Salem State University Neighborhood Advisory Committee

Salem State University Neighborhood Advisory Committee December 16, 2015 – Minutes Attendees: Dominick Pangallo, Adria Leach, Richard Riggs, Marcia Lambert, Ben Szalewicz, Dana Lothrop, Jack Hoar, Dennis King, Harry Rocheville, Shawn Newton Absent: Councillor Robert McCarthy, James Rose, Maureen Call, Councilor Josh Turiel Welcome and Introductions Approval of November 18, 2015 minutes o Accepted Construction Updates o Sophia Gordon Center for the Creative & Performing Arts – Update on construction progress (Ben Szalewicz) o Crane arrived this week Steel erection continues Plan is for crane to be gone by end of the year and erection will continue inside o Questions/Comments o Dana - How is the time frame looking? Ben advised it will be open for students in 2017. Ben stated the pedestrian protection will stay for the duration of the project. o Chairman Pangallo had previously asked for the website to be updated with the schedule & asked if it had been. Adria stated it should be as they requested it be updated. o 287 Lafayette Street – Update on noise mitigation and parking (David Pabich) o Signed contract for HVAC designer Plan to have acoustic issue resolved in the next four weeks After that will begin work on fixing the visual aspect o 75 Loring Avenue: Update on demolition (Ben Szalewicz) o Confirmed that Monday will be the start of the demo o Will take most of the week to get it down and get the debris removed o Questions/Comments o Chairman Pangallo asked if landscaping plans will be shown. Ben advised they will not have anything until spring. Old Business o Loring/Lafayette signal upgrade o Chairman Pangallo stated an appropriation request was sent to city council to fund the signal system; it was not approved and then sent to committee. Hopefully it will be approved in January The issue is the bike lane on Washington Street to Loring Avenue o Chairman Pangallo will provide an outline drawing of the future plans. o Adding curb cuts has been proposed with an extended side walk, adding a bike signal to tell bikers when it was safe to cross o Looking at mid to late fall semester for the signals to be purchased and installed o Marcia- What does tonight’s ZBA meeting have to do with this?- Chairman Pangallo - The developer has offered to give the city 5 feet of land on West Avenue to create two lanes. o Jack - If the project goes through, I imagine there will be future traffic studies. There is not a lot of traffic coming out of West Ave. – Chairman Pangallo - We may not need to have a turn lane because of that, we are going to do our own peer study.  o Jack - Demo bike lane, history of it, one way or two ways? - Chairman Pangallo - Stripped lane on Lafayette. - Jack - When did this come about, is there a safety issue? - Chairman Pangallo It is a model of bike lanes that have been used in other communities. It helps avoid bicyclists from being hit by people being hit by car doors opening. It was suggested by the bike committee 2020 plan. They want the street wide enough to make the bike lane safe. o Jack - How long is this going to last? Chairman Pangallo - I will check w/the city engineer. rd The appropriation of it was approved at Dec 3 meeting, and I can pass the plans along. o Jack - Where is it going to end? – Chairman Pangallo - If it proves to be safe then we will look at what other major roads are wide enough to handle it, for example. North Street. o Dana- Have they brought anyone in to see how this effective, I don’t understand why we spend all this money for a half mile of bike lane (Engineer reports, etc.). Chairman Pangallo - It was looked at by Mass Motion and the bike committee. o Marcia – Does all this need to be coordinated with the new building that is being built? – Chairman Pangallo – The building on West and Lafayette, yes. o Garage and College Drive - Update on Opening o Adria stated they are still working on the lights. Have had some software issues Electrical engineer is coming back on Monday to take a look. Hope to have issue resolved within two weeks. o Questions/Comments o Marcia – In the original plan were there supposed to be trees planted at Rainbow terrace so they don’t have to see the lights? - Adria - It wasn’t in the original plan, but it is being talked about now. The landscape designer is working on what can be planted and will be planted in the spring. It is up to the housing authority what they want, and Salem State University will be paying for it. o Jack - What is wrong with the lights? - Adria they are not dimming. They haven’t worked right since they were installed. o Marcia - Do they go off at all? Adria - They go to a dim level which is a requirement. o Dana stated that since the garage has been open, parking on Raymond Road has let up 50%. o Jack - What is the capacity that the garage has been at? Captain Riggs - About 70%, they are still learning that it’s there. o Audience - The traffic hasn’t been bad, but there is no signage. - Adria- There is supposed to be signage will look into that. o Jack - Detail in front of Sofia Gordon. Are they able to give tickets while they are there? - Officer King - No. It’s a private detail that we are trying to keep people safe at. We would not leave the spot to write a ticket. o Jack - When cars are live parked, can the officer wave to people to tell people not to park there. Officer King advised they will take note of that. o Audience - I’m the house across the street. The traffic is pretty horrific in the morning and the detail has been helpful helping us get out. But we cannot see the detail standing there. Officer King advised to drive slowly and be aware of the blind spots. o Dana - The barrels that are across the street from the Sofia Gordon, why are they there? Officer King stated they were unsure why there were there, and had been trying to move them. Adria will look into. o Residence Life Study: Update on response to Councillor O’Keefe request o Study is out, and waiting on responses o Survey consisted of two questions What year are you? Where did you live last year?  o Will likely report out on results in January Neighborhood Disturbances o This semester has been relatively quiet, but are having some increasing issues on Geneva & Hazel Streets o It is important that the police are notified about any increasing issues so they can keep watch on them o A lot of undercover work was done to stop things before they happened o Audience - There was construction going on at Sofia center at 11:30PM, there were machines running. - Ben - The contractor didn’t tell anyone that they were staying late preparing for the crane. We did not find out until today, and reminded them about their hours. o Jack - What is a civilian parking enforcement officer, what are they doing? – Chairman Pangallo - They work for the parking department. They will probably start next semester. Jack - What zones are they working? – Chairman Pangallo – The whole Salem State area, not just temple area. o Jack asked for clarification on zones and colors. Chairman Pangallo can provide the parking zone maps Jack stated his interest is that the parking enforcement officer goes to more than just the two zones. Would be interested in taking a look at it to present to his neighbors. New Business o Horace Mann Laboratory School o Feasible study is being conducted right now o Will be presented for discussion once complete o 8 Harrison Road o Formerly housed the international house of education o The university has begun discussions with DCAMM regarding the potential to sell this property in the residential market o Adria stated that the SSU maintenance crew maintains the property o SSUNAC membership change o Jim Rose will be leaving the committee o Polly Wilbert will be taking over as president and will be joining the committee. o Marcia - Have graduate students been asked to rent in Rainbow Terrace? o Adria and Chairman Pangallo advised neither had heard of this, students would need to qualify to live there. However there are residents there that do go to SSU but nothing that is arranged by the University. o Dana - The police department had a program about fair housing and people who are looking to rent to students. o Officer King advised that they will be hosting another one. The hope is to have the landlord group take over and be involved, and run regular meetings. Adjourn Next meeting: Wednesday, January 20, 7:00pm Enterprise Center