2018-57 Ordinance Amending City Code Chapter 16 - Public Works

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LEGAL DEPARTMENT DATE: 10-09-2018 MEMO: 18-10 TO: Honorable Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe City Council Members FROM: Billy Tyus, (Interim) City Manager Wendy L. Morthland, Corporation Counsel John T. Robinson, Assistant Corporation Counsel SUBJECT: Amendment to City Code of Decatur Chapter 16, Public Works Department. SUMMARY RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of an amendment to City Code of Decatur Chapter 16 Public Works Department, attached. BACKGROUND: When the City is sued for the alleged failure to repair and maintain public infrastructure such as sidewalks, streets, or parking lots, the Tort Immunity Act confers immunity upon certain government employees for their performance of discretionary functions. Immunity applies where an employee holds a position that requires that he/she employ personal judgment and the tort claim at issue implicates a discretionary policy determination made by him/her. Policy determinations are assessments that require the public employee to balance competing interests, and make a judgment call as to what course of action will best serve each of those interests. Discretionary acts are those unique to the public office that involve the exercise of personal judgment and deliberation in deciding whether to perform a certain act or how the act should be conducted. Staff have programs in place for regular inspection and repair/maintenance of most City infrastructure. Additionally, staff routinely investigate complaints of alleged infrastructure defects, including obtaining from the complainant the precise mechanism of injury, whether the complainant was a permitted and intended user of the infrastructure, witnesses, weather conditions, whether the alleged defect was visible to the complainant, and the nature and objective features of the alleged defect. Where objective analysis indicates unreasonable danger to the public, the alleged defect is typically promptly repaired or mitigated. However, in addition to the above, best practices include designating a high- ranking official who is authorized to formulate responses to alleged defects in his/her discretion, (including in the absence of a citizen complaint), as part of the City's regular inspection and repair/maintenance efforts. This discretion should include using his/her best judgment to determine which of competing maintenance needs (ranked by degree