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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20110914minutesMINUTES TRANSPORTATION AND TRAFFIC COMMISSION September 14, 2011 July 2011 - June 2012 Commission Members Present Attendance Ron Fitzwater 1 of 2 Michael Hughes 2 of 2 Kevin Kelly 2 of 2 Rick Prather* 2 of 2 Ernest Raub 2 of 2 Bill Washburn 2 of 2 Commission Members Not Present Jeff Ahlers 1 of 2 Barbara Germann 1 of 2 Mikeal Louraine 1 of 2 Commission Liaisons Present Councilman Rich Koon Sgt. Doug Ruediger, JCPD Staff Members Present Britt Smith, Division Director for Streets/Parking Drew Hilpert, Law Dept. *arrived at 8:37 Todd Logan, Street Division Angie Haslag, PW Admin.Technician Guests Dennis Morrisey, Helen Rigdon, Donald Heidbreder, Warren “Todd” Carlton, Craig Rehagen, Madeleine Leroux, Jim Crabtree, Lance Stegeman, Bruce Connor, Mike Winter, Jay Jordan, LeeAnn Stribling, Mike Lodeweger, Jim Wisch, Mark Mehmert, Sheila Ponder, Carrie Carroll The meeting was called to order b y Vice Chairman Hughes at 8:00 a.m. A quorum was present at this time. 1. Introductions No formal introductions were made. 2. Acceptance of the August 10, 2011 meeting minutes A motion was made by Mr. Washburn to approve the August 10, 2011 minutes as written, seconded by Mr. Prather. All in favor, minutes approved as written. 3. New Business a) Request to install additional electronic signage in the middle of school zones to denote when the school zone is in effect. Mr. Smith gave a staff report. He noted a review of school zone signage was done in 2009 and was found the current signage meets code. Staff supports leaving the signage as is. Mr. Morrissey spoke on his request. He mentioned he would like to see some sort of flashing light in the middle of zone to warn those who live and pull out into the school zone in between the current flashing beacons. A group discussion among the members and staff took place. A motion was made by Mr. Prather to install additional electric signs in the middle of the school zone, 2 Transportation and Traffic Commission September 14, 2011 seconded by Mr. Raub. The motion failed by a vote of four to two with the following vote; Aye: Mr. Washburn and Mr. Fitzwater Nay: Mr. Prather, Mr. Raub, Mr. Kelly and Mr. Hughes b) Request for No Thru truck traffic signs on St. Mary’s Boulevard from Beck St. to Deleware St. Mr. Smith gave a staff report. He informed the commission that St. Mary’s Boulevard is almost exclusively residential. He explained to the commission that the requestor; Mr. Minihan could not be present and that his concerns are more for the auto parts stores. His new request is for no thru commercial vehicle traffic. Staff would not oppose nor support the request at this time. Group discussion among members took place. Sgt. Ruediger noted that the streets are narrow and doesn’t believe doing commercial would be feasible. Mr. Raub clarified that the request would only prohibit thru traffic but would not affect the local businesses who would still be able to pass through. A motion was made by Mr. Raub to approve the request to post signs for prohibiting no thru truck traffic as requested on St. Mary’s Boulevard from Deleware St. to Beck St., seconded by Mr. Kelly. The motion failed due to lack of majority with a tie vote as follows; Aye: Mr. Raub, Mr. Fitzwater and Mr. Hughes Nay: Mr. Prather, Mr. Washburn and Mr. Kelly c) Request for restriction of large truck traffic on Algoa Road between Tomahawk and N. Shamrock Road. Mr. Smith gave a staff report. He noted this area has industrial and commercial uses and the roadway was rebuilt and designed for this type of truck traffic. Staff recommends against the request at this time. A brief group discussion among the members took place. Mr. Wisch spoke on the request and noted when the area was annexed the road was put in to assist Scholastic’s truck traffic. He also spoke of concern for the traffic moving very fast and would like to see anything done to help slow it down. This issue died for lack of a motion. d) Request to enact a two hour limited time parking on the north and south sides of E. Miller St. between Monroe and Madison St. Mr. Smith gave a staff report. Staff sees a need to convert spaces back to two hour parking and proposes the north side be converted to two hour and leave the south side with the current no limited time parking. A letter was mailed to property owners in the area informing them of the request. One correspondence letter in opposition was received and in the file from Double Tree Hotel. Mr. Connor spoke on the request. He noted the need for the timed parking due to many vehicles parking all day and customers of the music store have a hard time finding parking spaces near the business. After a brief discussion among the commission members, a motion was made. A motion was made by Mr. Kelly to accept staff’s recommendation to enact a two hour parking time limit on the north side of Miller Street, between Monroe and Madison St., seconded by Mr. Prather. All in favor, motion carries. This will go before the City Council. e) Request to designate the driveway fronting Capital Music as a 30 minute loading zone. Mr. Smith gave the staff report noting that staff would support a 15 minute loading zone as opposed to the requested 30 minute zone. With very little discussion a motion was made by Mr. Fitzwater to designate the driveway as a 15 minute loading zone, seconded by Mr. Washburn. All in favor, motion carries. This will go before the City Council. f) Request to remove parking on one side of the street on Shawn Drive. Mr. Smith gave a staff report. He informed the members that this is an older area of town. He noted that there were four anonymous requests made with concerns for parking on both sides of the street, speeding and of vehicles remaining to be parked along the street. A speed study was done in the area and was found the 85 percentile speed to be 35mph or below. A letter was mailed to all property owners along Shawn Drive 3 Transportation and Traffic Commission September 14, 2011 informing them of the request. Numerous correspondence letters were received and placed in the file. Staff would oppose the request due to little support of the request from residents. Residents present were given a brief moment to speak on their concerns. The following residents spoke on the request: Mr. Rehagen, Mr. Carleton, and Ms. Ponder. Most of their concerns were for speeding and the safety of children. Safety concerns of parking on both sides was also brought up noting the problem with two vehicles being able to pass at the same time and of near head on collisions. After a brief discussion among commission members, a motion was made by Mr. Kelly to approve the request to remove parking on one side of Shawn Drive, seconded by Mr. Prather. All opposed, motion fails. g) Request to enact a Commercial Loading Zone on the west side of the 300 block of Broadway Street. Britt gave a brief staff report. He informed the commission members this space used to be a bus stop that was removed and would like to now make this space a loading zone. With no discussion, a motion was made by Mr. Prather to accept staff’s recommendation, seconded by Mr. Raub. All in favor, motion carries. This will go before City Council. *Mr. Prather left the meeting at 9:00 a.m. 4. Old Business a) Request to designate a downtown resident parking program. Mr. Smith gave a staff report. A letter was mailed to property owners in the downtown area concerning this issue, as well as the Downtown Association. Correspondence received has been placed in the file. Copies of a draft ordinance were handed out to those present on issue. Mr. Smith noted that the program has been a success so far. Staff would like to bring this to the next step and present it to the Public Works & Planning Committee and then to City Council. It is proposed in the draft ordinance the cost for parking remain free for the remainder of this fiscal year and next fiscal year, and beginning in the third fiscal year there would be a $20.00 fee. The name proposed is Downtown Residential Parking Incentive. Those present on the issue were given a brief moment to speak of their concerns. Those who spoke were: Ms. Carroll, Mr. Stegeman, Mr. Lodeweger, Mr. Wisch, Mr. Jordan, Ms. Rigdon, Mr. Mehmert, and Ms. Stribling. Concerns were mentioned of allowing time to establish the downtown apartments before implementing a fee for parking for the downtown tenants, would like to see a study of usage done before a fee is incurred, and allowing more permits to be issued to those tenants who have multiple bedrooms rented in one unit. Group discussion among members occurred. Mr. Hilpert noted there is a need to make this parking arrangement legal through ordinance whether there is a fee or no fee. It was noted again that this is a draft ordinance and that it will be presented to the Public Works & Planning Committee should the commission choose to move this forward. A motion was made by Mr. Raub to adopt of recommend approval of the draft as proposed by staff with the exception of: 1. No fee for the next five years and then expire at that time of November 1, 2016; 2. Clarify that unmetered spaces (Sec.22-266) to mean beyond the posted time for said space; and 3. To expand the boundaries to include the 100 and 200 blocks of Madison and the 300 block of Monroe, seconded by Mr. Washburn. The motion passes with the following vote: Aye: Mr. Raub, Mr. Washburn and Mr. Hughes Nay: Mr. Fitzwater and Mr. Kelly This item will go before the Public Works & Planning Committee, as modified stated in the motion. 5. Other Business No other business 6. Adjournment A motion was made by Mr. Fitzwater to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Washburn. The meeting was adjourned at 9:43 a.m.