City Council

Morgantown Pedestrian Safety Board Meeting Minutes Public Safety Building – Training Room 1 4:30 – 5:30 PM October 9, 2017 The Morgantown Pedestrian Safety Board’s mission is to promote a walkable environment throughout the City by developing safe, attractive, and accessible walkways that connect neighborhoods and destinations. 4:30 pm Call meeting to order I. Introductions: Members (Quorum Present): Matt Cross, Bill Reger-Nash, Penny Kotska, Jessica Bladow, George Lilley, Stan Cohen, Dan Shook, Jimmie Simmons, and Jenn MacDonald Ex-officio: Captain McCabe and Bill Kawecki Guest: Janet Fraser and William Blosser Absent: Christiaan Abildso, Gypsie Denzine, Jan Derry, Dwight Harshbarger, Maria Smith, Kim Hartsell, Ella Belling, Bill Austin, Damien Davis, Amy Boggs, and Drew Gatlin II. Approval of September 11, 2017 Minutes. Motion by Jimmie Simmons second by George Lilley, Passed by (unanimous voice vote). III. Officer’s Reports • Jessica – said that she will schedule a meeting with the Intern subcommittee soon • Bill Reger-Nash – suggested that the Board create a Safe Routes to Schools subcommittee and mentioned that Tom/Sarah Bias might be interested in coordinating it • Matt spoke of his gratitude and appreciation for Martin Dombrowski (on the traffic commission) for initiating the Dr. McFarland Study which is the traffic study for the WVU school of journalism (alternative transportation study) o Asked about $1500 grant from federal gov’t for minor improvements regarding pedestrian infrastructure § Matt mentioned LED signs as an idea § Jimmie suggested the potential for educational programs/ banners IV. Action Item Follow-up • Matt: o City website: Matt is still waiting for the new communication director § Bill Kawecki said that it is his understanding that someone has been hired for this role now o Sidewalk Improvement Incentive: Matt is not currently aware of exactly what funds are available (if any) for helping residents fund new sidewalks. Matt said that he would look into this more and try to involve Jenny Selin (our new City Council Representative).  § Bill Reger-Nash asked if the City could provide a contractor on a yearly basis that could coordinate with residents to fix the sidewalks § Stan said that there are cities that send a letter to all homeowners in late fall and ask if they have any sidewalk repairs and if they say they do, then they provide a bid for contractors who then can do it in sections of the city (like a contractor for the north and a contractor for the south) § Penny asked Bill Kawecki if we could link sidewalk repair to the street improvement program. He said that a program will need to be created for this idea and the City may need to assess homeowner cost and give them opportunity to pay it through their taxes over a 10 year period. He mentioned that this has been done in Sunnyside and the biggest feedback has been that this should be done throughout the City; not just in Sunnyside. § Dan Shook asked why they leave the telephone poles in the sidewalk. Jessica said that it is generally expensive to bury the lines and neither the city nor the utility companies are interested in paying this cost. § Stan asked what the width requirement was in the City code for new sidewalks and Matt said he thought it was 6 feet. o City Council Representative: Jenny Selin volunteered to be our liaison o Membership voting protocol – discussion with Ryan Simonton: Matt forgot this; he will report back at our next meeting o North Street sidewalk status: Matt still has yet to talk to Damien about this. Matt was hoping to get interns to perform the pedestrian count here, but he might do this with Jing instead. § Matt mentioned Margaret Stout’s feedback and said he would try to maintain the neighborhood’s integrity. • Stan Cohen: discussed the potential letter to the WV DOH & City Manager regarding pedestrian improvements along Brockway Avenue o Stan contacted Matt Held (former president of Greenbrock association) who said that all of the minor improvements were completed. However, the pedestrian crossing at Kingwood was not. Stan mentioned the issue with crossing multiple lanes in same direction because of how the first can car stop, but the second one might not see you. o It was mentioned that Brockway is well trafficked area within the city. o Stan mentioned waiting until after the bridge goes in to get some pedestrian counts and Matt suggested getting Ella involved. o Bill Kawecki said that the bids came in for the bridge and were opened and that there is a probable contractor for the work. o Bill Reger-Nash stated that the WV DOH does not generally design for pedestrians and suggested writing a letter to them to emphasize the importance of constructing infrastructure with people in mind (since people have to walk to get to places no matter what). Bill emphasized that  the WV DOH is too focused on vehicles to pay heed to other forms of active transportation. o Matt responded saying that he got the opportunity to speak with Tom Smith (the Secretary of Transportation in WV) and that Tom was recently hit in a crosswalk while running. Matt spoke to him after a town hall meeting in September about the recent bond referendum. o Jimmie asked to add an intern idea for a data driven pedestrian campaign and have interns compile information on potential pedestrian projections for new construction projects. o An idea to ask the WV DOH to make Morgantown the best practice city for pedestrians was brought forward. Matt responded saying that WVU is the largest employer in the State. o The goal for a letter will be to encourage future collaboration with the WV DOH so that we can work with them to make improvements. • Dan Shook: o Dan ran into Damien and Christiaan at the Bike Summit and Dan confirmed that he needs to get with Damien to collect this data for the lighted crosswalks. o Dan mentioned that he will be collecting data at the mountain lair on distracted walking o Penny mentioned how with ear buds you can’t hear the vehicles coming up behind you o Jimmie mentioned “Stop, Look, Listen” philosophy of safely crossing streets o Dan asked about ideas for education on distracted walking for Mountaineer week: § Stan suggested funny videos of people distracted walking (like the you tube video of someone who walked straight into a fountain) – Jessica agreed and said a bloopers video of distracted walkers could grab attention and make students laugh V. New Business • Public school system engagement: can we assist children walking to school in any way? o Oct. 4th National Walk to School Day o Matt spoke with the Principal of Suncrest Middle School who said that there aren’t sidewalks which is why kids don’t walk o It was stated that the Board of Education is not interested in actively promoting kids walking to schools o The question of how can we make walking to school safer for kids was discussed. o Matt mentioned that he received a report from Vaike Haas (a pedestrian parent and advocate for Suncrest School) – Jessica will send out the report with the meeting minutes o Collins Ferry might be due to widening soon (especially with bond referendum passing) which could allow for sidewalk work  o Bill Reger-Nash suggested reaching out to Tom/Sarah Bias for additional dialogue on this topic. o Jimmie said that (1) we shouldn’t be creating a recruitment program for kids to walk, but we should be focused on making the route safer, and (2) that the report from Vaike Haas would make a good PowerPoint for educational purposes o Stan asked if there was a website for a walking school bus – Matt said yes – just google it: http://www.walkingschoolbus.org/ VI. Old Business – NOT Discussed • Volunteers for calling schools to get pedestrian counts? • Create SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time bound) goals for our Board o Lighting o Walking Signals • Comprehensive planning with the Bike Board/Mainstreet Morgantown/ Green Team VII. Upcoming Events • Safe Communities: Oct 24th 10AM-2PM at Mountain Lair – Matt will have a booth VIII. Reports • Mountain Line Maria Smith: absent • WVU Kim Hartsell: absent • Rail Trail Ella Belling: absent • MPO Bill Austin: absent • City Engineer Damien Davis: absent • City Council Jenny Selin: Bill Kawecki said he had nothing to report • Police Captain McCabe: nothing to report • Traffic Commission Matt Cross: nothing to report IX. Action Items • Matt/ Bill Reger-Nash will reach out to Tom/Sarah Bias to gauge their interest in chairing a Safe Routes to School subcommittee for the Pedestrian Safety Board • Matt to look into potential funding for city sidewalks and keep Jenny Selin involved • Matt to meet with Ryan Simonton and ask about the laws regarding membership voting protocol for our Board • Jessica to schedule a meeting with the Intern Committee Next meeting: November 13, 2017, Training Room 1, Public Safety Building, 4:30 – 5:30 pm.