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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-10-25 Minutes 1 MINUTES OF CITY OF EDINA, MINNESOTA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION COUNCIL CHAMBERS OCTOBER 25, 2012 6:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER Director Houle called the meeting to order in the absence of the chair and vice-chair. He explained that the bylaws require the commission to nominate an acting-chair under this circumstance. Member Janovy was nominated as acting-chair by member Franzen and the nomination was seconded by member Surya. No other nominations were made and the nomination closed. All voted aye. Motion carried. ROLL CALL Answering roll call was members Franzen, Iyer, Janovy, LaForce, Schweiger, Sierks and Whited. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Motion was made by member Franzen and seconded by member LaForce to approve the meeting agenda. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF SEPT. 20, 2012 The following corrections were made: Page 2, Traffic Safety Committee, 3rd paragraph, delete ’30 mph’ and replace with ‘25 mph;’ delete ‘pick the speeds that 85% of drivers are traveling’ and replace with ‘the 85th percentile speed is the speed at which 85% of drivers are traveling at or under;’ and page 3, delete ‘None’ and add ‘Receive minutes of Aug. 14, 2012.’ Motion was made by member LaForce and seconded by member Iyer to approve the amended minutes of Sept. 20, 2012. All voted aye. Motion carried. COMMUNITY COMMENT – None. REPORTS/RECOMMENDATIONS do.town Update Mr. Flynn Rico-Johnson explained the do-town initiative is a partnership with the cities of Bloomington, Edina and Richfield and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota which aims to address unhealthy and inactive lifestyles and make residents healthier. They are doing this by conducting walking audits. Residents volunteer to walk certain streets and evaluate the infrastructure to see what is wrong with it. He said the point is not to avoid certain streets but to identify what can be done to make improvements, e.g. no sidewalk, no streetlights, etc. The audits are for people of all ages and focus on places most often traveled such as schools, parks, major shopping districts, etc. He said Edina is a vibrant city and they are looking for ideas and help with getting the information out so that they can do more audits and help the City address the concerns when projects are done. Member Janovy said the City Council and the ETC received letters from residents that have done the walking audit. She asked if the audit is better done person by person or in a group. Mr. Rico-Johnson said the 50th/Halifax Ave area audit included different families and this brings different perspectives because each family may have different reasons for walking and because of this, they prefer to have as many 2 people involved. He said they would like to do walking audits during the winter too and volunteers can contact him at flynn@do-town.org or info@do.town.org. Member Janovy asked if they are doing similar audits for biking and he said it is more difficult to do but they are working on it. He said the biking audit can be done by an individual riding his/her favorite route and evaluating it. Hennepin County Pedestrian & Bicycle Plan Ms. Rose Ryan, pedestrian and bicycle planner with Hennepin County said they are working on their first ever county-wide pedestrian plan funded by a five year grant from the Centers of Disease Control called Communities Transformation Grant. She said the purpose is to prevent chronic disease and since walking is an easy physical activity with great benefits, they are using pedestrian/ bicycle planning to set up a framework for a healthy community design. To accomplish their goals of increasing the rates of walking, safety of walking and improved health of county resident, Ms. Ryan said they will be identifying sidewalk gaps, difficult crossings, prioritize improvements to the pedestrians system and coordinate with other agencies/organizations to reach their goals. Ms. Ryan said planning began this past summer with 10 workshops in various communities and the final plan will be submitted to the County Board next summer. She asked for feedback and said the draft plan would be available for review. Mr. Houle noted that the map of existing sidewalks in Edina that Ms. Ryan was working from was inaccurate as it reflected proposed sidewalks and not actual sidewalks. Some areas suggested were missing gaps on France Avenue, Xerxes Avenue, Vernon Avenue by Schaefer Road and View Lane, W. 66th from France to York, and York Avenue. Xerxes Avenue Restriping – from 60th Street West to TH62 Director Houle said this was initiated by a resident through the TSC. The issues were congestion and lanes that are not clearly marked by TH62. This was referred to Hennepin County and they drafted a restriping plan. Area residents and city of Minneapolis are supportive of the plan and staff would like feedback from the ETC. Two suggestions were made that Director Houle will take back to Hennepin County. They were to taper the line where parking ends to make it clear; and add no parking sign where the full width of parking ends because drivers tend to park over the white line where tapering ends. Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety Fund Policy Member Janovy said Manager Neal is seeking feedback from the ETC on his draft Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety Fund Policy. The franchise fee would come from Edina customers of Xcel Energy and CenterPoint Energy to be used for non-motorized transportation. After discussion, which included the reasons for implementing the franchise fee and the lack of funding for sidewalks, the ETC discussed the following options: 1. Use funds for construction only, not for staffing; 2. Change the name from Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety Fund to Active Living Infrastructure Fund to emphasize active living; 3 3. Identify a certain percentage that will be used for construction vs staffing; 4. Chair Nelson’s suggestions which is attached; 5. Clarity on the meaning of ‘maintenance’ and consider changing it; 2013 Work Plan Member LaForce likes the revised plan. Member Janovy suggested changing Living Streets Policy: Implementation to Living Streets Policy and Implementation Plan; Director Houle will check to see if Safe Routes to School Comprehensive Plan is the correct name; and change Ordinance Review for Policy to Review Ordinances for Conformance to Policy. Member Janovy asked if the $150,000 would be in the budget for the Living Streets Policy and Director Houle said he did not know. Motion was made by member Iyer and seconded by member LaForce for members Thompson and Iyer to write an advisory communication to the City Council to consider putting $150,000 in the budget to fund Living Streets Policy development. Member Franzen suggested laying out exactly how the $150,000 would be spent. Member LaForce concurred and said he is not sure what the amount is or should be. Director Houle said the amount was identified by the consultant and that he could contact him for a breakdown. All voted aye. Motion carried. 2013 Neighborhood Reconstruction Projects Director Houle presented the four 2013 Neighborhood Reconstruction Projects with the primary focus being on transportation-related reconstruction and not utility. He said a second survey was sent to residents to see if they would like sidewalks and streetlights now that they are to be funded by the franchise fees and majority of respondents said no. A special public hearing meeting is scheduled for Dec. 11 for the City Council to consider approvals. Director Houle said the feasibility studies were also distributed to fire, police, public works, parks and recreation, the school district, and BETF for feedback, but to date, have not received any feedback. Member Janovy suggested identifying for each group how the feasibility study relates to them, e.g. identify the walking zone for the school district. Director Houle said all of the streets in all four neighborhoods are in similar condition - - constructed in the 1960’s and have alligator cracks, exposed base course and utility issues. Mendelssohn A Proposed improvements are new bulkhead curb and gutter, except for Spruce Road which is 14 ft. wide and will get rainbow curbs instead, and new pavement. The proposed assessment is $16,150. Member Janovy said she submitted feedback to staff on the feasibility studies. She asked if Director Houle had considered splitting this neighborhood in two and he said he hadn’t but will take a look at it. Normandale Proposed improvements are spot repair to curb and gutter, new pavement, and a sidewalk on W. 66th Street. Proposed assessment is $16,100, including private sanitary sewer upgrades; and $12,300 for a few residents whose sanitary sewer is not in the street and therefore not required to upgrade. 4 Member Janovy said the BETF said West Shore Drive is a primary bike route and recommended separated bike lanes or road markings and signage. Member Iyer concurred and recommended dedicated bike lanes. He said parking should not be an issue because there is a parking lot nearby. Member Janovy suggested an off-road trail for consideration. Director Houle said he will schedule an informational meeting with residents to share the suggestions and gather feedback. Braemar Hills B, St. Patrick’s Lane, Gleason Circle These three neighborhoods will be presented in one feasibility study but they will be approved separately by City Council. Proposed improvements are spot repair to curb and gutter and new pavement. Proposed assessments are: Braemar Hills B: $9,325, St. Patrick’s Lane: $11,300, and Gleason Circle: $11,600. Lake Edina Proposed improvements are spot repair to curb and gutter and new pavement, plus narrowing the curb line at Hibiscus Avenue & West Shore Drive to reduce storm water run-off. Proposed assessment is $11,900. Member Janovy suggested that staff evaluate the feasibility of sidewalks on Normandale Road and Hibiscus Avenue. Director Houle said he will schedule an informational meeting with residents to share the suggestion and gather feedback. Traffic Safety Committee Report of Oct. 3, 2012 There were no action items in this report. Director Houle will follow up on the counts that were done in member Whited’s neighborhood and on W. 44th Street. Updates Student Members Member Schwieger noted that ‘fascism’ was still painted on the stop sign. Director Houle will follow up on this. Bike Edina Task Force – Sept. 13, 2012 Minutes A new member was added to the BEFT. Living Streets Working Group No update. Transportation Options Working Group Received minutes of Sept. 18, 2012. Member Whited reported that John Dillery and Jill Hentges from Metro Transit attended the Sept. 18 meeting and talked about Metro Transit’s transportation options in Edina. Member Janovy said the time limit is up for this working group and asked if the ETC would like it to continue for another year. Motion was made by member Franzen and seconded by member LaForce for the working group to continue for another year. Member Whited said they need new members. Director Houle will work with 5 communications director Bennerotte to do a press release for new members. Member Iyer suggested notifying residents who have applied for boards and commissions positions. All voted aye. Motion carried. Communications Committee Member LaForce said they met with communications director Bennerotte and they now have a good sense of how the committee will work with her. First, the committee will not produce communications or set budget, but instead will provide ideas, tactics, strategies, etc. Secondly, they will provide feedback on the educational material for the Wooddale bike lanes that staff is working on. And lastly, they are planning to have online forums instead of regular meetings which are new for them so they will evaluate its effectiveness and maybe other groups could do the same. CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS Received correspondences from City Council packet relating to transportation issues CHAIR AND COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS Member Janovy said she received a traffic safety request concerning the traffic on South View Lane that she forwarded to Director Houle. Director Houle said the request for flashing lights has been forwarded to the TSC. He said the area will not meet warrants for flashing lights and suggested reviewing the Crosswalk Policy when they create the Pedestrian Plan. In the meantime, they will be rotating the in-road pedestrian signs to this area and they should be there this week (there are 10-12 that are rotated throughout the city). Member Iyer said he’s noticed some errors on the bicycle facility map that he will forward to Director Houle. Regarding the bike lanes on Wooddale Avenue, Member LaForce said he is hopeful that they will be able to figure out a way to help residents but he said they should be thinking about ways to reach those who are coming to the city for the first time. STAFF COMMENTS The biking on sidewalks ordinance will be on the Nov. 20 City Council meeting. The Southwest Transit Environment Impact Statement is available for review in Community Development- Planning in City Hall. Continue to observe the Wooddale Avenue advisory bike lanes and the number of signage may be reduced. Staff is considering installing yellow tabs as a temporary measure to delineate the center line. Director Houle said City of Minneapolis did the same striping on 14th Street and it did not generate the kind of responses that Edina’s is getting; he also said W. 54th Street was restriped similarly and it has not generated the kind of responses either. Member Iyer asked if Edina’s communication was the same or different from Minneapolis and Director Houle said it was very similar. Member LaForce asked if there have been any accidents since it was restriped and Director Houle said there have been two – one with a parked car and the other was a rear-ended. Other thoughts and suggestions were: removal of signs that are not required; W. 54th Street has symmetry with parking lanes on both sides; Minneapolis too has symmetry with parking lanes on both sides that are 6 often filled with parked cars while the parking lane on Wooddale is usually empty and gives the impression that it is a driving lane; adding yellow tabs could add more confusions and expectation of adding a permanent line. Director Houle said this project has a two year experimental timeframe from the Federal Highway and staff would need their approval as well as Mn/DOTs’ to make changes. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned. ATTACHMENT Attendance spreadsheet. NAME TERM J F M A M J J A S O N D Work Session Work Session# of Mtgs. Attendance %Meetings/Work Sessions 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 114/17/2012 (enter date)Bass, Katherine 2/1/2014 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 19 82%Braden, Ann 2/1/2014 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 18 73%Franzen, Nathan 2/1/2013 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 19 82%Iyer, Surya 2/1/2015 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 110 100%Janovy, Jennifer 2/1/2014 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 111 100%LaForce, Tom 2/1/2015 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 110 100%Nelson, Paul 2/1/2013 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 110 91%Schweiger, Steven student 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 18 73%Sierks, Caroline student1 12 100%Thompson, Michael 2/1/2013 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 110 91%Whited, Courtney 2/1/2015 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 19 90%Liaisons: Report attendance monthly and attach this report to the Commission minutes for the packet.Do not enter numbers into the last two columns. Meeting numbers & attendance percentages will calculate automatically.INSTRUCTIONS:Counted as Meeting Held (ON MEETINGS' LINE)Attendance Recorded (ON MEMBER'S LINE)Regular Meeting w/Quorum Type "1" under the month on the meetings' line. Type "1" under the month for each attending member.Regular Meeting w/o Quorum Type "1" under the month on the meetings' line. Type "1" under the month for each attending member.Joint Work Session Type "1" under "Work Session" on the meetings' line. Type "1" under "Work Session" for each attending member.Rescheduled Meeting* Type "1" under the month on the meetings' line. Type "1" under the month for each attending member.Cancelled Meeting Type "1" under the month on the meetings' line. Type "1" under the month for ALL members.Special Meeting There is no number typed on the meetings' line. There is no number typed on the members' lines.*A rescheduled meeting occurs when members are notified of a new meeting date/time at a prior meeting. If shorter notice is given, the previously-scheduled meeting is considered to have been cancelled and replaced with a special meeting.NOTES: TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION