HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-04-07 Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Minutes
Transportation & Infrastructure Committee
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Minutes
Councilors Attending: Patricia Blanchette, Richard Stone, Harold Wheeler,
Richard Bronson, Peter D”Errico, Geoffrey Gratwick
Staff Attending: Ed Barrett, Jim Ring, David Gould
Others Attending:
Committee convened at 5:00 p.m.
1. Ordinance Amendment: Land Development Approval Standards, Section 165-
114F
(Copy of Council Action and Council Ordinance Attached)
Jim Ring explained the genesis of this and that most folks were fairly aware of this and
it had received more attention in recent years. He explained that invasive plants were
plants that were generally non-native plants and overtake other natural species and
were sometimes plants that propagate very wildly. The establishment and propagation
of invasive species was the biggest concern in environmentally sensitive areas, no
matter where they started, if introduced they can spread very rapidly. Several months
ago the Marsh/Mall Commission, in the January meeting discussed this further. The
Commission also invited in a number of area landscaping experts and nursery people.
There was general agreement that it was an issue that should be addressed, but there
was no easy way to do it. The result of that discussion and the recommendation of the
Commission and the businesses would be to start by regulating the introduction of
potentially invasive and non-native species in Bangor. Beginning with the site plans
that the Planning Board reviews. That wouldn’t solve all the issues, but it would be a
start. Included in the packet was a draft Ordinance. This provision would be that the
proposed change would stay in the use of native species and to discourage the planting
of invasive species, as defined in the most current version of the State of Maine
Department of Conservation fact sheet list. Number one, it would encourage using
native species and number two, prohibit invasive plant species that were recognized on
the fact sheet list by Department of Conservation. It needed to come to this Committee
first and then proceed to the Council for approval. Councilor Blanchette had a
comment on how to proceed; and what tools to be used when a developer came
forward with a site plan. She also asked who would be the expert in the City on
invasive plants and what was allowed? Jim Ring answered that they recognized that
was potentially an issue, and referenced the list/guideline of 24 species that was on the
Department of Conservation website. This list would assist someone that was preparing
a site plan with landscaping and could very easily reference that in terms of plan
approval and receive a list or at least an indication on the plan of what species would
be planted. He also noted that the list included the Latin species name as well as the
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common name. Councilor Blanchette's concern was if they'd be able to site identify,
and that someone would try to sneak in one plant for another for cost purposes. Jim
Ring stated this could potentially happen. If there was a question, what they would
probably do is ask the City Forester to take a look. He's the one person who’s very
familiar with the species. Councilor Gratwick stated that nurseries and landscapers
seemed to be behind it, but what would they do with the larger chains and big-box
stores. He suggested providing those locations with a list and referenced private
individuals who wish to do home landscaping. Jim stated, as in his initial comments,
that this was the first step; he said there was considerable discussion amongst the
Penjajwoc Marsh/Mall Commission and nursery landscapers. This was talked about
quite a bit. There could be a problem if you have a homeowner that wanted to do
home landscaping and wanted to go to a big-box store, they may not know. The
recommendation was to at least start with the new site plans. This really should be
addressed on a statewide level and the consensus was that education and awareness
would be important. Not sure how to do that at this point but it was something that
could be done. Councilor Gratwick stated this was baseline and to start talking with
stores and nurseries regarding education. Councilor Gratwick also suggested utilizing
the news media. Jim Ring stated he thought that was a possibility for education; that it
shouldn’t be just in Bangor, in his opinion, because those folks might go to a nearby
location out of Bangor to get plants. He stated that in the long-term, knowledge and
awareness would need to be at the statewide level. Councilor Blanchette stated that a
lot of the big-box stores exclusively buy certain items from Canada. Their standards
were often times different than the states and they would need to work at the state and
federal level to get some laws in place. Councilor Blanchette requested a motion for
referral to full Council, Councilor Wheeler moved and seconded by Councilor Bronson,
with no further discussion.
2. Agreement: Webber Oil Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions for
the Open Space and Protection of Meadow Brook in the Haskell Road
Subdivision
(Memo from Assistant City Solicitor Attached)
Paul Nicholas stated, there were two documents involved. The first was an open space
declaration, which was part of the requirement for the approval of Haskell Subdivision.
Only certain uses would be allowed. There was also the public trail system that Ed
Barrett and a number of others had been working on. They’re trying to lay the
groundwork for that system for open-space provisions in subdivisions for a public trail
system. A second document was similar, but in a different area. That document would
be to protect the Meadowbrook area. That particular restriction came from Webber Oil
itself. Councilor Blanchette asked if there was a map showing this location and Jim
stated he apologized he didn't have one currently but could recover one from the
Planning Office, if necessary. He also stated that Haskell Road, which goes in from
Hogan Road, past Sam's was extended over the last year, with new lots developed,
with the new Hilton Garden Inn at the very end of it. Much of the area with the
extension went through as a large parcel that was recently subdivided into smaller
parts. He state that if you were drive-up Haskell you would cross Meadowbrook, near
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the Hyundai dealer, particularly on the right side of that road into the adjacent lands
there are tributary streams that run into Meadowbrook. Councilor Blanchette asked for
questions or comments. Councilor Gratwick was concerned about the integrity of
preservation. Paul noted, in 2007, a law was passed to record all conservation
easements and there was a requirement to say what kind of monitoring was being done
for those areas. The state required the municipality to go out and take a look at these
sorts of conservation easements and maintain a list. David Gould stated that this was
phase 3 of the Haskell Road petition. All three phases of the Haskell Road Subdivision
had created a larger block of open space. The other thing noticed was that the new
Bangor Trails plan showed a recreational trail in the exact location where the open-
space was going to be, which would also allows for retainage of open-space for trails.
The Planning Board had considered this a win-win situation. It allowed for a deep trail
system that Bangor and others were trying to develop. It also allowed for access to the
impaired watersheds. Jim Ring stated they met with the developer and these issues
were discussed. This was moved and seconded to go to full Council. Councilor
Blanchette asked David Gould or Jim Ring that when it goes to the full Council Monday,
to provide a map and also requested that any items that come before this Committee,
in the future, that were referring to plots of land, to have a map handy. She stated
that if they're voting on it, they needed to know where these locations were. There
was no further discussion.
3. Maine Department of Transportation Acquisition of City Property for Additional
Highway Right-of-Way – U.S. Route 2, Red Bridge Replacement Project, Outer State
Street
(Memo from City Engineer and Materials Attached)
Jim Ring stated he had a map and there was a memo in the packet from himself,
describing that Maine Department of Transportation would be reconstructing the Red
Bridge, which was located on State Street between Meadowbrook Road and Young
Street. The existing structure was in really poor condition and reconstruction had been
contemplated by Maine Department of Transportation for some years now. It would be
a complete reconstruction in generally the same location but would be better aligned
with existing stream. To make it easier to construct, Jim outlined from the map what
would take place in order to realign. The Maine Department of Transportation would
need additional right-of-way and part of that involved a triangle portion of a piece of
City property. They needed to acquire for grading purposes. The Maine Department of
Transportation had the authority to take right-of-way for highway purposes. In this
case, they approached the City indicating they needed the right-of-way, which Jim
concurred with. They would be acquiring it through a condemnation process instead of
going through an appraisal process. He explained the parcel was very low and served
as a drainage function, with photographs provided in the packet. Although they only
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needed a portion (2/10 of an acre) they made an offer to the City of $1,500 for the
acquisition, which was the assessed value by the Assessing Office. He stated there
wasn’t a need for the City to retain this parcel and Maine Department of Transportation
was offering what they felt was the full value of the parcel. The recommendation was
to agree to the conveyance and for the amount the State offered because MDOT would
take it regardless. Councilor D’Errico asked Jim if MDOT had indicated how they would
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control traffic on that route. Jim stated the last information he had was that the project
would commence this fall. There were two ways to do it. They could maintain some
thru traffic or shut down and detour via Mount Hope Avenue. MDOT generally
preferred to maintain traffic on major routes, but the problem would be with some of
the site constraints to actually maintain a single lane of traffic. The estimation was that
it would be a six month project, as opposed to 2 1/2 or three months. Councilor
D’Errico thought that would be a problem, as it was a very heavily traveled road during
the day. Councilor Blanchette recalled the Essex Street Bridge project with bumper to
bumper traffic down Broadway due to the road shutdown. She asked if MDOT could do
this with or without the City’s permission and Jim Ring responded yes. They had the
authority and would be acquiring property. The issue was whether the City agreed to
what was offered. If not in agreement, they would take the property anyway, which
then could go through an appeal process, and then they'd need to do an appraisal.
Councilor Blanchette asked if Maine Department of Transportation had the total
authority to cut off access and reroute the traffic on Mt. Hope Avenue. Jim Ring stated
technically it was their call. The City has worked very closely with them and generally
Jim preferred to maintain two-way traffic. But there'd be a lot of stacked up traffic due
to the nature of the project over a six-month period versus three. His opinion was it
would be much better to have a shorter duration. This would be much better than the
Essex Street detour used. Councilor Gratwick moved Staff recommendation, and it was
seconded Councilor D’Errico to accept $1500 for this parcel of land.
It was been moved and seconded to adjourn the meeting.
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