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Home My WebLink AboutMN-G&IMR-2006-07-24 GOVERNANCE AND INTERMUNICIPAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting Monday July 24, 2006 7:00 p.m. PRESENT: Chair Joel Zumoff Alderpersons (4) Michelle Berry, David Gelinas, Shane Seger, Mary Tomlan OTHERS PRESENT: City Attorney— Daniel Hoffman Information Management Specialist - Cindie Day City Clerk- Julie Conley Holcomb Mayor Carolyn K. Peterson APPROVAL OF MINUTES: By Alderperson Seger: Seconded by Alderperson Gelinas RESOLVED, That the Minutes of the June 26, 2006 meeting be approved as published. Carried Unanimously ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REPORTS FROM COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Alderperson Seger announced that the first of two meetings that the Rental Housing Advisory Committee is hosting regarding the Exterior Property Maintenance Ordinance has taken place. The second meeting will be a discussion with the Building Department regarding enforcement issues. The Committee will discuss its recommendations at the August meeting and will forward them to the Governance Committee for consideration. Discussion and Possible Ordinance to Amend Chapter 232 of the City of Ithaca Municipal Code regarding Solicitation. Aaron Skrypski, Law Intern addressed the Committee regarding the language of Section 232-54 of the City Code regarding religious solicitations. He stated that because the language in this section is unconstitutional because it applies only to religious solicitations, which is a content-based restriction. He stated that the City has the ability to regulate solicitations in the City, but cannot put content-based restrictions into place. The Committee discussed the possibility of repealing Section 232-54 and removing the exemptions from Section 232-53 that apply to religious organizations, benevolent orders or fraternities where solicitations are made at regularly appointed meetings or places of worship. Section 232-53 of the City Code would become applicable to all commercial solicitation and therefore would restore the constitutionality of the City's legislation. Alderperson Zumoff noted that Section 232-52 should also be reviewed as it regulates solicitation activities. He noted that Subsection (C.) states that solicitors may not ring a bell, in addition to other sound sources, and that might make the Salvation Army out of compliance with the City's law. Mayor Peterson noted that the applications for solicitation permits are being revised so that they no longer require the solicitors to provide their social security numbers. City Clerk Holcomb requested that the City's Transient Merchant legislation also be reviewed for potential changes. Further discussion followed on Section 232-41 entitled "Other Exemptions" regarding solicitation permits for Veterans. The City Attorney's Office will incorporate the changes discussed and will bring the legislation back to the Committee for future consideration. Authorization for Mayor to Sign Memorandum of Understanding with Ithaca Downtown Partnership City Clerk Holcomb reported that a City team consisting of Mayor Peterson, Asst. Superintendent of Streets & Facilities Ferrel, and Police Chief Signer have reviewed the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and have met with representatives of the Ithaca Downtown Partnership to discuss language changes. Ithaca Downtown Partnership Executive Director Gary Ferguson noted that the current MOU is several years old, and many changes have been made over time. He stated that the document needs to be updated to reflect the needs of downtown. Extensive discussion followed on the floor with City Attorney Hoffman and Mayor Peterson proposing language amendments to the MOU. The Memorandum of Understanding will be amended to reflect the agreed upon language and will be brought back to the Committee for further review and consideration. Report from City Clerk's Office: City Clerk Holcomb presented the following report that represents the 2006 activities of the City Clerk's Office: RECORDS MANAGEMENT: • Building Department Project Renovated the City Hall basement to remove a dividing wall and relocate electrical and water monitoring fixtures Moved furniture, flat files and boxes around to make space for new cabinets Purchased and Installed 28 Fiat File Cabinets Organized, recorded, and entered into a database 300 cubic feet of building plans Backed up electronic and paper records Developed a training document for Bldg. Dept. Staff to keep system usable • Cemetery Project 110 sectional maps of the cemetery were digitized, and we are now populating the database with information from 3 data sets: books, internment cards, maps 70 maps have been completed to date (nearly 4,000 entries) Books need to be verified 40 maps still need to be completed City Clerk and Sts & Fac staff needs to be trained on how to use the system • Payroll Records Quality check of paper records against microfilm is nearly complete. When everything has been verified, we will be able to dispose of 125 cubic feet (boxes) of records • Next Project: Electronic Document Management System Pilot record series include: Common Council minutes; Board of Public Works minutes; marriage records; City Attorney records EVENTS MANAGEMENT: • Events so far this year include Chili-Cook-off, Ithaca Festival, Dragon Boat Festival; upcoming events include Sidewalk Sale Days, Antique Road Show, Apple Harvest Festival, Ithaca 5 & 10 Race, etc. The Commons has been challenging this summer with the increased enforcement of the provisions of the new legislation. The Commons Police Unit has been GREAT to work with. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: • NIMS Training — City Clerk has co-instructed (8)—4.5 hour trainings on the ICS 100 and NIMS 700 course. The ICS 200 and ICS 402 courses are currently being developed for roll-out to the workforce. • Tompkins County Emergency Planning Group— Re-establishment of the County Public Information Officer (PIO) Team PUBLIC INFORMATION EFFORTS: • Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard • GIAC Concrete Failure • Dryden Road Parking Garage • Pedestrian Awareness Campaign • Construction Update Process —development of new database with link to interactive maps • Dryden Road Parking Garage CLERK SOFTWARE: • Worked with IT Dept to develop RFP • Demonstration from Vendor • Software selection and contract negotiation COMMUNICATION TEAM: • Communication Plan nearly complete • Mayor's Public Information Officer Team (PIOT) COMMON COUNCIL FURNITURE: • Follow-up on furniture change-outs • Wireless microphone system purchase; possible window treatments • Purchase of new chairs for Second Floor Conference Room DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS: • Licensing/Permitting, agenda/minute preparation, FOIL, Claims Against the City, legislation development, training, work on communications and diversity competencies UPCOMING BUDGET REQUESTS: • Increased hours for Information Management Specialist Cindie Day—from 35 hours to 40 hours • Submission of alternate budget for Public Information efforts Discussion Concerning the Issue of Caucusing by Common Council. Discussion was held regarding the ability of Common Council to caucus or to talk among themselves in a gathering that is not open to the public. Alderperson Berry stated that she felt that Council would be able to work more efficiently if members were able to discuss certain issues and inter-personal relationships in a closed forum. City Attorney Hoffman explained that Chapter 78 of the City of Ithaca Municipal Code is more restrictive than State law as it does not allow Common Council to caucus to discuss public business. It was decided to leave the legislation as is, and if any Committee member wishes to amend it they can bring it forth to the Committee for consideration. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m. Cpl Cindie L. Day J•el Zumoff Information Managemen Specialist Chair