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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-12-15 MinutesDraft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 1/19/2017 1 Minutes City of Edina, Minnesota Transportation Commission Community Room December 15, 2016, 6:00 p.m. I. Call To Order Chair LaForce called the meeting to order. II. Roll Call Answering roll call were members Brown, Janovy, Koester, LaForce, Miranda, Olk and Olson. Absent at roll call were members Bass, Boettge, Iyer and Loeffelholz. Members Boettge and Iyer arrived after roll call. III. Approval Of Meeting Agenda Motion was made by chair LaForce and seconded by member Janovy to move Special Recognitions and Presentations to after Community Comment. All voted aye. Motion passed. Motion was made by member Olson and seconded by member Miranda approving the amended meeting agenda. All voted aye. Motion carried. IV. Approval Of Meeting Minutes Motion was made by member Olson and seconded by member Miranda approving the Nov. 17, 2016, minutes. Member Janovy abstained. Motion carried. V. Community Comments Mr. Mark Thoma, 5504 Beard Ave, addressed the ETC regarding sidewalks in his neighborhood. Mr. Thoma suggested adding a sidewalk on Beard Avenue from W. 55th Street to W. 62nd Street to create a north/south connection from the Minnehaha Creek Bridge to Strachauer Park. He said this could be done in 2017 when the streets from W. 55th Street to W. 60th Street are scheduled for reconstruction. He said neighbors are supportive of the sidewalk. The ETC recommended Mr. Thoma start a petition to solicit support for the sidewalk. Planner Nolan noted that Beard Avenue north of W. 58th Street is not currently on the reconstruction schedule but south to W. 60th Street is scheduled for 2019. VI. Special Recognitions And Presentations A. Edina Community Circulator Discussion Ms. Courtney Whited presented a circulator option for Edina. Ms. Whited said when she was a member of the ETC, they worked on a transportation option that was approved by City Council and received funding but the company went out of business. She presented DARTS, a fixed circulator loop bus service that is currently operating in Hastings and West St. Paul and soon to begin in South St. Paul. For shopping, errands and personal appointments, some of the benefits are: • Schedule is typically once weekly on the same day each week. • Fixed stops but passengers can request a deviated stop near a scheduled stop. • Sign-up is not required; however, you could schedule a pick up at home. • Buses are wheelchair lift-equipped. • The same driver builds relationship with riders and provides extra services. • Pay once and hop on and off all day. • Riders age 12 and older. • Cost of rides currently in operation is $2-$5 round-trip or all-day. Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 1/19/2017 2 Ms. Whited provided a proposed Loop route for Edina including community centers, grocery stores, Southdale Hospital, Southdale Mall, 50th & France, Centennial Lakes Park, Grandview, high density housing locations, and more that could be added. She said they would work with Metro Transit to be sure DARTS is serving an area that Metro Transit cannot serve. The total annual cost per loop is $23,000, once a week for five hours. Next steps planning would include forming an advisory committee that would work to plan and implement the Loop. Discussion • Can stops be shared with Metro Transit – probably not because DARTS stops are usually located in partnership businesses because they need to be sheltered. • How would Edina show a need for this service? Ms. Whited has an assessment tool to determine need. • How much is the program subsidized? It is not subsidized because of grant funding. • This type of service is popular in other cities. • How do they get started without spending $23,000? By doing a survey of the entire city (not a specific demographic). • There should be an exploratory committee. Chair LaForce asked how staff would feel about this and planner Nolan said there was support for it already when he began as the planner. Chair LaForce noted that the Loop was a little different than what Council had in mind as the Circulator. Ms. Whited said she would be available spring, 2017, for an exploratory meeting. She discouraged getting too bogged down with an advisory committee because it creates a lot of nay-sayers. She has data from a 6 week trial that she could share. She suggested doing a one year trial. VII. Reports/Recommendations A. Passenger Rail Service in Edina: 2017 Outreach and Engagement Efforts Planner Nolan said staff will be meeting after the first of the year to discuss funding and the Request for Proposal (RFP) and staff would like to hear the ETC’s idea for the project scope. During discussion, the ETC identified several questions that would need to be answered. The committee (Bass/Brown/Janovy/Loffelholz) will meet with planner Nolan to frame up the questions for the RFP. B. Additional Updates on 2016 Work Plan Initiatives No updates. C. Traffic Safety Report of Dec. 7, 2016 B.1. Is there a policy for placing directional signs? No; there is only one directional sign in the city and staff has had only one request prior to this one and it was denied. Should there be a policy so that decisions aren’t arbitrary? Planner Nolan will follow up with this. B.2. How is the ADT related to the issue of the sidewalk? It is not directly; it is provided as additional data. B.3. Since west bound traffic did not stop 18 times, is there anything they can do to prevent this? Only police presence would help. B.4. How do they balance the needs of residents and students and, was this a school district issue and not the City’s? Has staff worked with the school district to discourage students from driving to school? Yes, said planner Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 1/19/2017 3 Nolan, this was the purpose of the Active Routes to School plan. Student member Koester said the school district has a policy that encourages carpooling; he said four students to a car get priority for parking passes. D.2. This issue comes up several times—maybe something can be done. Planner Nolan said this is specific to vehicles and if used correctly, it is not an issue. Motion made by member Iyer and seconded by member Miranda to forward the Dec. 6, 2016, TSC report to the City Council. All voted aye. Motion passed. D. Approved 2017 Transportation Commission Work Plan The City Council approved 2017 Work Plan was received. VIII. Correspondence And Petitions An email was received from a resident thanking the ETC for improvements on the Benton Avenue Bridge at Highway 100 (crosswalks and stop signs were added) and a suggestion to advertise the new Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail. IX. Chair and Member Comments Member Iyer said early this week there were a couple crashes at W. 66th Street and Valley View Road and in police presence, at least four cars ran the stoplight. He continues to advocate for a roundabout to be paid for by developers. Secondly, he suggested the City begin formulating a plan for diverting traffic for the 2019 redecking of the France Avenue and Highway 62 Bridge. Member Brown said he received a letter from a resident on Mackey Avenue who is excited about the passenger rail planning. Secondly, he visited the railroad swing bridge in Savage that TC&W improved, and noticed that CP Rail had also made improvements in the same area which means they too are probably gearing up for more traffic on the rail line that runs through Edina. Member Boettge asked if the push bottoms at pedestrian crossings could be set on automatic like at 50th & France. Planner Nolan said that this is possible, and will follow up. Member Janovy suggested revising the streetlight question on the multi-modal survey, adding a transit question, and adding a point system for easier tabulation; the committee that originally worked on the survey will reconvene to work on the revisions. Secondly, she suggested inviting Mike Larson from the Met Council to give an overview on their Comprehensive Plan requirements. She said they have webinars on Comp Plan planning. Planner Nolan will follow up on this. Chair LaForce thanked everyone that helped the City Council to see things a little different regarding the Valley View Road sidewalk that they approved. Secondly, he reminded everyone to keep recruiting new ETC members. Finally, the Sept. 2017 meeting will be on the 4th Thursday because the 3rd Thursday is a religious holiday observance. X. Staff Comments • Birchcrest A and Countryside B projects for 2017 were approved by City Council, along with the Valley View Road sidewalk. • 2018 sidewalks: on Dec. 7, staff met with residents to discuss the W. 58th Street sidewalk from Wooddale Avenue to France Avenue, and of the 10 that attended and 8 that emailed, all were in favor. On Dec. 14, staff met with residents to discuss the Valley View Road sidewalk from Mark Terrace Drive to Gleason Road, and of the 9 that attended and 10 that emailed, about four were not supportive or Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 1/19/2017 4 wanted better understanding of how their property would be impacted. A petition was received for this sidewalk in early 2016. • 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update: three consulting teams were interviewed and with a team lead by Biko Associates was selected and they’ll begin working Jan. 2017 until 2018. A Comp Plan taskforce was formed made up of Planning Commission members and staff. Since they are not redoing the entire plan, the focus will be on Small Area Plans and the Transportation Chapter. The ETC involvement will be on updating the Transportation Chapter. A Planning Commission liaison was assigned to the ETC. • 50th & France area: a proposal was received for W. 49½ Street for redevelopment around the parking ramps and staff engaged a consultant to do a traffic study, primarily to collect counts and turn movements. • The Nine Mile Creek Trail to the east was completed; continuing on Parklawn Avenue and the west side will be completed next year, including a pedestrian bridge over Highway 62. XI. Calendar of Events A. Schedule of Meeting and Events as of Dec. 15, 2016 XII. Adjournment at 8:10 p.m. J F M A M J J A S O N D SM WS # of Mtgs Attendance % Meetings/Work Sessions 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 13 NAME TERM (Date) 6/21 Bass, Katherine 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 77% Boettge, Emily 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 85% Brown, Andy 3/1/2019 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 92% Iyer, Surya 3/1/2018 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 85% LaForce, Tom 3/1/2018 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 13 100% Loeffelholz, Ralf 3/1/2018 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 69% Janovy, Jennifer 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 92% Miranda, Lou 3/1/2019 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 100% Olson, Larry 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 92% Koester, David (student) 9/1/2017 1 1 1 3 75% Olk, Megan (student) 9/1/2017 1 1 1 3 75% Ding, Emily (student) 9/1/2016 1 1 2 15% Ruehl, Lindsey (student) 9/1/2016 1 1 1 1 4 31% TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE