Common Council’s February meeting will be on Wednesday, February 3rd at 6pm in Common Council Chambers on City Hall’s 3rd floor. The major items on the agenda are:
- Resolution for the J. Diann Sams Annual African-American History Month Recognition Award. I’ll let the Ithaca Times summarize: “In 2004, the City of Ithaca established a tradition of honoring a leader whose accomplishments highlight the positive impacts African American residents have in the Ithaca community. The first recipient was Alderperson J. Diann Sams in 2004, the first African American woman to serve on Council. The award was renamed after her passing in 2007 to honor and celebrate her service to the city.” Read about the award’s winners in 2015, 2014, and 2013.
- Items from the January City Administration Committee meeting:
- The “Officer Next Door Program” – This would allow property owners to give a discount of 50% or more on rent to eligible police officers (eligibility factors might include “relevant experience and community policing ability” among other things) who are interested in living in certain areas of the city. The program areas currently include West Village and Chestnut Hill Apartments but may be expanded. The thinking behind this is that encouraging police officers to live in the neighborhood would help reduce crime and increase community policing.
- Funding for affordable housing – Authorizing expenditures of $80,000 to a Habitat for Humanity project on Morris Ave (a small street between 3rd and 4th Streets) and $85,000 to Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services for-sale housing at 210 Hancock St. and 304 Hector Street.
- Items from the January Planning and Economic Development Committee meeting (copying and pasting some items from Seph’s earlier post):
- Changes to Commons Ordinance – we’re making some non-substantive tweaks to the Commons rules that we passed last year. See agenda for more info.
- Changes to Exterior Property Maintenance Ordinance – The Exterior Property Maintenance Ordinance (or “EPMO” in City Hall parlance) requires that city properties meet certain standards: no overgrown lawns, no discarded trash in the front yard, no snow-impeded sidewalks, no bags of garbage left on porches, etc. We’re proposing to reduce the fines and improve the notification system. Details here.
- Changes to Taxicab Ordinance – another one that’s been in the works for a while. Our current rate structure for taxicab fares is complicated and confusing. This legislation would establish a standard fare within city limits and also provide set fares for destinations outside city limits, like the hospital and the airport. See the agenda for more info.
- Local labor reporting requirement for Community Investment Incentive Tax Abatement Program (CIITAP) – At the January 13th meeting of the committee we decided we will need to continue discussion regarding extracting more community benefit from developers that get tax abatements. In the meantime, we have passed on to the full Council an amendment to the basic CIITAP (all abatement levels) to require soliciting bids from local sub-contractors and reporting where workers live. This is by no means the end of CIITAP reform. But as we spend months getting it right, this can ensure that we don’t miss out on collecting vital data.
- Discontinuation of Lake Ave and Adams Street – we’re discontinuing a public street. INHS is going to maintain it as a public thoroughfare as part of their 210 Hancock project. Requires Council action.
The full agenda can be found here. You can view a live video stream of the meeting here.