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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-02-16 MinutesDraft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 3/16/2017 1 Minutes City of Edina, Minnesota Transportation Commission Community Room February 16, 2017, 6:00 p.m. I. Call To Order Chair LaForce called the meeting to order. II. Roll Call Answering roll call were commissioners Boettge, Brown, Iyer, Koester, LaForce, Miranda and Olson. Absent: Commissioner Olk. Late arrivals: Commissioners Bass and Janovy. III. Approval Of Meeting Agenda Motion was made by commissioner Iyer and seconded by commissioner Miranda approving the meeting agenda. All voted aye. Motion passed. Commissioners Bass and Janovy were absent. IV. Approval Of Meeting Minutes Motion was made by commissioner Miranda and seconded by commissioner Iyer approving the Jan. 19, 2017, minutes. All voted aye. Motion carried. Commissioners Bass and Janovy were absent. V. Community Comments Students were in attendance observing and taking notes for their government class. One student asked what was the City doing to prevent detoured vehicles from Highway 169 to use the local streets. Planner Nolan explained that the City knew that vehicles would cut through local neighborhoods and staff put several measures in place – restricted truck traffic, police enforcement, narrowing driving lanes, additional stop signs, and other options are being considered. One that will begin Feb. 27 is one-way in and one-way out of the neighborhood during peak a.m. and p.m. hours. A last resort is to cut off access completely. VI. Special Recognitions And Presentations A. Planning Commission comprehensive Plan Update ETC Liaisons Planning Commission (PC) commissioners Susan Lee and John Hamilton explained the process for updating the 2018 Comprehensive Plan. They said PC commissioners were assigned to each board or commission as liaisons and they were assigned to the ETC. They said the ETC will dialogue with them and the consultant, Biko Associates, to update the Plan. They explained the review phases as: Phase 1 – first kick off meeting between Biko and liaisons (ETC to identify “hot button issues” to liaisons so liaisons can report to Biko at the meeting); Phase 2 – Small Area Plans and Transportation Chapter review and incorporating changes; Phase 3 – write the 2018 Comp Plan with the goal of adopting it by the end of 2018. Biko suggested that the ETC review and comment on implementation of the Living Streets Plan, Xerxes/France/Crosstown, east-west artery north of I-494, integration/cross-fertilization with the other Comp Plan chapters, and other issues the ETC may already be working on. Discussion will continue at the next ETC meeting. VII. Reports/Recommendations A. Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety Fund (PACS) Fund Equity Scoring Criteria Commissioner Bass handed out new scoring criteria. She said the scoring was more complicated than she thought and needs more work. She said the idea is to apply criteria and score projects that are funded by the PACS fund Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 3/16/2017 2 so that they are including equity and targeting parts of the community where there is a need. She said more discussion is needed in identifying measurements, evaluation tools and assigning points. To clarify, Chair LaForce said currently, City staff evaluates projects using limited criteria, mostly costs said Commissioner Bass, and this was a suggestion that they use additional criteria. Commissioner Bass said yes, and to also make it more objective. She gave the example of spending unused funds on a Safe Routes to School sidewalk which is a good effort but suggested they identify other characteristics they feel are important as a community in determining where the sidewalk is built, e.g. a large number of children should prioritize the sidewalk. Discussion • Adding environmental justice as criteria. • In the Comp Plan updates, require developers to pay for infrastructure improvements. • Look at past projects to see if City decision would have been different using additional criteria. • Criteria and score may not need to be overly detailed. • Is there a feeling that past projects have been inequitable? • Past projects have been good, but some were overly expensive. • Living Streets is lacking equity language. • Hodge podge of sidewalks. • A case can be made for inequity. • New criteria should not be onerous on staff but should be required, not optional. • There is a park dedication fee, why not a transportation dedication fee? • Data per neighborhood is available for the core metro cities, but don’t know if the same is available for Edina. Discussion will continue and commissioner Bass volunteered to help as this was her final ETC meeting. B. Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan Draft Request for Proposals Planner Nolan asked for feedback on the Request for Proposals (RFP) that he would like to issue next week. The following were suggested: • Include THRIVE 2040 in the reference material. • Data collection seemed focused on counts while missing a human element or people impacts, also equity impacts. • Encourage use of technology for public engagement; get out in the neighborhoods at different times; ask consultant to suggest other ideas of engagement. • Evaluation same redundant. The evaluating team will include planner Nolan, city engineer Millner, city planner Teague, assistant city engineer Schulze, one engineering technician, sustainability coordinator Brown, and commissioner Miranda. The RFP will be sent to some pre-identified consultants and also posted on professional association websites. C. On-Street Parking Control Policy Planner Nolan asked for feedback on this policy that was created in 1993 and recently reviewed and updated by the Traffic Safety Committee (TSC). He said the TSC agreed that it was still needed. Discussion • The goal is to bring all policy in alignment with the Living Streets Plan; how would this policy be different if it was? Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 3/16/2017 3 • The police department takes request for temporary no parking but will not restrict parking on both sides of the street which is not in line with the Living Streets Plan. • Clarify decision-making process and include TSC as part of it and who the committee members are. • Is winter parking included? Yes. • This should include all “parking,” i.e. private construction, road reconstruction, etc. • Include revision date and documents related to the policy, i.e. Living Streets Plan, MUTCD, etc. D. Traffic Safety Report of February 1, 2017 A.1. Planner Nolan was asked if there were any concerns with having an uncontrolled crosswalk and he said it was better than not having a crosswalk in this location. Motion made by commissioner Bass and seconded by commissioner Olson to forward the Feb. 1, 2017, TSC report to the City Council. All voted aye. Motion passed. E. Additional Updates on 2016 Work Plan Initiatives No updates. F. Affirm the 2017 Transportation Commission Meeting Schedule Motion made by commissioner Miranda and seconded by commissioner Boettge affirming the 2017 Transportation Commission Meeting Schedule. All voted aye. Motion carried. G. Annual Elections Commissioner Olson nominated chair LaForce to continue as chair. Motion made by commissioner Bass and seconded by commissioner Miranda to close the nomination. Chair Laforce accepted the nomination. All voted aye. Motion carried. Chair LaForce nominated commissioner Miranda a vice-chair. Motion made by commissioner Janovy and seconded by Commissioner Olson to close the nomination. Commissioner Miranda accepted the nomination. All voted aye. Motion carried. VIII. Correspondence And Petitions A. Board/Commission Chair Term Feedback Requested Feedback on the three questions: • Term is not too short because more work is required when you are the chair. • Good to have new leadership. • Change in leadership is good for commission and community. • One is not being forced to continue as chair. • Better to have transition (outgoing chair is still around to assist new chair). • Chairs can dominate culture of commission. • Why not three year term? (Half of your six year term). IX. Chair and Commissioner Comments This was Commissioner Boettge’s final meeting and she thanked everyone. She reminded the ETC not to forget about the sidewalk on W. 66th Street. This was Commissioner Bass’ final meeting. Commissioner Bass said she appreciated her time and all of the commissioners. She said she learned so much about how city government operates and how it can be improved. Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 3/16/2017 4 She said she received a response letter from the resident who sent a letter to Council and the ETC recently; the resident said the ETC is not a good fit for her at this time. This was Commissioner Janovy’s final meeting and she thanked everyone. She said so much as changed since 2004 when the commission first started and they’ve contributed so much to the community. Commissioner Miranda said he went on a walking tour of the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail and people were very excited about the trail. He asked if it was true that students were allowed to park in the church’s parking lot near the school and he was told yes. He said bicyclebenefits.org offers discounts at some businesses if you ride your bike and he asked if the ETC would support this in Edina. Yes, this will be added to the next agenda. Commissioner Brown encouraged staff and Council to consider a pedestrian bridge or tunnel at York Avenue to the new Southdale Library because the street is busy and will only get busier. Commissioner Iyer thanked the three outgoing commissioners. He said they were strong leaders, innovative and visionary. He hopes they’ll continue to serve the City elsewhere. Commissioner Olson asked if they knew who the new commissioners would be and planner Nolan said they have not been made public yet. He said Council will approve them on Feb. 22. Chair LaForce thanked the three outgoing commissioners. He said they each brought something different that he appreciated and a nice mix that he’ll miss. X. Staff Comments Planner Nolan thanked the three outgoing commissioners and said he’s learned a lot from them. • The Comprehensive Plan training session is rescheduled for Apr. 6 and will be done by the consultant, not the Met Council. • An RFP for Passenger Rail Study will come to the ETC next month for feedback; a funding source was identified by manager Neal. • A grant application is being submitted to Hennepin County to complete the segment of missing sidewalk on France Avenue from W. 40th Street to W. 42nd Street. This will be done in partnership with the City of St. Louis Park as they complete their missing segment that abuts W. 40th Street. • In addition to the update above regarding Highway 169, feedback has been mixed from area residents and drivers not living in the area and the challenge is balancing the needs of everyone. • A public meeting is scheduled for Feb. 21, 6 p.m., to answer residents’ questions about the height of the boardwalk for the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail at Walnut Creek Park. The floodplain map was recently updated and the boardwalk is to be higher; however, a variance was approved to keep it at the floodplain level. XI. Calendar of Events A. Schedule of Meeting and Events as of Feb. 16, 2017 XII. Adjournment at 8:08 p.m. Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 3/16/2017 5 J F M A M J J A S O N D SM WS # of Mtgs Attendance % Meetings/Work Sessions 1 1 2 NAME (Date) 5/2/17 6:15 Bass, Katherine 1 1 2 100% Boettge, Emily 1 1 2 100% Brown, Andy 1 1 2 100% Iyer, Surya 1 1 2 100% LaForce, Tom 1 1 2 100% Janovy, Jennifer 1 1 2 100% Miranda, Lou 1 1 2 100% Olson, Larry 1 1 50% Koester, David (student) 1 1 50% Olk, Megan (student)0 0% TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE