HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-MATC-2019-10-28
MOBILITY, ACCESSIBILITY
AND TRANSPORTATION
COMMISSION MINUTES
PRESENT:
Chair Lerner
Commissioners (5) Chang, Brouwer, Lyczko, Barden, Parkes
OTHERS PRESENT:
Common Council Liaisons – McGonigal and Nguyen
Information Management Specialist – Myers
Lime Bike Representative – Goodmark
EXCUSED:
Commissioners Roberts and Powers
Approval of the September 23, 2019 Mobility, Accessibility, and Transportation Commission
Meeting Minutes- Resolution
By Commissioner Chang: Seconded by Commissioner Lyzcko
RESOLVED, That the minutes of the September 23, 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.
Commissioner’s Comments:
Commissioner Chang reported that a new speed bump had been installed by Washington Park which
will help vehicles slow down in a busy neighborhood.
CC Liaison Report:
CC Liaison Nguyen reported that Council has been meeting regularly to discuss and review the
Mayor’s proposed 2020 budget. One of the most relevant issues to this commission has been the
discussion on raising the sidewalk improvement assessments to cover the increased costs for
sidewalk work. With the current assessment rate and the increased costs to do the work it has been
resulting in less sidewalk work being done. A final decision has not been made yet on that.
CC Liaison McGonigal explained that the City is getting close t o its tax cap so increasing the
assessment for the sidewalk districts is a challenging decision. A factor to consider as well is that the
storm water fee was just increased, so this would result in increasing two different fees for tax payers.
If the sidewalk assessment rate is raised, it will be the first increase in five years.
Chair’s Report:
Matcom still has a vacancy; he and the other chairs at the last meeting with Chief of Staff
Cogan determined that each chair should review and interview possible applicants for either
their commission or another in an effort to fill vacancies. He was given four applications to
review; one applicant lives outside the city but the vacancy is for a city resident. He has
interviewed two applicants and is still waiting to hear from the third. More information will be
coming in the future as chairs select and recommend applicants to the Mayor for appointment.
Vice Chair for the month of November – Commissioner Barden
Date: October 28, 2019
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Common Council
Chambers,
3rd Floor, City Hall
Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes
October 28, 2019
2
City transportation plan coordination – a meeting was held attended by himself, commissioner
Lyczko, Transportation Engineer Hathaway and Director of Engineering Logue to discuss the
plan and how Matcom can be involved in a meaningful and productive way. Chair Lerner and
the Vice Chair meet once a month, so it was proposed and accepted that Transportation
Engineer Hathaway and any Matcom member available plan to all meet together once a
month. He would like one or both of the council liaisons to attend and feels this may be just
the opportunity that Matcom has been wanting to interact with staff and determine topics for
Matcom to focus on. The meetings should help, over the long term, to determine focus areas
for Matcom and learn what is being included in the transportation plan. The hope is that final
transportation plan will have relevant information/input from Matcom on pertinent topics.
Commissioner Brouwer shared that he is very much in favor of this approach and looks
forward to participating in the meetings. Chair Lerner talked briefly about this plan at the last
commission chair’s meeting and Chief of Staff Cogan seemed happy with the approach.
Pedestrian Snow Removal Public Input:
Commissioner Chang reported that Public Information Management Specialist Faraday put the
survey on line for testing by commissioners. Please review and provide any feedback by the end of
this week. They will forward changes to Ms. Faraday and touch base with staff in the Clerk’s office on
the plan to launch the survey for public participation to make sure it is shared as many places as
possible for increased participation. Commissioner Brouwer explained that they plan to publicize the
survey as much as they can and that someone will craft an announcement that can be sent to various
outlets, newspapers, schools, list serves, and radio. He also asked for help from Matcom members
and common council members to reach out to their own various listserves with the survey.
The survey will be available for two weeks after its launched; they then plan to publicize the results at
next Matcom meeting.
Commissioner Barden suggested that the initial survey results will provide some baseline information;
however, she would encourage the survey to be sent out again after we’ve gotten some snow and
people have encountered sidewalks to se e what the feedback is and compare it to the results from
the initial survey.
A brief discussion followed on the timeline for this project and providing a recommendation back to
the City Administration Committee. Chair Lerner stated that if the recommendation includes a policy
change proposal the goal should be to finalize and present the recommendation by late winter or
early spring so that there is ample time to have it be part of the budget process for next year.
ADA Issues – ADA Coordinator Proposal:
In Commissioner Roberts’ absence, Chair Lerner reported that the last he heard was that
Commissioner Roberts was trying to set up a meeting of the ad hoc committee , but it has been a slow
moving process. It would be helpful for him to have a partner to assist in some of the work and
coordination so as he begins to interview applicants, he is being very specific about partnering with
Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes
October 28, 2019
3
Commissioner Roberts to assist with the topic. He confirmed that Sarah Brylinsky is still Matcom’s
appointed advisor to the ad hoc committee.
E-Scooters Follow -Up:
Commissioner Barden reported that the latest development has been that the group of interested
parties (Mayor Myrick, Chief of Staff Cogan, Jeff Goodmark, City Attorney Lavine, an IPD Officer,
Alderperson Murtagh and herself) met. The purpose of the meeting was to go over a number of
concerns compiled by Alderperson Murtagh and Chief of Staff Cogan either from staff or council
members about how any e-scooter program would be implemented. Mr. Goodmark provided a
sample memorandum of understanding (MOU). One big concern raised was how to educate the
public on how to ride the e-scooters since most accidents occur with first ride. Lime Bikes created a
“first ride academy” to run a weekend before launching the scooters. It would involve a 20 minute
lesson, practice course, and practice braking. Participants would get a free helmet to use and a
certificate. As far as making this a requirement, decisions still need to be made (since people could
ride them in other cities and come here and want to do the same so they shouldn’t be required to take
a course), and whether that language should be included in the MOU.
E-scooters are the bulk of Lime services around the world; Ithaca is the only city with bikes. Some
cities either have no scooters or a hybrid. That is something that could be requested in the MOU.
It has been determined that there is no correlation between giving away free helmets and people
using them, and just doing that doesn’t mean people will use them. Crashes with Lime Bikes - IPD
has not had to investigate any crashes and Lime has only had 3 reported.
Topics covered during the meeting:
Service Zone, proposed from Ithaca Beer Company to Stewart Park and not on hills. Limit speed to
15 mph and then have slower speed (8 mph) and no ride zones (those areas could be suggested).
Around downtown slower speeds and The Commons will be a no ride zone.
Parking for scooters - no solid parking solution in Ithaca for where they could be put but there are
areas that could be marked off to store them. No agreement was reached.
Underage riders - Lime has requirement with its app to scan date of birth to take care of that issue.
IPD reluctant to do anything about enforcement - but liked aspect of a picture being used to ensure
compliance.
Pricing now $1.00 to unlock and then .25 per minute. If bikes removed the rate would be .15 per
minute.
Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes
October 28, 2019
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Curfew/Hours of Operation - Make sure hours are consistent so public can know and plan
accordingly. Could be changed seasonally, up to the City to decide. To be viable transportation
alternative should not just be used during daylight. Scooters have headlights and reflectors.
Usage - most popular rides for bikes are to and from bus stops in Ithaca. Scooters constantly be ing
improved to increase their life span.
CC Liaison McGonigal asked if the City were to approve e -scooters, would it be illegal to ride them on
the sidewalk. Commissioner Barden responded that it can be put in the MOU and that is the
recommendations that she and Commissioner Powers passed on and no one disagreed. Matcom will
also have an opportunity to review and provide input into any MOU that may be drafted.
CC Liaisons McGonigal and Nguyen left the meeting at 7:10 p.m.
DPW Parking Analysis:
Commissioner Lyczko reported that what started as a parking study has now been combined into the
Transportation Plan. This Fall the consultant will work with the City and the committee to collect data.
There will be no public input yet. Once data has been collected electronically, it will be shared with
committee members to review. The Transportation Study is supposed to end by November 2020 and
public input will be obtained during 2020. She did share at the last meeting on October 7th that
Matcom didn’t just want to receive information but also be able to share information with the group.
She is still looking for ways to have Matcom participate in a more active way.
Commissioners Lyczko and Parkes shared their concerns about exactly what their roles should be in
these meetings as representatives of Matcom. The current process does not offer much information
for Matcom to provide feedback on. They’re not sure what makes sense for both of them to focus on
when attending the meetings; right now it seems as if they are just reporters to Matcom about what
meetings are occurring and the status of the study. They both are pleased that Chair Lerner has
arranged to have regular monthly meetings with Transportation Engineer Hathaway and feel those
meetings might help them to identify areas or topics they should focus on . Chair Lerner offered to
meet with them both to help determine specific topics.
Meeting Wrap Up:
The next meeting is Monday, November 25th at 6:00 p.m.
Adjournment:
The meeting adjourned at 7:36 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah L. Myers,
Information Management Specialist