The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About1996-08-07 Community and Economic Development Committee Minutes : � .. COMMUNITY& ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Wednesday, August 7, 1996 @5:00 PM • MINUTES COMMITTEE PRESENT: Councilor Chris Popper, Chair Councilor James Tyler (sitting in for Councilor Gerard Baldacci) Councilor Marshall Frankel (sitting in for Councilor Charles Sullivan) STAFF PRESENT: Edward A. Barrett, City Manager John Lord, Planning O�cer Erik Stumpfel, City Solicitor Gary Jewell,Parking Supervisor Dan Wellington, Code Enforcement OTHERS PRESENT: John Browning, Paul Bunyan Festival Days Kim Wiley, Q 106.5 radio The meeting was called to order by Committee Chair, Councilor Chris Popper, at 5:00 PM. At the suggestion of Committee Chair Popper, Item#3 was heard first. AGENDA ITEM#3 - Consideration of Waiver of Insurance for Paul Bunyan Festival Days � at Bangor Waterworks and Paul Bunyan Park The Paul Bunyan Festival group (which consists of many area organizations)have put together events and activities to be held at Paul Bunyan Park and the Bangor waterfront on Sept. 6th, 7th and 8th. According to their spokesperson, John Browning,there will be no alcohol available; food vendors will be licensed by the City. Since they do not have a licensed promoter or any one group sponsoring these activities, they have requested that the City waive the mandatory liability insurance requirement for use of City land. City Solicitor Erik Stumpfel explained to the Committee that these situations are a policy issue for the Council and City as to whether they want to facilitate the event(s) by waiving the insurance requirements. The City is insured under their own policy for any claims that may arise;the reason for third party insurance is that if a loss occurs, it would fall on the events sponsor and not the City's --this keeps the City's lost experience down and thus reduces their premiums in the future. In general, the final decision on whether or not to require liability insurance is up to the Council. Councilor Tyler asked Erik if a waiver has ever been granted to an event organizer. Erik replied that prior to the past 5-6 yeaxs,the City normally did not require insurance; it has only been enforced over recent years. � Councilor Tyler moved that the C&ED Committee waive the insurance requirement while directing Staff to at least investigate a"rider" on the City's policy for less then a$1,000. Seconded; So voted. . 2� . a AGENDA ITEM#1 - C.O. 96-319,Amending the Sign Ordinances - Chapter VI, Art. 3, Section 5.4.1 At the request of the Zoning Board of Appeals, Staff has drawn up an amendment to clarify Section 5.4.1 of the Sign Ordinance so that it will be more legible in format; there are no changes in the content. A motion was made and seconded to recommend this item to the full Council. So voted. AGENDA ITEM#2 - Wetlands Mitigation Banking Planning Officer, John Lord, briefed the Committee on the Wetlands Mitigation Banking issue. This program would involve making available wetland areas under City ownership to meet "off-set" requirements on sites that disturb or fill wetlands. The City currently has land which could be used -the Hermon Bog Area near the Bangor Airport and the City's woodlot area. Staff requested that the C&ED Committee review this idea and approve the concept which could be formalized for Council approval. John indicated that there may be an immediate request forthcoming for one transaction to meet the needs of a project which is currently in the design phase. After much discussion, a motion was made and seconded to go forward with this program • as presented So voted. AGENDA ITEM#4 - Center Street Parking - St. Joseph Hospital Area Parking Supervisor, Gary Jewell, stated that a resident of Center Street, in the area of St. Joseph Hospital, has complained regarding the increased density of vehicles being parked on the street since the onset of construction at the hospital. Due to the width of the road,the amount of traffic on the street makes it a difficult situation in exiting their driveway. Gary stated that he personally investigated the situation by measuring the roadway, which is 35 feet wide. The City's standards for parking on both sides of the street is 36 feet. The only concern Gary has is where to relocate the vehicles if they're moved off of Center Street, residents of side streets have also complained in the past of the increased parking. After some discussion, Councilor Popper suggested that parking be permitted only on one side of Center Street in the vicinity of St. Joseph's until construction is completed -perhaps on the side of the hospital where the construction is-e�ending perhaps 100 feet on either side. City Manager Barrett also suggested that temporarily the area be posted "No Parking" until Staff can come up with a definite plan; residents of the area will be kept informed also. i 3/ • AGENDA ITEM#5 -Downtown Parking Update John Lord introduced to the Committee the issues with downtown employee parking and Staff s findings to date as follows: a) Columbia Street Parking Deck- Gary Jewell recently conducted a survey of the number of area employees who use this parking deck during the timeframe of Monday-Thursday, at 8 & 10 AM; 12 Noon, and at 2 &4 PM. There are 40 spaces on this deck; the survey showed that 194 cars used the spaces during this timeframe. b) Downtown Business Association(DBA) - City Staff inet with this group recently to review their suggestions on how to get downtown employees to use the permit parking lots and thus open up on-street parking for customers. Their solution is to reduce the permit rates on a 6- month trial basis to remote parking lots to provide incentive for employees. Staff agreed to review their suggestion. Since then Staff has found that the most convenient lots have a high rate of utilization so it's not feasible for DBA's plan to work as the City would lose revenues. Some areas that have low rates of utilization are the High Street lot--however it is located on a hill and somewhat inconvenient. John stated that he would contact the DBA to discuss this idea further. • After some discussion on the overall parking problems, other suggestions for possible solutions were: 1) Staff review signage for improvements; 2)provide flyers to employees explaining parking rules, enforcement and parking alternatives; 3) increase awareness of The BUS service. c) John Lord presented to the Committee an inquiry from EMMC to lease 100-150 spaces at the Pickering Square Parking Garage during the hospital's peak time which is from Sept.-May. They'd also like shuttle service to and from the hospital. Staff has discussed this with Joe McNeil of The BUS. Joe related that due to a lack of a sufficient number of buses this might not be possible. The hospital would need a large bus which would be available during peak morning and afternoon hours. They are also looking into contracting with Cyr bus lines as a possibility as well as other alternatives for parking. Discussion continued among Committee and Staff as to the number of spaces consistently available in the garage and what discount, if any, should be given. The conclusion was to have Staff negotiate the best possible agreement with respect to cost for number of spaces and bring it back to Committee for approval. AGENDA ITEM#6 -Planning/Code Enforcement Update Planning: • John Lord indicated that there was one proposed zone change request on the Council Agenda for referral to the Planning Board for Public Hearing. 4/ ` Code Enforcement: 66 Curve Street property-- Dan Wellington updated the Committee on the progress with this property. The owner is still on disability and not able to earn an income consequently is unable to make any progress ori the maintenance of this property. Dan stated that this item will have to be discussed at a later date due to the owner's situation. Dan further sta�ed t.�at:,l�will be bringing before the Committee in Sept. or October, 3 more buildings for coridemnation approval; funds for the demolition could be provided by Community Development. Councilor Tyler asked Dan to update the Committee on the progress with the property on York Street which sustained damage from a fire early this year. Dan replied that the insurance company has not settled the owrier's claim; this company is very slow to settle its claims but progress is being made. The owner is regularly keeping Dan informed as to the progress. With no further business at hand, the meeting was adjourned at 6:00 PM. � � �