HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-MATC-2019-03-25
MOBILITY, ACCESSIBILITY
AND TRANSPORTATION
COMMISSION MINUTES
PRESENT:
Chair Lerner
Commissioners (6) Barden, Parkes, Roberts, Chang, Powers, Brouwer
OTHERS PRESENT:
Common Council Liaisons – McGonigal and Nguyen
Information Management Specialist - Myers
TCAT Asst. General Manager - Matt Yarrow
EXCUSED:
Commissioners Lyczko, Brylinsky
Approval of the February 25, 2019 Mobility, Accessibility, and Transportation
Commission Meeting Minutes- Resolution
By Commissioner Parkes: Seconded by Commissioner Powers
RESOLVED, That the minutes of the February 25, 2019 Mobility, Accessibility, and
Transportation Commission meeting be approved as published.
Carried Unanimously
Statements From the Public:
Deirdre Kurzweil, owner of Sunny Days store on the Commons, addressed the
commission related to ADA requirements for business owners and where that
information is located.
Sheryl Swank, City of Ithaca, addressed the commission to share concerns related to e-
bikes and e-scooters and voiced concerns regarding the safety of e-scooters. She also
expressed support for the City taking on the responsibility of clearing sidewalks of snow
and ice.
Fay Gougakis, City of Ithaca, addressed the commission to express her strong
opposition to the introduction of e-scooters to the City of Ithaca related to potential
injuries from their use.
Commissioner’s Response:
Commissioner Roberts stated that he wanted to make it very clear that his comments
on Facebook are not as a member or representative of Matcom. He responded to
comments about accessibility to Sunny Days.
CC Liaison McGonigal responded to comments about accessibility to Sunny Days, and
indicated that he would speak to staff of the Building Department regarding businesses
on the Commons and accessibility.
Commissioner Chang responded to comments about too many e -scooters being
introduced to the City of Ithaca. The recommendation does include a limitation on the
Date: March 25, 2019
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Common Council Chambers,
3rd Floor, City Hall
Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission
March 25, 2019
2
number of e-scooters based on rides per day so as to prevent a burdensome increase
in the number of e-scooters.
Presentation by TCAT:
Matt Yarrow, Asst. General Manager for TCAT provided information on the creation of
TCAT, its current services, goals, revenue resources, and plans for the future. TCAT’s
strategic plan is available on their website for review anytime. He noted that Gadabout
is their partner to assist them in meeting accessibility needs of the community. TCAT’s
fleet of buses will need to be increased by 20% over the next few years in order to fully
serve all the new development. They will be able to purchase up to 6 electronic buses
because of a grant they recently received. Unfortunately, TCAT facilities are at peak
and in order to accommodate the additional buses they will need to enlarge their
facilities.
He explained that with all the development occurring around the City that TCAT has
been requested to provide additional routes and buses. This becomes difficult when
they are brought into the conversation after development is underway. TCAT would like
to work with the City and developers to find a way to be included in discussions from the
very beginning to better meet transportation demands.
CC Liaison Report:
CC Liaison McGonigal reported that City Transportation Engineer Eric Hathaway is in
the process of exploring a “vision zero” initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to
reduce the speed limit throughout the City of Ithaca to 25 mph. This change will require
New York State approval. The City is currently exploring the possibility of joining with
other upstate cities to push for this initiative because there is significant evidence that
this one change will reduce the number of accidents and injuries.
Chair’s Report:
Commissioner Chang volunteered to be Vice-Chair for the April Matcom meeting.
Future Topics:
April - discussion related to creation of an ADA Coordinator position for the City of
Ithaca; continuation of the e-scooter discussion.
May - Pedestrian Sidewalk Snow Removal
June – Parking – Commissioner Parkes indicated that he wasn’t sure what new
information might be available by June and suggested that there be a second topic for
discussion at the meeting.
ADA Issues:
Commissioner Roberts reported that he attended a meeting to review and discuss the
idea of creating within the City of Ithaca an ADA Coordinator position. Today’s public
input is a great reason to pursue this idea. He and Commissioner Brylinsky will meet to
work on details of what this position might look like and put together a Commission
Project Form (CPF) to get permission from a Common Council committee to pursue this
as a project for Matcom.
Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission
March 25, 2019
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Chair Lerner explained that when the four new commissions were created this
commission, by its designation of Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation, included a
specific member that would be the point person for accessibility related issues. Each of
the other three commissions has one member designated as the point person for
accessibility related issues. The other three point persons will also participate in the
meetings related to the creation of an ADA Coordinator position.
Pedestrian Snow Removal Public Input:
Commissioner Brouwer reported that he and Commissioner Chang are making slow but
steady progress on this topic. They met with City Clerk Holcomb and Public Information
Specialist Faraday last week and are very encouraged about how much help they can
provide with the online public survey. They both are very willing to help and the tools
they have are easy to use. He and Commissioner Chang just need to provide them with
a list of questions which they are just finishing up and fine turning. They will share the
questions with Matcom members (a first draft) to review mainly through e-mail and with
city staff to get their input and buy in to the survey – they hope to have this completed
by mid-April. That way they have time to put together the survey so it goes out before
winter is out of people’s minds. They also discussed ways to do inclusive outreach and
the need to provide paper copies of the survey in order to make it available for
everyone.
DPW Parking Analysis:
Commissioner Parkes reported that the Request for Qualifications for a consultant to
work on the analysis went out with responses due back April 12th.
Commissioner Roberts reiterated the importance of reviewing the responses to look at
the public input aspect - how do they get public input and engage interested
stakeholders. He wants to make sure that TCAT and other transportation providers are
involved and have opportunity to provide input. He encouraged Commissioner Parkes
to review and pay particular attention to that area of expertise in the responses.
E-Scooters:
Discussion followed on the floor regarding how to proceed with reviewing the
recommendation and whether or not it would be possible to vote on it this evening or
wait until next month.
Commissioner Barden explained that since the recommendation was posted online with
the agenda that there had been a lot of input from public, some of which was addressed
in the recommendations, and some not.
Commissioner Powers suggested that since people have seen the research summary
and the recommendation that she would propose voting on the recommendation in
support of the pilot program. If other commission members are not in support of the
pilot program, then time will not have to be spent reviewing the entire recommendation
item by item. If commission members are in support then proceed with reviewing each
item and making amendments as needed.
Commissioner Barden agreed, that if there is no support for the pilot program then there
is no need for further discussion and review.
Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission
March 25, 2019
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Chair Lerner stated that there may be a recommendation but it’s not ready yet. He
wants to sort out what would be in a pilot program before voting on the
recommendation.
Commissioner Roberts expressed his support of a pilot program for e-scooters. He
stated that e-scooters are coming and the City might as well have as much say into
what it wants out of such a program as it can. He would be in favor of deciding tonight if
there is support for the pilot program.
Commissioner Parkes stated that he can’t support the recommendation of a pilot
program without all the specifics spelled out. He prefers to vote on what he knows
rather than back tracking or putting contingencies in.
Commissioner Chang suggested that Matcom vote on the recommendation as is and
pass along the public comments to the Planning and Economic Development
Committee to sort out.
CC Liaison Nguyen would support putting a motion on the floor and then allow motions
to make amendments so that either way Matcom ends up with a project that represents
the majority of its members.
Chair Lerner supports that suggestion; however, he does not think that the discussion
on the recommendation can be concluded in the twenty minutes remaining for the
meeting. Alderperson Murtagh, chair of the Planning and Economic Development
Committee has stated that if Matcom needs another month to review the
recommendation it should take it. Lime bike will not be allowed to bring e -scooters to
the City until a memorandum of understanding is in place with the City of Ithaca.
Approval of Recommendation from Matcom for an E-Scooter Pilot Program in the
City of Ithaca – Resolution
By Commissioner Powers: Seconded by Commissioner Chang
RESOLVED, That Matcom approve the recommendations, dated March 21, 2019, for
an e-scooter pilot program in the City of Ithaca.
Discussion followed on the floor with questions raised relating to “how many ped estrian
areas” are in the City; what “acceptable parking is, specific language regarding storage
of e-scooters, changing the time for the curfew of the e -scooters, and the inclusion of
language referencing NYS V & T law as it relates to powered non-motor vehicles.
Commissioner Parkes stated that NYS V & T Law states that e-scooters are not legal;
why would we want to proceed with something that we know is prohibited by the law.
Commissioner Chang shared that Governor Cuomo’s budget proposal for 2020 includes
an amendment to make e-scooters legal. The Senate and Assembly took that out of the
budget because they want to legislate it; it is foreseeable that e-scooters could become
legal within the year.
Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission
March 25, 2019
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Resolution to Amend the Proposed Recommendations Related to the Curfew
Time for E-Scooters
By Commissioner Brouwer: Seconded by Commissioner Parkes
RESOLVED, That the proposed recommendations for e-scooters be amended to
change the curfew time from 10:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
A Vote on the Amending Resolution Resulted as Follows:
Ayes (5) Chair, Barden, Powers, Parkes, Brouwer
Nays (2) Roberts, Chang
Abstentions (0)
Carried
Commissioner Barden stated that approving a recommendation for a pilot program,
contingent upon NYS law changing, makes the timeline for this project uncertain. A
suggestion was made to add language to the recommendation that Matcom approves
the recommendation pending the City Attorney’s review of the memorandum of
understanding.
Motion to Postpone A Vote on the Recommendation for an E-Scooter Pilot
Program in the City of Ithaca – Resolution
By Commissioner Powers: Seconded by Commissioner Roberts
RESOLVED, That the vote on the recommendation for an e-scooter pilot program in the
City of Ithaca be postponed until the April 22, 2019 Matcom meeting.
Carried Unanimously
Meeting Wrap-Up:
Next Meeting Date: Monday, April 22, 2019
Adjournment:
On a motion the meeting adjourned at 8:18 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah L. Myers,
Information Management Specialist