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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BPW-2015-10-05BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS PROCEEDINGS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting 4:45 p.m. October 5, 2015 PRESENT: Mayor Myrick Commissioners (5) – Darling, Goldsmith, Greene, Jenkins, Warden OTHERS PRESENT: City Attorney – Lavine Superintendent of Public Works – Thorne Assistant Superintendent of Streets and Facilities – Benjamin Director of Engineering – West Director of Parking – Nagy Common Council Liaison – Fleming Executive Assistant – Servoss Transportation Eng. – Logue EXCUSED: Assistant Superintendent of Water and Sewer – Whitney DAC Liaison – Roberts ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA: Supt. Thorne requested the deletion of item 13A, Cascadilla Creekway Project Design. He further requested the addition of item 13D, Cayuga Street Striping. No Board member objected. MAYOR’S COMMUNICATIONS: The Mayor had no communications. COMMUNICATIONS AND HEARINGS FROM PERSONS BEFORE THE BOARD: Julie Schroeder, business owner in City of Ithaca, addressed the board to express concern about the proposal to adjust the turn lane at the corner of Aurora Street and East State Street to accommodate a new building at the Trebloc site. She noted that tractor trailers do use the turn lane to turn onto East State Street. She further expressed disapproval of the proposal to widen the sidewalk on the 300 Block of East State Street. The following residents addressed the Board regarding concerns with the proposal to removing parking from North Cayuga Street and installing bike lanes: Ellen McCollister, Alderperson Rita Boothroyd, City of Ithaca George McGonigal, Alderperson Ellen McCollister and George McGonigal, Alderpersons, further expressed concern regarding the proposed reconfiguration of the street for the Trebloc building. Alderperson McCollister urged the Board to carefully look at the intersection of Aurora Street and East State Street. RESPONSE TO THE PUBLIC Mayor Myrick responded to the public by requesting that the discussion regarding North Cayuga Street be moved to the top of the agenda. No Board member objected. DISCUSSION ITEMS: Cayuga Street Striping Commissioner Goldsmith noted that this topic was previously discussed by the Board of Public Works at two separate meetings, and he did not understand why Common Council had not contacted residents about this proposal until now. The decision had already been made and he was surprised to hear of the opposition when it was too late. The current discussion is about the Trebloc Building, and he was surprised Common Council was not reading the meeting agendas. Mayor agreed, stating that it puts the Board in an awkward position because Council is ultimate decision making body and if Council wants to make a decision that counters what the Board of Public Works Page 2 October 5, 2015 Regular Meeting Board of Public Works recommends, it puts the Board in an awkward position. He requested that Transportation Engineer Logue report on what outreach staff did to solicit public comments. Alderperson Fleming stated she felt terrible that, as liaison from the Board of Public Works to Common Council, she allowed this conversation to slip by her. She recalled the Board having long conversations about whether there should be protected bike lanes or not, but then she failed to notify Council of the final decision to stripe the bike lanes. It is unfortunate that the Board was not a representative body, and some discussions do slip through the cracks. Transportation Engineer Logue joined the Board for the discussion of this topic and stated that staff worked with the City Clerk’s office to send out a media release that requested public common to the media, directly to Common Council, and to the Fall Creek Listserv. A whole other effort that produced a Change.org petition regarding protected bike lanes but the public feedback the board received (80-90 public comments) that were forwarded to the Board. The media release was published in the Ithaca Journal and Tompkins Weekly. Mayor Myrick listed the options that the Board had: continue with the striping, stop the project, or send the project to Common Council for a decision. He read the following e-mail from Alderperson Josephine Martell: Dear Members of the BPW, I write to you today as a member of Common Council in the 5th ward and as a directly impacted resident (I live at 805 N Cayuga St) to express concern over the striping of N. Cayuga that was done this morning and that effectively eliminates parking on the West side of the street. I urge you to not eliminate parking on one side of Cayuga St and ask that the City re-stripe the road to allow for two-sided parked. Although the bike lane was not striped this morning, until it could be discussed further and more broadly, the parking on the West side has been eliminated, as there is now only room to drive in that lane, and not park as well. Although I support efforts to make Ithaca more bike friendly and bike myself, I also strongly believe we need to weigh the concerns and needs of all residents and I don't believe the decision making process around this project has done that. I also want to apologize up front for the late nature of my comments. This issue was brought before Council in September when a 90 year old gentleman who lives on the 800 block of N Cayuga and doesn't have a driveway, Kerman Glaser, came to express his opposition and his concerns about the loss of parking the bike lane would cause. I'm sorry that I wasn't involved back in April when you debated this- it somehow didn't get on my radar and I was under the impression that there was time to discuss it and that it would come before Council. Many of us, including myself, were also not aware the parking was being eliminated today. Unfortunately, there was a misperception that the bike lanes wouldn't go in until Spring 2016. Although the lanes were not put in this morning (they almost were) the striping has eliminated the parking on the west side, having the same effect on the residents that live along N. Cayuga. I do have very serious concerns about eliminating parking along N. Cayuga Street and do not think the location is appropriate for bike lanes. I have spoken to many neighbors over this past month and have found that is not actually supported by many residents here, despite the positive public comments that were received. I have taken time to go through the public comments and out of the 78 comments that were received, only 7 of them were from residents on N. Cayuga St. Four of them opposed the bike lanes on Cayuga. Two were in favor and one was neutral- she supported bike infrastructure but not necessarily on Cayuga St. I also know most of the people that commented and the vast majority of are part of the biking community. This is probably due to the Change.org petition that was circulated asking for support of the bike lanes back in April. The biking community is certainly one voice I wish to hear from as an official, however, it's not the only one. I would like to see comments from all residents, especially those that are most directly impacted. In addition, between the 600-1000 blocks on N. Cayuga St, there are 14 households (8 properties, 6 of which are 2 families) that do not have driveways. This is likely part of the reason that there is already a parking shortage on those blocks of N. Cayuga. This is severely exacerbated in the winter months when the Odd/even rules are in effect- Board of Public Works Page 3 October 5, 2015 Regular Meeting something that is only 3 weeks away. Of course, in the winter there are far fewer cyclists on the road so not only will the bike lane be little used but the parking will not be available to residents. This is a significant hardship for the elderly, people with small children, or anyone that is ill or mobility impaired. It can be quite difficult, especially in the winter, to haul in groceries, small children, or any number of household needs, to your home from a block or two away. Already this is the case in the winter with the odd/even rules in effect so this distance will certainly be extended. Perhaps most significantly, there are two very good biking options directly adjacent and parallel to N. Cayuga Street. Utica St is already considered "bike friendly" as it is such a quiet street and it's a street I frequently bike down myself with my kids. Tioga st is in process of becoming a "bike boulevard" and the street is a considered a bicycle priority street. When I'm on my bike, I don't find it much of an inconvenience to bike a block over to get on a safer route. However, if I am on foot with heavy groceries and I need to walk 1-2 blocks to my house, that is a significant inconvenience. For my elderly neighbors, who are less able bodied than I, or may have mobility impairment issues, this is a real hardship. Currently, Cayuga St is only marked for a bike lane from Cascadilla to Lincoln and two sided parking resumes from Lincoln to the High School and from Gimme into Downtown. I understand the bike vision is being implemented in segments, but I think it is poor planning to do it this way when it won't fully realize the plan at this time anyway and yet cause a significant negative impact to many of the residents on that street. Sadly, Kerman Glaser who I mentioned above, has recently stated that he will have to move if the bike lane goes in. Another elderly resident without a driveway, Susan Koon, in the 600 block has already sold her house, according to her, because of the April BPW decision and the anticipated loss of parking. My neighbors at 807, Buz and Rita Boothroyd, who are both elderly and do not have a driveway, are concerned they will not be able to stay in their home if they lose even more parking on the street. They already struggle to pay the high taxes on their home, despite renting one half of their house. Buz served on City Council for a decade and they are both still very civically involved locally. He is also an avid cyclist and very much opposes the location of the bike lanes on Cayuga St at the loss of parking due to their age and mobility issues. I urge you to please re-consider removing the parking on the West side of N. Cayuga Street and open up a new public process to encourage a more representative public feedback process, and hear from residents most affected by the loss of parking. I urge also to please re-stripe the street to allow parking on both sides throughout the winter months, before odd/even goes into effect, and to provide time to have this discussion. I appreciate you taking the time to read my comments and please do contact me if you have any questions. I would be happy to continue the discussion and help gather feedback from Cayuga St residents. With best wishes, Josephine Martell Mayor Myrick noted that since the above e-mail was distributed, Common Council members Seph Murtagh, Graham Kerslick, George McGonigal and Ellen McCollister all responded opposing the installation of bike lanes on North Cayuga Street. Commissioner Warden expressed his frustration that the Board was hearing much different input than what was previously discussed extensively by the Board. He thought the Board had received a lot of input at that point, but they are hearing very different input. The Board discussed many options regarding the bike lanes. It would have been so helpful to have today’s input when the Board was discussing their options. He wants to make right decisions. Through all of the discussions, it seemed that installing bike lane striping was the best possible solution. Tim responded that conversations about bike lanes began when the City was preparing to mill and pave North Cayuga Street, thinking that would be the best opportunity to install bike lanes. The bike lanes were and still are part of the City’s Bicycle Transportation Plan from 1997, putting bike lanes on city streets 15+ years ago. Potential for controversy, staff noted they Board of Public Works Page 4 October 5, 2015 Regular Meeting would need to do outreach. The intent is that Cayuga Street carries a certain volume of traffic and mixing automobiles and bicycles on the street is mostly fine, but there is a bit of conflict. Separating cars and bikes into their own lanes provides a level of convenience and diminishes a level of conflict. There are other routes, but we are not going to tell bicyclists which streets they can or cannot cycle on. Trying to complete Cayuga Street while there is the opportunity. Hoping to continue bike lanes north beyond Lincoln Street to the middle school. Jon expressed concern regarding this situation, noting that the Board had discussed this issue for a long time and it was frustrating to receive this input in the “eleventh hour.” He lives on Mitchell Street which does not have on-street parking, so he sympathizes with residents that do not have on-street or off-street parking. He has a hard time believing someone is going to move based on this one issue. There are other parts of the city that do not have on-street parking. It makes him uncomfortable as a commissioner to use that type of logic to make decisions. Discussion followed on the floor regarding how the parking and bike lanes are currently being striped, noting that the center line for vehicular traffic would be off-center. The contractor was told not to paint the bike lanes at this time, and would cost the City thousands of dollars for the contractor to come back after a decision was made. If the bike lane was to be removed, the center line would need to be removed and repainted. Mayor Myrick stated he was philosophically and fundamentally troubled by infrastructure decisions being motivated solely by the interests of local residents because he spent a lot of time talking with residents and if that was how we made decisions, there would not be a block in the city without speed bumps or wasn’t a dead end. He was moved by the arguments that there were attractive options adjacent to Cayuga Street, though the benefit to using Cayuga Street was that it connects all the way to downtown and the Southside of the City and north to the high school, unlike Tioga and Utica Streets. He felt that in this case, even though it’s at the last moment, the majority of Council is saying they want to weigh in on the decision. He thought it would be a good idea to have City Administration Committee discuss the issue. Commissioner Goldsmith expressed concern about the Board allow Common Council make a final decision after the Board spent a lot of time discussing the options. He did not like the notion that the letters that were received were severely unrepresentative of the residents, and he was worried about the Board suddenly changing its decision. He noted that some information provided in Alderperson Martell’s letter was incorrect, though unintentionally so. Discussion followed on the floor regarding ways of removing the center line, and providing parking allowances for the few residents without driveways to make their lives easier. Transportation Engineer Logue indicated that the parking study that was conducted indicated that there was more than enough parking on one side of the street, with the exception of two blocks, to meet parking demands. Further discussion followed on the floor regarding a parking permit system, not allowed to reserve specific spaces on the street for specific people, leaving the street over the winter and revisiting the situation again in the spring, holding a neighborhood meeting in the Fall Creek area for more community input, additional costs for not striping the bike lanes while the contractor was on site, and Cayuga Street was part of the Emergency Snow Route which did not allow on-street parking when an emergency was declared. Mayor Myrick stated that if the decision was going to be reversed, the Board of Public Works should not be the body that does it. The Board made an informed decision with the information they had, they created a plan, and the Department should be allowed to enact that plan. If Common Council was dissatisfied with that plan, Council should overturn and reverse it. He agreed that a public meeting should be held. If the Board reverses course without any public comment, it would receive a lot of backlash from the public. However, he noted that it would be safer for residents to finish the project as it was designed, then Council could revisit the project. The Board generally agreed to finish the project, to hold public meetings to gather more input for Common Council to revisit the project immediately, and asked staff to look at the properties without driveways to see if there was a way to install parking of some sort close to those properties. Board of Public Works Page 5 October 5, 2015 Regular Meeting State Street Triangle Development – Proposal for Aurora Street and East State Street Right of Way Director of Engineering Logue explained that the applicant, on behalf of the developer, had provided materials to address questions presented by the Board at their last meeting. Included in the materials were turning radius information, traffic counts showing the number of large vehicles turning at the corner during peak times, and how traffic might be affected if North Aurora Street were made two-way and how would it impact any decisions the City makes regarding runaway trucks. He stated that eliminating the slip lane wouldn’t have any impact on capacity, but having a slip lane pulls vehicles out of the traffic, but the amount is very modest. However, the slip lane is not very good for heavy trucks that were trying to make deliveries. He stated that the proposals that were provided would not make the situation any worse than it was. He encouraged the Board to really think about what to do about losing on-street parking spaces on the 300 block of East State Street because that block is a high demand area. He stated that there wasn’t any impact at this one corner if Aurora Street were made two-way. Also, the runaway truck concept would have all traffic coming down East State Street turn onto Seneca Way, converting North Aurora Street into two-way traffic, and converting the 300 block of East State Street into one-way flowing east, which would modify the curb line and that block could be used as a crash attenuator. He noted that the modifications should not be at the City’s cost, and the project might allow for a small revenue stream for the City in outdoor dining permit fees. Mayor Myrick noted that at all meetings to discuss this project, he had stated that the only way a building of the proposed size might work at that end of the Commons was if there was a wide public space in order to accommodate the increased pedestrian traffic. He would not fight against removing parking spaces if it resulted in a nicer pedestrian experience, but the developer would need to make those changes. Commissioner Goldsmith expressed concern regarding the project and asked the Board to make a decision about Aurora Street before making any decisions about this project. He further stated the City should not agree to a tax subsidy. Commissioner Warden stated he was very reluctant to giving up city property for a project like this. He felt the building could be either reduced in size or moved back away from the intersection. He was more inclined to make travel easier for traffic, not harder. Discussion followed on the floor regarding the proposed curb line changes, and pedestrians would have a longer crossing distance between the Trebloc site and the Commons if the slip lane and island were removed. Scott Whitham joined the Board and clarified that the provided narrative explained the intersection was studied by independent engineers. He stated that no one was interested in making that intersection less safe. Commissioner Greene expressed concern regarding the proposal and requested the applicant modify the plans in order to keep the building and pedestrian walks on private property. He did not want the development to take city property. Alderperson Fleming stated she did not like the proposal due to the loss of the slip lane, and noted that it was a commercial area that receives deliveries from large trucks. Discussion followed on the floor regarding possible changes to the traffic patterns in the area, the proposal did not suggest property line and right of way changes, and conducting a traffic study at the intersection. The Board generally agreed it did not approve the plan as it was proposed. Discontinuance of Northern Section of Lake Avenue and Eastern Section of Adams Street City Attorney Ari Lavine explained the request from Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Service (INHS) to discontinue these sections of city streets that are adjacent to 210 Hancock Street. INHS provided a plan on how it would maintain the property. He stated that INHS was requesting ideas and comments from the Board. Board of Public Works Page 6 October 5, 2015 Regular Meeting Discussion followed on the floor regarding whether the City continues to own the property if the street was discontinued, that the City committed to INHS that the agreement would have a 50 year term, the City was not committing to what the city’s property would look like, INHS would not be able to make substantive changes to the property, and no buildings or structure could be built on the property without permission from the City. City Attorney Lavine explained that the Board would be voting on the resolution to discontinue the streets until after January when INHS would receive confirmation of funding from the State. The Board would need to declare lead agency prior to the end of the year, though. Cascadilla Creekway Project Design This topic was deleted from the agenda. REPORTS Superintendent and Staff Dir. of Eng. West reported that the Skate Park Expansion Project was mostly complete, repairs to the Seneca Garage were completed under budget, some of the money saved on Seneca Garage was going to be used to make repairs to the Green Street Garage, and projected life expectancy of the Seneca Garage was to be provided by the contractor. The same evaluation would be completed on the Green Street Garage as well. Asst. Supt. Benjamin reported that paving of Clinton Street was completed, the Aurora Street Bridge deck was poured and was expected to be paved in the next week or so. Dir. of Eng. West noted that the bridge needed extensive work within the next few years. Dir. of Parking Nagy reported crews were cleaning the Commons after the Apple Festival with the new Cyclone machine, the revenue generated from the Apple Festival was just over $13,000, and revenue from the parking pay stations in September was over $27,000 more than 2014, and staff was working on a new agreement for the West End Parking Lot. Supt. Thorne reported that Transportation Engineer Logue had accepted the position of Director of Engineering once Tom West retired in November, staff met with NYSEG regarding the utilities in Collegetown on Dryden Road, and met with Ellwyn and Palmer to discuss Forest Home Drive to investigate where the water problem was originating. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion, the meeting adjourned at 6:36 p.m. Kathrin D. Servoss Svante L. Myrick Executive Assistant Mayor