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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-08-05 Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Minutes Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Tuesday, August 5, 2008 Minutes Councilors Attending: Peter D’Errico, Frank Farrington, Patricia Blanchette, Susan Hawes, Geoffrey Gratwick, Gerry Palmer, Harold Wheeler Staff Attending: Jim Ring, Brad Moore, Dana Wardwell Others Attending: Committee convened at 5:00 p.m. Regular Agenda 1. Sewer Abatement Request: 148 Dartmouth Street, Account #035106 Brad Moore outlined the denied request by Glen Cross. He stated Mr. Cross is requesting an appeal because he had to rebuild his lawn due to the grubs. There was no sub-meter, thus denied. There were 15-20 other calls that were denied. Inserts were placed in the bill regarding the sub-meter program in April. Councilor Farrington suggested Bangor Water District be contacted for the meters at a reduced rate. Councilor Blanchette warned that 150 more would come forward if this were passed to approve. There was a motion to follow Staff’s recommendation and seconded by Councilor Farrington. Councilor Palmer stated his concurrence. Councilor Wheeler requested the motion be rephrased “to deny abatement”. 5-0 vote for passage to deny. 2. Referral: Adopting Traffic Calming Policy – Council Order #08-252 Councilor Gratwick stated the goal would be the discussion of each section. Jim stated that about two meetings ago there was a draft policy. Last meeting the Committee recommended for Council Agenda for referral back to the TIC Committee. Policy was to improve quality of life in the residential areas. To set specific procedure and to ensure residents participation in action taken. The criteria for traffic calming investigated and implementation measures. Jim provided a handout of the flowchart listing the sequence of events in the policy. Councilor Blanchette stated she was not sure what the goal of the Council entails. They are not engineers and not qualified to set traffic policy. What the ultimate goal would be with the traffic policy that wasn’t already being covered by Bangor Police Department or Engineering. She will not be supporting and will 1 not ask City people to do more with less for a problem that doesn’t exist. Councilor Gratwick noted that it would save money, time, and help the Staff. Councilor Hawes asked Jim if it would be of benefit to him. Jim stated it would be helpful to have general, not technical policy, a reasonable policy, if not reasonable it will not be helpful and requested Council to adhere to policy. He noted that one every month would be problematic, but two to three per year would not be a problem. If policy was in place would have spent less time on Howard Street. Councilor Farrington would agree with Councilor Blanchette’s preference of less government. The policy takes care of safety, circulation, citizen concerns and is comfortable with it as an outline, realizing Staff would manage and execute. All Council would do is to direct. Councilor D’Errico stated it boiled down to safety, circulation, and citizen concern and to address from that perspective. Councilor Palmer expressed previously that it was good to have a roadmap going forward. Councilor Wheeler stated there were valid points of view and requested Section 7 be deleted in total. If deleted he would not have a problem with it, and wants to give Jim the policy he needs. Councilor Gratwick reviewed the steps in the policy and suggested including “safety, circulation, citizen concern”. Councilor Blanchette asked who would pay the large price tag for studies. The taxpayers would pay and noted the questionable studies in the past. She stated the law of the land was already in place and suggested the increase in ordinances, not a new policy. Councilor Gratwick stated the financial needs would need to be figured in. Councilor Farrington stated the studies could be preliminary, thus not costing as much. Jim stated a recommendation would go before the Committee before proceeding with the process and preliminary studies would be done by Staff and BACTS. Councilor Gratwick suggested not to rely on old or estimated counts. Councilor Hawes inquired about how many responses would be need to proceed. Initiation and traffic study recommendations were discussed next. Traffic study recommendations would allow the City Council to bypass procedure if someone didn’t like what the City Engineer says, they could complain to the Council and the question of how rigorous did the City want to make it for people who may want to appeal to the Council. Councilor Hawes stated the Council was open to any citizen for anything and the Council would have to look at the policy. They couldn’t limit citizen’s rights to go before the Council. There would be work to do on the wording and the implementation of funding and the budget would be per the Council. Jim suggested working from step 5 forward, as it would not be as time consuming. There was some discussion of the expense, public meetings with public feedback, and reporting back to TIC if criteria was not/or was met to report results and recommendations. Councilor Blanchette questioned the budget figures and what percentage of people on the street would be required. She expressed concern about creating a monster that keeps growing. Dana stated he fields many calls and would agree with Councilor Blanchette’s comments. It would be helpful to have guidelines to treat everyone fair and equal. Councilor Wheeler stated what he had heard he agreed, with an exception, to make a suggestion that there was a traffic problem. Councilor Hawes went back to her original point that the citizens could approach the Council and a policy, in writing, would be helpful. The monster created would depend on who sat on the Council if Section 7 were to be deleted. Councilor 2 Wheeler stated that too much involvement by Council, supportive of establishing a policy because Staff requested it. Council Farrington liked Dana’s suggestion of the term “policy guidelines” and to leave as is. Councilor Wheeler referenced in Section 7.3 a minimum of three Councilors or to have a higher bar. Councilor Hawes felt three Councilors was a bit high. Councilor Wheeler agreed with Councilor Hawes and suggestion throwing out Section 7, and that the citizens have the right to come to the Council no matter the issue. Councilor Gratwick suggested a second draft that could be done via email. Councilor Blanchette would be glad to consider taking out Section 7, as it only required one Councilor to request an item on the Council Agenda. She would be voting against. Jim asked if when the revisions to the policy were made if it would come back to TIC before going to the Council. Councilor Blanchette requested side by side, on paper, comparisons of current operations and a synopsis of what things they’re enacting if this were to pass, requested to come back to this Committee. Councilor Blanchette moved and Councilor Wheeler seconded with a three - two vote to pass. Motion to adjourn made and seconded to adjourn meeting and seconded. Adjournment at approximately 6:10 p.m. 3