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2008-08-13 CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES BOARD OR COMMISSION: SUBCOMMITTEE: DATE: LOCATION: MEMBERS PRESENT: Parking and Traffic Commission MEMBERS ABSENT: OTHERS PRESENT: August 13,2008 Beverly City Hall Joseph Shairs, Susan Mueller, Richard Benevento, Tina Cassidy, Richard Hutchinson, Bill Bent Councillor Wes Slate, Councillor Kevin Hobin, Councillor Judith Cronin Eileen Sacco RECORDER: Benevento calls the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Approval of Minutes The minutes of the Parking and Traffic Commission meeting held on June 25,2008 were presented for approval. Shairs suggests that the matter be tabled to the next meeting of the Commission so that members have adequate time to review them. Cassidy: motion to table the approval of the draft minutes of the Commission's June 25,2008 meeting, seconded by Shairs. All members in favor, none in opposition. The motion carries. Informal Discussion: Installation of Stop Si2:ns at Corner of Princeton and N ursery Streets Shairs reports that this location is not listed in the ordinance and explains that every street prior to the intersection of Nursery has a stop sign. He recommends that it would be logical to put a stop sign at Nursery Street. Hutchinson: motion to recommend the installation of a stop sign at the intersection of Princeton and Nursery Streets. Seconded by Cassidy, all members in favor. The motion carries. Cassidy will send the recommendation to Shairs for submission to the City Council. Discussion: Beverlv Citv Council Order #189: ReQuest for Commission to Review and Make Recommendations on Provisions for Parkin2: and Traffic on South Hadlev Street Minutes Parking and Traffic Commission meeting minutes Page 1 of7 August 13, 2008 Councillor Slate explained that South Hadley Street is a small street off of Payette and he would like to get a recommendation from the Parking and Traffic Commission to redesign the parking-related signage. Shairs reports that the Old Mill building was restored and the flow of traffic was less than it is now. He notes that the street is much busier now. Slate agrees and states that he would like the Commission to look at the area based on the current use. He suggests that he would take the recommendation of the Parking and Traffic Commission back to Legal Affairs in response to the Council Order. Benevento expresss his concern about funding to implement recommendations of the Parking and Traffic Commission. He recalls that there was discussion about providing cost estimates in the recommendations. He explained that in some cases it may be more cost effective to hire a contractor to do the work and in others it may be cheaper for the city to do the work. Shairs suggests that the neighbors should be consulted. He noted that he would like to be sure that the neighbors are in agreement before implementing anything new. He states that he would like to get away from addressing the concerns of one neighbor without notifying the rest of the neighbors. Slate suggests that he would agree to have this matter tabled until Shairs can review the matter further. Cassidy: Motion to table Council Order #189 for further review by Shairs, seconded by Hutchinson. All members in favor, the motion carnes. Discussion: Cole Street/ Bovles Street Connector Proposal Councillor Judith Cronin addresses the Parking and Traffic Commission and explains that this proposal is informal and has not yet been submitted to the City Council as an official Order. She stated that they would like some direction from the Parking and Traffic Commission on what the next logical steps would be. Cronin explains that this is not a new issue and has been a concern for some time. Shairs states that the proposal is much more in depth than what they had originally discussed. He explains that he started directed patrols and he spent two hours on a Saturday in front ofMr. Overberg's house to see what was going on. Mr. Overberg explains the issues that he is concerned about. He states that erratic heavy truck traffic going to Endicott College comes down the street. He recalled a day when there was outrageous traffic and he called the police station and got no satisfaction. He explains that there were trucks and buses going to Endicott for an event. Minutes Parking and Traffic Commission meeting minutes Page 20f7 August 13, 2008 Shairs notes that the police do not have the authority to tell vehicle drivers that they cannot use the public road. He also notes that Route 127 is a State highway. Benevento asks if the City knows what the daily volume of traffic on that road is. Shairs reviews his statistics of a sampling of one hour, during which time there were 209 vehicles. Overberg states that there is a lot of through traffic that has no business in that area. Councillor Cronin states that a business on Cole Street has large vehicles that use it as a pass way. She also notes that Grover Street has no through trucks and it is a lot less contentious to deal with. Shairs explains that Mike Collins had the sign installed on Grover Street because a drainage culvert there could not withstand the weight of the trucks. Benevento notes that if you restrict truck traffic you have to provide an alternative, designated route and it should be the safest route. Cronin states that there is not a single sign that directs traffic from Route 128 to Route 127. A discussion ensues about signage directing traffic to/from Routes 128 and 127. Overberg states that the neighbors have expressed fear with respect to traffic and trucks noting that there are no sidewalks or cross walks on Cole Street. Shairs explains that new sidewalks must be ADA compliant with wheelchair ramps at all road crossings. Cassidy notes that the Superintendent of Schools is adding crossing guards for the Cove School. She explains that there will be a meeting on the redeployment of crossing guards based on where the kids are coming from. Benevento notes that there are measures that can be implemented to calm traffic. He states that he thinks that we have to look at the big picture here, noting that other neighborhoods have to be considered since the traffic if diverted from this street will have to use some other roadway through some other neighborhood. A fellow resident of Cole Street states that she has lived there for 12 years and she has never seen tour buses use the road until recently. Cronin states that there are issues here and the Commission could give her and the residents direction in solving them. Benevento states that changing speed limits and truck restrictions require petitioning the State for approval. He reviews the ordinance that established the speed limits for Cole Street back in 1976. He notes that they are in place and there is a process to change them. He also notes that truck route restrictions have to be determined as well. He explains that there is a process and we have to use that process. Minutes Parking and Traffic Commission meeting minutes Page 30f7 August 13, 2008 Benevento notes that this proposal could represent a significant capital expense. He explains that there are things that can be done but it must be understand that in order to move forward relative to things that require a process or a capital investment, we have to be patient. Benevento suggests that the City Council should request a study of the traffic in the area but adds that it runs the risk of other neighborhoods pointing out other areas of concern and objections to being the recipient of truck traffic from Cole Street. Slate states that he would like to see this as an Order so that it gets a number and gets referred to the City Council's Legal Affairs Committee and to the Parking and Traffic Commission and that will help the Council so that it is tracked the same way and there is an order number to do that. Cassidy suggests that the Commission continue the discussion to the September meeting in order to give Commission members a chance to read the proposal thoroughly before discussing it again. Cronin states that she would put the Order in to the City Council to run simultaneous to this process to get things started. Benevento suggests that the Commission will continue the review of the proposal and make a recommendation to the Council. Overberg states that there is a chain link fence at the Thompson property that the developer wants to remove and if the area were cleared it would make a big difference. Shairs states that he would look at that this afternoon. Cassidy: Motion to continue the matter to the next meeting of the Parking and Traffic Commission, seconded by Hutchinson. All members in favor, the motion carries. Shairs states that the Police Department will continue their directed patrols in that area. Continued Discussion: Montserrat Dormitorv Construction Kristen Poulin, project manager from Wind over Development and Tag Morgan also of Wind over are present to give the Commission an update on the timeline for the project. Poulin states that the prefab units should be delivered at the end of October or the beginning of November. She explains that they will be delivered to the City and offloaded and stored on one of their sites on Rantoul Street. Shairs explaines that they are planning to use the former Infinity dealership site as the staging area. Morgan states that they hope to be in production by the end of August or first of September. He explains the proposed time line to the Commission. Benevento asks if Mass Highway requires an escort. Morgan explains that they will have to have one because of the size of the pieces and will have State Police escort. Minutes Parking and Traffic Commission meeting minutes Page 40f7 August 13, 2008 Benevento expresses concern about using Route 1A during the morning commute to tow a big box. He suggests that they not use that road during peak times from 7-9 a.m. Shairs notes that there are hours of construction that are governed by ordinance and that has to be considered as well. Benevento states that he would not like any transport to start before 9:00 a.m. from the former Infinity site to the construction site. Cassidy clarifies that there will be no transport from the Infinity site on Rantoul Street to Winter Street before 9:00 a.m. A discussion ensues regarding the width of the streets on the route to be used to transport the sections. Morgan states that they will be careful to keep access to Winter Street open particularly the access to the library parking lot. Shairs notes that Wind over has agreed to post signs noting that access to the library will be possible. He also notes that police officers will be posted at both ends of Winter Street. Shairs also suggests that Wind over notify him when the sections arrive and when they are going to be moved so that he can do a press release notifying the public of the times that the move will take place. Morgan offers to distribute flyers to the neighbors on Pond Street to let them know when the work will take place. Morgan asks about restrictions on hours of work/operation. Benevento states that they should be offRantoul Street by 4:00 p.m., noting that the City must do its best to accommodate the commuters that use downtown roads. Benevento asks how many total transports will there be. Morgan estimates that there would be about 35. Cassidy notes that the information was informative and thoroughly pulled together for the Commission and thanks Poulin and Morgan for their work. Shairs notes that Wind over and the College have been great in keeping the Police Department informed about what is happening. He adds that effective communication is key to success. Discussion: Pedestrian Safetv Related Recommendations for the New Restaurant in McKav Street Gara2e - Cummin2s Properties Cassidy explains that the Commission sent a letter to the Planning Board recommending that the some pedestrian safety features be incorporated in the project. She states that the Planning Board has since asked the Commission to provide specific recommendations. Benevento, Hutchinson, and she went out to look at the site with Cummings' representatives. Minutes Parking and Traffic Commission meeting minutes Page 50f7 August 13, 2008 Cassidy reviews the existing speed humps in the area and the recommendation to stripe the speed bump. Shairs asks if it would be ADA compliant. Dave Harriss from Cummings Properties explains that the proposed walkway was shifted to the side and it would be compliant. Cassidy also suggests that the Commission recommend a new crosswalk from the sidewalk in front of Acapulco's to the garage. They also recommend a stop sign at the corner in front of Acapulco's to stop westbound traffic in the main driveway. Discussion ensues regarding portable pedestrian signs on the site. Cassidy notes that it appears that there is a half of a parking spot adjacent to the new walkway at the speed hump, and is concerned that people would think that they can park there. Harriss states that he would not mind losing that space. It was suggested that the space could be signed and used for motorcycle parking. Cassidy reviews language in the draft recommendation letter to the planning board which reads "The Commission has no objection to speed humps or other traffic calming measures on the site." Benevento suggests that the pedestrian warning signs be required. Cassidy clarifies that the recommendation is to recommend the implementation of the improvements shown on the plan as submitted. The members agree. Continued Discussion on Council Order #126 - ReQuest for Comprehensive Traffic Studv of Winter/ Essex! Knowlton/Dane Streets Slate explains that in conjunction with the Montserrat project he requested that this be reviewed and notes that it is not directly related to the project but it raised the issues of concern. Benevento states that he did not think that anything should be done until the College's impending construction work is done. He notes that they don't like to do traffic studies in the summer because kids are not in schools and would prefer to do them when there is regular activity in the area. Cassidy notes that parking is an issue on Knowlton Street and there may be some pieces that could be looked at now. Benevento requests a 20 or 40 scale GIS plan of the area to identify parking etc. Cassidy says that she could get that and it will show the buildings and street features such as light poles, stop signs, etc. Shairs notes that there are metered parking spaces on both sides of the street that would require turning them to the correct spot for the spaces. Minutes Parking and Traffic Commission meeting minutes Page 60f7 August 13, 2008 Benevento asked for a GIS view and regular mapping. He suggests that the Commission could work on this and take a look at the plans at the next meeting. Old/N ew Business a. 392 Rantoul Street Shairs reports that the owner of Weaver Glass has requested 30 minute parking in front of that business. He notes that they have off street parking but some customers prefer to just pull up out front. He explains that they think that employees of other businesses in the area may be parking there as well as patrons of the bar across the street. Shairs explains that he looked at the matter and there is one good space there and the owner would be happy with that. Cassidy suggests that the Commission could recommend one 30 minute sign or even better put a 30 minute meter there. Benevento notes that the Commission can review this at the next meeting, as there are only three members of the Commission present at this time. StOry Avenue Residents - Councillor Burke Benevento suggests that the Commission visit the site before the next meeting so that the Commission can make a recommendation at the next meeting. Next Meetin2 The next meeting of the Parking and Traffic Commission will be held on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. Benevento asks if there is any other business to come before the Parking and Traffic Commission at this time. There is none. Hutchinson: motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Shairs. All members in favor, the motion carries. The meeting is adjourned at 11 :30 a.m. Minutes Parking and Traffic Commission meeting minutes Page 70f7 August 13, 2008