Streets & Roads Commission

STREETS AND ROADS COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2020 7:00 PM VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE THIS MEETING WILL BE BROADCAST LIVE AT https://www.facebook.com/TownofMountAiry/ I. CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE 5/14/20 Meeting called to order at 7:02pm. In attendance: Chair Lynne Galletti, Mary Hushour, Luci Riegel, Mary Beth Obremski, Cindy Dunigan, Councilwoman Washabaugh, Bart David. II. APPROVAL OF PRIOR COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES -Commission member Luci Riegel brought to our attention that her name was spelled incorrectly in the minutes. Secretary Obremski will correct the minutes and send them to town hall. Member Luci Riegel motioned to approve and Chair Lynne Galletti second the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. III. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT -Councilwoman Washabaugh reported that at the Town Council Meeting on 5/4 the budget was reviewed by the town council and the Mayor. They will continue review at the next Town Council meeting and it will be up for approval. They are happy that the tax rates have stayed the same and they will have a balanced budget. A budget amendment was proposed by councilwoman Pamela Reed. This would increase the Economic Development Budget by $50,000.00 to be used for grants to support small businesses. This was not approved at the meeting. There will be a special meeting on 4/15 to vote on this proposal again. The Streets and Roads budget went down a little. The important thing is that the town’s needs are still being addressed. They are happy that they will have a good and fair budget moving forward. Their next meeting will be a special meeting 4/15 at 4 pm for an amendment vote. The next full meeting will be June 1st at 7pm. Both meetings will be live on Facebook. IV. MAYOR/PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER/STAFF-Chairwoman Galletti suggested that this be removed from the agenda because it is addressed in old and new business. Action: Remove item from Agenda. V. COMMUNITY CONCERNS/CITIZENS COMMENTS – There were no reported comments on Facebook from the community. VI. OLD BUSINESS a. Back Acre Circle Parking Issue- The Public Safety Report has not been received from Chief Reitz. We have not received any comments about this. Chair Galletti said that town staff has been addressing this so we can remove this from our agenda. Action: Remove from the agenda. b. Speed and Traffic Studies-Chair Lynne Galletti mentioned the area behind Burger King that member Cindy Dunigan discussed and reported that this information was given to Chief Rietz. We needed more information from member Cindy Dunigan about Nottingham. Cindy Dunigan later added that we need a study in Nottingham on Long Bow going downhill to the sediment pond. Chair Galletti received studies today and they included the new studies requested. Two by Twin Ridge Elementary and one behind Burger King. They will be conducting these studies soon. Chair Galletti stated that she received the new studies and it included the area from Locksley Lane in Nottingham right at Kings Forest Trail. The study shows that cars are within the 10-mph tolerance level. Also reported was that Rising Ridge by Bryson Field was also within the legal limits. There were a few high numbers reported. American Legion going East bound was within the 85% tolerance level. Having enforcement in this area is helping keep the speeds down. South bound North Main past the firehouse toward North Towne Court up to Ellis Rd. and Main Street by Core Yoga both show speeds are within the tolerable limits. Member Mary Hushour asked about Merridale and Flower Avenue. Chair Lynne Galletti reposed that she has asked a study to be done there and one on Flower where they would gain speed going down to Merridale. The additional one will be at the turn on Merridale as they are headed down to the stop sign There would be studies at three spots on Merridale in both directions. Councilwoman Washabaugh asked for clarification of the areas of concern. The concern is they are rolling through the stop signs as well. Chairman Lynne Galletti asked member Cindy Dunigan to follow up with any additional information regarding Longbow in Nottingham. c. Requests for Temporary or Permanent on-street parking-PW f/up, where does it go? Online? Who manages? Staff? Councilwomen Washabaugh reported the Katy Moore from Town Hall will put this on the website. Councilwoman Washabaugh was concerned about who would handle this at town hall. John Breeding was asked, and he did not know who would oversee this. He will look into it. Action: Councilwoman will send form to John Breeding and Katy Moore at Town Hall and they can discuss this with Doug Reitz. Chair Lynne Galletti asked this to be removed from Agenda. d. Route 27 speed limit – Report from Chief Reitz has not been received yet. Councilwoman Washabaugh will follow up since this was asked for in November. Chair Lynne Galletti asked Town Engineer Barney Quinn where in the past this report went to? He responded that they went to public works before we had a Chief of Police. Action Councilwoman Washabaugh will follow up with Chief Reitz. e. Fairwood and Main – Staff update on FCPS moving bus stop -Chair Lynne Galletti provided an update and said this bus stop is not on Fairwood it is down by the Day Spa where it is supposed to be. Chair Lynne Galletti said this will be addressed when school starts again and asked for this to be removed from the agenda. Action: Remove from agenda. VII. NEW BUSINESS a. Citizen requests through the Town Website -There were no other citizen requests through the Facebook or town website. b. Chik-Fil-A site plan-Each member received a copy of the Chik-fil-A site plan and a two-page copy of the traffic study done by the towns traffic consultant that was sent to Town Engineer Barney Quinn. Councilwoman Washabaugh asked if the roundabout is going to be done before the opening. Mr. Quinn stated that the roundabout will not be done before the building is opened. Mr. Quinn said that Part 1 will be to prevent the left turn they will put in a median and people will only be allowed to turn right. Part 2 will be having the roundabout put in. Chair Lynne Galletti wanted to clarify that the drawing has a median to prevent people from going left. She also asked if the developer would cover the cost of the median. Mr. Quinn reported that the developer will cover all the costs of the median. Chair Galletti asked if any traffic studies have been done to see what the impact of the traffic making a right will have on the traffic thru town. Mr. Quinn said they had to complete these studies first. The first one was at both sides of Ridgeside Drive, Ridgeside and Ridgeville, and Ridgeville and Rt 27. The report we we given is in response to the traffic study done. Chair Lynne Galletti asked for a copy of the study. Mr. Quinn said he has a copy. Member Mary Hushour is worried about stacking cars through the drive thru and the site is smaller than other Chik-fil-A’s. Member Mary Hushour also asked what will happen when it spills out onto Ridgeside drive. John Breeding said that 32 cars can be stacked in the double drive-thru lane. He believes that two wave movement will be helpful. The turn lane on the far right of Ridgeside Drive should be used as the overflow to handle any extra traffic. Mr. Quinn said that the parking spots will not impact the drive-thru line. Parked cars will be able to enter and exit easily. Chair Lynne Galletti mentioned that the traffic could funnel to downtown businesses, which could be a positive thing. Member Luci Riegel asked if a roundabout was considered at Ridgeside Drive and South Main Street and is concerned that people will not be able to find their way back to 27 if they have to make a right turn. The roundabout on South Main Street will eventually handle this traffic and this concern. Mr. Quinn stated that the town does not own the property directly across from the entrance to Ridgeside Drive. There is not enough land for a roundabout at that location. A stop light is not feasible since it is too close to the light at Rt 27 and South Main Street. Member Lucy Riegel is still concerned that we are sending people in a direction that might be confusing as they are trying to get back to 70. Mr. Quinn reported that there will be plenty of signage to direct people back to Rt.  27. They will tell them where to go if they make a right or a left out of the entrance of Chik-Fil-A. The roundabout will eventually help with this situation. Councilwoman Washabaugh had two questions – 1) Are the 38 parking spaces adequate for the facility. Mr. Breeding reported that Chik-fil-A is requesting a waiver for the spots outside. They are 8 spots short of meeting the code. They have minimal seating inside the building. Mr. Quinn reported that they had to reduce the tables inside to meet the requirement of the parking spots outside. They must meet one of two options, either 1 per 2 seats or 1 per 90 square feet for the building. They wanted this to be more of a drive thru restaurant and not one where a lot of people could sit and eat. Councilwoman Washabaugh has concerns because of the Frederick Chik-Fil-A and the people that parked everywhere and parking issues were created. 2) Councilwoman Washabaugh asked if Chik-fil-A was covering the cost of the infrastructure including the roundabout. Town Engineer Barney Quinn said they did an estimate and Chik-fil-A will pay for 14% of the total cost of the traffic circle. This will have to go through the council for approval. Chair Lynne Galletti asked what the cost would be, and Mr. Quinn responded that it would be roughly 1 million dollars. Councilwoman Washabaugh asked if the staff feels that the site plan looks good and Mr. Quinn replied that he thinks it is a good plan. He had the same concerns, but he thinks that the plans would be better because of the dedicated drive-thru line and less seats inside. Mr. Quinn said it will be crowded but he is confident that the plan is adequate. c. Town road closings to possibly help local restaurants. Chair Lynne Galletti reported that member Bart David wanted this added to the agenda. The question was when the restaurants open, can the town close the road to support the businesses. Chair Lynne Galletti said that this would be a matter for the town council and Mayor to handle. Member Bart David said he was fine taking this off the agenda and Chair Lynne Galletti agreed to take this off the agenda Action: Taken off agenda *Chairperson asked one final time if there were any public comments on Facebook and the town website and there were non reported. If there were any after the meeting they would be addressed at the next meeting. VIII. ADJOURNMENT Member Mary Hushour motioned to adjourn the meeting and member Luci Riegel seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 8:06pm. The next meeting date is July 7, 7:00 pm.