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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-10-13 Government Operations Committee Minutes ' Government Operations Committee , October 13, 2009 � Minutes Councilor Attendance: Wheeler, Bronson, Hawes, Blanchette, Gratwick, D'Errico, , Nealley - Staff Attendance: Barrett, Farrar, Cyr, Yardley, Courtney, Douglas, Gastia ' Others: Charlie Birkel, 3 Recycling Committee Members, BDN Committee Chair Wheeler opened the meeting at 5:00 p.m. � 1. Presentation of Recommendations Concerning Proposed Parking Changes in the Viciniry of]ohn Bapst High School and Surrounding Streets a Barrett referred to the summarized recommendations on page 4 of the agenda � packet. He stated that all of the one-hour parking zones in the area of John Bapst, which is from Cumberland to State St. and French to Pine Street, are being recommended to go to 2 hours. This recommendation is based on the feedback that ' was received given the number of inedical offices in that area and the frequency that appointments take longer than one hour. One exception is along Broadway, between Penobscot and Somerset along the north bound side of the street, along the curb, � and staff is suggesting that the 2-hour zone be from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. This allows students who are staying after school for extracurricular activities to move their vehicles so they do not have to walk long distances at night when it is dark. Classes ' end at 1:50 p.m. and about that time the overall parking demands drop. Staff is suggesting a few places to add some unrestricted parking, such as at 251 French Street, north bound from Somerset near the old Jewish Community Center, which ' John Bapst owns, Staff is recommending that the parking adjacent be unrestricted. It is also suggested that 5 of the 9 spaces north of Somerset on south bound Broadway, which is adjacent to the land company, also be unrestricted. There are ' no parking spaces being suggested on Cumberland Street, between Center and Broadway. It is currently not restricted but with the work that has been done, there ' is no room for parking. And similarly, north bound on Broadway past Somerset is being designated as no parking because of the width of the street. Staff also suggests that next year the center line be moved on Broadway a little to the west to make it easier for parking on the east side, a travel lane, a divider, another travel � lane and then no parking. The request for adding some unrestricted parking alone the median from Penobscot towards State is still being looked at by staff; however, ' staff sees only 5 possible spaces. That lane is mainly for individuals turning left at State Street but at that time of the day there is a significant queuing problem running up Broadway where traffic can be backed up from the light at State Street all , the way to and past John Bapst. Jim Ring and his staff are looking into the timing at that traffic signal to see if that can be adjusted. If the queuing can be shortened, r � , , spaces might be able to be added along the medium. The concern right now is that � people would be unable to get out of the parking spaces because of the traffic that is being backed up. � During the research process, a couple of other issues came up. Vehicles leaving the property at Dr. Myerwi� residence, which is the 2"d or 3rd up from State Street on the south bound side of Broadway, struggling with exiting the premises. There is 2 � hour parking on that side of the street on the curb and one parking bay to the Broadway side of his driveway. At times it is di�cult for people to exit the driveway without getting into the second lane. There was also a suggestion that staff look at � adding 2-hour parking from State Street between Essex and Pine Street. The general consensus was to get these proposed recommendations in place, and give it a try to see how things go during the early to mid part of the winter, and then at some point ' revisit the parking along the curb line of north bound Broadway between Penobscot and Somerset to see if it is possible to make some of that unrestricted parking. , Blanchette said that there needs to be a time frame where parking is allowed and not allowed for the spaces that might be available along the medium on Broadway near � State Street. Barrett said that the busiest times are in the morning, during lunch time and in the evening. He said this particular intersection backs up regularly and the City Engineer is looking into it. It seems that an insufficient cycle time is being � allowed for Broadway. The timing is set by MDOT but the City does often have inFluence and can get them to change it. � Wheeler recognized Nealley who just joined the committee. Responding to Gratwick, Gastia said that diagonal spaces on Cumberland were , looked at by Ring, who thought he might be able to get 4 or 5 additional parking spaces. However, that is now where the school buses park. The buses have been moved from in front of John Bapst on Broadway to Somerset, which would cause a , problem with diagonal spaces. There have been discussions in the past about how additional spaces could be gained by changing some of the City's two-way streets to � one-way streets. The indications are that it might be more problematic than necessary for now. � Gratwick asked the head of John Bapst, about the property that is now owned by John Bapst that used to be the former Jewish Community Center and asked what will become of that property. Mel McKay said that the vacant lot that used to be the , sight of part of that complex is potentially going to be for a parking lot. The school has a quote of about $175,000 to do that parking lot, which is more than the school has at this moment. The school wants to make sure that this is the best use of that ' area. This would share access to Somerset with the 7 Islands parking lot that is adjacent to this property. � , ' Dr. Myerwitz, at 50 Broadway, passed out information and spoke about a problematic , area on Broadway. He said that due to the queue, the challenge begins early in the morning heading into the center of town and then begins again around 1:30 p.m. � going south on Broadway. He feels that a large part of this problem is that students are parked in the right hand lane preventing cars from turning right onto State , Street. He suggested restricting the median parking from 1:30 or 2 p.m. so that people can make the left hand turn going onto State towards the Hospital. He spoke about the maps that were handed out and explained how difficult it is to leave his � properry and make a right hand turn onto Broadway and then another right onto State Street. He feels restricting the spaces just in front of his house and down to the end of Broadway towards State Street at 1:30 p.m. will allow the flow of traffic to ' move more quickly during a busy time. Barrett responded to Dr. Myerwi� and said that stafF looked into the parking space ' closest to State Street and everyone agreed that made sense. Barrett recommends that the Committee go forward with that. The other suggestion is new to Barrett and he suggested Jim Ring look into this and wait to see if the timing of the tra�c light ' has an efFect on that situation. Barrett pointed out that there are no time-restricted spaces in Bangor. His concern is that this might create confusion and problems, and � the City would get failure to comply. Gastia agreed with Barrett and said that instead of restricting the parking he would suggest no parking all together. Nealley asked what the distance is between the intersection and specific parking , spaces he pointed out on the maps. Gastia responded by saying about 300 ft. Nealley believes it should be considered that these two spaces be eliminated due to ' the traffic and suggested that it be looked at in the future. Dr. Myerwitz stated that just because Bangor does not have any signage now � restricting certain times as parking spaces does not mean that Bangor should not begin. He said that other big cities do have this and if this is a possible solution, it should be considered. , Blanchette feels that the parking in front of 50 Broadway is �n accident waiting to happen. Barrett suggested that the Committee move forward with the , recommendations that they are comfortable with and the elimination of the first spot that Dr. Myerwitr has requested and also recommends that the other hvo issues be � looked at, which are two other spaces on 50 Broadway and the time-limited parking on State Street from Pine to Essex. A motion was made and seconded to approve City Manger's recommendation. ' 2. Update — Local Government Access Channel Broadcast Issues � � ' , � Cyr stated that the City has been working with PBC Sound on the audio issue. The � issues have been sporadic, but tonight seems to be an issue. Cyr will give them a call tomorrow. She said that at the last meeting the Ciry was going to take some incremental steps to see if the video issues could be addressed. She referred to the outline in the packet of the steps that have been taken and indicated that the better � of the cameras were moved to the slot that is used most often, which is the committee set up. Staff did not see much difference and then covered the entire � wall in a blue paper and took a video but, again, they did not see any difference. Another suggestion was to change out the wattage of the Fluorescent lights, and this has been done as well. Cyr said that when looking at the live broadcast she feels � there is some improvement, but when looking at the rebroadcast, she do not see any difference. This leads staff to believe that it is the camera. She watched a Harbor Committee meeting rebroadcast last Thursday evening and saw a big difference, and , did not see any wash out at the end of the table. She stated that tonighYs live broadcast is being taped in another room to make sure that the live broadcast jives , with what is being captured and recorded. This will insure it is not part of the recording process that is causing or contributing to the washout as well. Staff had left messages with Brookside, and they have still not been able to find a camera for � the City to try. The staff is following up with them, but if they cannot give the City a camera tomorrow, staff will find a vendor that will lend a camera to the City to be sure this is the problem. The Ciry always tries something with a live meeting. Staff , will record it and then go back and look at it and see how it has impacted the video quality. Staff went back to video that was taped before the committee tables were moved at this angle. It was clearly a much better quality broadcast without the ' washout issue and halo effect at the end of the table. Staff is unsure if this is the camera failing over that time frame or the position and angle of the camera. If light leakage is an issue, the dark skies tonight will hopefully make a significant difference, � and if it does, then staff will put a film over the windows, particularly the middle window where most of the light leakage happens. Cyr said that although staff has been working hard at finding a solution, not a lot of success has been found. On � Friday, AI Douglas went through and checked all of the cameras and found the best one. He moved that one into slot 2, which is the shot that is used most often. This i morning Brookside Technology was here to check the white balance on all of the cameras. They reset them and the true colors of the room are showing. Cyr is hoping that tomorrow there will be a significant improvement and said that staff will � continue to make the incremental steps to fix the problem but feels it is important to try all avenues before spending the money to purchase new equipment. She said that they will come back in a month and update the Committee on the steps that � have been taken and the results. She expects that she will be in a position to come forward with the knowledge that the problems can or cannot be fixed without new equipment and have some equipment options available. � Nealley finds it unbelievable that in 2009 people have cameras in their homes and on the street and some of the video is better than the City's video. Wheeler commented � , � that although he has been very impatient, he believes that taking a step by step � approach is the best way and would like to avoid spending money if it is possible. He , also pointed out that in his home channel 7 is somewhat snowy compared to channel 5. Bronson spoke about his past and that it was possible to get a quality picture and ' sound 20 years ago. He admits that he is not familiar with the equipment used today and says he understands the budget restraints but feels that this should be solved. � Cyr said that she will update the committee again in one month but would like to reach out to a specific engineer at Time Warner to independently come in and define � what it is the City needs. It is in Time Warner's best interest to make their customers happy. Wheeler suggested that the City get an estimate to replace the entire equipment in case it is needed. , 3. Council Ordinance 09-314, Amending Chapter 134, General Assistance Section 134-27, Amount of Assistance and Section 134-Z7.1, Rental Assistance ' Yardley said that the State gives the City the overall maximums for GA and Rental Assistance. Unless there are compelling reasons to do otherwise, staff will bring it � forward to the Council for their action. Yardley stated that his staff has reviewed the numbers that the state has provided and found that they are appropriate to the City's , market. Staff has drafted those into the Ordinance. Responding to Gratwick, Yardley said, for a heated 1 bedroom unit, the maximum in ' Bangor is $542 and in Portland it would be $782. The metropolitan area is Bangor, Lewiston, and Portland, and all have individually calculated rates. Yardley said that the money is proportional. The General Assistance Funding allows the City to reach a � threshold of up to approximately $750,000 and then the City gets reimbursed at 50%. Any amount above this would reimburse the City 90%. Generally by the end of the year, the ratio works out to be where the State puts in about 70% of what the , City expends and the City's General Fund puts in 30%. Nealley questioned whether or not increasing the amount for existing units on rental � assistance and saving that additional money for those people that are still on a waiting list might be a more appropriate use of funds. Responding to Nealley, Yardley � said that there is a waiting list for Section 8 and those kinds of housing vouchers. General Assistance Housing is based on income eligibility and there is no waiting list. If someone comes into the office and meets the financial criteria to receive general ' assistance, they are given a voucher and are required to go find a landlord who will accept that amount for a rental unit. Yardley said that because the system has a tight formula, it is di�cult for those on general assistance to misuse it. Most of what ' they get for resources is used for their housing. . � , � , A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of this Ordinance � Amendment. Meeting adjourned 6:25 p.m. ' � � , , , � , � � ' � , , , �