City Council - Ordinance Committee

City of Chicopee City Council Ordinance Committee Members James Tillotson, Chair Fred Krampits, Vice Chair Frank Laflamme Gary Labrie Jerry Roy APPROVED 6-11-19 MINUTES May 14, 2019 The following are the minutes of a public hearing held Tuesday, May 14, 2019, at 6:30 PM in the City Council Chambers, Fourth Floor, City Hall Annex, 274 Front Street, Chicopee, MA 01013. Members Present: Tillotson, Krampits, Laflamme, Labrie Not Present: Roy Also Present: Dan Garvey (Associate City Solicitor), Councilor Zygarowski, Elizabette Botelho (DPW Superintendent), Councilor Courchesne, Lee Pouliot (Planning Director) The meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM. In compliance with the open meeting laws the Chairman asked if anyone in the audience was recording the meeting. Hearing none the meeting continued. ITEM #1 Chapter 7 Ordinance Revisions for the following positions OPEE Positions Camp Director $17.50 Assistant Camp Director $16.00 Specialist $15.00 Senior Counselor $13.75 Junior Counselor $12.75 Leader of Recreation/Art $15.00 Assistant Recreation Leader $12.75 Aquatics Director $17.50 Head Lifeguard $15.00 Lifeguard Instructor $15.00 Youth Baseball/Softball $25.00 Umpire11-12 / 5 & 6 $30.00 13-14 / 7 & 8 $35.00 Councilor Laflamme motion to approve – Councilor Labrie 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable 1   Councilor Krampits motion to postpone Items 2 – 6 until the end of the meeting – Councilor Laflamme 2nd the motion – motion passed  Councilor Krampits motion to put Items 2 – 6 back on the table – Councilor Tillotson 2nd the motion – motion passed ITEM #2 Striking From Chicopee/Forest – Stop #6442 – 703 Chicopee Street – BUS STOP Paul Burns stated that this is one of the consolidated stops along Chicopee Street to improve efficiency. He stated it was one of your requests. Councilor Laflamme motion to approve – Councilor Tillotson 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable ITEM #3 Striking From Chicopee/Forest – Stop #6448 – 674 Chicopee Street – BUS STOP Councilor Laflamme stated that is the stop on the corner near the hydrant that we want to move. Councilor Laflamme motion to approve – Councilor Tillotson 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable ITEM #4 Striking From Chicopee/Elizabeth – Stop #548 – 585 ½ Chicopee Street – BUS STOP Paul Burns stated this is again part of the consolidation. Melissa Rowe stated the one we are asking to move is the one that is in front of Fairview Fence. Councilor Laflamme motion to approve – Councilor Tillotson 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable ITEM #5 Striking From Chicopee/Grattan – Stop #583 – 583 Chicopee Street – BUS STOP Councilor Laflamme stated we requested this one because it was a safety issue for the Fire Department. He stated it was moved over near Chapin School. Councilor Laflamme motion to approve – Councilor Tillotson 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable ITEM #6 Chicopee/Walter – Stop #6442 – 627 Chicopee Street – BUS STOP Councilor Laflamme asked why some bus stops are on rims and how many are there. Melissa Rowe stated that she doesn’t now the number of bus stops on rims. She stated that in the winter months we are waiting permanent locations. She stated that they may have done a dig safe and there may be issues underneath and we are unable to do it, so we need a permanent solution. Councilor Laflamme motion to approve – Councilor Tillotson 2nd the motion – motion passed 2 Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable ITEM #7 Delete the following Chapter 16-45 C The commission shall have the duty to oversee the municipal construction project and shall elect a bills committee, which members shall review all incoming bills and vouchers and recommend approval for payment to the full commission. An affirmative vote of nine members of the commission shall be required for approval of the bills and at least four members must sign the bill, which will then be presented to the City Auditor. And insert in place thereof the following: The commission shall have the duty to oversee the municipal construction project and shall elect a bills committee, which members shall review all incoming bills and vouchers and recommend approval for payment to the full commission. An affirmative vote of four members of the commission shall be required for approval of the bills and at least three members must sign the bill, which will then be presented to the City Auditor. Councilor Tillotson stated we are just reducing the numbers from seventeen to nine members to sign the bills. Councilor Laflamme stated that nobody wants to serve on the commissions anymore and to get that many people to come and do the sign off. He stated he agrees with the reduction. Councilor Laflamme motion to approve as amended – Councilor Labrie 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable ITEM #8 Insert Chapter 260-32 as follows: Chapter 260-32: Municipal Parking areas: “Exhibit A” §260-32. Municipal Parking Areas A. Classes. Municipal owned and/or controlled parking areas shall be divided into five classes known as follows: (1) Public Parking. In public parking designated parking areas, only members of the general public having business within the adjacent or nearby municipal building are to use public parking areas except in emergency situations. (2) Staff Parking. In staff parking designated parking areas, only those person(s) whose name or department is designated upon the space provided may park in the staff parking areas. (3) Employee Parking. In employee parking designated parking areas, only those employees of the city having offices of business within the adjacent or nearby municipal building are to use the employee parking area. (4) No Parking-Tow Away Parking. No person may park a motor vehicle those areas designated as no parking-tow away. Any motor vehicle parked in a no parking –tow away designated area shall be towed from such no parking tow area at the expense of the owner of such motor vehicle. 3  (5) Handicapped Parking. In those parking areas designated as Handicapped Parking, only those persons with the proper handicapped credentials shall park in these designated spaces. B. Plan. The five classes defined above are depicted on a plan entitled “Municipal Parking-Chicopee Center, Chicopee Massachusetts” and dated March, 2019 or as hereinafter amended. Said plan is hereby adopted and made part of this section together with all explanatory matter thereon. Said plan may be amended by the City Council from time to time and a current copy of said plan shall be maintained on file with the Office of the City Clerk. C. Rules and Regulations. In order to facilitate the efficient administration of municipal business, the following regulations are hereby adopted relative to hereinabove defined municipally owned and/or controlled parking areas. 1. These parking regulations shall be in effect between the hours of 7:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m. on all business days of the City except that handicapped parking shall be in effect for all hours of each and every day. 2. Any vehicle parked in a no parking-two away zone, in addition to the monetary fine defined below, shall be towed and any expense incurred by the City shall be paid by the owner of said vehicle. 3. No employee of the City shall park a vehicle in an area designated as public parking . 4. A copy of the current plan shall be displayed in a conspicuous manner within the adjacent or nearby municipal building(s) D. Violations and Penalties:: In addition to the vehicle being towed as detailed above, the following fines shall be imposed: 1. First offense: Written warning 2. Second offense: $100.00 fine 3. Third offense: $250.00 fine 4. Fourth or subsequent offense: $300.00 fine The City of Chicopee Police Department or their designee shall enforce this ordinance. As Amended §260-32. Municipal Parking Areas A. Classes. Municipal owned and/or controlled parking areas shall be divided into five classes known as follows: 1. Public Parking. In public parking designated parking areas, only members of the general public having business within the adjacent or nearby municipal building are to use public parking areas except in emergency situations. 4  2. Staff Parking. In staff parking designated parking areas, only those person(s) whose name or department is designated upon the space provided may park in the staff parking areas. 3. Employee Parking. In employee parking designated parking areas, only those employees of the city having offices or business within the adjacent or nearby municipal building are to use the employee parking area. 4. No Parking-Tow Away Parking. No person may park a motor vehicle in those areas designated as no parking-tow away. Any motor vehicle parked in a no parking tow away designated area shall be towed from such no parking tow area at the expense of the owner of such motor vehicle. 5. Handicapped Parking. In those parking areas designated as Handicapped Parking, only those persons with the proper handicapped credentials shall park in these designated spaces. B. Plan. The five classes defined above are depicted on a plan entitled “Municipal Parking-Chicopee Center, Chicopee Massachusetts” and dated March, 2019 or as hereinafter amended. Said plan is hereby adopted and made part of this section together with all explanatory matter thereon. Said plan may be amended by the City Council from time to time and a current copy of said plan shall be maintained on file with the Office of the City Clerk. C. Rules and Regulations. In order to facilitate the efficient administration of municipal business, the following regulations are hereby adopted relative to hereinabove defined municipally owned and/or controlled parking areas. 1. These parking regulations shall be in effect between the hours of 7:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m. on all business days of the City except that handicapped parking shall be in effect for all hours of each and every day. 2. Any vehicle parked in a no parking-two away zone, in addition to the monetary fine defined below, shall be towed and any expense incurred by the City shall be paid by the owner of said vehicle. 3. No employee of the City shall park a vehicle in an area designated as public parking. 4. A copy of the current plan shall be displayed in a conspicuous manner within the adjacent or nearby municipal building(s) D. Violations and Penalties:: In addition to the vehicle being towed as detailed above, the following fines shall be imposed: 1. First offense: Written warning 5  2. Second offense: $ 20.00 fine 3. Third offense: $ 50.00 fine 4. Fourth or subsequent offense: $100.00 fine The City of Chicopee Police Department or their designee shall enforce this ordinance. Attorney Garvey stated he created this ordinance just so we could have classifications of parking in all the municipal lots. He stated we have public parking with designated spots, parking spots designated for that particular employee or department. He stated that there would also be no parking tow away zones and the fifth would be handicap parking. He stated that Lee Pouliot has put together a plan that basically says these are the municipal lots that we’ve identified as public, staff or employee parking, no parking or handicap parking or a combination of those. He stated that when you adopt a plan, that would become part of the ordinance. He stated that the ordinance doesn’t change periodically but the plan sure would. He stated that customer parking only; we are going to change that to public parking just to make it consistent with our ordinance. Councilor Laflamme asked how long is this whole plan in place. Attorney Garvey stated that the ordinance will stay forever the plan will change periodically. Councilor Laflamme stated that he’s willing to give up one City Council parking spot now and eventually when you get it all done back to our two parking spaces. Lee Pouliot stated that this is to get us through the reality that the annex parking lot is partially closed and may be completely closed when the scaffolding goes up. He stated that if we move forward with the acquisition for the house behind City Hall 288 Front Street and we move forward with the plans to construct a new municipal lot there. He stated that we will have to do a new plan that lays out the structure of the parking there. He stated that this was an attempt to keep everybody having parking who needs to be in the building during the day without causing a huge amount of chaos and impacting downtown business’s, so yes this is temporary. Councilor Laflamme asked what is the determination for handicap is it by capacity or occupancy. Lee Pouliot stated it’s a formula so it’s one space for every twenty five parking spaces. He stated that we have three employees in City Hall that have handicap placards and if we went by the original account that would of left us with one space for a guest at City Hall. He stated that’s why we have six on the plan. He stated that when we redesign the plan we will overdue the formula to have more handicap spaces than we need. Lee Pouliot wanted to be clear that the vehicles in the reserved Front Street City Hall parking lot are not the Department heads personal vehicles; they are the city labeled vehicles for the Assessors, Mayor and Messenger. Councilor Laflamme stated that the City Council needs to stop in the office from time to time we need at least one parking space. Lee Pouliot stated that he designated a spot in the City Hall Annex parking lot for the City Council. 6 Lee Pouliot stated that we are not labeling anyone at City Hall. Everyone in City Hall has a parking pass and if you don’t have that parking pass in your car that’s how you are going to get ticketed or towed. He stated that what he needs to do is give all the City Councilors a pass. He stated that as soon as the ordinance is passed than we can make up the specific signs that we need. Councilor Laflamme asked to have a security camera for the parking on Springfield Street it’s a safety issue for our employees. Lee Pouliot has heard from many people in City Hall that they feel uncomfortable walking from that lot to City Hall. He stated that if we want to get rid of that behavior up there then the Police have to be out there and monitor the situation. He stated he will check with the IT Department to see what can be done with the cameras. He stated that he parks up there and see’s the trouble makers as well. He stated we need the Police to be a presence there and deter that kind of activity. Lee Pouliot stated that there are twenty one parking spaces in the lot and we reserved eleven of them for staff and nine will stay public because we do know that this lot gets used by the Munich Haus every day. Lee Pouliot stated that the parking across from City Hall is illegal by today’s standards. He stated that backing out on Front Street is dangerous. He stated long term we are going to curb it so that the sidewalk just continues down and becomes part of that little green space there versus as being parking. He stated that Front Street is a major corridor. Councilor Laflamme stated that he hopes in moving forward that you will look into cameras for public safety. Councilor Krampits motion to approve with the changes and modified plan – Councilor Tillotson 2nd the motion – motion approved Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable  Councilor Krampits motion to take Items 9-15 out of order – Councilor Labrie 2nd the motion – motion passed ITEM #9 Park Street – Both sides – Between pole #8 and pole #9 – PARKING PROHIBITED BETWEEN SIGNS Public Input Antonio Conchinha 5 Mc Keag Avenue was present he stated that he owns 63, 65, 74, 68 School Street 5, 8, 7, 9 Mc Keag Street. He stated that ten years ago the City decided not to come down the street anymore because they couldn’t make the turn. He stated that the other Landlords tenants are bringing their trash to the front which is both of my houses. He stated he has been recording it for three months and has spent two hundred and eleven dollars on trash bags. He stated that the barrels are not shut and the stuff overflowing is left on the side. He stated that he has noticed a lot of increase on couches, refrigerators and stoves. He stated that this is not my tenants trash but people who live on Mc Keag Avenue. He stated that it became apparent to him that he is responsible for removeing the trash. He stated that the trash containers are small and any overflow gets put in front of my house. He stated that he has a dumpster for his tenants and now he’s overfilling it with other resident’s trash. He stated that he spoke to Councilor Brooks and met him at the location at the same time an ambulance was coming down the street and could not turn to get into Mc Keag Avenue. He stated that it took an extra three minutes to find a parking spot and walk half way down the street to help whoever was in need. He stated that Mc Keag Avenue is a little street that goes down the side of Collegian 7 Court. He stated that he originally plowed the street but he does not have anywhere to put the snow because the new owner in the front won’t allow me to push it straight out into his property and I have nowhere in the back to put it. He stated Councilor Brooks said we should think about safety. He stated that Park Street is so narrow and it would be more beneficial if they did parking on both sides of the street. He stated that because it’s not a City street the Police won’t ticket anybody so everyone’s right on top of each other with the parking ordinance. This would give enough space to make the turn into the street. Councilor Tillotson stated that you can control who comes on the street and post no trespassing signs. Antonio Conchinha stated that he can’t’ control who comes on the street. Councilor Tillotson stated to call the Police if they violate the signs. Councilor Courchesne stated that you can call a tow truck and have them towed. Antonio Conchinha stated that when the other part of the street is emptying out trash to the front of my house it becomes a health hazard to everyone who lives there. Councilor Tillotson stated it’s a difficult situation. Antonio Conchinha stated that he has legal rights to close the street off. He asked if he could do this and the city would have no problem with that. Elizabette Botelho stated it’s not a street it’s a private way and you own it up until a certain point. Antonio Conchinha stated that the city sent letters to the other Landlords but in March I myself removed two couches and a refrigerator and a couple bureaus. Councilor Tillotson stated that Councilor Brooks told him this was a reasonable request for the parking and safety issues. Councilor Laflamme motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable ITEM #10 Striking From Call Street – Both sides – from the intersection of Skeele Street and Call Street to Nash Park – PARKING PROHIBITED Councilor Laflamme motion to approve – Councilor Tillotson 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable ITEM #11 Call Street – Even side – From Skeele Street to Nash Park – PARKING PROHIBITED Councilor Laflamme motion to approve – Councilor Tillotson 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable 8 ITEM #12 Perrault Street – From Chicopee Street for a distance of 96’ to the parking lot entrance – PARKING PROHIBITED HERE TO CORNER Councilor Courchesne stated that there is an existing sign with sixty feet where there is no ordinance attached to it. He stated that we need to make that sign legal by moving it to the end. Councilor Laflamme motion to approve – Councilor Tillotson 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable ITEM #13 Montgomery Street – West side – For a distance of 25 feet after the intersection of Fitzpatrick Lane – PARKING PROHIBITED Councilor Labrie stated this is across from Montgomery School. He stated that there are elderly residents that cannot see as the kids are coming and going out of school. He stated that they are parking right up to the corner and there are bushes obstructing the view. He stated that it’s a very narrow street and the people have been asking for this for a couple of years. Councilor Laflamme motion to approve – Councilor Tillotson 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable ITEM #14 90 Bonner Street – HANDICAP PARKING Elizabette Botelho stated that she recommends approval to move the sign. She stated that the gentleman is on a respirator and the existing handicap sign is a couple of houses down. Councilor Tillotson stated that the Landlord wouldn’t let him park in the driveway and he’s trying to get closer to the building. Councilor Laflamme motion to approve – Councilor Krampits 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable ITEM #15 Councilor Laflamme motion to approve the minutes of April 9, 2019 – Councilor Tillotson 2nd the motion – motion passed Meeting adjourned at 7:45 pm 9