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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BPAC-2014-02-24BPAC, February 24, 2014, 5:30 p.m. Present:Dan Keough, Steven WilliamsX;eorge McGonigal, Jan Schwartzberg, Dave Nutter (6:30 p.m.) Nextgnneeting: March 17 Note to talk to city's IT person to sort out internet access for computers, not from phone. SW: Attended SID meeting. Aside from Elmira Road new sidewalk, city will be focusing on repairs only. Concerned that funds stay within each SID. For example, West Hill has the lowest SID funding, but the greatest need. Tim Logue mentioned that they might bond for some of the big projects on West Hill, such as Hector Street. It seems like there may be some districts with a large fund and little need. GMG: Speculative. I think that they are trying to be neighborhood- centric. Also, the most built -out areas might have the greatest need of repairs. Question: Would the bonding be paid back through the fund of the SID where it's located? GMG: Good example of something BPAC can bring up with common council. SW: They are going to hire a new sidewalk manager, who will decide where repairs are to be done. There was another concern about places where there is no house on the property. GMG: Ari Levine has written up a change to the law that addresses that: The underlying theory is that all properties will benefit from a better sidewalk system. All vacant lots are classified by the county as commercial. This may change. Issues with property owners who may own a lot with no road frontage. GMG: It's early days, problems will arise, things will get identified and resolved. DK: We should invite the new sidewalk manager to a BPAC meeting. DK: Be aware of the new advocacy group funded through Park Foundation. Tim and Kent are both on this group, which includes Way2Go, Streets Alive, Cooperative Extension. We should still try to define our goals in relationship to them and make sure we still have a seat at the table. New group is not limited to city of Ithaca. They will be hiring a full -time person. DK has started going to their meetings - has only recently been invited. Vicky Armstrong has announced that there is a Streets Alive film festival, Cinemapolis, March 13, 7:30. Free and open to the public. A selection of 20 short films will be shown. DK: There are no other holidays to conflict with our regularly scheduled for the rest of 2014. DK: The new bike maps are out, he has 100 copies and is giving them out here and there; doesn't want to give them away all at once. Discussion of BPAC Goals DK: What do we want to be involved with going forward? JS: Maybe a regular presence at common council, talking on relevant or timely topic, for example the 3 -foot clearance rule for city vehicles /employees. Maybe be put on the agenda quarterly. DK: A big goal still is to get more members and get a quorum at every BPAC meeting. GMG: Can bring up the 3 -foot rule at the next city administration meeting. DK will send him a copy of our resolution. DK: Received a copy of crash report data. Noticed that a few crashes involved riding on the sidewalk. Consider problematic places like Cliff Street and Hector Street. DK would push for education rather than enforcement. Don't know what else will come out of the data. We could eventually put in a budget request for producing materials relating to preventing collisions. GMG: Any interaction with the school district for bike safety? Discussion about varying structures to implement a bike safety program, for example SRTS. Discussion around getting a representative from City Engineer's office to BPAC meetings. Committee is glad we now have a member of council attending our meetings. DK: One thing the new advocacy group did was make "homework" assignments /committees. For example: defining some goals that we would like to see happen such as exploring potential funding sources. - In one town there was a path funded by Time Warner in exchange for TW burying their cable there. SW: Could other funding sources be used, for example to conduct a study of our problematic traffic light timing on Meadow St. Will look into it. DK: One thing I think would be interesting: Many people leaving Greenstar on bikes, trying to move into traffic at the crosswalk, instead of at the alley. Maybe encourage Greenstar to post something from us promoting correct behavior, reminding that cycling in the crosswalk and on sidewalks is illegal. (6:30 - Dave Nutter arrived.) DN: Regarding SID meeting. The sidewalk manager hire will be $80k. One reason for having a manager is that person will be able to apply for grants. DK: The city is now offering an exam for the position. Funding per District -- 1: $165k; 2: $158k; 3: $275k; 4: $173k; 5: $130k. Next year they hope to have refined the process and plan a lot more public input. They want suggestions for where sidewalks need to be repaired. They don't need to do only repairs first, can do new sidewalk. It would be good to see the plan and comment on it rather than make recommendations without seeing their plan. GMG: Should we ask Tim to come to our meeting to tell what their plan is? - We at least need to get their plan. SW: They want to have something to BPW by the end of March. DK will email Tim L. DN asked about liability. Tim said anyone can sue for anything; people can still repair their own sidewalks. GMG: Asked Ari that same question. He said the city would accept the lead liability with the exception of slips from unshoveled snow, leaves, etc. DN: Another person at the SID meeting asked about how they decided what was most important. Some factors: amount of motor vehicle traffic, population density. Doesn't include things like proximity to school, steepness of road, people who might not own cars (e.g. senior citizens). Discussions on big issues relating to big projects, such as Hector Street. GMG: Floral Avenue? DN: That would be a really high value project, would get a lot of traffic. Announcements DK: A little success: Have made a lot of requests to get city website changed. There have always been announcements reminding people about clearing their sidewalk, but they finally have information for people to report uncleared sidewalks. Klarman Hall is being worked on at Cornell. East Ave is closed to all traffic except buses and bicycles until April 2015. DK requested of Chang (CU Transportation) better signage for cyclists, including information about the traffic light. Myrick put out a call for reporting potholes. GMG will find out a contact for reporting potholes (not through the existing city website). ReturnRoltoals: [to include DN] DN: Most interested in keeping our presence high in city government. General agreement around that. Tasks to complete prior to next meeting: DN: Will make an official request that Elm Street be one of the places that get repaired. Further discussion on repairing a whole block if only a few properties on it are defective. December 2013 & January 2014 minutes approved as amended. Meeting adjourned 7: 07 p.m.