Public Safety Committee

Public Safety Committee Meeting Minutes June 17, 2026 6:00 PM Council Chambers Members Present Members Absent Councilor Timothy Fontneau, Chair Councilor Chuck Creteau, Vice Chair Others Present Councilor Christine Gianotti Deputy Chief Andrew Swanberry, PD Councilor Les Horne Jarrod Norris, P.E. Assistant City Engineer Councilor John Larochelle Gina Golden-Silvestro, GIS/AM Technician Mayor Chuck Grassie Councilor Susan Rice, Ten Rod Road Courtney Bacon, 11 Patton Street Councilor Fontneau brought the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. 1. Roll Call Ms. Boisvert took the call attendance. Councilor Fontneau, Councilor Creteau, Councilor Gianotti, Councilor Horne, Councilor Larochelle, and Mayor Grassie were present for roll call. 2. Approve Minutes from May 20, 2026, Public Safety Meeting Councilor Larochelle MOVED to approve the minutes from May 20, 2026. Mayor Grassie seconded the motion. MOTION CARRIED by unanimous voice vote. 3. Public Input Councilor Rice, a resident of Ten Rod Road, was present and said that last month’s topic about when posting the agenda to also post the packet. She said it went to City Council and she believes they approved. She asked for next month the packet to be posted for those that would like to follow along. 4. Union St., Bridge St., & No. Main St -Roundabout Traffic Timing (kept in committee) Councilor Fontneau summarized the issue. Mr. Norris said the traffic consultant was able to get out to the traffic signal and open the box. There were extra calls that were stuck for Union Street so it was allotting the maximum time on that phase which would explain some of the observations that have been reported recently. The controller was reset and everything is functioning as it should be today. Mr. Norris said that we do have capital improvement plan in place, updating the signals in the city and that is on the way. They have also updated the controller at that intersection. This will allow Page 1 of 4 Public Safety Committee Meeting June 17, 2026  us to remotely determine if there’s an issue. Councilor Creteau asked Mr. Norris how long it was an issue. Mr. Norris said it probably has been a couple of months. Councilor Fontneau removed item from committee at this time and can bring it back to committee if needed. 5. Patton Street- Speeding Councilor Fontneau summarized the issue. Courtney Bacon from 11 Patton Street was present to speak about her concerns with vehicles speeding on this street. She said it is dangerous on Patton Street there is a long straight away and people take that as a challenge to go as fast as they can. She said they did move the bus stop to Patton Street. They tried putting out the green turtle signs and people ran them over. There are a lot of kids riding their bikes in the neighborhood, there are many streets that are all connected. There are no speed limit signs posted on Patton Street. She said they would like to get a speed bump to slow vehicles down. Ms. Bacon provided two letters from her neighbors on the issue to Councilor Fontneau. Councilor Creteau said he talked with Ms. Bacon about a year and a half ago and as a result Deputy Chief Swanberry put the speed trailer in that location to monitor the speeds. Councilor Creteau said to refresh Ms. Bacon and the people at home you can put whatever you want on private property such as a slow down sign. He said there is a large issue with speeding in Rochester in various areas. Deputy Chief said the speed limit depends on how the road is classified and Patton Street is 30 mph. Mrs. Bacon asked if the residents from the neighborhood paid for the speed bump could they get one installed. Councilor Fontneau referred this question to Mr. Norris. Mr. Norris said speed bumps are for very low speed areas, typically you see them in parking lots. There are speed tables that can be designed for a specific speed, but they are an inconvenience to emergency services and maintenance of the road itself. Public Works would not support putting a speed bump or speed table at this location. Deputy Chief Swanberry said that the speed trailer is a large device that can display speed and sometimes it can just be collecting speed data and does slightly impact traffic. He said they also have smaller traffic counter that is limited on how it can be used. This device was out on Patton Street for two weeks and the counts and speed data support what we have been talking about. He said we have a few specific individuals probably that are speeding but the norm is not. The 85th percentile in each direction is 28 mph which is below the speed limit, more than 95% of the vehicles were at the speed limit or below. The data shows that it’s individuals less than 6% that are speeding. Councilor Fontneau said that it is very hard if you are standing three feet away from a car going by at 30 mph, it seems extremely fast. It feels like they are going much faster possibly than they are. Mrs. Bacon asked if they have signs that show the speed limit and flashes your speed below. Councilor Fontneau said the city does have these on Chestnut Hill Road and Pickering Road. Councilor Fontneau asked if we might consider utilizing portable ones that we could put out in an area like Patton Street where it is not an ongoing issue for majority of traffic. He said he thinks they slow people down. Deputy Chief Swanberry said he received a quote for a smaller version of the trailer the Police Department currently has. It Page 2 of 4 Public Safety Committee Meeting June 17, 2026  doesn’t have as much capability as the large trailer. The price is between $10,000 to $12,000. There are grants available if we qualify and get the grant which could cover up to 75% of the cost. There is no guarantee that we would get the grant. We would have to wait for a grant cycle so at best he would not be ordering it until next September of October if we went with the grant. Councilor Creteau asked Deputy Chief Swanberry how the residents could use the police department to their advantage in this situation. Deputy Chief Swanberry said residents should call dispatch with specific information about car, driver, location and time. Councilor Fontneau said we will leave this on the agenda. 6. Meadow Lane- Speeding Councilor Fontneau read the email received from Caitlyn Burkhardt. He asked Deputy Chief Swanberry if he had any information to share on Meadow Lane. Deputy Chief said he hasn’t had a chance to get any data from there yet. It is in his queue. Councilor Fontneau said residents should call dispatch to report speeding and provide specific information about cars, driver, location and time. Councilor Fontneau said the next step would be to see what the data shows from the police department and we will leave this on the agenda. Mr. Norris said he did not see a speed limit sign on the street view and said that should be reviewed. Mayor Grassie said we could look at reducing the speed on the neighborhood speeds down to either 20 mph or 25 mph. Councilor Fontneau said that he believes to change the speed limit traffic studies would need to be completed to justify the change. Mayor Grassie said he thinks we should have the ability to change the speed limit. Deputy Chief Swanberry said the roads are classified by statue and the speeds are designated by what the road makeup is and by statue if you want to deviate from that you must do a traffic study to support the reason for the change. Mayor Grassie said in some of these neighborhoods the width of the street is narrower and the number of driveway cuts that you have on a street is part of the consideration of a traffic study that would do that. Councilor Fontneau said we will leave this on the agenda. 7. Pickering Road- Deer Crossing Sign Councilor Fontneau read the information received from Susan Miltner. Mayor Grassie said we would need the location. Councilor Fontneau asked Deputy Chief Swanberry if he had any data on the deer accidents. Deputy Chief Swanberry said he showed three deer related accidents in just over the past year. Two are near the Tebbetts Road intersection and one near 598 Pickering Road which is near the S-curve. Mr. Norris said he will reach out to NHDOT to find out the criteria for putting a deer crossing sign out. He will also reach out to NH Fish & Game to see if they have any data to share. Councilor Fontneau said we will keep this in committee to hear back from Mr. Norris. 8. Other Councilor Fontneau said that he received an email concerning another accident that happened at the Cross Road/ Betts Road intersection. He said this intersection was rebuilt in the last few years and last year riders were placed on Page 3 of 4 Public Safety Committee Meeting June 17, 2026  the stop signs “cross traffic does not stop”. Deputy Chief Swanberry said data previously indicated the cars were stopping, and driver went and they didn’t see the car. It has now shifted and majority of people are running the stop sign. There has been a change in behavior. Councilor Fontneau said that since the intersection was redone the vegetation has been cleared and the stop signs are very visible and has a good site distance in both directions. Councilor Fontneau said that he received an email concerning placing no parking signs on Stillings Court. He said this is the same request the committee had previously. There was an incident there in the past week where a couple fire trucks and emergency vehicles had to go and there were cars parked on the side of the road and it was tight for the fire trucks to get up there. Councilor Fontneau said his recollection of it was when it was suggested we might move the boulders to make more room for parking the people in the condos did not want the boulders moved. Councilor Fontneau will forward the email for all to review and will look at next month. Councilor Gianotti said there was another vehicle accident at the intersection of Washington Street and Estes Road in the last week and a half where the road had to be closed for about 3 hours. Mayor Grassie asked if that intersection is on the ten-year plan. Mr. Norris said he knows it is being reviewed by the state and by the city. Mayor Grassie said he was on a safety inspection team about 20 years ago and went out there. He said this is a dangerous intersection and is a serious problem. Mr. Norris said he will bring an update next month. Mr. Norris said that the 30 mph regulatory speed limit sign has been placed on Sewell Road. Councilor Fontneau ADJOURNED the meeting at 7:03 PM. The minutes were respectfully submitted by Ronda Boisvert, Business Coordinator Page 4 of 4 Public Safety Committee Meeting June 17, 2026