City Council’s public works committee discussed a proposed ordinance to name and rename city property, Tuesday.

The idea is to create a system whereby individuals can go to the city to name or rename streets or city property, Councilman Joel Henderson said.

Henderson, chairman, and Don Noviello and Councilwoman Bonnie Katz forwarded the proposal to council for its review.

The concept has been discussed by the Historical Preservation Committee since February, Henderson said.

He was motivated to get it wrapped up before his term ends at the end of the month. Noviello’s term also concludes soon.

“We wanted a clear process,” Henderson said.

In the draft form, the ordinance involves a strategy that includes the individuals seeking change to get a certain number of signatures on a petition. The exact number of signatures has to be determined but there were concepts of getting 50 names for an honorary name change and 100 for the permanent type.

It then goes through various government channels eventually ending with a public hearing, where people can express their approval or disapproval.

Some of the details are going to need to be worked out, Katz said.

Noviello also said he was for the idea but not for the bureaucracy that could be involved.

Henderson said, ideally, the process could take as little as two months.

The proposed ordinance covers honorary name changes for streets and permanent identity changes. It also looks at ways to protect the city in naming rights, such as a bank providing sponsorship at Bowman Field.

Noviello also said the tweaking of the ordinance might include non-profits and how those changes might affect these organizations.

One part of the proposal said the first stage would be to get the petition to the city engineer.

But Joseph Gerardi, city codes administrator, said it might be better for the codes department to receive the proposal first and then turn it over to the engineer.

Bruce Huffman, a historical investigator, said the process should be “rigorous.”