Pedestrian Safety Board

Morgantown Pedestrian Safety Board Meeting Minutes Public Safety Building – Training Room 1 4:30 – 5:30 PM January 8, 2018 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: No, 5 members): Matt Cross, Bill Reger-Nash, Penny Kostka, Jen MacDonald, and Jessica Bladow Ex-officio: Captain McCabe, Ella Belling, Jenny Selin, and Bill Kawecki Guest: N/A Absent: Christiaan Abildso, Gypsie Denzine, Stan Cohen, Jimmie Simmons, Jan Derry, Dwight Harshbarger, George Lilley, Janet Fraser, Daniel Shook, Maria Smith, Kim Hartsell, Bill Austin, Damien Davis, Amy Boggs, and Drew Gatlin II. Approval of December 11, 2017 Minutes. Motion by ____ second by _____, Passed by (unanimous voice vote). No Quorum; will vote on December & January meeting minutes at February meeting. III. Officer’s Reports · Matt: § Greenmont ped. bridge is under construction · Ella mentioned that there have been some issues (drilling for pilings?) – trail not closed on anticipated days and may need to be closed soon (this week?) · Bill Kawecki and Jenny Selin said that they anticipated the trail closures to be very minimal (only if bringing cranes in) à Ella asked Bill and Jenny to discuss this with Damien and the City Manager and to request the closures to be posted on the City website to notify locals · Once this pedestrian bridge is constructed, Matt wants to look at obtaining the crossing on Kingwood, the stairs under the Walnut Street Bridge, and improvements to the corner on lower Brockway Ave. § It was noted that it is hard to clear the sidewalk (esp. of snow) on the Walnut Street Bridge with the chain link fence on one side and the Jersey barrier on the other. § Matt further mentioned that there is a safety hazard on the corner of Walnut and Spruce (at Retrotique). Captain McCabe said that he would look into it. Page 1 of 5  § Matt mentioned the media study (website/blog resource: http://www.eyesonwv.com/) that he emailed out to the members § Matt shared a potential pedestrian board logo that Andrew Stacy helped him make – Captain McCabe suggested that it be made as reflective as possible. Matt noted that it will be used as a patch on safety vests. § Matt further mentioned that a PSA (Public Safety Announcement) was made referencing the code requirement for clearing sidewalks of snow § Matt talked with City Attorney Simonton to notify him of the non-voting ex-officio status clause (which is not technically official until it goes in front of traffic commission) § Attendance for 2017: 4 long-term members weren’t able to make the 4 meeting minimum – Matt will talk to them and ask if they want to remain on email list as potential for active input, but not be official members · Simonton mentioned that he thought 14 members was a lot o Jessica: § Janet is attending the TRB (Transportation Research Board) Annual Meeting and will be attending some pedestrian and bike sessions; so, she will hopefully have some ideas to share with us at our February meeting. § Jessica suggested creating a flyer similar to the one she emailed from the walkboston website for our board. She mentioned that it would make for a great resource for newcomers to Morgantown. · Ella gave kudos to the walkboston website as a useful resource § Jessica shared the idea of 3D sidewalks and suggested that we consider incorporating one or two in Morgantown. IV. Action Item Follow-up · Matt: o City code & funding mechanisms: § Bill Kawecki said that we should immediately take care of tripping hazards on sidewalks; as safety should be a top priority § Penny stated that there is no sidewalk in front of her house. She used this as an example to illustrate the issue of having sidewalks as an individual homeowner responsibility instead of a city problem. She suggested making sidewalk improvements a city responsibility and starting in a closed neighborhood to create best practices that can then be replicated throughout other neighborhoods. The following was then discussed: 1. This should be a top-down solution so that it’s wholesome (not a piecemeal property owner problem) 2. Less sense of people taking it personally if City could support this sidewalk repair 3. Bill Kawecki stated that (1) property owners are required to take care of their property, especially if there is an existing hazard; (2) the City does not have unlimited funds; so, the funds that can be allocated for sidewalks will need to be focused on developing corridors/ CNS (Connecting Page 2 of 5  Networks of Sidewalks); and (3) the City could select Contractors to give a SF/SY price for all residents responsible for repairing their sidewalks 4. Penny says that we need to create a model 5. Jenny agrees with Bill Kawecki’s layout, and adds that the City ought to help subsidize property owners’ repairs with matching from the fund and coordinate this in the paving program. i. Jenny suggested that the Pedestrian Safety Board ask the City to release the available funding to designated priority sidewalks (which will be determined by the updated Plan from the MPO) and then integrate the sidewalk repairs with the paving program. ii. Penny said that a note could be added in the letters to property owners about the likelihood of an increase in their property values with connecting corridors and safe sidewalks. It was then noted that a hodge podge of sidewalk fixes doesn’t guarantee this property value gain though. iii. Jenny said to get Morgantown’s walkways up-to- date will likely take about 8-10 years, assuming that it remains a focus each year. iv. Bill Kawecki asked how much confidence we have in our prioritized network 1. Jessica mentioned that the MPO is looking at reviewing this now 2. Matt said that he will be working with Jing to review this for the updated Pedestrian Plan update. v. $200,000 was in fund? (20%?) – Jenny and Matt to verify this with Alex at their 10am meeting tomorrow morning 6. Bill Kawecki mentioned that the South Park letters didn’t cause complaints so much as requests for additional information on how to make this happen and what support the City will provide the property owners. It was suggested that if the City can make a deal with Contractors to provide residents a set price for sidewalk repairs, then the likelihood of the repairs becoming a reality will be significantly increased. 7. Jenny suggested we put out city fact sheet on what is who’s responsibility; city does sweeping, property owner does sidewalk maintenance; if someone trips on your sidewalk, then it’s property owner’s liability; by state code Page 3 of 5  i. It was mentioned that the walk boston website might have a similar fact sheet that we could replicate. Jessica will send Jenny the link (to her new email) and Jenny will look into finding a fact sheet. o Snow Removal Assistance Program à Neighborhood Coordinating Council (NCC) – NOT DISCUSSED · Jenny/Alex – progress on sidewalk program? – NOT DISCUSSED V. New Business · Jessica asked if there were any existing walking maps of the city – Matt said that there was a previous coordination effort with Mainstreet Morgantown to create one, but he believes that it never came to fruition. Matt is planning on putting together a walking map for University Avenue this coming summer. · Officer Elections – no quorum; therefore, wait to vote on officer positions until February’s meeting · Subcommittee Progress: – NOT DISCUSSED o Intern: § Landscape Architecture – Vaike Haas § School of Public health – Bobbi Sykes § Center for Service Learning o Safe Routes to School: o Crosswalks: o Lighting: o Traffic Calming: VI. Old Business – NOT DISCUSSED · 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 · Sidewalk Improvement Incentives: wait for MPO report before further discussion VII. Upcoming Events · Jenny Selin’s webinar VIII. Reports · Mountain Line Maria Smith: absent · WVU Kim Hartsell: absent · Rail Trail Ella Belling: working on restrooms in Masontown and resurfacing Deckers Creek for 13 miles; Collins Ferry engineering will be finished in February (then wait for DOH to approve); working on grants for projects now; Greenmont pedestrian bridge (discussed above) · MPO Bill Austin: absent Page 4 of 5  · City Engineer Damien Davis: absent · City Council Jenny Selin: o Jenny will be participating in national webinar as a speaker. o Bill Kawecki was going to go to Charleston to discuss the intersection of Collins Ferry and University Ave with the WV DOH, but the meeting was cancelled because the WV DOH is going to go ahead with the project (which will be an elongated roundabout). o Jenny asked if the Pedestrian Safety Board was planning on asking the City to budget money for the upcoming fiscal year on behalf of our board (budget requests are usually due by the end of January). The following examples of budget requests were mentioned: § $15,000 for LED lights à this funding could come from the service fee § Seminars/conferences for our Board’s leadership (such as America Walk’s Conference or the Walk Bike Places Conference which is funded by pro walk, pro bike, pro place) § Brochure to pass out to new residents § Bringing a speaker to Morgantown (like Dan Burden or Mark Fenton) § Field trip up to Pittsburgh to talk with leadership and gain additional ideas and support for our Board · Police Captain McCabe: nothing new to report · Traffic Commission Matt Cross: haven’t met in the last several months IX. Action Items · Jessica to email Jenny (new email) last email she sent to Board (had a lot of great resources) · Jenny to look for city/property owner responsibility fact sheet on walkboston.org that we can make Morgantown specific · Jessica to email McCabe about total number of pedestrian accidents (1/month said Damien) · Penny to get Matt property owners from Oakland up to Riverview (list of owners and contact info.) · Ella to send Jessica and Matt allocation form from City when she gets it · Jenny/Matt to verify sidewalk funding amount with Alex ($100,000? $200,000?) Next meeting: February 12, 2018, Training Room 1, Public Safety Building, 4:30 – 5:30 pm. Page 5 of 5