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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-10-28 Minutes 1 CORRECTED MINUTES MINUTES OF THE Regular Meeting of the Edina Transportation Commission Thursday, October 28, 2004 Edina City Hall 4801 West 50th Street Community Room MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairperson Fred Richards, Marie Thorpe, Jean White, Warren Plante, Joni Bennett , Les Wanninger MEMBERS ABSENT: Dean Dovolis STAFF PRESENT: Wayne Houle, Steve Lillehaug, Sharon Allison Lillehaug handed out revised copies of the 2030 Metropolitan Council Transportation Plan Comment resolution. Lillehaug said he learned recently that if problems cannot be identified and explained to the public and Council they will not be able to get consent. Lillehaug asked the Commissioners to think for a moment about what is stated in the Background section of the policy and decide if this is still what they have in mind and if not, let him know so that he can make the necessary changes to the plan to reflect the direction in which they are going. He stated further that if they do not believe the concerns and issues in the draft document to be true, further discussion is needed. He said he does not agree with everything in the policy but the policy is needed so that they can move forward. In response, Richards said he’s been doing a lot of thinking about what the Commission can and cannot accomplish. He is concerned they are getting bogged down in minutia. Richards said there aren’t any answers to traffic calming because traffic is here to stay, it is a global problem. He said he attended two meetings regarding Southdale where the consultants talked about plans for light rail around that area and he suggested that the Commissioners may want to learn more about light rail to see if this is an option that could work for the city or at least identify how the city fit into the regional system and make recommendations to the Council. Richards said he shares the same feelings as Lillehaug and it does seem as though the Commission is focusing on traffic calming instead of bigger traffic issues. He asked the Commissioners for feedback. White said she reviewed the 2030 Plan and she sent a response to the Met Council asking that they evaluate Hiawatha’s light rail system to see if it’s the right path to take. She too attended the Southdale meeting and believes a bigger strategy for the neighborhood is needed. She said the Commission should go forward to the Council to get their reaction to the draft policy. 2 Bennett said the thoughts expressed are one of two concerns she has. The other concern is whether what has been developed will serve the needs of the community. Thorpe said the Commissioners have taken on an earth-shattering endeavor and a tremendous amount of work has been done already. She said what’s being done now is like a safety drill and the real issues will declare themselves and changes can be made as needed. Plante said he attended the TH494 and Southdale meetings and all other committees were represented there except for the ETC. He asked how can the ETC work with them to coordinate their efforts? Wanninger said he visited Marin County, California, and was impressed with their local traffic. He said motorists could use the freeway or the arterials to go across town. Cutting through the neighborhoods would take much longer because there is no easy interconnection. They also have 25 mph speed limits that most people seem to obey. He said traffic moves faster on what appeared to be narrower freeway lanes, and there were no road rage-type behaviors. He said what we have now is the basis to begin protecting the livability of the residents. He said although the ETC will not have much impact on the regional system, he has always assumed that they would become involved to urge and/or persuade certain actions. Plante said he believes Southdale is going to have a major impact on the local community because only 15% of the employees live in Edina, which means 85% are commuting into the city. Houle said he could schedule a meeting with the consultants, the city’s Planning Department and County representatives for the ETC to learn more about the mass transit plans for the Southdale area. White said the Commission could pursue local traffic and have a strategy in place in anticipation of what’s to come. Richards said the point he’s trying to make is based on the mission statement of Edina preserving and being advocates about coming issues instead of being so focused on today’s issues of traffic calming. He said there has been discussion of an inner city transit system and it seems like something for the Commission to be involved with to see how it fits in. Wanninger said the ETC could work on preserving the neighborhood and quality of life while at the same time controlling traffic because the bulk of their work is over for the next few months. Bennett asked if the best way is to be proactive or reactive. She said there is no good solution, which is why the issues keep coming up, but the ETC could create a citywide menu of solutions that would increase livability in the neighborhoods. She said to adopt the current framework will perpetuate the problems that the city has had the last 11 years. She said this type of leadership (or at least the perception) during a time of limited resources have caused people to be concerned about how staff time is spent, how money is being spent, and ever increasing taxes. She said one of the ETC’s responsibilities is to decide or recommend how the resources are going to be spent. Thorpe said she thought the plan that they’ve developed was a citywide plan. Bennett said she is concerned with how the process works; will it be one block or one neighborhood asking for relief or will the Commission, as a body, look at the way traffic and pedestrian moves in the city, where the parks are located and develop common 3 recommendations that can improve the lives of citizens all over, not just the neighborhood that gets organized the fastest. She said neighborhood versus neighborhood is probably what has made it so difficult for the city, as well as kept issues unsolvable and puts the city in a position of not serving everyone. She would like to see recommendations that would be beneficial to all neighborhoods instead of pitting them against each other. Thorpe said a cookie cutter system couldn’t be developed because all the neighborhoods are different. She does not believe the neighborhoods are being pitted against each other and this is the wrong way for the Commission to begin. Plante said they spend a lot of time discussing traffic calming measures but community policing is needed also to make an impact and they haven’t addressed this yet. White said community policing is not like it used to be because of dwindling resources, but they could advocate for solutions. Wanninger said in a past meeting he talked about measures to change attitude and behavior and this was added to the policy. He suggested a public relations campaign to get citizens to change their behavior and perception. Richards said the one thing they all agree on is moving to the next stage, which is forwarding the policy to the Council for approval. Lillehaug recommended going to Council and to the public from Oct. 28th through Dec. 2nd for public comment, followed by a joint meeting with the Council and ETC on Nov. 16th (tentative). He also recommended holding an open house on Nov. 18th for the public at the regularly scheduled ETC meeting where the plan would be presented to them. Commissioners would be provided with the public comments and revise the policy as needed. The draft would be finalized on Dec. 23rd and submitted to the Council Jan. 4th for approval. Review of Draft Policy Plante asked about the term “assessment roll”. Houle said it’s included because it is a part of the Chapter 429 rules that governs how property owners are assessed. The assessment roll is a list of residents’ names and the amount each is being assessed. Plante suggested including estimated costs for traffic calming devices. Some Commissioners believe this would help residents to make informed decision, others believe the focus should be on selecting an option that will achieve the desired result. Staff is of the opinion that it would be premature to list preliminary costs because the final assessment amount could be much higher than the preliminary asessment. The consensus is to leave this area as is. White – page 12, item 4, first paragraph: add ‘s’ to school. Bennett Page 3, Roadway Function and Access, #8, move ‘Annually’ to the beginning of the sentence. Page 5, Pedestrian/Bicycle, #6: “…bicycles and pedestrians along with bicyclists and…” Page 11, will the Commission get a list of all requested studies? Staff responded yes. 4 Page 14, top of page, sentence should read ‘The ETC…update residents about the proposed project.’ Page 18, Benefited Area, Assessed Area – is not reading as clearly as previous versions. Page A-2, add ‘ed’ to Impact Motion made by Plante and seconded by White approving the Transportation Commission Policy. Ayes: Richards, Thorpe, White, Plant, Wanninger Opposed: Bennett Motion carried. Richards asked if there was enough time allowed for the public to review the document and comment (16 days). Bennett said she is not comfortable because the community has not been asked to weigh in, the timeframe suggested is too brief with two holidays included, it appears comments are only being sought in writing and it is not clear how the information will be disseminated. Richards said people would have a chance to comment during the open house. Lillehaug said he’s doing a press release to be published in the Edina Sun, on the cable channel and various other outlets. Bennett is concerned that the method of publicity would not reach all residents. Other areas suggested were the City Hall electronic notice board, the senior center, all the libraries and city’s website. Plante said the Southdale meeting was well publicized and poorly attended so it might not be the case that the public is not being notified. White said the public seems to be paying closer attention to public policy so every effort must be made to notify them and get their support so it does not seem like an inside job. Lillehaug asked if more time is needed before the open house or the public comment period? Houle recommended rescheduling the joint council meeting for Dec. 7th. He said there might be a lack of concentration at the 12/23 meeting due to the 12/25 holiday. The consensus is to change the meeting dates, meet with the Council before the open house and notify various sources about the comment period (clubs, League of Women Voters, Edina Sun, etc.) Bennett asked what is the timeframe for the comment period. Richards said it never ends, but Jan. 4th is when the policy goes to Council for approval. Lillehaug said Jan. 4th will have to be pushed back due to other changes and a date should be established when no more public comment will be accepted. Richards said the document is not statutory and therefore can be changed at anytime if a good idea comes along. To set a date he said is too legalistic and gives the impression that residents’ comments after that point is no longer valid. Wanninger said to inform the public of our schedule and let them know that if they want their comments considered before going to Council, they must be submitted within a certain timeframe. The new meeting dates are as follow: joint meeting with Council Dec. 7th; end of official public comment period Dec. 23rd; policy to Council for approval Jan. 18th. Staff will reissue new timeline. Wanninger asked if in addition to what they are currently doing, should they become more involved in what is happening at Southdale? Richards said he was planning to ask 5 staff to do a presentation on Dec. 23rd so the Commissioners can see what was envisioned for the public easements that was set aside. Houle gave an overview of the Oct. 7th Southdale meeting. He said the community (including non-residents) was invited to look at the greater Southdale area demographics including such areas as employment, residents and transportation. They were asked to identify problem areas such as safety, access, etc. Richards said he’s attended the last three meetings of the Southdale Advisory Committee and their primary focus is on traffic, land use changes and inter-modal/inner-city transit. He said ETC should be involved with this committee because of the public transit piece. Richards passed out an article on traffic calming devices. TH494 Advisory Committee – Wanninger said he noticed an attitude of cooperation at this meeting. He said the representatives from the Met Council were not telling what would be done; instead they were explaining the different options of the plan using different budgetary figures. Plante said Chair Hovland does a good job of heading this committee. Houle said he’s a good asset to Edina where transportation issues are concerned. White said she attended a bus/transit presentation by Mn/DOT, City of Minneapolis and the City of Lakeville. An electronic presentation showed how the highway might look with rapid transit from Minneapolis to Lakeville and how it would work. They also discussed how to keep single occupant vehicles out of the rapid transit lane. White said the legislators have already authorized a BRT route from Minneapolis to Lakeville. Plante asked if there is a way to know what the different groups are working on where transportation legislation is concerned. Houle said every August the League of MN Cities publishes information from think tanks that are working on transportation issues. Houle will get copies for the Commissioners when it becomes available. Regarding the sidewalk at Wooddale from 58th St. to 62nd St., Richards asked if the feedback has been positive. Staff said they haven’t received any negative feedback and people are already using it. Richards said the Commission should look at the sidewalk plan to finish it. Bennett said they should also look at appropriating tax dollars towards building sidewalks. New pedestrian crosswalk at Eden Ave. and 50th – this is a new style of crosswalk. The paint is stenciled into the asphalt and should last longer. Wanninger asked if staff is going to gather feedback on the new striping and other signs. Houle said it would be a good idea to gather feedback. Approval of Minutes from September 23rd Correction on page 2, last paragraph: “…the Commission may want to review this again.” Correction on page 5, 4th paragraph, correct spelling is Mr. Rudnicki. A motion was made by Wanninger to approve the minutes with the corrections as stated above. Seconded by Plante. 6 Residents In Attendance Kristi Anderson suggested the Edina Community Center and the Southdale notice board as two other locations where information can be posted regarding the public meeting. Keith Wolfe commended the Commissioners and staff for moving forward with this important issue. He said there are many great neighborhoods in the city and they need to be empowered to mitigate the traffic issues. He said staff also needs to be empowered so that they can tighten or relax standards as necessary. Mr. Wolfe said this is a great start towards empowering the neighborhoods. Houle said he and Lillehaug attended a seminar called Systematic Development of Informed Consent and next meeting he would like to give the Commissioners an overview of what the seminar was about. Meeting adjourned. The next meeting is scheduled for November 18, 2004, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., in the Community Room.