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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-03-25 Government Operations Committee Minutes Government Operations Committee March 25, 2008 Minutes Councilors Attending: Hawes, D’Errico, Wheeler, Gratwick Staff Attending: Barrett, Farrar, Heitmann, Ring, Cammack, Nicklas, Gastia, Claire Bolduc Others: Several residents of Otis Street 1. Updated Mutual Aid Agreement – City of Bangor and Town of Orono Fire Departments The Town of Orono has requested that an updated Mutual Aid Agreement be executed. The last Agreement was executed in 1998 and since that time Orono has a new Town Manager and Fire Chief. Cammack explained that the proposed agreement is the same as the previous agreement and merely updates the names of the current Town Manager and Fire Chief. Gratwick pointed out a typo on page five of the agreement – Bennett instead of Barrett. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff’s recommendation to full Council. 2. Professional Services Contract for Medical Director at Bangor Fire Department – Dr. Robert Bowie Dr. Bowie has served as Medical Director at Bangor Fire for the past 10 years. The Medical Director provides a number of required services, programs and oversight functions all related to the Department’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) program. Cammack said the proposed agreement is for three years at an annual cost of $1,750. The previous cost was $1,500 for the services rendered. Responding to Gratwick, Cammack provided medical information background on Dr. Bowie. Gratwick spoke about the risks associated with firefighting referencing a medical journal article. Cammack said that Dr. Bowie’s role is to oversee the medical services aspect. The Fire Department works with Dr. Curtis at Healthworks on the physical side of firefighting. Cammack referred to a manual adopted by the International Association of Firefighters and the International Association of Fire Chiefs. The Department and Dr. Curtis use the manual. Annually, firefighters are required to have a fitness test and medical evaluation. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation. 3. Proposal to Convert Four Residential Units at Park Woods from Transitional to Permanent Housing Farrar noted that Yardley is on his way back from Augusta following a meeting with Legislators. He introduced Paul Nicklas and Claire Bolduc. Health and Community Services is proposing to convert four existing units of transitional housing to permanent housing. These units had been previously used as emergency housing units but that program has been discontinued. As this change to permanent housing is not one of the permitted uses in the original agreement between the City and the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, action is needed to be taken to authorize this revised use. The overall intent is to expand the Continuum of Housing opportunity allowing some of the residents to graduate to permanent on-site housing. Currently, residents can remain at Park Woods for two years and then are required to move off-site. Bolduc said the change in status would allow the City to collect funding secured from HUD for project based Section 8 vouchers. The proposed units will be made available to disabled individuals. Gratwick asked for an overview of emergency housing in Bangor and an update on transitional housing. Bolduc said there are multiple shelters within Bangor to accommodate various family situations but there is never enough space. Gratwick said he would like to have information on numbers and how close Bangor is to meeting the need. Hawes asked Farrar to add this to the next committee meeting agenda. Barrett said one of the things the City would like to address through the comprehensive planning committee, that will at the upcoming Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting, is to update the housing element of the comprehensive plan which relates back to the housing element of the Community Development Block Grant plan. It would help the City identify what areas and needs in the housing spectrum are not being met; i.e. shelters, publicly subsidized housing, and affordable housing. A motion was made and seconded to move staff recommendation. Farrar noted that the item will go before Council by way of a formal Council Order. 4. On-Street Parking Concerns on Otis and Garland Streets Back in December of 2007, the Committee heard concerns about parking on Garland Street (between Otis and Howard) and Otis Street. After hearing the concerns and a variety of proposed solutions, the Committee directed staff to develop a recommendation and return to the Committee at a later date. Following further review and evaluation, staff presented recommendations for the Committee’s consideration. Interested citizens on Otis Street were notified. Ring said that current parking regulation on Otis Street is on the easterly side and the street is 26 feet in width. It is a narrow street and with snow conditions it causes problems especially for emergency vehicles. On Garland Street, between Otis and Howard, parking is currently allowed on both sides. That section of Garland Street is 38 feet wide. One of the Otis Street issues was the Montessori School. Staff observed over a period of a couple of weeks that parking on Otis and Garland appears to be from hospital employees. The School does have some need for employee parking and for student drop-off. After discussion in early December, the Committee recommended to temporarily ban parking on Otis Street with the exception of about 100 ft. for the primarily use of the School. On Garland Street, the Committee did not recommend a change. Gastia said there were problems with the temporary signs being moved and with enforcement. He said there appears to be sufficient parking on the EMMC campus for its employees. Ring said that staff’s first recommendation regarding Garland Street between Otis and Howard is to leave it as it is currently regulated – parking on both sides. Regarding Otis Street, staff recommends to permanently prohibit parking on both sides of the street except for a 100 ft. section in the vicinity of the School where it would be posted as 15-minute parking spaces. Gastia said this is not a new issue with Otis Street and his department has received with a number of complaints during recent winters. The main concern is hospital employees parking on Otis Street. He said that his Department has had numerous conversations with EMMC and they agree that it is a problem but it is off-site parking and they have no authority to regulate their employees. Although there is adequate parking in the Wing Park parking lot, employees chose not to utilize it. The Police Department does not have the resources to consistently enforce parking on Otis Street during the day. The 15- minute parking designation by the Montessori School would allow the Police Department time to chalk tires and return within a short time frame. Lesley Steltzer, 30 Otis Street, said the addition of curbing several years ago caused problems with two-way traffic flow. She agreed with the designation for School student drop-off. She spoke, however, about School staff parking. Her staff has had notes left on their vehicles from Otis and Fruit Street residents. She spoke about designated permit parking on Otis Street for the Montessori staff. Rock Gallant, 18 Otis Street, said he has witnessed emergency vehicle stoppage on the street due to its narrowness and parked vehicles. He also indicated that school buses have problems with the street as well. He expressed concern about taking the parking away completely as it would be an inconvenient for guests of residents. He recommended no parking between 5:30 am and 5:30 pm. The daytime hours are the problematic timeframe. Because of Howard Street now being one-way, it has caused additional traffic flow on Otis. Wheeler asked Gastia’s thoughts on Gallant’s suggestion. Gastia said it would eliminate the problem during the day. He said he would be optimistically cautious to regulated parking on Otis Street to day time hours only because the reason staff is suggesting the elimination of parking on Otis Street is due to emergency vehicle access issues. Gratwick said it could be done on a one year trial basis. He asked if there is any permit on-street parking in Bangor. Barrett said there has in the past been some resident parking only zones which tend to be in areas impacted by construction. It was in one place on Hancock Street at one point and on Montgomery Street when St. Joseph’s was undergoing renovation. Gastia said there was one on French Street for a short period of time. Barrett said there are on-street permit parking in the downtown parking district that are paid for and he cited the area on French Street by Dr. Dowd’s office. There is permit parking on Curve Street and some of the Abbott Square parking is technically on street and it is permit parking. Responding to Gratwick, Steltzer said the Fruit Street lot is used for parents to drop off and pick up students. In response to Gratwick, Gastia said placing designed parking on the Montessori side of Otis Street would not be feasible as there are too many driveway openings. Gratwick spoke about a speed bump on Otis Street and asked if diagonal parking on Garland Street would be appropriate. Ring said if there was sufficient desire for a speed table it would be possible. Regarding diagonal parking, 38 feet would not allow for diagonal parking on two sides. Wheeler asked if it would be practical to widen Otis Street by 3 ft. on each site. Because of the topography and the housing, a widening would be feasible only on the westerly side, the hospital side of the street. Staff has considered this previously. It would be fairly expensive due to the site considerations. Gratwick made a motion to recommend approval of staff recommendation to continue the current parking regulations on Garland Street. The motion was seconded. The vote was unanimous. Regarding Otis Street, Gratwick made a motion to accept staff recommendation to post 15 minute parking for 100 feet across from Montessori and to return to the Committee after six-months for a report. The motion was seconded. Steltzer said she appreciates the consideration and recommendation but it will not be well utilized. She asked if the City had considered making the block one- way. She will still be without staff parking for the school. D’Errico asked about widening that side of the street towards the hospital. Ring said again that it would be very expensive but it could be done. Hawes agreed that this is a very difficult situation and that she finds it distressing that hospital employees are still parking on Otis Street. She asked if there could be specifically marked parking spaces for the Montessori School. Barrett said it could be done but that the City would then be receiving similar requests from other businesses. Steltzer said there was no problem with Otis Street parking until the curb was installed by the City. Ring said unless there is a good separation of green space or a curb there is an issue of cars parking onto the sidewalk. The curb can’t just be removed. Wheeler asked Ring to find out an approximate cost for widening and the width needed to accommodate emergency vehicles and parking. Wheeler said that the City needs to balance public safety, parking and adjacent property owner needs. Barrett pointed out that money for paving and road construction is relatively limited. He asked all to keep that in mind. Ring said he will put a cost estimate together. Gratwick said the City has determined Otis Street to be a safety problem. Ring talked about reviewing this again in six months. An Ordinance change wouldn’t go into effect until April and suggested perhaps a four-month review period would be appropriate. Steltzer said in the past she has asked the City to write a letter to property owners on Fruit between State and Garland stating that the parking along the street is public parking. She once again made the request. Wheeler asked if it would be possible. Gastia suggested that staff should discuss the appropriate department from which the letter would come from and he didn’t feel it appropriate for the letter to come from the Police Department. Barrett suggested that the Chair of Government Operations could sign the letter. Hawes said she would be willing to do so. Barrett also suggested that the Montessori School might contact some of the Fruit Street residents. Steltzer did not agree due to notes that have been left on her staff’s vehicles. Hawes asked for a letter to be drafted for her signature. Hawes asked if staff might contact EMMC to see if they would be willing to share some of their Wing Park parking lot spaces with the Montessori School staff. Ring said the question will be posed to EMMC. Hawes asked Gratwick if he would be willing to amend his motion to return to the Committee in less than six months, per Ring’s suggestion. Gratwick said he would agree to amend the motion to four months. Gratwick told Gastia that he was worried that staff of the Montessori School are frightened due to notes being left on their vehicles. Gastia said that if his Department received a complaint it would be followed up on but the notes are not usually signed. Hawes asked that this item be placed back onto the agenda within a couple of weeks following her letter to Fruit Street residents and the contacting of EMMC regarding the Wing Park parking lot. The motion was amended and the Committee unanimously approved it. Barrett said the ordinance to change the parking designation would be first read at the Council’s first meeting in April and return to the second Council meeting in April at which time the full Council would debate the issue. Hawes asked that notices about the Council meeting be provided to residents in the area. The cost of the curb cut will also be available at that meeting. The Committee adjourned at 5:40 pm.