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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-03-20 Minutes1 MINUTES OF CITY OF EDINA, MINNESOTA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION COMMUNITY ROOM MARCH 20, 2014 6:00 P.M. ROLL CALL Answering roll call were members Bass, Boettge, Iyer, Janovy, LaForce, Nelson, Olson, Sierks, Spanhake, and Whited. ABSENT Member Van Dyke APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Motion was made by member Janovy and seconded by member LaForce to approve the meeting agenda. All voted aye. Motion carried. New member Larry Olson was welcomed to the ETC and member Spanhake was welcomed back. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 16, 2014 – Approved as corrected. Motion was made by member LaForce and seconded by member Boettge to approve the amended minutes of January 16, 2014. Boettge, Iyer, Janovy, LaForce, Nelson, Olson, Spanhake, and Whited voted aye. Motion carried. SPECIAL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 27, 2014 – Approved as corrected. Motion was made by member LaForce and seconded by member Olson to approve the amended minutes of February 27, 2014. Boettge, Iyer, LaForce, Nelson, Olson, Spanhake, and Whited voted aye. Janovy abstained. Motion carried. COMMUNITY COMMENT – None REPORTS/RECOMMENDATIONS Ordinance Discussion: Bicycling on Sidewalks Transportation planner Nolan said this is up for discussion again because one of the recommendations in the Active Routes to School (ARTS) policy is to change the ordinance to allow biking on sidewalks and the City Council asked the ETC to revisit this. Previously, the ETC met with the police department and discussed changing the ordinance to allow biking on sidewalks. The police’s opinion at that time was, although they do not actively enforce the ordinance they would like to keep it to be able to enforce bad behaviors. The ETC recommended that the City Council consider changing the ordinance but the discussion did not take place because of issues (at the time) related to the Wooddale Avenue bike lanes. Transportation planner Nolan said he spoke with Chief Nelson and he said he would do some research before responding. Mr. Nolan also spoke with manager Neal and he recommended that the ETC and police each make separate recommendations to the City Council. After discussion, the ETC was still in agreement that the ordinance should be changed to allow biking on sidewalks. Some reasons given were that there is State Statute in place for enforcements; all the cities abutting Edina allows 2 biking on sidewalks so this would make it consistent; not everyone feels comfortable riding in the streets; and, children of certain age should not ride in the street. Member Iyer said he did not support the change last time because the police does not actively enforce the ordinance and is most likely to not support it again. Motion was made by member Janovy and seconded by member Bass to write an advisory communication to City Council recommending they permit biking on sidewalks. All voted aye. Motion carried. Member Janovy will write the advisory communication and members Boettge and LaForce will review. Transportation Options Workshop Member Whited said the transportation options working group was formed to look at transportation options for seniors in Edina which they did and they recommended PRISM. PRISM received a $10,000 grant approval from Edina Human Services for but shortly thereafter, PRISM closed and now they are back to the beginning. Previous and current discussions acknowledged that there was a transportation need in the community but there was no way to quantify the need and therefore what services are needed. Member Whited said Edina’s most recent Quality of Life survey (4/2013) showed more than 50% of residents are between 55 and 65 years old, but the survey did not ask how they move around. She said a survey by the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging showed that one in seven of this age group is a non-driver in the seven county metro areas. With this being primarily focused on seniors, chair Nelson asked about other needs such as the disabled, adults who chose not to drive for various reasons, etc. Member Bass said any decision or recommendation should be values-based. Member Whited said some cities see the value of seniors staying/aging in the community and is willing to pay, while some believe transportation should be provided by the county or Met Council because they are responsible for moving people around the community. The most common options are regular transit, Metro Mobility, and Transit Link but they all have major gaps. VEAP was also mentioned. Partnering with senior centers that have their own transportation was mentioned but member Whited said most are outsourcing this service because of expenses and regulations and their schedules are defined and would not work for someone who may want to take dance lessons on Tuesday evenings in downtown Minneapolis. Member LaForce said it sounds like they should focus on identifying the community needs. Member Janovy asked if there was a list of resources that explains what is available for someone who doesn’t drive. She said this would be a good starting point and then they can identify the gaps, partnerships and funding sources. She noted that in Edina’s Comprehensive Plan there is a plan for a Circulator that would travel around Southdale and possibly up to the 50th & France area. Member Surya asked what was it that they are trying to accomplish and member Whited said she is looking for direction from the ETC since the original plan fell through. It is probably not feasible to form another working group at this time, said member Whited; however, in her role at Dakota County she is creating a toolkit that will help to assess needs, create partnerships, etc. and the idea is to make it available to other cities and counties but it will not be ready for two years. Member Bass expressed concern about putting the discussion on hold because it is a transportation challenge that the City needs to be planning for and showing how it ties in to the vision for the community. She said maybe this is an issue for discussion when the Comp Plan comes up for review again, but in the meantime, they could begin looking at the Circulator. Chair Nelson said the Circulator will not serve everyone but it would be a good starting point to build from. Moving forward, transportation planner Nolan will see if Senior LinkAge Line can be linked to the City’s website as a resource for seniors, and he will email information on the Circulator to the commissioners. Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern (MN&S) Railway Corridor Discussion Chair Nelson asked if the ETC would like to send an advisory communication to the City Council regarding the Southern Arm and Southwest LRT. 3 Member Janovy said the assumption is that people do not want more freight rail so they could recommend not doing anything that would lead to more freight but the City Council has no standing as it relates to the Southern Arm and Southwest LRT. Mr. Andy Brown, 5512 Park Place, said there is a bill being put together that would allow the Met Council to study passenger rail on the Dan Patch line but with the gag order in place, MNDOT cannot participate and the passenger rail would need state funding. Mr. Brown said he does not see freight increasing on the line because of upgrade costs. Motion was made by member Janovy and seconded by member Whited to send an advisory communication to the City Council recommending that they support lifting the gag order. Bass, Boettge, Janovy, LaForce, Nelson, Olson, Spanhake, and Whited voted aye. Iyer abstained. Motion carried. Member Whited will write the advisory communication and members Bass and Janovy will review. Traffic Safety Committee Report of February 5 and March 11, 2014 Page 9 of 12: Remove all the ‘bold’ from paragraph #2 in the February 5 report. Motion was made by member Spanhake and seconded by member Bass to forward the February 5 and March 11, 2014 reports to the City Council. All voted aye. Motion carried. Updates Student Members - None Bike Edina Received minutes of February 13, 2014. Member Janovy said they did not have a March meeting because of the work session with City Council. She said they discussed Bike Edina’s status with the City Council and the feedback was that the City Council valued Bike Edina and wants it to be part of the City but they are not sure where it would exist and it would be reimbursed for expenses and have liability insurance coverage. She said she began drafting modification to the ETC’s bylaws that would allow the City Council to establish them as a working group of the ETC but it is not ready for review yet. Living Streets Working Group Transportation planner Nolan said a meeting is scheduled for Monday to discuss stormwater management at it relates to rain gardens and applying these principles to the 2015 Arden Park Neighborhood Roadway Reconstruction project. Communications Committee - None CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS - None CHAIR AND COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS Chair Nelson said the City Council is looking for individual or groups to recognize for volunteer services and nominations are due April 4. Member Janovy was mentioned for her work with Bike Friendly Community and Bike Edina for holding annual bike rodeos. Chair Nelson asked if there was a plan for the City’s concrete streets similar to the Pavement Condition Index for bituminous streets. Transportation planner Nolan will talk with city engineer Millner and have response next month. Member Iyer suggested reconstructing W. 77th St. to make it a thru street directly to France Ave. He said this would 4 help to reduce traffic on W. 66th and W. 70th Streets and move some of the traffic away from these residential areas. He suggested making this a part of the Pentagon Park redevelopment discussion. Member Janovy said she remembers this being recommended by the Local Traffic Task Force and it being approved in the Comp Plan. She wondered what it takes to bring projects to fruition that is in the Comp Plan. Member Iyer asked who was working on the sidewalk strategy that was discussed with the City Council at the work session. Transportation planner Nolan said he is and next month it will be on the ETC’s agenda and also will be presented to the Living Streets working group. Member Boettge said she liked the idea of creating a walking working group because there are obstacles for walkers such as snow plows, ice, school buses, etc. Member Janovy said at the work session there was confusion about a crossing at Hazelton Road on France (as part of the intersections improvements) and transportation planner Nolan said he spoke with city engineer Millner and they found that the motion included looking an east/west crossing so city engineer Millner is working on adding this to the scope of work. She said she also learned from the work session that there are projects the department is working on that the ETC is not aware of and it would be great to keep them updated so that they can partner with staff. She said the planning commission is planning on looking at their work progress in comparison to the Comp Plan and wondered if the ETC should do the same. Also, she said Hennepin County is having a workshop to update their bike plan and asked if they should use theirs to update Edina’s bike plan. Member Spanhake said she saw the presentation on the ARTS and loved it. She asked if they could get a map that shows bike lanes, sidewalks, etc. that they could pull out as they are having discussions and transportation planner Nolan said it is possible but would caution adding too many layers so they might end up with multiple maps. Member Bass said in January ARTS was presented to the City Council and it was well received. She said the working group met and they decided to continue meeting quarterly for coordination and implementation purposes. She said with the help of the director of community education she is scheduled to present ARTS to the school board in June and also to the community services board. STAFF COMMENTS France Avenue Intersection Improvements communication plan – the movie theater and billboard ads and project blog were eliminated; a boards and commissions blog may be created and this could be an opportunity for commissioners to blog about transportation related topics. Xerxes Avenue – this summer Hennepin County will mill and overlay from W. 54th to W. 66th Streets and work on the bump-outs. The temporary bump-outs are between crosstown and W. 60th Street and Edina would like them to be permanent and also add bump-outs up to W. 54th Street. A parking study is underway to determine feasibility. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned. 5 ATTENDANCE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE - 2014 NAME TERM J F* M A M J J A S O N D SM 2/27 SM 3/10 WS 3/18 # of Mtgs Attendance % Meetings/Work Sessions 1 1 1 0 0 1 4 Bass, Katherine 2/1/2014 1 1 1 3 75% Boettge, Emily 2/1/2014 1 1 1 1 4 100% Iyer, Surya 2/1/2015 1 1 1 1 4 100% Janovy, Jennifer 2/1/2014 1 1 1 1 4 100% LaForce, Tom 2/1/2015 1 1 1 1 4 100% Nelson, Paul 2/1/2016 1 1 1 1 4 100% Olson, Larry 2/1/2016 1 1 2 100% Sierks, Caroline student 1 1 2 50% Spanhake, Dawn 2/1/2016 1 1 2 100% Van Dyke, Jackson student 1 1 25% Whited, Courtney 2/1/2015 1 1 1 3 75% *Cancelled due to weather Respectfully submitted, Sharon Allison, Secretary