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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-01-13 Government Operations Committee Minutes Government Operations Committee January 13, 2009 MINUTES Councilors: Wheeler, D’Errico, Gratwick Staff: Barrett, Heitmann, Farrar, Willette, Gastia, McNeil Others: Frank Carr, 3 Members of Paul Bunyan Snowmobile Club, Bangor Water District Trustees and Staff Committee Chair Wheeler opened the meeting at 5:00 pm. He noted that Item 2 would be taken up first on the Committee’s agenda. 1. Quarterly Update with Bangor Water District Trustees and Staff Brad Wellman, Chair of the Bangor Water District Trustees, introduced Trustees and staff in attendance. Kathy Moriarty noted that in November 2008 that the Bangor Water District was presented a plaque recognizing Thomas Hill Standpipe as a State Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. The plaque will be mounted on the standpipe. Thomas Hill was designated in 1974 as a National Historic Landmark and in 1980 as an American Waterworks Association Landmark. Moriarty spoke about the annual watershed inspection. Floods Pond is the District’s source of supply, it is an unfiltered water supply and the District received an exemption to filtration in 1991 because it has such pristine water. There are over 11,000 surface supplies in the US and of those 11,000 there are only 65 unfiltered water systems. 12 of the 65 are in Maine. With the filtration exemption, there are certain mandated EPA requirements including an annual on site inspection which involves state regulators. The last annual inspection showed no areas of concern, and the Bangor Water District is doing an excellent job in providing safe drinking water. The watershed inspections showed that it is well above the surface water treatment requirements. Another unfunded mandate regulation by the USEPA is called the Long Term 2 Regulation. It applies to all surface water supplies. The purpose of the regulation is to treatment for cryptosporidium. A filtered system needs to remove it, and an unfiltered water system needs to inactivate it. It is a microscopic protozoan and it can cause a disease called cryptosporidiosis. The most cost effective treatment for the District to inactivate this is ultra-violet light. Installation and design costs would be $12M. An annual operating and maintenance cost is $100,000. She noted, however, that another option is for the District to remove the cryptosporidium and add filtration at $40M with a $2M annual operating cost. The District has to test for the cryptosporidium for a two- year period on a monthly basis. Even if none is found, the District has to invest the treatment. In the early 1990’s this two year testing period was done and none was found. The District also testing starting last April and none has been found to date. There is a provision in the regulation that allows for a variance. If an unfiltered water system can show that cryptosporidium levels are tiny in number it would show that no treatment is necessary and that the system would already be achieving public health protection against cryptosporidium. There is only one water system in the US that is pursuing this variance and it is in Portland, Oregon. Moriarty has been in contact with the district and has found that Bangor Water would also be a good candidate to pursue the variance. The District is at low risk for cryptosporidium and wants to move forward to pursue the variance. It is costly - $100,000 to $215,000. The District has met with state regulators, discussed the plans, and the state has given preliminary approval to move forward. A laboratory needs to be selected to perform the work and have approval of the sampling plan by the regulators. She hopes to start the testing in June 2009. In June 2010 the sampling will have been completed and it is also the time the District will start a detailed design of this based upon the sampling results. The engineering conceptual design is three tiered. The District is looking to renovate its 50 year old Johnson Pump station and to extend the District’s intake into deeper water. Funding has been received – SRF Funding that is State Revolving Fund dollars at an interest rate of 2% below the Maine Bond Bank. Depending upon the stimulus package, it may be a no interest loan. She spoke about Forestry Management plans, which has been revised. The District obtained third party American Tree Farm Certification. It is based upon evaluation of the Forest Management Plan and a field inspection of the harvest areas. Responding to Gratwick, Moriarty said that the cryptosporidium outbreak in Maine was from apple cider about 5 years ago. The District’s Power Point presentation will be aired on the City’s Government Channel. Moriarty asked the Councilors to contact her if there is an interest in touring the facility. After discussion with Wellman, Wheeler suggested that Barrett work with Moriarty and Council Chair to issue a proclamation commending the Bangor Water District employees. 2. Citizen Request to Consider Banning Cellular Telephone Use While Driving Motor Vehicles Frank Carr, a Bangor resident, wished to discuss his request that the City enact an Ordinance to ban the use of cellular telephone by persons driving motor vehicles. Wheeler asked Gastia to address the Committee. In talking about driver distractions, Gastia said it goes beyond cell phone use and the big picture needs to be looked at. He said he and his Department concur that there is distraction by cell phone use, it causes accidents, and statistically there are indications that there are fatalities. In Maine, there is no accurate data on accidents caused by driver distraction as Maine’s recordkeeping system does not specify a specific type of distraction as a causation factor. When officers complete traffic reports, they are asked to identify what items may have been related to a cause. One of those is driver inattention or distractions. Gastia is concerned about the use of cell phone, any electronic item as well as all other distractions which cause accidents. Carr said his concerns are based on his own observations of driver inattention due to cell phone usage. He feels that drivers need to pull off the road to use the cell phone. He stressed that he is not objecting to cell phones. He noted that he himself has experience distractions while driving and using a cell phone. He cited traffic accidents statistics from Pennsylvania. From 2003-06, there were 60 deaths across the state of Pennsylvania – car accidents from cell phone use. Cell phone related car accidents went up 46% in or western Pennsylvania from 2003-06. In 2006, cell phones caused 241 car accidents in western PA alone. According to Pennsylvania DOT, from 2002-06 there were 5,715 car accidents linked the use of hand held cell phones. They also reports 367 accidents in the same time period involving hands free cell phones or BlueTooth communication devices. In 2004 alone, hand held cell phone use contributed to over 1,170 Pennsylvania car crashes. Accidents involving talking or texting on cell phones rose from 168 in 2003 to 228 in 2005 in the western Pennsylvania region. Country wide, over 60% of American teens admit to risky driving and nearly half also admit to text messaging behind the wheel. Almost 50% of all drivers between the ages of 18 and 24 are texting while driving. One-fifth of experienced adult drivers in the US send text messages while driving. A study of dangerous driver behavior released in January 2007 by National Mutual Insurance Company found that of 1,200 surveyed drivers 73% talk on cell phones while driving. The same 2007 survey found that 19% of motorists indicate they were text messaging while driving. In 2002, the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis calculated that 2,600 die each year as a result of using cell phones while driving, and they estimated another 330,000 are injured. According to the Human Factors and Ergonomic Society, drivers talking on cell phones are 18% slower to react to brake lights and they also take 17% longer to regain the speed they lost while braking. The most dangerous behaviors behind the wheel still as many as 81% of the drivers admit to making phone calls while driving. A number of accidents are associated with talking and listening, dialing being more dangerous but occurs less often than talking/listening. Texting while driving causes a 400% increase in the time spent with eyes off the road. Carr came to the City Council because it has a history of wanting to do the right thing for the health and safety respect of citizens; i.e. no smoking ban in vehicles with a child in the vehicle. He isn’t certain of the mechanics involved with his request but the Legislature has six bills before it about cell phone use and driver in attention. Five states currently ban cell phone use while driving completely and many states ban use to a degree. D’Errico agreed that statistics prove there is a need and the teenage statistics alone would encourage his position on the issue. Gratwick applauded Carr for bringing the issue to the Council. He feels that more data is needed and asked staff for their direction in obtaining it. He noted that any measures taken would require staff time and it is a very lean budget year. He suggested a staff study with recommendations to be brought back to the Council. Wheeler requested comments from the City Solicitor. Heitmann said there are a lot of issues from the public to be dealt with regarding this issue. He agreed that further study and research is needed. Given today’s technology, this may not be as simple as it sounds. Minors in Maine are not allowed to use any electronic devices while operating a motor vehicle. No state has an absolute ban on cell phone use. There are several that have bans on hand-held phones but do not ban free phones. Some new vehicles are equipped with built-in phone. A study needs to be done on other municipality measures and to make clear that phones and electronic devices are clearly identified. He noted a GPS system, radios, etc. in cars that require driver attention. He agreed it is a worthwhile conversation but that nothing will happen in the immediate future. He feels that it will generate a lot more public interest if discussions continue over a 3-6 month period. During that time, the State may take action. Gastia agreed with Heitmann. The State is looking at several bills and it would be prudent for Bangor to wait to see what happens. A motion was made and seconded to postpone this item until the first meeting in May. Wheeler thanked Carr for coming before the Committee. 3. Authorization to Accept Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) Funding for Police Overtime Costs at Bangor International Airport Gastia noted that the Police Department has recently been notified that it is eligible to receive $32,838.13 from MEMA to assist with overtime costs at BIA when the threat level is at Code Orange or Red. MEMA has requested that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) be signed by the City indicating its acceptance of the funds for this purpose. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation for signing the MOU. 4. Use of Snowmobiles on Certain Trails Crossing City Parks Willette stated that each year the Paul Bunyan Snowmobile Club requests the use of certain trails which cross City park property, specifically Essex Woods. When this year’s request came forward, it was determined that the current City Ordinance relating to the operation of vehicles in parks did not allow for this practice. In order to accommodate this longstanding practice and request, staff developed language that would amend the current Ordinance. This amendment will authorize snowmobiles on certain trails in City parks where they serve to interconnect with trails not within the parks and when the Director of Parks and Recreation finds that snowmobile use is compatible with the public use of those trails for other purposes. Heitmann noted that if approved by the Committee that the item would require full Council approval. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval to the full Council. 5. Agreement for Use of Private Property in Hampden for Bus Turnaround McNeil explained that the BAT Community Connector serves a portion of Rt. 1A heading westerly out of Hampden. At the end of that route, the bus must turn around and proceed back into Hampden. While the owner of the property where the bus turns around is not opposed to BAT using her property, she did ask for a formal agreement with the City outlining the terms and conditions related to our use of it. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation and to forward it to full Council for final action. D’Errico suggested a letter of thanks be sent to the owner as well. 6. Local and Statewide Capital Funding Needs – Public Transit Programs McNeil indicated that this is more of an informational item to bring the committee up to date on the BAT’s fleet and needed improvements. Funding for public transit capital purchases continues to be a challenge for both the State and local transit providers. Recently, a coalition including public transit providers statewide and the MDOT has been formed with the goal to underscore the importance of public transit, to address the condition of transit buses and to outline the need for increased funding to replace and procure buses. The effort is being lead by the Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee. The City Manager has sent a letter to the Maine DOT Commission David Cole. McNeil referenced a portion of the letter. A letter from the Coalition to the Congressional Delegation is being prepared and will be circulated once finalized. The Coalition may also hold a media event to publicize its efforts, and BAT Community Connector will be one of the transit systems mentioned, among others statewide. Committee adjourned at 6:25 pm.