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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2019_tcwsmin1021Council Work Session October 21, 2019 Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:00 p.m. Mayor Kelly Burk presiding. Council Members Present: Ron Campbell, Thomas Dunn (arrived at 7:02 p.m.), Suzanne Fox, Vice Mayor Martinez, Neil Steinberg, Joshua Thiel, and Mayor Kelly Burk Council Members Absent: None. Staff Present: Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Town Attorney Barbara Notar, Finance and Administrative Services Director Clark Case, Director of Public Works & Capital Projects Renee LaFollette, Information Technology Director Jakub Jedrzejczak, Leesburg Police Chief Greg Brown, Information Technology Deputy Director John Callahan, Deputy Chief of Police Vanessa Grigsby, Management and Budget Officer Jason Cournoyer, Transportation Engineer Calvin Grow, Acting Lieutenant TJ Moore, Master Police Officer Robert Hall, Police Officer III Wayne Gray, Police Officer II Nazeem Hachwi, Police Officer II Michael DaRin, Communications Technician Supervisor Cindy Cain, Communications Technician Supervisor Blake Costello, Communications Technician III Lacy Williams, Communications Technician I Mercy Andrade, and Clerk of Council Eileen Boeing. Minutes prepared by Executive Associate Corina Alvarez. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Electronic Participation for Council Member Steinberg MOTION 2019-195 On a motion by Vice Mayor Martinez, seconded by Council Member Thiel, the following was proposed: To allow Council Member Steinberg to electronically participate in the October 21, 2019, Council Meeting. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Campbell, Dunn, Fox, Vice Mayor Martinez, Thiel, and Mayor Burk Nay: None Vote: 5-0-1-1 (Steinberg abstain and Dunn absent) 2. Items for Discussion a. Emergency Communications Center Mr. Dentler provided an overview on the Emergency Communications Center and provided Council with staffs recommendations. Council Member Thiel asked if the upgrade of the Call Handling Equipment (CHE) also includes radios and the equipment inside the vehicles. Chief Brown clarified that this is only for the equipment and software to receive the ANI/ALI information and all of the other equipment will remain the same. Mr. Thiel asked about compatibility issues. Chief Brown indicated 11Page Council Work Session October 21, 2019 that he is unaware of any issues. Council Member Thiel asked what other items will need to be upgraded in the future. Chief Brown explained that the CHE will immediately address the issues identified by Federal Engineering, such as: • Processing calls • Receiving location information, and • Receiving phone numbers Chief Brown stated that this upgrade needs to be done as soon as possible. He added that as far as the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and the Records Management System (RMS) the Town is currently three upgrades behind, so these systems need to be updated in order to do business more efficiently and effectively. Mr. Thiel asked if there is an annual software maintenance fee. Mr. Jason Malloy, Communications Consultant at Mark 43, explained that there is an annual maintenance cost on the CHE of approximately $101K. Mr. Malloy indicated that there is a potential option to utilize part of the County's system and if that occurs then the cost will drop significantly. Council Member Thiel asked if the maintenance fee includes upgrades. Mr. Malloy explained that typically, in the public sector and depending on the vendor, they will or will not provide upgrades. He added that in the public safety space the customer will receive small upgrades in the way of patches and bug fixes, but moving towards a significant upgrade will have associated costs and also hardware costs. Mr. Thiel suggested that it might be necessary for Town staff to look into what the maintenance cost is actually paying for if it does not include the upgrade. Mr. Malloy clarified that normally public safety systems provide 24/7 support in case of any system issue and it usually is not related to version upgrades. Council Member Thiel asked if staff has looked into any state grants to help fund this system. Mr. Malloy stated that as far as state grants are concerned the 911 grant program that is currently in existence is only for upgrading CHE to next generation 911 equipment, however the caveat to that is that the state is only doing that for primary PSAPs; secondary PSAPs across the state must absorb the cost on their own. Mr. Thiel asked if records management is hosted on Town property. Mr. Jedrzejczak responded affirmatively. Council Member Thiel asked if there will be a need for server upgrades. Mr. Jedrzejczak indicated that staff is analyzing several options and they will be presented at a future discussion. Mr. Thiel asked if a Cloud option has been considered for records management. Mr. Jedrzejczak indicated that more than nine options were analyzed and staff has come up with a limited list and the focus is mainly on the upgrade. Council Member Thiel said he is in support of upgrading as soon as possible because this is a public safety issue and the Town has to give the Leesburg Police Department (LPD) all the tools it needs so it can do its job. Council Member Fox asked for a breakdown of the annual maintenance cost of $200K for the CHE, CAD, and the RMS. Mr. Jedrzejczak explained that the CHE has separate maintenance costs; the initial cost is $450K and the annual maintenance cost is $99,100 and the CAD system has an initial cost of $520K and a recurring cost of $101K. Ms. Fox 2IPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 stated that want she wants is a breakdown of the costs. Mr. Jedrzejczak said he has the breakdown but is not prepared to provide it at this meeting. Council Member Fox asked for the amount in the Unassigned Fund Balance. Mr. Case indicated that he does not have that information with him but that he will get it for her. Ms. Fox stated that she also supports the upgrades to the CHE system because it is a matter of public safety. Council Member Campbell said that most of his questions will also be financial because one thing is to have a vision of what the Town would like to do and what is the best practice but it is another thing to fund it ongoing since there could be trouble. Mr. Campbell stated that the Town does not have an unlimited Unassigned Fund Balance and one cannot really predict from year to year what it is going to be. He asked if the strategy was to fund this every year from the Unassigned Fund Balance and dip into the 20% or is it to raise taxes because the money has to come from somewhere. Council Member Campbell said that it is one thing to be supportive of the direction but quite honestly Council is the one that has to tax residents to make it happen and to pay for it. Mr. Campbell indicated that Council gets extremely stingy when raising taxes or making cuts and as the Town grows Chief Brown will be back requesting more officers because there will be more area to cover. Council Member Campbell said that this is a priority and he would like to know if the Town can afford it and if every year it will come out of the Unassigned Fund Balance. Mr. Dentler explained that there was a Capital Improvements Project to upgrade the system and staff has been preparing for this since the Chief Brown identified it. Council Member Campbell asked if he was talking about the hardware cost. Mr. Dentler responded affirmatively. Mr. Campbell stated that it is not the ongoing cost. Mr. Dentler confirmed he was correct. Mr. Dentler indicated that staff is now having more philosophical discussions and policy direction discussions of what is the preference and part of that is getting feedback on what is important to Council and what the cost is going to be. Mr. Dentler added that once this information is gathered then staff can plan for it but certainly the Town does not have money just sitting around that it can draw from. Council Member Campbell stated that it is hard to draw the policy just on a policy and that it makes sense, as it has been discussed before, for the Town to handle its own and there have been philosophical discussions about whether or not this should be a County responsibility or a Town responsibility. Mr. Campbell said there have been philosophical talks about how the Town does not have an agreement for the services it has, and this is not the only area, and all of a sudden the County decides a direction and then it forces the Town to take a look at what it should have taken a look at years ago. Council Member Campbell said that all of these financial impacts are going to hit the Town over the next couple of years and at some point the Town is going to have to dig in deep and ask how they will be funded. Mr. Campbell said that philosophically, and that he knows that nobody disagrees, that the public safety of the residents is primary and all the information needs to be upgraded, technology needs to be bought and supported and someone has to pay for it. Council Member Campbell said that policy notwithstanding, 3IPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 after policy is finished and cannot be afforded, it sounds like and it looks like the Town is not supporting its own policy. Mr. Campbell said he cautions staff to not go down that road and stated that it has to go side by side. He added that if all the Town can afford is the CHE upgrade then that may be the stopping point and then one must evaluate how to get to point two. Council Member Campbell mentioned that this has to become part of the budget discussion because this is going to require more time as Council looks at all the other demands that staff will place before Council and figure out how to prioritize and how to pay for it. Mr. Dentler said that getting a preferred direction from Council on what it wants will allow staff to prepare the budget accordingly and look at the options, what can be done, and what can be afforded. He added that Council can make that decision in the budget process. Mr. Campbell asked if all can agree that this is also going to be a financial decision. Mr. Dentler responded that there is no question that there is a financial aspect and that is why it is very clearly shown that if the Town accepts the County's offer, the Town will save $1.6M annually. Mr. Dentler said it is Council's decision to go with the County's offer and save that money and be able to use it for other needs that will come to the Town, whether for the Police Department or other things or does the Town maintain its system and invest in it. Mr. Dentler said that staffs job is to provide Council with as much information on financials and everything else so that Council can make the best educated decision. Council Member Campbell said he is only highlighting this because it really is that simple and for the most part he agrees that the Town should maintain as much control as possible. Mr. Campbell asked if Leesburg is the only town that has its own police department in the County and are the others on the County call system. Mr. Dentler indicated that the County provides dispatch service to Middleburg and Purcellville. Mr. Dentler said that the Town has always been on its own since 1997 and it was because Council decided then to have a police station that was open 24/7, 365 days a year. Mr. Dentler said that this is why the Town has committed itself to having its own dispatch system versus the model that Purcellville and Middleburg have. Council Member Campbell reiterated that this is where Council needs help and solutions and not just a Council decision on a direction. He added that the financial solutions have to come from staff and Council can then vote if it agrees or it wants to do certain things and those certain things that can be done are the numbers and the choices that Council needs to make this investment. Mr. Dentler stated that staff will certainly provide the options to Council. Council Member Dunn asked if the $450K and the reoccurring $99K will be needed over the next two years to get to option #2. Mr. Dentler explained that the $450K is needed now regardless of what direction Council ultimately decides because even if Council decides to consolidate with the County it would take the County over two years to get ready and the Town should not take that long to do the upgrade. Mr. Dunn asked if the $99K and the $101K are the same items and if not, how different are they. Mr. Case said that the $99K is for the equipment maintenance and software of the CHE at 4IPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 the police station which allows it to receive the calls from the County and get all the automated information. Mr. Case said that this is the piece that staff is recommending to Council. He clarified that the $101K is the cost for annual maintenance for the upgraded CAD and RMS. Mr. Case stated that the CAD is the system that manages the calls, dispatches the calls, and keeps track of the calls and reports how many calls went to a particular neighborhood or house. He added that the RMS is how the police manages and reports on the crime. Council Member Dunn asked for clarification on the recurring cost if Council should go with Decision Point #2 Option 1 (Town Maintains Emergency Communication Center and Upgrades CAD/RMS to New Version of Existing Software). Mr. Cournoyer said that the Town has already paid the recurring cost for the RMS and CAD. He added that the $99K is absolutely incremental and it is a new CHE that requires that reoccurring maintenance. Mr. Cournoyer said that the majority is for the Emergency Services Internet Protocol Network (ESlnet) costs and it is eluded if the Town partners with the County. He said that currently this is costing the Town $165K a year for the current platform which will then be reduced to $101K and it is a new platform with less routine maintenance. Mr. Dunn asked for confirmation that the $99K would be a recurring cost only for the first two years and if the Town has its own system the cost would be ongoing in addition to a reduction from $165K to $101K. Mr. Case confirmed affirmatively. Council Member Dunn asked if the County would need a person for person force to man a new center or to up staff the new center in order to handle the Town's needs. Mr. Malloy said there are some specific formulas that go into calculating staffing that is beyond his purview because he does not have information for the County but he added that for the most part, at a national level, the majority of PSAPs are understaffed. Mr. Malloy said that it is quite possible, if the County was to absorb the Town of Leesburg operation, that they could potentially absorb those 13 employees and still need to hire more to provide the adequate coverage. Mr. Dunn said that there are a number of points for which staff suggested that the County would pay and asked if staff has heard any comments regarding the Town having to pay its share. Mr. Dentler said that the County has put aside $2M and that there will be some initial integration costs to the Town but those levels of discussion are some of the details that go into the Memorandum of Understanding that have not been flushed out completely. Mr. Dentler explained that there are committees between the Town and County staff holding discussions on human resources, processing, and technology and that some of those discussions are being worked out so that both sides understand the same thing in order to have a decision made by the County if there is a cost to the Town and what that cost would be. Mr. Dentler said that based on the conversations between the Town and County Internet Technology staff that there may be some technological solutions that will allow the $450K cost to be dropped to almost half if those technological solutions work and are accepted by both parties. He added that the Town and the County are working together to reduce the exposure. Council Member Dunn said that it was going to cost the Town $520K if the Town kept its 5fPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 system and upgraded and $1M to go over to the County's system. Mr. Dunn asked for clarification. Mr. Jedrzejczak explained that since the Town has a relationship with Tyler Technologies, they are willing to give the Town a discount for the software upgrade. Mr. Jedrzejczak stated that the $1M number was provided by the County and an additional $300K for licensing and set up and another $300K for integration with the County's external RMS. Council Member Dunn asked for clarification on the $99K recurring cost for the Town versus the $34K recurring cost for the County. Mr. Jedrzejczak said the $99K is for the CHE and the $34K relates to the RMS annual maintenance, if the Town goes with a separate RMS. Council Member Dunn said that obviously tax savings for the public is a big thing and asked if there is any reason why the Town should not go ahead with this and if there is concern about the service level at the County level versus the Town level. Chief Brown said that the Town prides itself on customer service and being able to respond accordingly to the residents. He added that the Leesburg Police Department is the only public agency in the County that maintains a 24/7, 365-day open center where an individual can walk through the doors and see a human being. Chief Brown said that within the last 4-5 years the Police Department actually solved two homicides very quickly thanks to individuals walking through the station's front door. Chief Brown mentioned that he recognizes that Leesburg is currently the safest community in the Commonwealth per capita and it is this resource that allows Leesburg to be in this position. He added that a dollar amount cannot be placed on having a location where residents can come in and see a face and have a safe haven. Chief Brown also stated the following: • Situational awareness: It allows for ECC staff to be aware of places, people, hot spots, and issues within the Town where officers can use that situational awareness and articulate it to responding units. Going with the County model one will not know who is working what shifts, who is assigned to what console, and who will be dispatching the information to the Town officers. They could be dispatching Leesburg one day and then dispatching Purcellville or Snickersville or Lovettsville the next. The Leesburg dispatchers know the community and that translates to a heightened level of service that the Town provides. • Policy Oversight and Development: If everything is transferred to the County, the Town loses its oversight and the Leesburg Police Department might get a call if there are policy or technology changes, the County might ask for input but ultimately the LPD loses control on how the LPD makes the decisions and how it serves the Town. • Organizational Accountability and Quality Control of Customer Service: Any complaints from a dispatcher or a deficiency in service can be dealt with immediately if the LPD is in charge, but the accountability and quality control is lost if this system is transferred to the County. 6 IPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 • Direct Access and Control of Data: The LPD controls all its data and does not have to worry about third parties or the misuse of information. • Stable Work Environment: Keeping the ECC in Leesburg ensures a stable work environment and work relationships. Council Member Dunn said that when communications with the County are not about territorial or budget issues, communications are great but when they are related to School Resource Officers (SROs) and the Emergency Communications Center it sounds like there may be some concerns. Mr. Dunn mentioned in regards to the items that Chief Brown mentioned, that if the Town were to go through the County system obviously staff would have to work through those issues in order to create a more seamless environment. Chief Brown said that when you have numerous entities working towards what is supposed to be a common goal sometimes it works and sometimes it does not, depending on who is making the decisions up top. Chief Brown mentioned that he prides himself in being able to work with just about everyone in the County and has had no issues with anybody, but this is at the moment and the situation could change depending on who is leading and this is what concerns him. Vice Mayor Martinez asked how often is the software updated to fix bugs and if it is part of the initial subscription. Mr. Jedrzejczak explained that minor updates are applied to the CAD and the RMS but the major upgrade is what is up for discussion. He added that from the technology standpoint he wants to highlight the fact that the Town is already vested in certain technologies and that there are two very important elements to this discussion: 1. Data conversion 2. User adaptation Mr. Jedrzejczak reiterated that it is important to keep in mind that this is just a large upgrade to an existing software. Vice Mayor Martinez asked if it is possible to get a document with information on the following: 1. Cloud services that will be applied 2. Data base courier system 3. Redundancy definition and plans 4. Disaster recovery plans Mr. Jedrzejczak stated that staff recently met with Roanoke County, which uses the same system and just executed an upgrade. He said that Town staff asked how ongoing upgrades are managed and Roanoke responded that major upgrades are fully covered by the annual maintenance fee of $102K. Mr. Jedrzejczak said that staff has also included in the options the HA (high availability) and the disaster recovery site making sure that not only the software will be redundant, but also the calls that will be answered because both go side by side with the remote site. Vice Mayor Martinez asked for confirmation that the continuing operating costs for the Internet will be less than what the Town is paying today. Mr. Jedrzejczak explained that staff is actively working on the Internet costs initiative which was also in the Request for Proposals (RFP). Mr. Jedrzejczak added that for the updated system it will be $100K for ongoing maintenance and how it is implemented and how it 7IPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 works will be verified. Mr. Martinez asked about bandwidth and latency. Mr. Jedrzejczak mentioned that staff is currently reviewing the Internet Service Provider (ISP). Vice Mayor Martinez indicated that he is interested in quality service and he supports investing in public safety for the residents. Mr. Martinez also said that he is assuming that the LPD is not just requesting things that it wants, but things that it needs. Council Member Steinberg mentioned that he believes that the CHE item is the most pressing matter and that he has no problem supporting. He added that based on past discussions that Council has held that this is only one part in a very large puzzle which Council knows will be ongoing and not inexpensive. Council Member Dunn said that at the last budget discussion Council postponed funding on a number of items including a few LPD positions for which funding was going to be drawn from the Unassigned Fund Balance. Mr. Dunn asked what the expectation is on the budget as far as a tax rate goes for these added positions that were postponed until January. Council Member Dunn stated that if Council wants to keep its current system there is the initial cost which is not quite a full penny on the tax rate but it is almost there. He asked what impact has staff considered for the funding of the postponed positions. Mr. Dentler stated that Council approved the budget for FY 2020 for seven positions with funding for six months starting in January and obviously for FY 2021 the full 12 months of funding will have to be covered. Mr. Dentler added that Council had a work session on this topic and the basic discussion was about finding new revenues in order to pay for the additional six months in FY 2021. He added that staff is working on options for Council's consideration whether it be new revenues, a tax increase, or something else. Mr. Dentler said there is sufficient funding for FY 2020 but funding is needed for the full twelve months for FY 2021 and beyond. Council Member Dunn stated that in order to get the terminology correct a government's revenue generally can come from taxes or when something is sold or from donations and that new revenues, he assumes, could be from the readjustment of certain taxes or expenditures. Mr. Dentler indicated that there are a variety of new revenue sources such as the meal tax, which Council could raise. He added that there has also been discussion about increasing parking fees and that staffs job is to work on revenue sources for Council's consideration, which are not tax rate increases for real estate. Mr. Dentler said staff will present the options and if Council does not find sufficient revenue to pay for the full 12 months of those new positions then hard decisions will have to be made on the expenditure side. Council Member Dunn asked what the expenditure is for the positions. Mr. Dentler said he it is approximately $700- $800K for the whole year and about $300-$350K for half a year. Mr. Dunn stated that it would then be well over a penny on the tax rate. Mr. Dentler reminded Council that staff suggested raising the tax by a penny, but Council chose not to, so now it is necessary to come up with a solution or it will be necessary to make budget reductions on the expenditure side. Council Member Dunn mentioned that Council recognizes the need for the $400K 81Page Council Work Session October 21, 2019 expenditure because what has to be done has to be done but where Council goes from there still needs to be debated. Mr. Dunn added that Council needs to take this into consideration its past considerations when dealing with this matter because the postponement of funding for the positions was a stop gap measure. Council Member Dunn indicated that in his view it was a wrong decision to not go forward in fully committing to funding these positions. Council Member Thiel asked if there will be additional training once the update is in place. Mr. Dentler responded affirmatively. Mr. Thiel asked if the training will have an additional cost. Mr. Jedrzejczak said that the training is included. Council Member Campbell said that the other part that he believes should be moved on is becoming a secondary public safety answering point and asked if there is a cost for it and he suggested that the process be started. Mr. Malloy said that at this point and from all of the research it is a simple application process through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Mr. Malloy explained that it starts with an email to the FCC and they provide the appropriate steps and paperwork. He added that at this point there is nothing charged at the state level, nothing that the Commonwealth is going to levy against the Town and to his knowledge there is no fee from the FCC. Mr. Campbell asked if there has to be an agreement with the County to become a secondary PSAP. Mr. Malloy responded that the State Public Safety Coordinator that works for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) 911 Services Board, as far as the Commonwealth of Virginia is concerned, the Town of Leesburg is already considered a secondary PSAP since it is functioning in that capacity. Council Member Campbell asked if the Town needs the official designation. Mr. Malloy said that the number from the FCC has to do more with the ESlnet next generation 911 connectivity. Mr. Malloy said that, for example, if someone calls 911 in Fairfax but it is an incident occurring in the Town of Leesburg, through this next generation 911 connectivity Fairfax is able to process a call through to the Town. Mr. Campbell said that the technology is already needed and the upgrades are going to take place and therefore Leesburg should just start the process. Council Member Fox said that she is assuming that the Emergency Management Coordinator will be working hand in hand with the LPD. Mr. Dentler responded that the Coordinator will report directly to him but he will be working hand in hand with Chief Brown and the Emergency Management Coordinator on emergency communications. Ms. Fox stated that in regards to safety, Leesburg has to come first and if anything big were to happen she would rather have the Town be self-sufficient and she would like to work towards that goal. Council Member Fox added that she needs to know what the ongoing costs are, the breakdown, and what is in the Unassigned Fund Balance so that she can make an informed decision. Mr. Dentler responded that her direction is understood. Mayor Burk asked for the number of people that come to the police station after hours. Chief Brown responded that he would provide the information. Mayor Burk asked if the Fire Department has its own system. 9IPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 Chief Brown responded that the fire and rescue calls are dispatched through the County. Mayor Burk asked if the upgrade to the system would take care of the lapse of time. Chief Brown explained that there is an estimated 15-30 second lapse in time at dispatch from the point of contact at the primary PSAP. He added that the County and Leesburg combined data to see if this estimate was correct but were unable to ascertain if these numbers were accurate, as reported by Federal Engineering, but that there certainly is a time lapse because calls need to be transferred. Chief Brown stated that the CHE will help reduce the lapse and make the transfer of information more seamless. Mr. Malloy explained that the 911 calls are transferred to the LPD through a normal 10-digit telephone line so there is a normal phone setup delay that one would experience on a home phone or cellphone when trying to call someone. He added that there is the same delay when transferring the call to the PSAP, which is currently operating with regular business phones. Mr. Malloy said that an estimation of 15-30 seconds is quite accurate and it will not only decrease the call setup time and transfer time it is also going to help decrease the processing once the dispatchers actually pick up the call because they are going to have the information in front of them, that they do not have now, such as the address and phone number. Mr. Malloy said that this will allow for verification of the information much more quickly which will decrease the processing time. Mayor Burk said that there is a great deal of funding that is going to be involved in this but it will also greatly impact the people that work there now. She added that if there would be any change she assumes that people that have a job now will continue to have a job, otherwise it will not go forward because Council is committed to taking care of the people that work for the Town. Mr. Dentler said that the County Administrator and County staff are aware of the Town's position that if this deal is made the County must guarantee that the Town's dispatchers will have a job. Mr. Dentler said that the County is receptive but there are no guarantees at this point and there might not be any until there are deeper conversations for the Memorandum of Agreement. Mayor Burk said that if conversations on this service are going to take place, then the Town needs to be prepared to put the money forward to make it happen and Council needs to take into consideration if this is a commitment that it is ready to make. Vice Mayor Martinez asked if Council would be willing to put this item on the Consent Agenda for the regular meeting of October 22. Council Member Fox reiterated that she wants the amount in the Unassigned Fund Balance by email. Mr. Dentler said he would let Council know where the funds will be coming from to pay for the CHE. It was the consensus of the Council to authorize the Town Manager to Immediately Proceed with Upgrading the Call Handling Equipment for the Emergency Communications Center at the Leesburg Police Station with an Appropriation from the Fiscal Year 2019 Unassigned Fund Balance and to add this item to a future work session so that Council can discuss what it wants for the Town's Emergency 10IPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 Communications Center (Campbell, Dunn, Fox, Vice Mayor Martinez, Steinberg, Thiel, Mayor Burk). b. North Street Traffic Patterns Related to the Pennington Parking Garage Mr. Grow stated that the Courthouse Expansion Project has been awarded and it is estimated to start the first of the year and construction will take 2-3 years. Mr. Grow gave an overview of the cost and alternatives to placing a traffic signal at the intersection of North King Street and North Street. He added that staff also recommends that the previously completed traffic impact study provided by the County be updated and expanded to include traffic patterns related to the Pennington parking garage such as: • Improvements to the intersection of Catoctin and Edwards Ferry Road • Review of the level of service at the other intersections to include intersection off -sets • Road widths • On -street parking • Potential one-way streets • Sight lines Council Member Steinberg asked how the use of the garage is not forecasted to increase traffic volumes until the expansion is complete. He stated that he believes that more traffic is going to be directed towards and out of the garage almost immediately. Mr. Grow said the garage has 715 spaces and another 136 on the surface parking lot and the traffic study basically says that there will not be an increase in use of the garage until the Courthouse expansion occurs. Mr. Steinberg asked if the County is going to be directing automobiles from the surface lot that is currently at the intersection of Church/Market and Edwards Ferry over to the Pennington lot how can traffic not be increased on North Street as more cars start to use that garage. Mr. Grow said that according to the study, there will not be a substantial increase but there would be an increase if the County directs vehicles to the garage. He also mentioned that he does not see a lot of businesses using the area but Church traffic and neighbors might use it. Council Member Steinberg asked if the County has finalized its plans for the intersection at Harrison and North Street while it does the work along Church Street. Mr. Grow mentioned that the County needs to do some storm drainage work on Church Street and tie into North Street so the plan is to shut down Church Street and also the surface parking lot to do the work. He added that the County will also remove a wall in the new parking garage and put a temporary access to North Street, opposite Harrison Street, for about six weeks to allow traffic to go in and out of the garage. Mr. Grow said that once that is completed the County will then eliminate that entrance, but the pedestrian access will remain and all the traffic will be diverted to Church Street. Council Member Steinberg asked if there are plans for an all -way stop at Harrison Street and North Street. Mr. Grow said that a study was submitted today to consider a temporary all -way stop at the intersection. Mr. Steinberg said that it seems that long-term is a much greater 11 jPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 question here and that this rightfully is part of a larger traffic study that he previously proposed. Council Member Thiel asked if the expansion of the golf carts been considered. Mr. Grow said that the golf carts have access to this area and can be of help. Mr. Thiel asked if there will be a four-way stop at North Street and the exit of the garage. Mr. Grow said that is something that staff can look at. Council Member Thiel asked if the four-way stop was proposed at the intersection of North Street and North King Street. Mr. Grow said that the study looked at an all -way stop versus a traffic signal and it caused extreme backup on King Street. Mr. Thiel asked if staff is working with the County on the expansion process as a larger picture. Mr. Grow explained that staff is working with the County on the temporary entrance that they are putting on to get the work done and the traffic study was part of the rezoning. Council Member Thiel asked if staff feels it should be working more with the County on the expansion process. Mr. Grow said that the Town has asked the County for an additional $200K for a study that will look at a larger area and the one- way system. Mr. Thiel asked if staff has used a geographic information system (GIS) for street closures and optimal routes for trucks. Mr. Grow said that police looked at the signage after the last meeting with Council regarding truck traffic through the downtown and the LPD has asked for some additional signage. Mr. Grow stated that the signage just went up and therefore enforcement can start. Vice Mayor Martinez said he does not know what else can be done to deal with the traffic and that this will be a tough situation. Council Member Fox asked if the traffic signal is needed. Mr. Grow said that according to the traffic study the signal is not warranted at North Street and North King Street but that it will be warranted within 20 years after the expansion is completed. Ms. Fox asked about the east -west option. Mr. Grow explained that what was suggested by some Council Members was to make North Street be eastbound between Church Street and King Street to force cars out of the garage to turn left and put signage to make sure that traffic is not going through the residential neighborhoods and instead use Harrison Street and go eastbound on Edwards Ferry or westbound up to Route 7. Ms. Fox asked about traffic that wants to go north. Mr. Calvin responded that to go north traffic would have to go westbound on Route 7, make a right turn and then head north on North King Street. Ms. Fox said that having to do that would probably deter people to go the other way. Mr. Grow said that drivers might take Waldron Street to Marshall. He added that SimTraffic was used to do the modeling and the Court provided information on where the people would be coming from, which is mostly from the east, so people will be going back east. Council Member Fox asked if the light was proffered. Mr. Grow mentioned that the County is going to give the Town $800K for a traffic signal or other improvements. Ms. Fox asked if there is a time limit for the use of the $800K. Mr. Grow stated that the Town will receive the money when the zoning permit is approved for occupancy of the Courthouse expansion. Ms. LaFollette explained that there is no stipulation on when the money has to be 121Page Council Work Session October 21, 2019 used. She added that it is a $400K proffer for North and North King Street and another $400K for Catoctin Circle and Edwards Ferry Road. Council Member Fox indicated that she agrees that the 2014 study upgrade should be piggy backed upon and the County should absorb the cost because this is in direct relationship with this County garage. Council Member Campbell said he also wanted to talk about the proffer particularly as it does impact Catoctin Circle and Edwards Ferry Road and it is not an intersection that should be neglected. He added that it is a major intersection with major backups going west in the afternoon and east in the morning. Mr. Campbell said that the impact from the garage going via Harrison Street is going to make it even slower for people to get through the intersection of Market Street and Church Street, because they back up at the light at King Street. Council Member Campbell stated that he does not think there is a need for a study to talk about a solution where it is already known what causes the problem, whether it is because of signalized intersections, or ones with no signals, or those with four-way stops like the one at Catoctin and Edwards Ferry. Mr. Campbell indicated that the question should be how to get traffic through at certain times when it gets heavy and it will get heavier during the construction of the new Courthouse. Council Member Campbell asked what the use of a consultant would provide if staff has already identified the problems and there are only so many relief points available in the first place. He also asked if staff is recommending temporary detours during construction and if these are permanent traffic volume increases on Edwards Ferry Road as a result of the Courthouse expansion and the Pennington garage. Mr. Grow responded that according to the traffic study for the Courthouse expansion there will be an increase in traffic on Edwards Ferry Road. He added that if traffic comes out of the garage onto North Street the best option is going to be Harrison Street and Edwards Ferry Road because on King and Market Street there is always a backup. Mr. Grow indicated the SimTraffic modeling showed that people are going to gravitate towards Harrison Street and Edwards Ferry Road to get out of the garage to go east. Mr. Grow indicated that staff knows that there are issues on King and North Street and updating the traffic study will look at other options. He added that when the County did its study it just looked at installing a signal and that would solve the problem. He continued saying that if a signal is put at North and North King and it is tied into King and Market Street, as vehicles leave the garage they will get a green light going down on North Street and then on King Street. Mr. Grow said that by updating the study using the SimTraffic modeling staff will be able to see what is going to happen if the streets are made one-way and if turn restrictions are placed. Mr. Campbell asked if the study will provide solid recommendations or just a list of options to choose from which are already known today. Mr. Campbell said that if Council and staff know that these options already exist then why spend the money on a consultant. Ms. LaFollette mentioned that the study would provide options, but it would also provide level of service for the roadways, level of service for the intersections, things that staff cannot do in-house. She added that staff 13 IPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 knows that there is an option for a signal or a traffic circle, but staff does not know what the level of service at Catoctin Circle and Edwards Ferry Road would provide. Mr. Campbell asked if any of this came from the Loudoun County traffic study. Ms. LaFollette said it did not and that staff is looking to enhance the study that the County did, so that staff knows what direction and what formal recommendation staff can make to Council that improves the situation. Council Member Campbell indicated that it could cost more than the proffer money. Ms. LaFollette said that this is a possibility and that staff does not know what the dollar value will be for the option. She recalled that at the time the money was proffered staff tried to get additional money because it knew that traffic signals cost more than $400K and because of the information that staff was getting in bid documents. Ms. LaFollette added that whatever is put at each intersection, a circle or a traffic signal, it will cost more than $400K based on current day construction costs. Mr. Campbell said that the Town will have to spend money on a problem that the Town did not cause. Council Member Dunn said that he would not be thrilled about a traffic signal at North Street. He mentioned that the one-way street might be a better option and that a traffic signal would better serve at Harrison Street and Edwards Ferry Road. Mr. Dunn stated that over the years residents have indicated that they are not in favor of a traffic light at Catoctin Circle and Edwards Ferry intersection. Council Member Dunn said that he would be concerned about a traffic circle at Catoctin Circle and Edwards Ferry Road but that he could see a traffic circle working at King Street and North Street and asked if staff had ever considered one there. Mr. Grow responded that it has never been considered. Mr. Dunn asked if it is viable option to have a traffic circle at Catoctin Circle and Edwards Ferry Road. Mr. Grow responded that this is something that needs to be studied. Council Member Dunn stated that he does not like the fact of spending money on a consultant because nothing much has really changed, except for the increase in cars and believes that Council and staff can figure it out. He said that he is also concerned about where to direct the traffic that is coming out of the Courthouse and what information will be provided to drivers. Council Member Dunn said that hopefully most people going to the Courthouse are one -offs and not repeat visitors, so that they are not as familiar with getting to and from the Court and they will follow the signage. Mr. Dunn asked if staff has considered the best direction for sending people either to downtown or out of the Town coming from the parking garage. Mr. Grow said that North Street is a very narrow street and the majority of people coming out of the garage are going to try to get out via the bypass, the Greenway, or Route 7. Mr. Grow stated that when the traffic model was done, it showed that traffic gravitated towards Edwards Ferry Road for the majority of the traffic that would come in and out of the garage. Mr. Grow added that coming into the garage the majority of the traffic uses Church Street but there were different options for leaving the garage but the model suggested that the majority of drivers would use Harrison Street to Edwards Ferry Road to get out to the bypass. Mr. Dunn asked if there is a consideration for signage that will send people up North King Street to the 14 IPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 bypass or to South King Street or right onto Edwards Ferry Road from Church or Harrison Street. Mr. Grow said that in his professional opinion he would like to keep the core traffic from going in the direction of King Street and Market Street, because there is already a lot of congestion at this intersection. Mr. Grow indicated that the best thing would be to put up a turn restriction from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and force drivers who did not want to go across to North Street to go north up to Battlefield Parkway. Mr. Grow reiterated that he would like to keep traffic away from the King and Market intersection. Council Member Dunn asked if staffs simple recommendation is no left turn on King Street. Mr. Grow confirmed affirmatively. Council Member Dunn asked what the highest use hours for the Courthouse. Mr. Grow says he does not have the information with him but staff does have the data. Mr. Dunn suggested that this could be an option that can be used on a trial basis. Mr. Grow indicated that turn restrictions are in the Town Code and therefore there would be a need to hold a public hearing. Mayor Burk asked for confirmation on the use of the proffers. Ms. LaFollette stated that there are two lines in the proffers; one is specific to North and North King Streets and the other is specific to Catoctin Circle and Edwards Ferry Road. Mayor Burk said she cautioned coming up with ideas without having the data. She added that when something is done in one area it impacts another and she would rather have the data to make a better decision. Mr. Grow reiterated that this is why staff is recommending an updated model that will run a simulation to see how traffic will move. Council Member Fox asked if a time -limited right -only turn on Cornwall and a one-way on North Street would encourage people to use Harrison Street to go out onto Edwards Ferry Road. Mr. Grow indicated that this option could help by keeping cars going out to King Street by placing a left -turn only restriction going out of the garage and vehicles would then travel down North Street or Harrison Street onto Edwards Ferry Road. Council Member Steinberg said that he is not in favor of looking at this particular section in isolation and agrees that the lack of data is a problem. He added that this has to be part of the larger study that has been discussed and even proposed asking the County for $200K to help accomplish. Mr. Steinberg believes that having this conversation without the necessary data to make a decision is a real issue because what if, for example, Council decides to create one-way pairs on Market and Loudoun Street and therefore this equation becomes entirely different. He added that he is not sure that updating this particular study in isolation helps and that he is not convinced that the Town cannot negotiate with the County in terms of how the proffer money is spent, unless staff states that legally the money cannot be redirected. Council Member Steinberg believes there is a need for a larger study to be able to make an intelligent decision. It was the consensus of the Council to wait for the response from Loudoun County on the Town's request for $200K for an overall traffic study. 15 IPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 c. East Market Street Traffic Congestion at Plaza Street and Fort Evans Road Mr. Grow indicated that last year Council requested that staff come back with an option to help with the traffic on East Market Street. Mr. Grow explained that staff is recommending a right -turn lane on East Market Street to Plaza Street. He added that currently there is a right -turn only lane going eastbound on Market Street and converting this right -turn lane into a right and thru lane and some widening on Plaza Street there would be a small impact on the right-of-way issue but with a right turn lane going westbound on E. Market Street onto Plaza Street would help the intersection. Mr. Grow indicated that staff would need $25K to develop a concept plan, design layout, cost estimates for engineering and utility relocation, right of way acquisition, and construction to determine the impacts this would have on this intersection. Council Member Dunn said that at this point staff is asking for money to see if this idea is going to work. Mr. Grow stated that staff believes it will work but the question is what are the costs for making this improvement. Mr. Grow mentioned that last year staff suggested that it putting in a right -turn lane would help this intersection since 250 vehicles an hour make the right turn. Mr. Grow says that staff can build this but it is necessary to know what the cost will be and present it to Council as a Capital Improvement Project. He added that it will not affect the gas station. Mr. Dunn asked if it would affect the tire shop and the barbecue restaurant. Mr. Grow said that the tire shop to the east would not be affected and that there is only some right-of-way needed on the front of the business to add the extra lane. He added that the restaurant parking lot would not be affected. Mr. Dunn asked if staff is considering some type of bump out in front of TD Bank. Mr. Grow indicated it is just stripping on the roadway to keep vehicles in the main lanes. Council Member Dunn asked if staff has considered how this right turn will affect vehicles trying to leave the shopping center through Plaza Street. Ms. LaFollette explained that the TD Bank has a right -in, right -out only entrance/exit. She added that the exit of the shopping center would be one of the areas that the engineer would have to look at and maybe there would be a need to make improvements to Plaza Street, but staff will not know until staff has the data for the access points to the shopping center. Ms. LaFollette added that regarding the right turn lane from westbound Market Street to northbound Plaza Street staff knows from data from the traffic signal counters that this is part of the congestion problem for both of these signals because not enough vehicles are able to make the right turn to get out of the through movement lane in order to carry the capacity and the volume of traffic that needs to go through both of those intersections. Ms. LaFollette added that staff has been able to ascertain that if a vehicle hits a green light at Fort Evans Road, and it travels at 25 MPH, with the way the traffic signals are programmed, the vehicle should hit a green light at Plaza Street and then again at Catoctin Circle. She also stated that a vehicle might have to sit through 2-3 cycles of that light in order to be able to get through because of the number of right turns that are occupying the through lane which is how staff came to the point of 16IPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 looking into having that right -turn lane. Ms. LaFollette indicated that in order to move this any further along there is a need to have an engineer lay it out through some survey work and know what the right-of-way impacts are, what the utility relocations costs will be, so that staff can bring a formal estimate to Council for this particular option. Council Member Dunn recalled other options that were presented by staff and said that anything that is done is only a drop of what is going to happen when that through traffic hits that first light for many miles and having that light there encourages people to use the bypass for which it was designed and not coming through the center of town as a pass through. Ms. LaFollette said that the other piece of the study that the engineering consultant would have to look at is the traffic study done for the interchange since it did not look at these two signals and how this interplay will work. Mr. Dunn said that once it is easier to go in one direction then what is going to happen at Edwards Ferry Road and Plaza will be affected down the line. Council Member Campbell asked what the volume of traffic at different times a day going west on Market Street. Mr. Grow said that 41,000 vehicles a day are going through this particular area in both directions. Mr. Grow added that for 18 years there has been an average increase of 2% a year and staff does not believe it is going to stop. Mr. Campbell asked if the lights at Fort Evans Road and Plaza Street are timed to work with the volume of traffic or timed according to the time of day. Mr. Grow said the lights are timed to accommodate as much traffic as possible and there are certain times when there has to be time allotted for pedestrians to cross the street when they hit the push button. Mr. Grow also explained that when an emergency vehicle preempts the signal, the system has to restart again until it syncs with the signal. Council Member Campbell said that he is not opposed to the study, but it seems to him that this is going to continue as the Town continues to grow, and the Town should do a better job of forecasting. Council Member Fox considers this to be a unique situation because this is the only place in Town where the lights are so close together that this issue occurs. She believes that going in the direction of the right turn lane is something she would support. Council Member Fox asked if the staff member that monitors the cameras is viewing the feed in real time. Mr. Grow confirmed affirmatively. Ms. Fox asked if there is a light adjustment needed can this staff member do it at that point. Mr. Grow confirmed it can be done but that there are certain fixed times on the traffic signals and it also depends on the volume of traffic. Council Member Fox asked if the Town has the information on the underground utilities. Mr. Grow explained that an engineering consultant needs to look at the design to look into storm drains, light poles, etc. Ms. LaFollette added that one of the directions that Council gave staff some years ago is that if a project is going to go into the CIP then staff needs to provide a realistic estimate for the project. Ms. LaFollette added that staff can provide an estimate of what it is going to cost, but without doing some survey work staff is unable to know what it has to deal with as far as utilities, impact to the traffic signal, and impact to the businesses. Ms. Fox 17IPage Council Work Session October 21, 2019 said that traffic mitigation is one of the top priorities of any government and she totally supports the use of $25K for the study. Ms. Fox asked if the trend for the past 18 years has been an increase of 2% is this just a Band-Aid. Ms. LaFollette responded that this is why there is a need for the projections with the build plus 20. Vice Mayor Martinez believes that there is a need for the study and that he looks forward to hearing the results if Council gets it passed. Council Member Steinberg said that this a very difficult intersection and he believes that the study is necessary but there is a need to look at a larger picture. Council Member Fox asked if it is possible to include a footbridge in the study. Ms. LaFollette responded that a pedestrian footbridge will cost approximately $5M. Ms. LaFollette asked if this is something that Council wants to move quickly or is this something that can be brought back for funding during budget discussions. Mayor Burk said that once staff comes back with the results, Council will decide based on the cost. It was the consensus of the Council to direct staff to define where the $25Kfor the study will come from and add this item to a future work session (Campbell, Fox, Vice Mayor Martinez, Steinberg, Thiel, and Mayor Burk). 3. Additions to Future Council Meetings a. None. 4. Adjournment On a motion by Vice Mayor Martinez seconded by Council Member Thiel, the meeting was adjourned at 9:16 p.m. Clerk of Council 2019_tcwsmin 1021 18IPage