Auburn City Council
Meeting #40
Thursday, September 15, 2005
5:00PM
Work Session Meeting
Roll Call – Mayor Lattimore, Councilors McNabb, Dempsey and Hunter - present; Councilor Jacobs - absent.
Staff Members Present – John Salomone, City Manager; Tom Leone, Corporation Counsel; Michele McNabb, Deputy City Clerk; Mike Long, CIP Manager; Police Chief Gary Giannotta; Nancy Hussey, Assistant Corporation Counsel; Lisa Green, Comptroller; Michael Quill, Fire Chief; Steve Lynch, Director of Development; Jane Westlake, City Manager Secretary; Lynda DeOrio, Office Systems and Training Coordinator; Trish Geer, Corp. Counsel Secretary; Brian Hicks, Sr. Code Enforcement Officer; Lane Pausley, Code Officer, Ed LaDouce, Code Officer, Steve Downing, Code Officer, Jennifer Haines, Planning & Economic Development Program Manager.
All stood for the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Presentations of Petitions and Communications – Deputy Clerk read the Proclamation that the Mayor presented to the 1st Batallion, 108th Infantry on Sunday, September 11, 2005. Mayor also thanked the Ladies Auxiliary for hanging the yellow ribbons on South Street and asked Mrs. Poole to come to the podium and say a few words. Mrs. Poole thanked the Mayor and commented on the fact that Auburn was the first city in New York State to kick off “The Yellow Ribbon Campaign”.
United Way Presentation- John Nicandri, Co-Chair of the United Way Campaign, invited all to attend the kick off of the campaign at the Holiday Inn at 5pm on Tuesday. This year’s slogan is “You Are What Matters”. He introduced Lon Fricano, Co-Chair of the United Way Campaign. Lon spoke about the campaign and showed a short video.
Employee Recognition – John Salomone, City Manager, commented that this is the 6th year for Employee Recognition. Tonight they are honoring all employees that have been with the City for 25, 30 and 35 years. Tomorrow there will be an award ceremony for those who have 5, 10, 15, and 20 years of service. Awards were presented to Jean Jones, Crossing Guard, for 35 years of service; Marilyn Kelly, Clerk at APD and Anthony DeCaro, Chief Water Treatment Plant Operator, for 30 years of service; and Jim McConnell, Laborer, for 25 years of service.
Former Mayor, Guy Consentino, gave a slide show presentation with regards to the Visitability Ordinance. He commented on the initiative that Auburn has already taken and asked Council to support this ordinance. He gave Council members a handout with an overview of his presentation. He thanked staff members from Options of Independence that came to Council as well as city staff members that have worked with them. Council discussed the ordinance and Tom Leone, Corporation Counsel, asked that Ordinance #12 be read into the record so that Council could vote on the Ordinance. Mr. Leone also asked that item 9A be changed to item 6A and that the Land Sale Resolution from the Addendum to the Agenda now be item 9A. Council agreed.
Ordinance – Clerk Read
Ordinance #12 of 2005 authorizing an amendment to the Code of the City of Auburn by adding Chapter 126 entitled Visitability Ordinance - Barrier-Free Requirements in New Construction Where Funding From Public Sources Is Received. Council discussed the ordinance and asked questions to Guy Consentino. Mr. Consentino responded. Vote: Councilor McNabb, Hunter, Dempsey and Mayor Lattimore – aye, Councilor Jacobs - absent. Passed
Public Announcements – Mayor Lattimore announced that the NYS Upstate Chapter of the American Society of Landscape architects has awarded a 2005 NYU Chapter Community Achievement to the City of Auburn for the City of Auburn Downtown Revitalization Project. Mayor Lattimore commented on today’s article in the Post Standard regarding NIMO rates increasing 35%. He talked about the HEAP program and asked Jenny Haines questions. Jenny responded by saying that HEAP is a program of Catholic Charities.
Presentations of Petitions and Communications – Clerk read
Work Session –
Housing/Codes Enforcement – Mr. Salomone, City Manager, gave a slide show presentation on the aspects of housing. Council members were given a handout to correspond with the slide show. He then turned over the presentation to Tom Leone, Corporation Counsel. Mr. Leone spoke about Code Enforcement and the history of the Certificates of Occupancy. He then turned the presentation over to Brian Hicks, Senior Code Enforcement Officer. Mr. Hicks gave an overview of what the Code Enforcement Officers look for when they conduct a Certificate of Occupancy inspection. Nancy Hussey, Assistant Corporation Counsel, reviewed the enforcement procedures for conducting a Certificate of Occupancy. She stated that a checklist for
Certificates of Occupancy is available in the Codes Office. Tom Leone then asked Council to review the discussion points in the handout. Councilor Dempsey asked that a group be put together to make recommendations to Council regarding Codes. Councilor Hunter asked Steve Lynch to report back about the various neighborhood groups that have formed and what the status is with them. Mayor Lattimore asked Jennifer Haines to speak about Homesite. Jennifer gave a brief overview of what Homesite does. Tom Leone then asked any public that wished to be heard on this subject come forward.
Public To Be Heard –
Jerry Morgan, 22 Pulaski St. – Spoke to Council regarding owner occupied Certificates of Occupancy.
Jill Fudo, Easterly Ave. – Spoke in favor of Certificate of Occupancy’s
Carr Magel, 171 Dunning Ave. – Expressed his concerns about Code Enforcement. Tom Leone responded to his concerns
Valentine Falfoli, 9 Baker Ave. – Commented on Code Enforcement.
Cindy Bishop, Bellevue Place – Spoke in favor of Certificate of Occupancy’s. She proposed that there be a liason between Homesite and Code Enforcement.
Mark Anderson, Landlord – Spoke about ideas he has on Certificates of Occupancy that he presented to the City.
That portion of the meeting was closed and the Mayor then asked if anyone else from the public wished to be heard on any other subject.
Jerry Morgan, 22 Pulaski St. – Commented on the work being done on the corner of State St. and Pulaski St. He asked why they left the light pole when they removed the traffic light. City Manager responded and said he would check with Engineering to have the pole removed.
Other Business –
Resolution
Land Sale Resolution #136 of 2005 authorizing the Mayor to execute any and all documents necessary for the sale of the various properties sold at public auction on September 8, 2005, as referenced on Exhibit A attached thereto. Vote: Councilor McNabb, Hunter, Dempsey and Mayor Lattimore – aye, Councilor Jacobs - absent. Passed
Councilor Hunter commented about the Employee Handbook. Mayor Lattimore asked Corporation Counsel to make a legal interpretation in regards to Ethics.
Recap – Clerk Read
Council adjourned to Executive Session at 8:40PM, returning at 9:22PM.
Meeting adjourned at 9:23
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