City Council - Ordinance Committee

City of Chicopee City Council Ordinance Committee APPROVED 6-13-2023 Members James Tillotson, Chair Fred Krampits, Vice Chair Derek Dobosz Gary Labrie Jerry Roy MINUTES May 23, 2023 The following are the minutes of a public hearing held Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at 6:30 PM in the City Council Chambers, 4th Floor, City Hall, 274 Front Street, Chicopee, MA 01013. Members Present: Tillotson (zoom), Krampits, Dobosz, Labrie Member Absent: Roy Also Present: Dan Garvey (Associate City Solicitor), Councilor Laflamme, Councilor Zygarowski, Councilor Pniak-Costello, Tim Reilly (Associate City Solicitor), Doug Ellis (City Engineer), John Bealieau (Assistant DPW Superintendent), Sherry Manyak (Council on Aging Director), Dave Rice (Facilities Director), Michelle Santerre (GIS Coordinator), Councilor Pniak-Costello, Ashton Malloy (Facilities Clerk), Jerry Rivera (IT) The meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM by the Vice Chair. In compliance with the open meeting laws the Vice Chair asked if anyone in the audience was recording the meeting. Hearing none the meeting continued. Item #1 CHAPTER 7 REVISIONS BE IT ORDAINED THAT CHAPTER OF THE ORDINANCES FOR THE CITY OF CHICOPEE AS AMENDED BE AND IS HEREBY FURTHER AMENDED AS FOLLOWS: GROUP 1 STRIKE OUT: President of the City Council $13,000.00 City Councilors (12) 12,000.00 Vice Chairman of the School Committee 6,500.00 School Committee Members 6,000.00 AND INSERT IN PLACE THEREOF: President of the City Council $15,000.00 (Effective 1/1/2024) 1  City Councilors (12) 14,000.00 (Effective 1/2/2024) Vice Chairman of the School Committee 8,000.00 (Effective 1/1/2024) School Committee Members 7,500.00 (Effective 1/2/2024) SAID ORDINANCE TO BE EFFECTIVE 1/1/2024 Councilor Krampits stated that the order needs to be amended to all reflect the effective date of 1/1/2024. Motion made by Councilor Dobosz and seconded by Councilor Labrie to amend the order to read 1/1/2024 for the School Committee members and City Councilors. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Public Input Lisa Bienvenue, 34 Everett Street, stated that she is pleased to see that the order will be amended to reflect the correct effective date for all the positions. She asked what will happen with the order that is already in committee from a previous meeting. Attorney Garvey stated that the order that is in committee will die at the end of the year. Motion made by Councilor Dobosz and seconded by Councilor Labrie to approve the amended ordinance. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Item #2 CHAPTER 7 REVISIONS BE IT ORDAINED THAT CHAPTER OF THE ORDINANCES FOR THE CITY OF CHICOPEE AS AMENDED BE AND IS HEREBY FURTHER AMENDED AS FOLLOWS: The following positions shall be established by the City of Chicopee along with the hourly rate of pay as detailed below: 2  Group 4 WW. Council on Aging a. Intern/Co-Op $15.00 Sherry Manyak stated that the former HR Director, Paul Winspeare, requested that she send in this request. She was not certain if the request is for a high school intern or the college intern; she has both. Attorney Garvey stated that this request is for one high school intern. Motion made by Councilor Labrie and seconded by Councilor Dobosz to approve. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Item #3 BE IT ORDAINED THAT the City of Chicopee hereby accepts and adopts the attached City Hall Parking Plan “Entitled City Hall Parking Area Center Neighborhood Dated January, 2022” as required by the ordinances of the City of Chicopee – Chapter 260-32.2 (B) – Municipal Parking Areas. The Council further deletes the current parking plan entitled “Municipal Parking – Chicopee Center, Chicopee, Massachusetts dated March 2019. Councilor Laflamme stated that he was asked to file this because of some safety issues. He requested the committee look at approving Front Street only tonight and not the whole plan. 3 Michelle Santerre stated that the plan before the Council is a culmination of cooperation between many departments in the City. The main intentions were to improve pedestrian safety, produce also vehicle safety, maximize parking spaces, create better emergency response, and have ease of access for all residents and visitors to City Hall. She continued that the 13 visitor parking spaces are coming from the spaces that were in the third public parking lot that was furthest away from City Hall. It was built with CDBG funds. In the design of the new parking lot we had to make sure that we were providing the same amount of parking spaces to be readily available to the public at all times so that the City wasn’t creating a funding issue for the parking lot that had originally built with the CDBG funds. Councilor Laflamme stated that he has no problem cutting the City Council parking spaces from 2 to 1. He stated that he has no issues finding parking when he comes to City Hall to sign papers. The Facilities Department can utilize one of the parking spaces assigned to Councilors. As amended Motion made by Councilor Labrie and seconded by Councilor Dobosz to approve the Front Street portion of the plan. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) 4  Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Item #4 BE IT ORDERED THAT No Through Trucks be sent to the Ordinance Committee for a public hearing. The No Through Trucks will start at the intersection of Britton Street and Memorial Drive for the entire length on Britton Street the east side of Memorial Drive to be reviewed by DPW. Councilor Pniak-Costello stated that some residents on Britton Street, the east side of Memorial Drive, are concerned about trucks going through that area of Britton Street and they are asking for this No through Trucks sign. Doug Ellis stated that any truck exclusion has to go through MassDOT for approval. It starts with a traffic count The range to obtain a truck exclusion is 5% to 8% trucks. Less than that, there is no need for truck exclusion per the State. Greater than that, it is considered a truck route by the State. Truck counts outside that range are not likely to be approved by the State. The traffic count and approval from MassDOT takes about 6 to 7 months. Without state approval, the sign is not enforceable. Councilor Tillotson stated that from his conversation with the City Engineer was that they aren’t doing traffic counts at this time. They have other priorities that need to be addressed. Doug Ellis stated that his office is a small office with only three engineers. They are focusing first on construction projects and truck exclusion studies will be done when they are able to get to them. Doug Ellis will work with Councilor Pniak-Costello for the proper wording on an order for this truck exclusion study. Motion made by Councilor Dobosz and seconded by Councilor Labrie to defeat. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Item #5 BE IT ORDERED THAT No Through Trucks be sent to the Ordinance Committee for a public hearing. The No Through Trucks will start at the intersection of Old Lyman Road and Britton Street north for the entire length of Old Lyman Road to be reviewed by DPW. 5 Motion made by Councilor Dobosz and seconded by Councilor Labrie to defeat. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Item #6 PERRAULT STREET - South Side – From a point 305 feet east of Chicopee Street then easterly for a distance of 195 feet - PARKING PROHIBITED Motion made by Councilor Dobosz and seconded by Councilor Labrie to approve. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Item #7 JOHN STREET - North side for a distance of 50 feet to corner at the intersection of Chicopee Street - PARKING PROHIBITED Doug Ellis stated that the language on the ordinance should be as follows which Councilor Courchesne agrees with. JOHN STREET - North Side – From Chicopee Street to a point 50 feet westerly thereof - PARKING PROHIBITED HERE TO CORNER Motion made by Councilor Labrie and seconded by Councilor Dobosz to approve the amendment. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X 6  Roy X Motion passed. Motion made by Councilor Dobosz and seconded by Councilor Labrie to approve as amended. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Item #8 LESLIE STREET - South Side – From the end of Leslie Street in front of the Leslie Street Pumping Station to a point 65 feet therefrom - PARKING PROHIBITED Motion made by Councilor Dobosz and seconded by Councilor Labrie to approve. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Item #9 MANNING STREET - At the intersection of Manning Street and Dorothy Avenue - ISOLATED STOP SIGN Councilor Pniak-Costello stated this is a request from a constituent who has seen an increase in traffic and there are more and more children in the area. This person felt that having a stop sign at this intersection would be safe. Doug Ellis stated that “The Manual on Uniform Traffic Devices” does not suggest using stop signs for speed control. Based on that he cannot recommend that this stop sign be installed. He further stated that this manual is used throughout the country and MassDOT demands that cities abide by it. Councilor Pniak-Costello asked what the criteria for a stop sign would be. Doug Ellis stated that it involves doing traffic studies, traffic counts to see how busy the intersection is. 7 Councilor Tillotson suggested that Councilor Pniak-Costello withdraw the ordinance. Councilor Pniak-Costello stated that she will accept Councilor Tillotson’s suggestion. Motion made by Councilor Dobosz and seconded by Councilor Labrie to withdraw. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Item #10 McCARTHY AVENUE - South Side – From College Street to a point 108 feet westerly thereof - PARKING PROHIBITED HERE TO CORNER Doug Ellis stated that at the request of Councilor Pniak-Costello. He said that drivers swing wide when driving and having cars parked on either side of the street makes for an unsafe situation. Councilor Labrie asked if the neighborhood knows that these parking restrictions are coming. Councilor Pniak- Costello replied that she didn’t have a public hearing on the matter but this was requested by a resident but other residents in the area voiced their concern about this. When she and Doug Ellis were on site a person stopped by and was in agreement with the parking restriction. Councilor Pniak-Costello asked if the next ordinance should be approved tonight since the sign is already in place without an ordinance. She continued that this is a real safety issue because of how tight the area is. Motion made by Councilor Dobosz and seconded by Councilor Labrie to approve. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. 8 Item #11 McCARTHY AVENUE - North Side – From College Street to a point 95 feet westerly thereof - PARKING PROHIBITED HERE TO CORNER Councilor Pniak-Costello stated that this goes along with Item #10 but it is on the other side of the street. There is already a sign installed but no ordinance. Motion made by Councilor Dobosz and seconded by Councilor Labrie to approve. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Item #12 KENNEDY STREET - Both Sides – From Hampden Street to a point 70 feet westerly thereof - PARKING PROHIBITED HERE TO CORNER Motion made by Councilor Labrie and seconded by Councilor Dobosz to approve. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Item #13 ALVORD AVENUE - South Side – From Broadway to a point 85 feet easterly thereof - PARKING PROHIBITED HERE TO CORNER Moton made by Councilor Dobosz and seconded by Councilor Labrie to approve. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair 9  Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Item #14 Minutes – March 28, 2023 Motion made by Councilor Dobosz and seconded by Councilor Labrie to approve. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. Item #15 Adjournment Motion made by Councilor Dobosz and seconded by Councilor Labrie to adjourn at 8 PM. Roll Call: Councilor Yes No Absent Abstained Out of Chair Tillotson X (zoom) Krampits X Dobosz X Labrie X Roy X Motion passed. The following memo was received from Doug Ellis, City Engineer. 10  MEMORANDUM To: James K. Tillotson, Chairman, Ordinance Committee From: Douglas Ellis, P.E., City Engineer Date: May 22, 2023 (Meeting date: May 23, 2023) Re: Ordinance Committee Meeting – Engineering Review Comments I have reviewed the items on the Ordinance Committee Agenda and offer the following comments. I have kept the formatting from the agenda and my comments are in red italics. Any suggested wording revisions of the Ordinances as currently proposed are in blue. All measurements noted are from the gutter line of the intersecting street. ITEMS #1 - #2 No comments. ITEM #3 BE IT ORDAINED THAT the City of Chicopee hereby accepts and adopts the attached City Hall Parking Plan entitled “City Hall Parking Area Center Neighborhood, Dated January, 2022” as required by the ordinances of the City of Chicopee – Chapter 260-32.2 (B) – Municipal Parking Areas. The Council further deletes the current parking plan entitled ”Municipal Parking – Chicopee Center, Chicopee, Massachusetts, dated March 2019”. The Engineering Department was involved in the development of the current plan referenced above. ITEM #4 BE IT ORDERED THAT No Through Trucks be sent to the Ordinance Committee for a public hearing. The No Through Trucks will start at the intersection of Britton Street and Memorial Drive for the entire length on Britton Street the east side of Memorial Drive to be reviewed by the DPW. Any request for a truck exclusion, or Heavy Commercial Vehicle Exclusion (HCVE), must be sent to the MassDOT for review and approval. “No Through Trucks” signs cannot be installed without an approved HCVE, and would not be enforceable. The first step in the process is to perform a traffic study, where counts of each type of vehicle are obtained. A request for an HCVE is then sent to the MassDOT, along with the collected supporting data. This process takes approximately 6-7 months, based upon the Engineering Department’s most recently obtained HCVE for Pendleton Avenue and Honeysuckle Drive (August 2020 – February 2021). Traffic studies involve placing tubes in the road for counting vehicles by type. This must be done later in the spring after street sweeping is complete in order for the tubes to remain in place (removal of salt, etc. on road for tape to stick). Also, the range to obtain a truck exclusion is 5% to 8% trucks. Less than that, there is no need for truck exclusion per the State. Greater than that, it is considered a truck route by the State. Truck counts outside that range are not likely to be approved by the State. ITEM #5 11 BE IT ORDERED THAT No Through Trucks be sent to the Ordinance Committee for a public hearing. The No Through Trucks will start at the intersection of Old Lyman Road and Britton Street north for the entire length of Old Lyman Road to be reviewed by the DPW. See comment for Item #4 above. ITEM #6 PERRAULT STREET - South Side – From a point 305 feet east of Chicopee Street then easterly for a distance of 195 feet - PARKING PROHIBITED I proposed the wording above per Councilor Courchesne’s request. ITEM #7 JOHN STREET - North side for a distance of 50 feet to corner at the intersection of Chicopee Street - PARKING PROHIBITED The 50’ distance will place the sign in front of a large (over 24”) tree. The proposed wording is adequate. However, to be consistent with recent ordinance wordings, perhaps the Ordinance should read as follows: JOHN STREET - North Side – From Chicopee Street to a point 50 feet westerly thereof - PARKING PROHIBITED HERE TO CORNER ITEM #8 LESLIE STREET - South Side – From the end of Leslie Street in front of the Leslie Street Pumping Station to a point 65 feet therefrom - PARKING PROHIBITED I proposed the wording above per Councilor Courchesne’s request. ITEM #9 MANNING STREET - At the intersection of Manning Street and Dorothy Avenue - ISOLATED STOP SIGN This request originated from a resident requesting a stop sign “at the corner of Manning Street intersecting Dorothy Avenue”. The resident stated that “Due to the car wash at the end of it, we get an increase of cars that do not live in the neighborhood that fly through the corner and we have young kids on bikes and strollers.” The MUTCD, the “Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices”, which sets the national standards for traffic control devices, states that stop signs should not be used for speed control. Section 2B.04 (05). I do not recommend installing a stop sign at this location based on the recommendations of the MUTCD. If further consideration were to be given to this request, further engineering study, including traffic counts would have to be performed. ITEM #10 McCARTHY AVENUE - South Side – From College Street to a point 108 feet westerly thereof - PARKING PROHIBITED HERE TO CORNER I proposed the wording above per Councilor Pniak-Costello’s request. ITEM #11 McCARTHY AVENUE - North Side – From College Street to a point 95 feet westerly thereof - PARKING PROHIBITED HERE TO CORNER 12 I proposed the wording above per Councilor Pniak-Costello’s request. ITEM #12 KENNEDY STREET - Both Sides – From Hampden Street to a point 70 feet westerly thereof - PARKING PROHIBITED HERE TO CORNER I proposed the wording above per Councilor Zygarowski’s request. ITEM #13 ALVORD AVENUE - South Side – From Broadway to a point 85 feet easterly thereof - PARKING PROHIBITED HERE TO CORNER I proposed the wording above per Councilor Zygarowski’s request. Please do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions or comments. 13