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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