulated an opinion on this project. The memo further noted that he had attended an
information session on the project, and that he needed more time to review and
consider the project's potential impact on the Ithaca Fire Department.
This topic will return to the Committee in August for further consideration.
IFD Command Restructure:
Deputy Fire Chief Dorman explained that Common Council approved a Municipal
Training Officer position in the 2007 budget, however after further review of
departmental needs, it was decided that a Deputy Chief position was needed to
distribute the increasing managerial demands. He further noted that Common Council
approved an amendment to the Fire Department Roster on June 6, 2007, that created a
second Deputy Chief position with the understanding that the Assistant Chief position
assigned to special duties would assume the role of the Municipal Training Officer.
ADJOURNMENT:
On a motion the meeting adjourned at 10:15 p.m.
CL-ndu 4-A Ocu _400/
Cindie L. Day 1 J '. Clairborne
Information Management Specialist Chair