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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-MATC-2019-05-23 MOBILITY, ACCESSIBILITY AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MINUTES PRESENT: Chair Lerner Commissioners (6) Parkes, Chang, Brouwer, Roberts, Lyczko, Powers OTHERS PRESENT: Common Council Liaisons – McGonigal and Nguyen Information Management Specialist - Myers EXCUSED: Commissioners Barden and Brylinsky Approval of the April 22, 2019 Mobility, Accessibility, and Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes- Resolution By Commissioner Parkes: Seconded by Commissioner Chang RESOLVED, That the minutes of the April 22, 2019 Mobility, Accessibility, and Transportation Commission meeting be approved as published. Carried Unanimously Statements From the Public: No one from the public appeared to address the Commission. CC Liaison Report: CC Liaison McGonigal reported that he learned at the last meeting of the Tompkins County Legislature that the parking lot for county offices will now be available for public parking after business hours and weekends. He will obtain clarification about what “after business hours” means and report back at next month’s meeting, and suggest that it also be posted as such. Chair’s Report: Vice Chair for the month of June – Commissioner Powers Future Topics June Meeting – presentation by Chief of Staff Cogan on the budget process for the City, follow-up on e-scooters and/or ADA information, and snow removal. July/August – Special topic teams should let Chair Lerner know if they would like more than 10-15 minutes to present; he also suggested that keeping agendas lighter in the summer might be nice. Date: May 23, 2019 Time: 6:00 PM Location: Common Council Chambers, 3rd Floor, City Hall Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission May 23, 2019 2 DPW Parking Analysis: Commissioners Parkes and Lyczko requested feedback and direction as to what their role is at the parking meetings. Commissioner Parkes stated that he is not sure that they can be as extensive in their work and research as was done on e-scooters. Chair Lerner responded that once a consultant is selected that it might be good to have them do a presentation at a commission meeting. He stated that Commissioners Barden and Powers did a fabulous job on e-scooters; however that should not set the standard for other projects being undertaken. Everyone agreed that stakeholders play an important role as parking discussions move forward with the consultant. This commission could help determine who that stakeholder group should include. Chair Lerner noted that attention should be given to things that are coming up that are problematic/controversial or that neighborhoods might care about related to parking, and then determine what might be discussed further. CC Liaison McGonigal stated that during discussions about parking, he repeatedly hears about the negative effect of the new parking equipment on shoppers - particularly older shoppers in wintertime. He would like to know more about the effectiveness of them, how city plans to address concerns, and whether there is enough parking in the minds of downtown business people. In addition, will it be a problem with downtown workers moving out in to neighborhoods to park all day long? Commissioner Roberts noted that one major question that Commissioners Parkes and Lyczko should be asking is – what is the plan for the range and diversity of stakeholder groups and what the consultant’s plan would be to develop them. In terms of parking, people with disabilities are always impacted by whatever decisions get made. The City will ask the consultant about what parking technology is available. One of the questions to ask would be “what do they know about the ability of people with disabilities and older people to interact with the proposed technology”, if they can’t answer that question they should research it and report back to the group. Pedestrian Snow Removal Public Input: Commissioners Brouwer and Chang provided a “draft questionnaire on Snow Removal for Pedestrians” for review during the meeting. Commissioner Chang explained that the survey design was to ask the public about current conditions in terms of snow removal and whether they want something different. They met with Ayreal Jackson and Robert Cantelmo, from the Public Safety & Information Commission, and they provided some great input for the survey questions. He requested that commissioners e-mail any proposed changes or ideas to them so they can better keep track of them. Alderperson Gearhart, who was also at the Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission May 23, 2019 3 meeting, proposed the demographic information knowing not everyone will fill it out. This would assist in explaining why some answers are so different. CC Liaison Nguyen arrived at 6:36 p.m. Extensive discussion followed on the f loor as the questionnaire was reviewed. Ideas for amending it included the following: Property owners aren’t responsible for clearing snow from streets and therein lies the problem with inaccessible crosswalks. How can that be asked in a survey? Providing good verbal descriptions for those that are visually impaired. Add a demographic question about whether people have disabilities and if so what ? It should be worded to mean any kind of disability. Distinguish sidewalk from corner to corner. Focus the survey on the tasks involved such as “are you satisfied with getting down the street or curb ramps when needed”? Specify where in the city of Ithaca is it hard or easy to get around during the winter not just the city in general. Goal of survey is to determine where is the actual problem with getting around where you want to during the winter. Focus on activity involved or time involved that affects whether or not people go out. Have a better and clearer diagram of the sidewalk with a crosswalk to provide a better visual for the survey. Question 4a should say “pedestrian not “sidewalk”. Provide some explanatory background about what the current system/policy is in the City for clearing snow from sidewalks and curb cuts. Ask in a simple way whether “the way it is now” works for people Do not use statements such as “I agree/disagree” because people might agree with some of the choices and not others Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission May 23, 2019 4 Do people actually know what they’re expected to do? Include information that if the city were to take over sidewalk snow removal that it would cost money because it will make a difference if people have to pay in responding to questions Commissioner Roberts stated that the charge from the City Administration Committee for this project is not asking to figure out what system residents would support, but what is the problem and then discuss solutions. CC Liaison McGonigal left the meeting at 6:55 p.m. Focus on how happy are people with the existing level of service which would lead to how it can be improved and then look at the costs involved. City will do something different based on feedback as to whether the current way it is works. No reference to current system; instead use words such as “I”, “elderly” to make people think about what they choose to or not to do. Commissioner Lyczko stated that the important thing from the survey will be to find out what are the important things that the public wants addressed, and then go from there. The survey gets a sense of where we are now, and will lead to more questions which is what we want, and ultimately leads to the creation of a focus group or some other step to be determined. Commissioners Chang and Brouwer thanked the commission members for their input. They will also share the survey with city staff to get their input as well. They will bring a final version to the June meeting for review. Chair Lerner requested that they also include a plan for circulating the survey, discuss ideas for publicizing it, and send the revised draft ahead of the June meeting so additional input can be included in the survey for the June meeting. Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission May 23, 2019 5 ADA Issues - ADA Training - ADA Coordinator CPF: Commissioner Roberts announced that the ADA Training is scheduled for June 11th from 6 pm to 8 pm in the Second Floor conference room of City Hall. The City Administration Committee met on May 15 to review the ADA Coordinator CPF and approved it with no changes. He and Commissioner Brylinsky will set up a meeting to talk about strategies and report back at the June meeting. E-Scooters Follow -Up: Commissioner Powers thanked the commission for approving the recommendation onto the Planning and Economic Development Committee (PEDC) for review and discussion. She attended the May 8th PEDC meeting where they had a wide and long discussion on the recommendation, and ultimately voted to move it forward with a few amendments (to lower the speed and to talk with IPD). The recommendation should be on the June 5, 2019 Common Council agenda. Meeting Wrap Up: Chair Lerner reminded everyone to take the Sexual Harassment Training and turn in their Acknowledgments as soon as they are able. Next Meeting Date: Monday, June 24 Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sarah L. Myers, Information Management Specialist