Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BPW-2017-01-09BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS PROCEEDINGS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting 4:49 p.m. January 9, 2017 PRESENT: Mayor Myrick Commissioners (1) – Darling, Jenkins, McCormick, Warden OTHERS PRESENT: Superintendent of Public Works – Thorne Assistant Superintendent of Water and Sewer – Whitney Assistant Superintendent of Streets and Facilities – Benjamin Common Council Liaison – Fleming Executive Assistant – Servoss EXCUSED: Commissioner – Greene City Attorney – Lavine Director of Engineering – Logue Director of Parking – Nagy ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA: Supt. Thorne requested the addition of a discussion regarding the retaining wall and sidewalk on East Spencer Street under New Business. No Board member objected. ADMINISTRATION AND COMMUNICATIONS: Election of Board of Public Works Vice-Chair for 2017 – Resolution By Mayor Myrick: Seconded by Commissioner Darling RESOLVED, That Commissioner Jenkins be appointed as the Vice-Chair of the Board of Public Works for 2017. Carried Unanimously Board of Public Works Meeting Procedures Commissioner Darling explained that he had attended a workshop about handling heated meetings and one of the suggestions was to create and agree on meeting procedures at the beginning of each year. He believes it would also be good for new members, especially with useful information in the procedure, like the policy on how to handle water bill appeals, among other issues. Mayor Myrick agreed and believed all of the City’s committees should create meeting procedures. Commissioner Warden agreed, stating that it would be good to have this document to refer to by future and experienced members. Commissioner Darling noted it could be a living document, changing when needed. Commissioner McCormick stated he often wondered about the three minute limit for comments and this document would be good to have. Approval of the December 12, 2016, Board of Public Works Meeting Minutes – Resolution By Commissioner Warden: Seconded by Commissioner Darling RESOLVED, That the minutes of the December 12, 2016 Board of Public Works meeting be approved as proposed. Carried Unanimously 2017 Meeting Calendar Mayor Myrick noted the calendar that was placed at the back of the agenda and asked if the Board had any comments regarding the meeting dates. No response was provided. MAYOR’S COMMUNICATIONS: The Mayor had no communications to provide. Board of Public Works Page 2 January 9, 2017 Regular Meeting COMMUNICATIONS AND HEARINGS FROM PERSONS BEFORE THE BOARD: Shannon Fritts-Penniman, City of Ithaca, addressed the Board on behalf of his father, Peter Penniman, owner of 111 East Spencer Street, regarding the planned replacement of the sidewalk on Mr. Penniman’s block. Mr. Fritts-Penniman read the following statement from his father: To: Members, City of Ithaca Board of Public Works I am the owner of 111 East Spencer Street, where a new sidewalk and retaining wall with railings is planned to be built. The replacement of sidewalks is much needed and appreciated, as the sidewalk currently have a dangerous sideways slope. My concern is that the current project proposal takes away all existing stairs to the street that are close to 111, and I have been told the City will only replace the stairs in front of 111 if I pay $10,800. We are requesting that the City provide funding for at least one stairway in the center of this project area. I have been working with City Engineer John Licitra regarding the affected properties, which are all on the left, uphill side, at the west end of the 100 block of East Spencer Street. My property (111 East Spencer) is one of the inner ones out of the four properties in a row. The sidewalk is approximately 5 feet above street level and the existing earthen embankment is severely eroded, causing a sideways slope. With ice or even just wet leaves, it puts walkers at risk of slipping off the sidewalk and then sliding directly into the path of traffic. So yes, the new sidewalk will be much appreciated! Currently, there are four sets of stairs from the sidewalk down to street level to serve the occupants of these houses. The City proposal is to remove all four sets of stairs in this project area and then only rebuild a set of stairs if the property owners pays for it. The price we have been given by Mr. Licitra is $10,800 per set of stairs. Owners of these four properties have been given the option of sharing a single set of stairs with an adjacent property owner, but no such mutual agreement has been reached. I seem to be the owner who is most concerned about losing my stairs. If I fail to pay the $10,800 cost I will be left with street access that is about 185 feet to the west (near Cayuga Street) or about 150 feet to the east (with no assurance those stairs to the east will remain in the future). In essence, the project will create a 330 foot length of street with a retaining wall up to five feet tall, and no stairway access provided for emergency personnel including police, fire and ambulances. Following below are the reasons I believe that street access is a public safety issue, a public right and a necessity. 1. The lack of access will cause significant delays for all types of emergency personnel —fire, police, ambulance. 2. The question of how garbage and recycling will be handled has not been answered. 3. Parking is already very difficult to find on this street, and a reduced number of stairways to the sidewalk will increase the difficulty of residents in getting to their cars, as well as focus parking activity where access to the sidewalk does exist. 4. For residents without cars, access to taxi cabs, Uber and Lyft service will be confusing without a stairway near where they are likely or expected to pull up. 5. For residents with an injury, illness or minor disability, the distance to easily get to a car from either 111 or 107 is greatly increased under the current plan. 6. Moving in or out, or even just carrying groceries to the property will be greatly affected. 7. All sorts of delivery trucks will be greatly affected - Appliance deliveries, furniture moving vehicles, UPS, FedEx, etc. 8. Repair services will also face a greater difficulty than we have at present in getting tools, equipment and supplies to the homes (especially 111 and 107) without a stairway. For all of these reasons, I believe the Board of Public Works and the Common Council have a responsibility to ensure that reasonable access between the street and residences is maintained. John Licitra and I have been unsuccessful in getting any of my neighbors to share the cost of a replacement stairway. The two properties in the middle of this project, 111 (going east) and 107 (going west), will each have a distance of 150 feet or more to reach the nearest access to the street . The loss of street access is being caused by this City project. Given this situation, it seems reasonable that the City should assist the owners with funding for at least one stairway in the center of this project area. Thank you for considering this matter, Peter W. Penniman Jacob Parker Carver, 108 ½ Fifth Street, addressed the Board regarding a water bill appeal. He stated that he had lived in the apartment alone for some of 2015 and all of 2016. He Board of Public Works Page 3 January 9, 2017 Regular Meeting explained that the water meter was replaced in early 2016. Shortly afterward, the water bills became extremely high. He requested that the Board adjust the bill for May 2016, noting that the August 2016 bill was already adjusted previously. RESPONSE TO THE PUBLIC Commissioner Warden explained the procedures related to the installation of new meters and that concerns should be brought to Asst. Supt. Whitney’s attention. Mayor Myrick asked Asst. Supt. Whitney to follow-up with Barb Frycek, Senior Water Meter Technician, who had already visited the apartment and determined there was no leak. Asst. Supt. Whitney responded that he would contact Ms. Frycek for further information. REPORTS Board Liaisons Commissioner McCormick, BPAC liaison, reported that BPAC members requested updates on several topics: Request for a four-way stop sign at the intersection of Plain and Clinton Streets in conjunction with Bike Boulevard. What was happening at the Cayuga Street and Cascadilla Street interstion? Informing the BPAC on the design of University Avenue and obtaining their comments. An update on the Brindley Street Bridge project. Diverters on Tioga Street to continue Bike Boulevard. Commissioner McCormick noted that a statement would be forwarded soon to the Board from the BPAC chair, and asked for the best way to communicate about these concerns. Supt. Thorne responded that the four-way stop sign at the Plain/Clinton Street intersection was already determined not to be good design and would it cause confusion because there are already stop signs and lights at almost every other intersection on Clinton Street. Commissioner McCormick asked staff to revisit the issue. Mayor Myrick suggested Commissioner McCormick contact Dir. of Engineering Services Tim Logue for further information and discussion. Superintendent and Staff Asst. Supt. Benjamin reported that crews were doing some in-house cleanup to remove salt from trucks, the parks crew was picking up holiday trees once per week and removing other city trees that would be replaced in the spring. Asst. Supt. Whitney reported that the contractor was down to the last 5% of construction on the new Water Treatment Plant. They expect to receive the Certificate of Occupancy by the end of January. He further reported that staff submitted engineering assessment of the 60 foot dam to NYS Dam Safety. Asst. Supt. Whitney further reported that staff was working on the new permit requirements for stormwater fallout. Commissioner Darling requested that the Natural Areas Commission be kept informed about the stormwater permit and any work needed in the watershed. Asst. Supt. Whitney agreed. Supt. Thorne reported that a productive site visit was held at the sediment site for the dredging project. He stated that it was a great meeting; more was accomplished at the meeting than in the last three years of meetings, with a lot of issues being ironed out. He stated that they would hopefully be able to move to construction soon. Supt. Thorne reported further that staff have begun to discuss adjusting street permit fees and looking at ways to incentivize developers that streets have value. Staff were working with the Planning Dept. and the City Attorney to come up with a new system. Commissioner McCormick asked about tying the permit fees to the amount of time the sidewalk or street was closed for a project. Supt. Thorne responded that staff was looking into that, along with the number of parking spaces, amount of space taken, etc. BUILDINGS, PROPERTIES, REFUSE AND TRANSIT: Resolution in Support of Coltivare Sidewalk Awning By Commissioner Warden: Seconded by Commissioner Jenkins Board of Public Works Page 4 January 9, 2017 Regular Meeting WHEREAS, Colitvare Restaurant located on the Northeast corner of N. Clinton and S. Cayuga Streets is requesting an awning and sign which will project onto the eastern sidewalk of S. Cayuga Street, as shown in the attached renderings, and WHEREAS, the Board of Public Works discussed the proposed awning and sign at the December 12, 2016 BPW meeting, and is supportive of the sign so long as the support columns do not impact snow removal operations or pedestrian flow, suggesting that the support columns line up with the center of the adjacent street tree trunks, and WHEREAS, the Board of Public Works recommends that the Planning Board review the proposal for final approval, therefore be it RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works supports the proposed awning and signage subject to placement of the support columns in line with adjacent street tree trunks, and be it further RESOLVED, That the Board of Public Works recommends that the Planning Board review the proposal in context with design guidelines or standards for these type of installations. Commissioner Darling reported that the Planning and Economic Development Board was not inclined to approve this type of sign/awning. Their reasons for disapproval included that there weren’t any guidelines about awnings established for this particular location. Supt. Thorne noted that this resolution was only to provide support for the request. A Vote of the Resolution Resulted As Follows: Carried Unanimously DISCUSSION ITEMS: Cayuga Waterfront Trail Winter Maintenance Rick Manning, Friends of Stewart Park, joined the Board for the discussion of this topic. Asst. Supt. Benjamin stated that Phase 1 of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail was located in Cass Park and Phase 3 was in Stewart Park. Crews at those parks would clear the trail if they had time, but most of the bridges on the trail could not take the weight of the sidewalk snow plow the City uses. He noted that because of the amount of sidewalk crews had to plow already, they did not have time to fully clear the trail. Mr. Manning stated that a social media flurry recently came up about keeping the trail clear during the winter. He thinks that a conversation about partnering on clearing the trail and knowing the reasons why City isn’t maintaining it might help. He requested that a discussion begin regarding it. Mayor Myrick explained that clearing the Trail was not necessarily high on the priority list because crews would have to do the trail mostly on overtime. Asst. Supt. Benjamin noted that staff thought cross country skiers would want a place to sky in the winter. Commissioner Darling agreed that a discussion needed to occur because there wasn’t any knowledge about how much usage the trail gets by skiers and other winter sports enthusiasts. Mr. Manning noted that there was a sign stating “No Winter Maintenance” on the Phase 2 section of the trail, but now that the trail was so popular, the topic of maintenance has come up. Discussion followed on the floor regarding people relying on the trail for commuting. Alderperson Fleming noted that if there were passable sidewalks in the same area as the trail, the City was not required to clear the trail just because it’s nicer. Further discussion followed regarding prioritizing sections of the trail for clearing and what level of clearing would need to occur. Commissioner Darling noted that at the time the trail was being built, it was made clear there was absolutely no money for winter maintenance and the issue would need to be addressed at a later time. Now the issue has come back. Mayor Myrick requested that Mr. Manning have a discussion with the Parks Commission and come back to the Board with answers to the following questions: 1. Where would they recommend trail clearing fall in the sidewalk paving priority list? Board of Public Works Page 5 January 9, 2017 Regular Meeting 2. What would it cost annually to clear the trail? 3. What was their recommendation for which direction should the trail be cleared from? 4. How does the trail maintenance fit in the sidewalk program? Commissioner Darling suggested inviting Cornell University and Ithaca College to clear the sections of the trail that cross their properties. The Board agreed. Commissioner Darling further noted that the Board of Public Works did not have a liaison to the Parks Commission since Commissioner Goldsmith stepped down. The Board members agreed to consider becoming the liaison. Award of a Professional Services Contract to Fisher Associates for the Elmira Road Overlay and Signal Replacement Project – Proposed Resolution WHEREAS, professional services proposals were received on August 10, 2016 for the Elmira Road Overlay and Signal Replacement project (CP 832, PIN 375592), and WHEREAS, staff has reviewed the eight proposals received and made recommendations for award, and WHEREAS, engineering studies and designs are a Type II action requiring no further review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act and the City Environmental Quality Review Ordinance, now therefore be it RESOLVED, That the City of Ithaca Board of Public Works hereby awards the professional services contract for the Elmira Road Overlay and Signal Replacement project (CP 832, PIN 375592) to Fisher Associates, of Rochester, New York, for an amount not to exceed $210,000, and be it further, RESOLVED, That the Superintendent of Public Works for the City of Ithaca be hereby authorized to enter into said contracts under the usual terms and conditions. There were no questions regarding the project. Mayor Myrick stated that the resolution would be voted on at the next board meeting. Proposal for a Temporary Community Alter in DeWitt Park Commissioner Darling requested that this request be forwarded to the Parks Commission before the Board of Public Works discusses it. Mayor Myrick agreed, then invited the applicants to explain the project. Charity Burger and Christina Coleman, Your Art Club, joined the Board for the discussion of this topic. Ms. Burger explained that this group had been doing community art projects for the past two years, and this year they would like to place an interactive community art project in DeWitt Park that honors loss and holds a space for grief. The project was meant to be secular and used by all faiths and beliefs. Ms. Burger read the following: “A Community Altar” Art Club wishes to create a space for the community to gather, reflect and remember, both at the individual and collective level. The space will not have any religious affiliation and is intended to be inclusive of all, regardless of belief. We will invite people to place a meaningful object on the altar alongside the rest of the community’s contributions. We believe the gesture will mean something unique to each participant, which is our intention given the non-religious orientation of this event. We’re using the word “altar” because it’s a universally understood convention that denotes reverence, and as such, is an appropriate medium to encourage participants to join in the vulnerable act of sharing something personal at the collective level. The altar will be freestanding and made from sturdy wood. The dimensions will be roughly 34” wide, 56” long and 51” high. We are referencing roadside altars and personal altars such as the images shown below for a visual jumping place as we shape our structure. Board of Public Works Page 6 January 9, 2017 Regular Meeting The location of this project is key to its success. We chose DeWitt Park for its centrality. It was Ithaca’s original public square (called the ‘Town Square’ in fact, before it was renamed in honor of Simeon DeWitt.) Also, because it is already a sacred space of communal reverie given that it contains several war memorials. And has been visited by seminal unifying leaders such as Frederick Douglas and Dr. Martin Luther King. “DeWitt Park in the center of Ithaca is what I would call a sacred public space, that is, a special place used in various ways by many people and regarded as something that belongs to us all.” -Carol Kammen, Guest Columnist, Ithaca Journal, August 15, 2014 We are aiming to leave the altar in place for one month, from mid-February to mid-March, when morale is somewhat low due to the long ebb of our winters, but with that said, our time frame is flexible. We will be tending to the altar while it is up at least twice a week and also documenting the project, watching the evolution of its collage of layers. How we understand the projects effect on public space: - We understand Dewitt is a quiet park and do not believe this project would cause noise pollution. - We do not foresee litter or vandalism as the public predominantly respects public art. - We will not be facilitating a public event or meeting at the structure. - We understand it is taking place in inclement weather conditions and will be affected. - We would like to place the structure on the open grass and thus will not interfere with park trees, memorials, sidewalks, etc. - In tending to the space we will be aware of safety issues and do our best to keep the altar clean and safe. - We do not foresee needing any extra help from the city to maintain the space. (i.e. police, trash service, etc.) Ms. Burger noted that the project would be installed for one month (February) and inappropriate objects left on the “alters” would be removed on a daily basis. She further explained the physical layout of the “alters”: a short table would hold five “alters” that would be available for people to leave objects. Instructions would be available, along with a sticky substance that may help keep objects from blowing away. Mayor Myrick expressed support for this project, but he would still like to hear from Parks Commission. Ms. Burger noted that she had already contacted and received permission from the First Presbyterian Church. Commissioner Darling expressed support for this project and suggested placing it in Washington Park rather than DeWitt Park. He stated that Washington Park was only 3½ blocks from DeWitt Park and would be a nice location because it was surrounded by residents who could help monitor the project. Commissioner McCormick suggested if this project was successful in DeWitt Park, maybe they could have something similar move around from park to park. The Board agreed that DeWitt Park was a good location to try first. The Art Club representatives agreed to discuss the request at Parks Commission and come back to the Board with more information. NEW BUSINESS: East Spencer Street Sidewalk Replacement Supt. Thorne explained that the sidewalk along the 100 block of East Spencer Street was on the Sidewalk Improvement District Workplan for 2017. This section of road was more challenging because the sidewalk was raised and there was a retaining wall with stairs going from the street to the sidewalk and up the hill to each of the houses. He noted that there were other areas in the City with similar situations. Sidewalk Program Manager John Licitra joined the Board for the discussion of this topic and explained that it was the City’s policy to replace the sidewalk but not replace staircases or driveway aprons unless the property owners agreed to pay for it. Board of Public Works Page 7 January 9, 2017 Regular Meeting Supt. Thorne explained the geography in this area, stating that the new raised sidewalk would match the existing sidewalk grade, but residents have raised a number of questions regarding trash and recycling collection and access for fire and emergency services if the staircases were removed. He suggested installing one set of stairs in the middle of the houses, rather than a staircase for each house. Commissioner Warden expressed his opinion that the Board needed to develop a standard policy regarding this type of situation. Commissioner Jenkins expressed concern that if only one staircase was installed, it may cause an issue for people carrying groceries or small children. She suggested installing two sets of stairs rather than one. Program Manager Licitra noted that each house does have a set of stairs on the other side of their property. Commissioner McCormick stated that it was important that the Board determine the length of street frontage between each set of stairs (i.e. every 100 feet). Program Manager Licitra noted that none of the houses at this location had driveways. Commissioner Darling suggested splitting the costs for installing stairs. He further expressed support for placing stairs parallel, rather than perpendicular to the street and the City would need to be clear that the property owners needed to keep the stairs clean and clear. The Board agreed to split the cost 50/50 between sidewalk improvement district and property owners, and to build at least one set of stairs. Discussion followed on the floor regarding the feelings of the residents and property owners about paying the entire cost of installing stairs for each house, that the stairs would mainly benefit the residents at those properties, how the removal of the stairs would affect trash and recycling collection and other services, and building a landing at the base of the stairs for residents to store trash and recycling on collection days. The Board agreed that more information would be beneficial before they made a decision. Staff agreed to research options further and provide the Board with their findings. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion, the meeting adjourned at 6:14 p.m. Kathrin D. Servoss Svante L. Myrick Executive Assistant Mayor