City Council - Public Safety Committee

Public Safety Committee Meeting Meeting Minutes: May 5, 2020 Councilor Gomez called the meeting to order at 6:34pm Zoom - Online Members Present: Chair Homar Gomez, Clerk Lindsey Rothschild and Councilor Salem Derby. Also in Attendance: No other people in attendance. Approval of Minutes: No minutes to approve. Public Speak Time: No public present to speak. Continuing Business: ● Letter to MASSDOT - ready with letterhead (attached); Councilor Gomez sent letter to the City Clerk for distribution to the full council. ● Councilor Gomez has been looking at the parking signage on Cottage, Main and Union. He notes a need for updated and consistent signage. Councilor Gomez announced that an ordinance is being introduced that will be coming to this committee, so there is a need to schedule a meeting for the following week. Next regular meeting:, May 13, 2020 at 6:30pm A motion was made by Councilor Derby and seconded by Councilor Rothschild; it was unanimously voted that this meeting adjourn. Respectfully Submitted, Councilor Lindsey Rothschild Clerk to the Public Safety Committee Attached: Letter to MASSDOT March 4, 2020 Richard J Masse Massachusetts Department of Transportation Mr. Masse, The City council is in receipt of your email letter to Mayor LaChapelle regarding the data on the intersection of South and Main. In it the DOT concludes that a traffic light and a reconfiguration of the intersection is in order due to the number of serious accidents at the intersection and a speed study indicating that over 85% of the time during your study, vehicular traffic exceeded 40 MPH. This traffic light will greatly improve the safety of the intersection for our residents. Also, the South St corridor will become a main transportation link to the new Pre K to eighth grade school slated to open in 2022. Increased bus traffic alone concerns the Council greatly. We realize that this project is quite expensive. However, we see it as urgent given the data and the increased traffic due to the new school. We cannot wait until the next serious accident takes a life. We the undersigned members of the Easthampton City Council do herby request that this project be placed on a priority list for future funding. The city will also move to apply for a MassDOT Safe Roads to School set aside grant to supplement DOT funding. In the meantime, anything that could be done to help warn the public of the dangerous intersection. Perhaps a blinking sign that says “Dangerous Intersection” ahead to replace that which already exists and please paint the cross walks on the south side of Main St. Thank you for your consideration. _________________________ __________________________ ______________________ ___________________ __________________________ ________________________ ______________________ __________________________ _________________________