Public Safety Committee

Public Safety Committee Draft Meeting Minutes December 17, 2025 6:00 PM Council Chambers Members Present Members Absent Councilor Timothy Fontneau, Chair Chuck Creteau, excused Councilor Bryan Karolian, Vice Chair Others Present Councilor David Herman Chief Gary Boudreau, PD Councilor Kevin Sullivan Jarrod Norris, P.E. Assistant City Engineer Gina Golden-Silvestro, GIS/AM Technician Councilor Leslie Horne Samuel Shipp, 189 S Main St #2 Karen Mazola, 72 Unit 1 Olde Farm Lane Councilor Fontneau brought the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. 1. Roll Call Ms. Boisvert took the call attendance. Councilor Fontneau, Councilor Karolian, Councilor Herman, and Councilor Sullivan were present for roll call. Councilor Creteau was excused. 2. Approve Minutes from October 15, 2025, Public Safety Meeting Councilor Herman MOVED to approve the minutes from October 15, 2025. Councilor Sullivan seconded the motion. MOTION CARRIED by unanimous voice vote. 3. Public Input No members of the public were present for public input. 4. Pickering Road- Speed / Noise Councilor Fontneau summarized the issue and asked for an update from the Police Department. Chief Boudreau said they did get the speed trailer out there but had mechanical issues and was only able to capture 5 days of data. With just under 3000 total vehicles or a little over 564 vehicles a day was tracked by the trailer. The average speed was 37.5 mph. This was placed between Nadeau Drive and Brickyard Drive. The 85th percentile was just shy of 42 mph. The highest speed was 55 mph in the early morning hours. He said they are frequently traveling this road going to the county facility. Councilor Fontneau said maybe in the spring we could have another look at it. He said with the average being 37 mph and the speed limit is 35 mph is within the realm of what is expected. Chief Boudreau said a medium risk threshold is 10 mph over and even the 85th percentile is under that medium Page 1 of 4 Public Safety Committee Meeting December 17, 2025  risk. Councilor Karolian thanked the Rochester Police Department from ward 3 for their effort on the obnoxious and sometimes dangerously loud vehicles. With no further comment Councilor Fontneau removed item from agenda. 5. Church Street- Speed & No Parking Signs Councilor Fontneau summarized the issue. Mr. Norris said they reviewed the area, and the parking concern could have been because there was no stripping down. He said the edge lines and stripping is out there now and he did not witness any current issues with parking. He said the project is not finished and work is scheduled to occur again in the spring and any further concerns with parking can be addressed at that time. Chief Boudreau said they did get out there after the stripping occurred and did not observe any speeding or parking issues. With no further comment Councilor Fontneau removed item from agenda. 6. Highland Street 30 mph Speed Limit Sign Councilor Fontneau summarized the issue. Mr. Norris said that there is a missing 30 mph regulatory speed limit sign that was displaced when a new driveway connected to Highland Street. Since identifying the missing sign, he has requested its relocation. It has not been installed yet and will provide an update when it is installed. Councilor Fontneau removed from agenda with the understanding that the committee will receive an update when the sign is installed. 7. Highland Street- Crosswalk to Magic Ave Councilor Fontneau summarized the issue. Mr. Norris said that Highland Street is under State jurisdiction. He has not spoken to the state about this but based on the presentation provided to the committee in February of this year. The State uses two primary evaluation criteria for considering nonstop controlled crossings. The first is would a motorist expect to see pedestrians crossing at his location and is the location a safe place to cross. Mr. Norris said he could not say yes to either of the criteria. The average daily traffic on Highland Street is over 9,000 vehicles and there is a nearby curve on the road that limits site distance. Councilor Fontneau said this is where the speed limit changes and there is a lot of truck traffic on that road. Chief Boudreau said where it is and the change in the speed limit generally motorists are still decelerating when they come to a speed limit sign and with a crosswalk there, they think they can just walk out giving a false sense of security. Councilor Fontneau said at this time he recommends we do not approach the State unless someone has a different opinion on it. Seeing none, Councilor Fontneau removed from agenda. 8. Other Councilor Fontneau summarized an email about sight lines from the driveway at 189 South Main Street. Mr. Shipp from 189 South Main Street was present to discuss his concerns on the line of sight coming out of his driveway. He Page 2 of 4 Public Safety Committee Meeting December 17, 2025 said he has lived at the residence for about 3 years; it is an apartment building that has 7 units in it. There are about 15 people that live in this building. Councilor Fontneau asked if blindness is being caused by the bushes by Care Pharmacy. Mr. Shipp stated yes, that is correct. He said you cannot see anything coming around that corner. He said that he had spoken to a few other tenants and they also had a close call because of not being able to see around the corner. He said they need some sort of solution to this, if it's appropriate signage or the trees being trimmed back. He said it is worse in the summertime when the tree cover is thicker. Councilor Fontneau asked Mr. Norris if he has reviewed this. Mr. Norris said the bushes are not on city property. Public Works is responsible for maintaining the street, sidewalks and the traveled way and will prevent vegetation from encroaching on those ways. We do not cut vegetation back for a private driveway’s sight line. The owner may remove the vegetation that is located there. Councilor Karolian asked if the property owner doesn’t want to trim their bushes, does the city have responsibility to the residents. Mr. Norris said if we thought the driveway was unsafe to the public we could close the driveway, but he doesn’t think that is what anyone wants. Mr. Norris said there is blind driveway signage that could be placed. The property owner would need to purchase it, it is a private sign, but DPW would help put it up. Councilor Fontneau asked Mr. Shipp if he had spoken to the property owner. He stated he has not. Councilor Fonteneau said it would be good to let them know of this concern. The property owner can reach out to DPW if they would like to have a blind driveway sign installed. Mr. Shipp said he would reach out to the property owner. Karen Mazola, a resident of 72 Unit #1 Olde Farm Lane, was present to discuss her concerns about where she lives, as she has had her unit broken into. She said she has talked with Jenn from Rochester Housing on several different occasions expressing her concerns. She said it was suggested by PD that she gets a security camera and by Jenn to get a deadbolt installed. Ms. Mazola asked for help with privacy and security. Chief Boudreau said that there are no security surveillance cameras, there are a couple of traffic cameras for signalization, but they’re not recorded. There are security cameras on campus with the city buildings but not out in public. He said this is Rochester Housing Authority property and they would be well in their rights to put up security cameras on their own property, Councilor Sullivan suggested having the police swing by once per day to show presence which deters activity. Councilor Fontneau suggested reaching out to victim advocacy as they may be able to help with cameras and installation. Page 3 of 4 Public Safety Committee Meeting December 17, 2025 Mr. Norris had a few updates, he said that the 30-mph sign on Dry Hill Road for west bound traffic from the intersection of Oak Street, Estes Road and Gear Road was installed. A streetlight has been added to the utility pole at 9 Lamy Road. They are still working on installing both parking signs from here to corner on Glen Street at Charles Street. Councilor Fontneau said that coming towards Portland Street on Salmon Falls Road near the new Salmon Falls School the 30mph sign was not removed when the 25 mph speed limit signs were placed. Mr. Norris will investigate this and address. Councilor Fontneau ADJOURNED the meeting at 6:40 PM. The minutes were respectfully submitted by Ronda Boisvert, Administrative Assistant II Page 4 of 4 Public Safety Committee Meeting December 17, 2025