Council Preview
Hartford City Council Meeting

Monday, May 24, 2010

Prepared by:
Hartford Public Library, and Hartford 2000

The Council meeting will begin at 7 P.M. at Hartford City Hall in Council Chambers. The next Council Meeting will be June 14, 2010 and the next public hearing will be Monday, June 21, 2010 at 7 PM.

There are 30 items on the agenda. Below is detailed information about items of special interest to residents and neighborhoods. Following those details is a listing of all agenda items, in layperson's language. The complete official agenda for the Council meeting is available online by clicking on "Council Agendas" at the following web site: http://www.hartford.gov/government/Town&CityClerk/Minutes/council_meeting_minutes.htm

ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST

New Agenda Items: The following items appear for the first time on the Council's Agenda.

Adoption of the 2010-2011 Budget as Amended – The Council will vote on a resolution adopting the Budget for the Fiscal Year 2010-2011 (which begins July 1, 2010), as amended. The Council will also vote on accompanying resolutions and ordinances including a resolution adopting the Appropriation Ordinance in accordance with the amended General Fund Budget, an ordinance concerning appropriations in the Capital Improvement Fund, and a resolution adopting the Tax Levy Ordinance in accordance with the amended Budget. The Council adopted amendments to the Mayor's Proposed Budget on May 19, 2010 and sent those amendments to the Mayor. (Segarra) (Item #1)

Determining Absence or Disability of the Mayor – The Council will vote on a resolution calling on the Council's Operations, Management, and Budget Committee as well as the Council's Legislative Committee to immediately begin to draft ordinances to address the requirement in Chapter V Section 4 of the City Charter that an ordinance be adopted that specifies a procedure for determining absence or disability of the Mayor. (Segarra) (Item #18)

Percent for the Arts – The Council will vote on an ordinance requesting that the Chief Operating Officer identify three "Percent for the Arts" projects for the current fiscal year and three more such projects for next fiscal year for consideration by the cultural affairs standing committee on public art. In 2009, the Council passed an ordinance which mandates that 1% of the budget for up to three Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) over $1 million per fiscal year be set aside for public art associated with these CIP projects. (Cotto) (Item #26)

Previously Submitted Items: The following items were previously on the Council Agenda and were included in the Council Preview/Review. They were referred to committees and/or public hearing or action was postponed by the Council. They are now on the agenda again for action.

Graffiti – The Council will consider a proposed ordinance addressing the issue of graffiti. The proposed ordinance acknowledges that graffiti removal is the responsibility of each individual property owner and that local government cannot afford to clean up every instance of graffiti. The ordinance defines graffiti and prohibits the application of graffiti and the possession of graffiti implements in public parks and facilities and within 50 feet of public infrastructure, such as bridge abutments or underpasses, holds both graffiti artists (and their parents if they are children) and property owners responsible for graffiti removal, and imposes penalties, including a fine of $100 per day, for failure to remove the graffiti. A public hearing was held on this item on March 15, 2010. (Perez) (Item #29)

LIST OF ALL AGENDA ITEMS

Item #

1. Annual City Budget. Adoption of the Fiscal Year 2010-11 City General Fund Budget, the annual Appropriation Ordinance, the Capital Improvement Program, and the Tax Levy Ordinance. (Segarra)
2. Metzner Center. Authorization for the use of two offices at the Metzner Center by the Honorary Vice Consul of Italy. (Perez)
3. Lawsuit. Request that the Council go into Executive Session to discuss Teodosia Navarro, Admx of the Estate of Luis Diaz versus the City of Hartford, et. al. (Perez)
4. Lawsuit. Request that the Council go into Executive Session to discuss Elia Cancel et al v. City of Hartford, et al. (Perez)
5. Police Bicycle. Authorization to accept the donation of a 2010 Stumpjumper bicycle from the Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance (SINA) for use by the Police Department in the Barry Square neighborhood. (Perez)
6. Neighborhood Assistance Act. Authorization for the City to submit, to the State of Connecticut for approval, a list of programs eligible for the Neighborhood Assistance Act, which allows businesses who make donations to these programs to receive a State tax credit. (Perez)
7. Sale of Property. Authorization for the City to sell a vacant lot at 559-561 Garden street to Habitat for Humanity for $7,500 for construction of a single-family home. (Perez)
8. Sale of Property. Authorization for the City to sell three adjacent vacant lots located at 427-435 and 439-443 Albany Avenue and 55-57 Brook Street to Community Health Services for $28,000 for construction of a parking lot. (Perez)
9. Waiver of Liens. Authorization of acceptance of $35,000 in payment of $47,751 in principal and interest liens on 59 Branford Street (placed as a result of public assistance to the late Annie Longstreet) to allow the property to be sold by Ms. Longstreet's estate. (Perez)
10. Graffiti. Proposed ordinance to require removal of graffiti by the person who applies it or the owner of the property on which graffiti has been applied and imposition of $100 per day fines for failure to remove the graffiti. (Perez)
11. Appointments. Appointment of one of two candidates (Lawrence Davis and Charles Harvell) to the City's Internal Audit Commission. (Segarra)
12. Commission on Cultural Affairs. Amendments to existing City ordinance governing the Commission on Cultural Affairs which would reduce the number of commissioners from 23 to 15, at least 12 of whom must be Hartford voters, including 2 students, and specifying other organizational requirements. (Cotto)
13. Appointment. Appointment of Katie E. Hanley to the Commission on Disability Issues. (Perez)
14. Appointment. Appointment of Christopher T. Bowen to the Greater Hartford Transit District. (Perez)
15. Appointment. Appointment of Mary M. Martinez to the Permanent Commission on the Status of Hartford Women. (Perez)
16. Reduction of Allocation. Reduction of the amount allocated for the Budget Fiscal Analysis Task Force from $7,500 to $4,140. (Segarra)
17. Historic Records. Authorization to apply for a grant of $9,000 from the State of Connecticut for preservation of historic records in the Town Clerk's Office. (Segarra, Cotto)
18. Implementing Ordinances. Resolution directing the Council's Legislative Affairs and Operations, Management & Budget Committees to draft ordinances necessary to implement the section of the City Charter governing the absence or disability of the Mayor. (Segarra)
19. Park Place Health Center. Resolution calling on the owners of Park Place Health Center to bargain in good faith with members of the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, and to reimburse the City of Hartford for Police overtime and other expenses connected with the job action at Park Place. (Winch)
20. Fee Waiver. Waiver of fees and street closures for "Love Wins in Hartford" to be held by the Wintonbury Church on Barbour Street on June 29, 2010. (Cotto)
21. Fee Waiver. Waiver of fees for City Day to be held by the U.S. Army in Colt Park on June 12, 2010. (Cotto)
22. Fee Waiver. Waiver of fees for "King's Chapel Day" to be held by the King's Chapel Church of God on June 19, 2010 at 400 Woodland Street. (Cotto)
23. Block Party. Approvals for a series of block parties to be sponsored by the Up or On the Rocks and Black Bear Saloon on Allyn Street and Union Place on May 21, June 18, August 20, and September 17, 2010. (Cotto)
24. Fee Waiver. Waiver of fees for "Latino Kings and Queens of Comedy" to be sponsored by Luna Productions at Riverfront Plaza on June 18, 2010. (Cotto)
25. Arts Wall. Authorization to accept the "Urban Arts Wall" being donated by Jose Camacho and the Hartford Skateboarding Task Force for installation in New Ross, County Wexford Park. (Cotto)
26. Percent for the Arts. Request to the Chief Operating Officer to identify three 2009-10 and three 2010-11 construction projects for which 1% of the project budgets are to be set aside for public art, in accordance with the Percent for the Arts Ordinance. (Cotto)
27. Budget. Amendments (to be submitted) to the budget adopted by the Court of Common Council on May 19, 2010. (Deutsch)
28. Park Place Health Center. Resolution urging the owner of Park Place Health Center to resume settlement talks with SEIU 1199 and stating that the Council stands in solidarity with the SEIU 1199 workers. (Ritter)
29. Knox Parks Foundation. Allocation of $3,000 to the Knox Parks Foundation. (Ritter)
30. Latino Studies Academy. Approval of the construction project for the Latino Studies Academy at Burns Elementary School at a cost of $700,000 and assignment of the project to the Hartford School Building Committee. (Perez)

If you have any questions about the agenda, please call Richard Frieder at the Hartford Public Library, 695-6365, or Linda Bayer at Hartford 2000, 547-1663 X21. The Council Preview/Review is a joint project of Hartford 2000 and the Hartford Public Library.