July 5, 2006 GAC Update
The full City Council will not meet again until August 7th but some Committees will meet during July.
The Ordinance Committee met last week to discuss recertification of the PTDM Ordinance and elimination of the Sunset provision. There were a few small items from the June 26 City Council meeting that I did not report on last week.
State Representative Marty Walz gave a presentation on the State’s new Health Care law at yesterday’s GAC. A full report on that discussion will be the focus of the July 12 GAC Update. A copy of her handout is available on-line at http://www.littler.com/presspublications/index.cfm?event=pubItem&pubItemID=13951&childViewID=252&type=all
Upcoming GAC Events
The 2006 Government Affairs program is sponsored by Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.
No GAC meetings until September. My plan for the first meeting of the fall, which is scheduled for Tuesday September 26th, is a discussion among those of you active in the GAC about the direction of this committee for the next couple of years. I will work on a draft agenda in the next several weeks. Please send your thoughts on this matter to me at tsmith@cambridgechamber.org
June 28, 2006 Ordinance Hearing on PTDM
The City Council’s Ordinance Committee met on Wednesday June 28 to discuss amending the Parking and Traffic Demand (PTDM) Ordinance to eliminate the “Sunset” clause in the ordinance. Under a Sunset clause the City Council is considered to recertify an ordinance by some set date for it to continue to be in effect.
I testified that in 1998 the Chamber was instrumental is developing this unique and groundbreaking regulation and viewed the Sunset clause, which originally required recertification in 2001, as an important piece of the new ordinance. In 2001 the Chamber again supported maintaining the Sunset clause, which was then set at five years, and that the Chamber continues to see the merit in the Sunset clause; if only to have a regular opportunity to discuss the implementation of this legislation..
All of the others testifying on the Sunset clause supported the City’s proposal to eliminate this part of the Ordinance. The primary reason being that this is the only Ordinance that has such a provision. I will at this point avoid opening a discussion of the value of these types of provisions and a suggestion that rather than eliminating this one Sunset provision it may make sense to add such a provision to other City ordinances.
June 26, 2006 City Council Meeting (Continued)
Last week’s report focused on passage of the Concord-Alewife petition. There were a several other interesting items including two reports from the City Manager regarding noise issues; Council orders asking the City Manager to report on the effectiveness of the newly instituted trash policy and the propriety of charging rent for parking spaces required by the zoning code; and a report from the Government Operations Committee regarding the process for the Council setting goals for Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009.
Noise Orders
The City Manager submitted a letter from the City Solicitor in response to an order regarding a report on the status of changes to the City’s Ordinance concerning the Noise Affidavit. The Solicitor states that “the City Noise Ordinance comprehensively regulates noise-related issues” and that it is inadvisable to incorporate a noise related provision in the Zoning Ordinance. The response is available at Solicitor’s Letter. Councillor Kelley exercised his Charter Right on the report so this may come up again at the August meeting.
The Manager also submitted a report regarding a request to draft a local law to ban gas and diesel powered leaf blowers and to consider whether requirements could be established to ensure that leaf blowers do not violate the City’s Noise Ordinance. The Manager submitted two alternatives. The first is a ban on gas or diesel powered leaf blowers the second is establishing limits on the use of this equipment and standards for permissible equipment. The Manager’s report includes operational impacts and costs to the City of the ban. The Manager’s report is available at City Manager Report 9. The report was referred to the Public Facilities, Art and Celebrations Committee and the Ordinance Committee.
Council Orders on Trash and Parking
The Council passed an Order asking the City Manager to report on the effectiveness of the new trash policy that went into effect in April. The request includes information on citations issued and requests a report by the August meeting. A copy of the order is available at Council Policy Order 4.
The Council also passed an order on the propriety of charging rent for parking spaces required under the Zoning code. The order suggests that charging for parking puts pressure on already limited .street parking. It should be noted that one of the PTDM measures the City often looks for is requiring payment for parking rather than free parking. A copy of the order is available at Council Policy Order 8.
Committee Report on Goal Setting Process
Several years ago the Council established a process to establish goals for the Council every two years. These goals are used to guide the Council in establishing priorities. The Council received a report on the schedule and process for the Council to set goals for the Fiscal Year 2008 and 2009. The City Fiscal Year begins on July 1 so FY 08 will begin on July 1, 2007. The Committee Report is available at Committee Report 7.
