Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation

Citizen Advisory Committee on Transportation Wednesday, January 14, 2015, 7:00 pm to 10:45 pm Meeting Minutes Attendance CACT Members City Staff Member Present 1. Mike Collins Paul Baldino, Chair Yes 2. Heather Scharfetter Hal Morgan, Vice-Chair Yes 3. Jim Snyder 4. Paul Stoddard Andrea Caumont Yes Doug Deveroux Yes Addison Heard Yes Steve Knight Yes Kent Taylor No Liaisons Liaison Present Karen Oliver Yes City Council Russ Wodiska No Planning Commisision Ian Reusch Yes Youth Agenda 1. Resident Petitions 2. Meeting Minutes Approval, ACTION a. December 2014 3. Election of Officers, ACTION 4. W&OD Trail Plazas 5. 2014 Annual Report to Council, ACTION 6. Neighborhood Traffic Calming (NTC) Program Update 7. Correspondence 1. Resident Petitions There were no resident petitions. 2. Meeting Minutes Approval The group approved the December 204 Minutes by unanimous vote (6-0), with no corrections or edits. 3. Election of Officers Mr. Stoddard noted that three seats on the CACT are currently open for reappointment and/or new members. Mr. Baldino noted that two sitting members are seeking reappointment, but not the third. The CACT decided to delay election of new officers until the three positions are filled and to continue with the existing officers in the interim. 4. W&OD Trail Plazas Mr. Stoddard presented conceptual designs and cost estimates for two plazas along the W&OD Trail, the “Walter Mess Plaza” adjacent to Oak Street and “Veterans Common” adjacent to Little Falls Street. Mr. Stoddard noted that the design work was funded entirely by NOVA Parks and that funding had not yet been identified for construction. These plans are a continuation of efforts by the CACT to improve amenities along the W&OD Trail and to contribute to efforts to improve City branding. In reviewing the conceptual plans, the CACT provided the following comments: Walter Mess Plaza Design Elements • Bike racks, seating, landscaping • Updated street crossing with median island • Existing exercise equipment to stay as is with updated border materials • Existing commemorative stone to be repositioned in center of plaza • Panels to depict the story of Walter Mess and the W&OD Trail • Connection through plaza to the parking lot of the American Legion building, where bathrooms are available for W&OD Trail users • Materials costs about $50,000, total project cost about $100,000 CACT Feedback • Generally support design • Updated crossing important for slowing automobile traffic and shortening crossing distances for Trail users • Should include messaging that restrooms are available in the American Legion building • Could this be a community organizing space?  • How should traffic control at the trail crossings be handled. Should it be a four-way stop? Should it be a two-way stop? If so, which direction should stop, the street or the trail? Veterans Common Design Elements • Updated landscaping to improve visibility of existing memorial stone • Seating, bike racks, pedestrian wayfinding information • Updated street crossings • Materials costs about $50,000, total project cost about $100,000 CACT Feedback • In addition to wayfinding, provide a larger kiosk for distribution of information and community postings. 4. 2014 Annual Report to Council The CACT discussed the draft report to Council, which had been prepared by Mr. Baldino and Mr. Morgan following the CACT’s discussion of 2014 accomplishments and 2015 priorities at the group’s December 2014 meeting. The CACT agreed with the report as drafted. The CACT and staff discussed the funding recommendations and whether they were appropriate given other financial pressures on the City. Ultimately it was decided that it was appropriate to include funding requests for $200,000 per year for traffic calming and $900,000 for W&OD Trail plazas spread out over five years, noting that grant funding is expected for a portion of the funding and that it the CACT’s role to identify the community’s transportation needs. The CACT voted unanimously (6-0) to approve the annual report with the addition of the funding requests and photos depicting projects and events described in the text. 5. Neighborhood Traffic Calming (NTC) Program Update The CACT discussed the latest draft materials for the updated NTC Program. The group discussed the following elements. Neighborhood Working Group and Representative The group discussed the appropriate roles of the working group, the neighborhood representative and staff, including time commitments and necessary technical knowledge. The group agreed at the working group will be expected to meet regularly, to engage with the larger neighborhood to ensure consensus and that staff would have to be available to provide information, but is not expected to attend every meeting of the working group. The group asked that more information be added to the draft materials included a “tool box” of possible traffic calming measures, including notes of preferred and less preferred solutions. Program Timeout, Rolling Applications, and Application Waiting Period The group discussed appropriate lengths of time before considering timeout, the appropriate role of the CACT in determining whether a case should continue, and whether varying timetables could be used. Staff stressed that having a timeout mechanism is important because as drafted, the program only has one or two active cases at a time, so a stalled project blocks all other projects from making progress. The group agreed on the following system: • Cases get 6-months to achieve consensus • If consensus not reached in 6-months, the case is brought to the CACT, which can grant a 3- month extension if it thinks consensus can be reached in 3-months • If an extension is not granted or the extension expires and the neighborhood has still not reached consensus ,the case is postponed for two years. • The purpose of the timeout is to not punish neighborhoods, but rather, to ensure community resources (staff and funding) are used efficiently and one stalled case does not prevent others from advancing Traffic Calming versus Traffic Control The group agreed with the definitions presented in the draft materials. The group asked that photos of all the items listed in the Venn Diagram be added to the document. Voting Representation The group discussed how to balance representation of owners, renters, associations. The group also discussed how to balance representation across different kinds of properties, including single family homes, townhomes, condominiums, apartments, office space, and retail space. To inform the discussion, staff presented information gathered through telephone interviews with staff from nearby jurisdictions regarding how they addressed these issues. The group agreed on the following principals: • Property owners more typically have to deal with long term impacts, so they will control the vote for their property. • All properties with frontage in the study area should have a say, regardless of use. • Across property types (residential, commercial, retail, single family, condo, etc.) representation should be proportional to street frontage. This is the best available mechanism for giving more say to the group(s) more affected by changes. • In a condo association or home owners association exists in the study area, that group will control the vote for the so-covered properties – it is not the place of the NTC program to replace existing decision making bodies. • Within single family homes and town homes not covered by an HOA, each owner will have an equal vote because the impacts are roughly equal for all owners Case Prioritization The group appreciated the materials presented and agreed that more work needed to be done before selecting a prioritization method. Mr. Heard agreed to review the materials with staff and provide his expertise in risk assessment. 6. Correspondence There were no correspondence items.