Everett Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC)

TAC MINUTES July 21, 2016 In attendance: Members Staff Guests Edward Koltonowski Tim Miller, Public Works Joe Kunzler T.J. Fournier George Baxter, Transit J.T. Dray Ryan Sass, Public Works William Weber Jeffrey Marks, Public Works Robert Strickland Sabina Popa, Transit Victor Harris Paul Kaftanski, Mayor’s Office Scott Bader, City Council 8:20 a.m. William Weber, acting Chair, called the meeting to order.  M/S/P for the Amended May Minutes.  M/S/P for June minutes as presented, with an amendment to correct in the Transit Report that the RFQ for Long Range Strategic Plan had not been issued, whereas the original minutes mistakenly listed that it had. J.T. opposed approving the minutes as presented.  J.T. expressed unhappiness in the reporting of the minutes, as he felt his issues were not being adequately recorded and felt that perhaps the minutes were being edited and did not provide a true representation of what was being expressed during the TAC meeting. He stated that he recalled a discussion last month of extending the TAC meeting by an additional 15 minutes, but this information did not get put into the minutes. Ed Koltonowski pointed out that the minutes did state “Continued discussion of changing length of meetings and/or start times” had been recorded. J.T. stated that he thought the committee advised the mayor and wondered if the mayor had ever seen any of the TAC meeting minutes. He spoke about his difficulties of trying to get amendments to the update of the comprehensive plan addressed. He also spoke about the challenge of fostering discussions regarding the creation of an advisory committee whose sole role would be to address issues relating to Everett Transit. Announcements & Requests to Add Agenda Items  Victor encouraged everyone to look at the Puget Sound Regional Council’s new statewide public transportation plan. He stated that it was a 20 year plan looking at age demographics and how public transportation will be impacted over the long-term as more people opt to not get a driver’s license and will be looking for transportation alternatives.  Edward Koltonowski requested a future agenda item to include a progress update of the bike plan and pedestrian plan.  J.T. talked about the construction of Children’s Hospital in North Everett and would like some discussion surrounding parking for the area.  Bob Strickland talked about a WSDOT advertisement he heard where the slogan was “Every intersection is a crosswalk.” He was concerned about the ramifications of that observation.  T.J. Fournier announced that he was seeing an increase of running red lights at the intersection of Evergreen Way and 4th Ave W, when heading northbound. Particularly, the left-  turn signal when turning from Evergreen Way onto 4 th Ave W. It appeared that the turn signal was turning red too quickly while cars were in the process of making the turn. Tim Miller said the City can look at the review clearance intervals. Ed brought up the red light enforcement cameras as seen in Lynnwood. Ryan stated the City is not pursuing the same kind of enforcement system.  J.T. mentioned he had heard that Transit would be moving operations to the Lowell neighborhood. George Baxter stated this was incorrect; Transit was purchasing mill property south of Everett Station, and would be negotiating the purchase for an operating base.  Victor announced that he was seeing some sidewalk settling and elevation disturbances by trees through the downtown areas. He stated that some sidewalks were separating and creation and trip and/or bike hazard. Ryan stated the City would need specific locations, as there was not a canvassing examination of sidewalks. Tim Miller pointed out that sidewalks were typically the responsibility of adjacent property owners. Citizen’s Comments  Bob Strickland congratulated the City on the re-striping effort at Grand Ave to accommodate the property owners who were concerned with the parking changes resulting from the new Farmers Market building.  Joe Kunzler praised Sabina Popa for her work with Everett Transit.  Joe expressed that he was seeing the same issues with ideas between people in the TAC Committee as he was seeing with a similar group he attends in Skagit County.  Victor talked about the possibility of moving the meetings to the Council chambers in order to record them, if recording was to be a serious consideration. Engineering Report  The annual pavement overlay work is complete and the City is preparing for next year. Ryan stated there will be greater federal funding with next year’s work. Ed mentioned that markings on the road near Harbor View Park on Mukilteo Boulevard are wearing out.  Streetscape Phase II is moving forward. It is a continuation of improvements to Hoyt which began in 2011. It will replace 2/3 of a block on Hoyt between Wall and Pacific. It is grant funded and will be going out for bid this Fall.  Funding is in place for next year for the Streetscape Phase III project, which will include Rucker from Pacific to Everett Avenue. The project is expected to go to bid early 2017. J.T. asked how the accoutrements were determined. Ryan stated that the design elements were decided based on the City’s Downtown Streetscape plan which contains design guidelines and specifications, and that it was a unified design standard.  Victor asked if the Rucker project was going to narrow the driving lanes down to two. Ryan stated that from Pacific to Hewitt it remains a 5-lane configuration; Hewitt to Everett Ave is a 3-lane. Some discussion ensued regarding the flow of traffic.  Ryan mentioned curb ramp safety improvement projects currently underway. He stated that there was federal funding through WSDOT for these. Currently, the safety project is a data driven program based on collision history; yet the City is also required to update ramps to ADA standards when other work is being done. He stated there are 40 such intersections City-wide that will be improved on the current project. Victor expressed concern of updating already existing ramps when certain portions of the City do not have any ramps whatsoever. He believed putting new ramps in where no ramps currently exist would be a far better idea than  replacing older ramps that are usable, but only miss ADA designs by a slight margin. Ryan stated that it is a state and federal issue which the City has fought in the past, but has been unsuccessful in changing. Police Report  None. Transit Report  George announced that an active duty driver had passed away earlier in the week, and that the loss was keenly felt throughout ET. J.T. offered his condolences on the loss.  ET has completed the initial outreach for the North Broadway Transit Improvement project. George stated it was a good turnout. He stated that there was a committee put together consisting of City Administration and Cultural Arts to work with citizens on the project. George thanked Paul Kaftanski for helping bring that committee together. The design of the North Broadway project is still in its infancy, with engineering design work still ahead.  Victor asked about the overarching vision for the artwork surrounding the North Broadway project. He stated the change would touch four to five different neighborhoods and if each neighborhood was going to be represented in the artistry of the design. Sabina stated that ET is working with cultural arts on the issue, along with the affected neighborhoods. She said the final design at the bus stops will have a unifying look.  George presented a handout meant to address the questions about ET and how it coordinates with other agencies. He stated that we do have representation at CT and PSRC. J.T. appreciated having the handout, as the nature of the relationships had always been a mystery to him. He stated that it appeared ET played second-fiddle to CT and hoped for a higher profile at PSRC, perhaps with the Mayor’s assistance. Sabina stated that ET’s presence on other transit boards has never taken on an appearance of being “less than.” George stated that the partnership between ET and CT was really good and that CT is very cooperative. Joe Kunzler stated that he believes that it is better for ET to remain independent.  Ed asked about the SWIFT2 Seaway Transit Center. George stated that the project was still going through various decisions. He would provide TAC with an update once more information becomes available. Agenda Items: Item 1: ET Results of TAC Meeting Schedule Survey – Tim Miller  There were mixed results between the TAC members and City members to the survey. All agreed on the third Thursday of the month as a good date. J.T. announced that he did not participate in the survey, as he recommending the creation of a new stand-alone transit advisory committee. Paul Kaftanski suggested making adjustments to how the TAC operates in order to address the issues JT discussed at the charter review process.  J.T. stressed that issues go beyond lack of time. He believed there was reluctance in the committee to talk about issues related to Everett Transit, and that there was an attempt to crowd the meetings so as not to discuss ET issues.   Ed proposed to start meetings at 8 a.m. to provide extra time strictly for agenda items. Considerable discussion ensued about lengthening meetings. A motion to start meetings 15 minutes earlier was seconded and passed, with J.T. and Bob Strickland opposed. Item 2: Changes in the For-Hire Transportation Industry – Tim Miller  Tim gave a presentation based on work by Katie Rathbun that previously was presented to the City Council. It focused on the issues between companies like Uber and Lyft versus traditional taxi cab companies. Companies like Uber are referred to as TNCs (Transportation Network Company). The differences between TNCs and Taxi companies put regulators in the middle of what to do. Safety issues were talked about between the two models, and how other cities are designing regulations (traditional vs. hybrid). A traditional regulatory approach provides a comprehensive, direct, hands-on regulation of TNCs and Taxis with safety focus. A hybrid approach focuses on safety that shifts burden of regulatory compliance from a city to the industry. Scott Bader mentioned that Bellingham and Thurston County just voted on the hybrid model and recommended that members look into it. Item 3: ET Smart Bus Technology – Sabina Popa  Tabled to next month. Bob Strickland requested that all members write down what they thought would make meetings more nimble and to the point. He also stated that TAC leaders need to be present at the meetings. He also suggested that if members have operational concerns, they should simply refer them to Tim and not take time at meetings to discuss them. He also suggested that when members suggest future addenda items they should simply request the future item and not attempt to discuss it until it comes forth as an agenda item. Adjourned at 9:50 a.m. Next Scheduled Meeting: August 18, 2016 at 8:00AM