HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-04-21 Minutes
MINUTES OF THE
Edina Transportation Commission
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Edina City Hall
4801 West 50th Street
Council Chambers
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Katherine Bass, Thomas Bonneville, Ann Braden, Nathan Franzen, Jennifer Janovy, Paul
Nelson, Elin Schold Davis, Michael Thompson, Robert McKlveen
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Sarah Engbretson, Bodhe Scheerer
STAFF PRESENT:
Jack Sullivan, Sharon Allison
I. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by chair Janovy. She explained to viewers that the ETC had
been meeting off-camera in work sessions discussing ordinance, purpose and duties. Chair
Janovy welcomed new member Bob McKlveen to the commission.
II. Election of Chair and Vice Chair
Chair Janovy explained that the chair is eligible to serve two 1-year terms, while vice-chair
does not have a term limit. She explained further that the vice-chair fills in in the absence of
the chair and may also lead special meetings.
Commissioner Bonneville nominated Chair Janovy to continue on as the chair and this was
seconded by Commissioner Thompson. Chair Janovy accepted the nomination. There being
no further nomination, Commissioner Franzen motioned to close the nomination and this was
seconded by Commissioner Nelson. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Chair Janovy nominated Commissioner Franzen to be vice-chair and this was seconded by
Commissioner Thompson. Commissioner Franzen accepted the nomination. Commissioner
Bonneville nominated Commissioner Nelson and he respectfully declined. There being no
further nomination, Commissioner Braden motioned to close the nomination and this was
seconded by Commissioner Nelson. All voted aye. Motion carried.
After closure of the nominations, the Commission took a voice vote and voted to appoint Chair
Janovy as Chair and Commissioner Franzen as vice-chair. All voted aye.
III. Community Comment
Mr. Carlin Struckman, 4480 Parklawn Ave. So., #307, Edina, spoke to the ETC regarding
traffic enforcement on W. 77th Street between Parklawn Avenue and TH-100. At least once
weekly, he said, he has observed drivers being pulled over for no apparent reason and gave
an example of a co-worker who was pulled over for excessive tinting on her car that came
standard with the car. Mr. Struckman said enforcement should be concentrated in areas where
needed like France Avenue. He asked that the ETC “consider issuing a directive to the Edina
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Police Department that they move their rigorous enforcement of traffic laws to roads with much
higher rates of collisions, such as France Ave.”
IV. Approval of Minutes
a. Regular Meeting of March 17, 2011
The following change was made: page 3, New Business, 3rd line, delete ‘to’ and replace with
‘of’ to read “…invite a representative of…” Commissioner Thompson motioned to approve the
minutes and the motion was seconded by Commissioner Franzen. All voted aye. Motion
carried.
V. Traffic Safety Report
a. Traffic Safety Report for March 2, 2011
Regarding the high school issue, Commissioner Bonneville asked if they had come to a
conclusion regarding a resolution. Chair Janovy said this could be an issue for the student
members to look into. Commissioner McKlveen said parking fees will be increasing next year
so this may decrease the number of students driving to school. Other ideas were to encourage
students to use other modes of transportation; see if there is a transportation coordinator at the
high school who could encourage getting kids to school in a variety of ways; promoting
bicycles for health benefits; creating safe, adequate parking to encourage biking and walking;
and the city is getting a $5,000 grant for bike racks. Commissioner Bass said she works with
an organization called Catalis, a youth organization, and was planning on talking to students
regarding the organization and would be willing to include this.
Regarding item 12 of the report, Commissioner Bonneville asked if traffic counts are usually
given to developers. Mr. Sullivan said there is a database of traffic counts that is available
upon request; however, not all streets are counted. Commissioner Bonneville asked if a
session with staff to understand traffic on city streets would be helpful. Mr. Sullivan said reports
for various streets could be given to the ETC.
Regarding pedestrian traffic on W. 42nd Street and feasibility studies requested by CM Bennett,
Mr. Sullivan said they are forthcoming.
VI. Presentation – Living Streets, Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District
(Cliff Aichinger)
Mr. Aichinger said the study was sponsored by Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District
and developed by BARR Engineering. The watershed district proposed to work with North St.
Paul because they saw significant benefits for water quality improvement and all of their
streets and utilities are pass useful life but they do not have a pavement replacement plan.
Knowing that the city would need to pull permits from them, the watershed district offered to
help design streets that would reduce impervious surface and provides for handling of storm
water as a natural function of the streets and the City agreed. He said the conclusion was that
in order to control dissolve phosphorus in ponds they need to control storm water volumes.
Mr. Aichinger said themes from the City’s Comp Plan includes active healthy living through
increased biking and walking, greater connection between the neighborhoods, downtown and
commercial areas, and improving the aesthetics of the neighborhoods which fits with Living
Streets.
To develop the plan, he said they had a taskforce of staff and residents, approximately 15-20
participants that met monthly for one year and went on field trips to see narrow streets and rain
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gardens and developed goals. He said much attention is given to traffic movements and
placement of underground utilities but not much attention is given to pedestrian movement,
storm water capture, re-infiltration, biking and aesthetic characters, and the idea is to create a
balance of all of these. He said they developed the following goals:
1. To improve storm water quality run-off from impervious surfaces;
2. Reduce impervious surfaces (can reduce street width because not much parking
needed);
3. Calm traffic (using various techniques to slow traffic);
4. Improve bike and pedestrians connectivity (create bike lanes, add sidewalks where
necessary);
5. Protect and enhance urban forest (create and retain existing trees; meander sidewalks
around, if necessary);
6. Street construction cost should be equal to or less than traditional street construction
(this is feasible because using less asphalt and less maintenance);
7. Minimize long term maintenance cost.
Mr. Aichinger said all streets were examined and they are proposing to start with 15th Avenue
using a Clean Water Fund grant of $500,000, matching funds from the watershed district and
utility funds from the City. He said the proposal is to narrow the street by 6 feet, provide one
parking lane, two traffic lanes, rain garden and public art. On collector streets he said they are
proposing to eliminate one parking lane, add two bike lanes and bump-outs. Regarding
snowplowing and maintenance of rain gardens, Mr. Aichinger said public works staff did not
foresee a problem with plowing except that it will be a little slower, and they are cautious about
maintenance of rain gardens. Currently, the City has approximately 500 rain gardens and they
have cooperative agreement with residents for maintenance.
Mr. Aichinger said they learned during neighborhood outreach campaign that approximately
80% of residents are in support of sidewalk but there are maintenance concerns such as
shoveling snow. He said they will continue discussion for another year to engage residents.
In reference to funding from the Clean Water Fund, Mr. Aichinger said it is unique to be
funding streets reconstruction. He said this was the first watershed district to approve this type
of grant which was done based on improving water quality and the approach is catching on
across the country. He said Simon Property Group that owns Southdale Mall is in discussion
with the watershed districts in Edina as they were involved because of Maplewood Mall.
VII. Old Business
a. Living Streets Plan/Resolution
Chair Janovy said if they think the resolution is a good concept the next step would be to
present it to Council and if they approve, ask for their direction in creating a process that may
include other boards and commissions, staff and residents.
Discussion
Commissioner Bonneville said South Harriett Park neighborhood, for example, is a tight knit
neighborhood that does not want sidewalk so this might be tough sell. Chair Janovy said it is
does not mean every neighborhood would have sidewalks. She said they had previously talked
about developing a pedestrian plan by reviewing the Comp Plan to identify missing links of
sidewalks. She said CM Bennett did research recently on sidewalks with the idea of mapping
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where there are sidewalks and missing links identified in the Comp Plan. Mr. Sullivan said
most of this is already done.
Commissioner Thompson suggested moving forward with a recommendation and creating a
taskforce to work on what the City should look like over the next 40-50 years. He said this may
take 1-2 years of planning.
Commissioner McKlveen concurred and said he joined the ETC because there is a lot of work
to be done and a comprehensive approach would serve the city, residents and staff. He said in
his neighborhood that was recently reconstructed, staff had a good plan that would narrow
some streets, add traffic calming and a sidewalk adjacent to a school and six residents were
able to persuade the neighborhood to defeat the plan. He said if there was a city-wide
statement supporting an overall goal and educating residents, staff would have had support
going forward.
Commissioner Bass said she liked the comprehensive approach and believes that while there
are concerns, there is evidence that after sidewalks have been implemented neighbors do
come around and enjoy them.
Commissioner Davis agreed and said there are multiple stakeholders that would need to be
involved.
Commissioner Franzen said this is an opportunity to explore what can be done in the future.
Commissioner Braden said it was beneficial to have the presenter tonight and the same could
be done to educate residents.
Commissioner Nelson said he is in favor and that there is a lot to be done in determining what
needs to be done where and what is most beneficial.
Commissioner McKlveen motioned to forward the resolution to Council for consideration and
the motion was seconded by Commissioner Franzen. All voted aye. Motion carried.
b. ETC Ordinance Revision
Chair Janovy said a couple definitions were added since last seen, including changing ‘traffic’
in #8 to ‘transportation.’ She said the city manager commented on the draft also and his email
was handed out tonight.
Regarding item #5, Mr. Sullivan said after discussion with staff, they’ve agreed that the original
language was appropriate.
Regarding item #8, chair Janovy said there are still some concerns with traffic vs
transportation. Mr. Sullivan said staff feels the definitions are different and transportation works
better. Staff will review definitions and compare to Comp Plan and city codes for consistency.
Commissioner Bass motioned to approve the revision of the ordinance and forward to Council
and the motion was seconded by Commissioner Nelson. All voted aye. Motion carried.
VIII. New Business
a. ETC Bylaws-Draft
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Chair Janovy said they are required to have bylaws. Commissioner Bonneville asked about the
term ‘secretary’ and how was it different from Sharon. Chair Janovy said the city manager can
make staff available as is the case and if not, the bylaws provide for them to appoint one.
Commissioner Bonneville suggested changing it to say ‘appoint a secretary if one is not
provided’ and move to section 11 where it talks about officers.
Chair Janovy said communications between members is government data and that they may
have to copy city hall on everything. She said she is waiting for clarification from the city
manager. Mr. Sullivan said he will check to see if a place could be created to keep information
that could be shared with everyone, otherwise continue to send information to staff for
distribution.
Chair Janovy said she will revise the bylaws and distribute to everyone for review.
IX. Bike Edina Task Force Update (Commissioner Janovy)
Chair Janovy reported the following:
Bike rodeo is planned for Saturday, 10 a.m. at Highland school and they are looking for
volunteers.
The City received a grant for 40-60 single placement bike racks and plans are being
developed.
The annual bike parade is being organized by CM Brindle.
Discussing the role of BETF and how it works with the ETC.
Openings on the BEFT for three members, especially women. Meetings are 2nd
Thursday of the month at 8 p.m. for 1 hour.
X. Chair Comments
Chair Janovy said council is meeting with boards and commissions chairs to consider taping of
meetings. Commissioners are still in agreement with quarterly taping of the ETC.
XI. Staff Comments
Mr. Sullivan reported that construction season has begun; load restriction is still on;
construction on W. 70th begun Monday; other streets/neighborhoods that will be starting soon
are W. 44th Avenue, Minnehaha Woods, Killarney Shores, McCauley Heights, Oscar Roberts,
Interlachen Blvd, France Avenue and Valley View sidewalks. The traffic safety coordinator will
be putting down traffic counts soon to fill in gaps in data and as requested. Residents in
construction areas are generally notified by letter monthly and weekly by email using City
Extra.
XII. Commission Comments
Commissioner Bass said Bloomington Public Health Department offered to pay for an attendee
to the Safe Routes to School Conference August 16-18.
Commissioner Bonneville said there may be several committees formed for the small area plan
for Grandview with one being transportation. He suggested the ETC could become involved to
share experience. Commissioner Nelson said he is involved.
Commissioner Davis said she would like to gather information on transportation alternative
volunteer driver program to share with the ETC to see if the City would be interested. Chair
Janovy asked if she would like to give a formal presentation and she said yes.
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Commissioner Franzen said he would like to reinforce that many people are excited about
Living Streets policy based on the Sensible Land Use Coalition meeting he and Commissioner
Braden recently attended.
Commissioner Thompson complimented staff on their public outreach for construction updates
for the W. 70th Street project. He said he lives nearby and would encourage everyone to go the
website for information on the detour route.
Commissioner McKlveen thanked everyone for inclusion and said he is looking forward to
serving.
XIII. Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.