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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/23/2006 COW minutes (special) MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE January 23, 2006 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6: 15pm in the Village Board Room of the Village Hall, 50 S. Emerson Street, by Mayor Irvana Wilks. Village Board Trustees present at the meeting included: Timothy Corcoran, Paul Hoefert, John Korn, Richard Lohrstorfer, Michaele Skowron and Michael Zadel. Safety Commission members present at the meeting included: Cl).uck Bencic (arrived late), Kevin Grouwinkel, John Keane (arrived late), Marshall Petersen and Carol Tortorello. Staff members present at the meeting included: Village Manager Michael Janonis, Police Chief Richard Eddington, Deputy Police Chief John Dahlberg, Fire Chief Michael Figolah, Director of Public Works Glen Andler, Deputy Director of Public Works Sean Dorsey, Streets/Buildings Superintendent Paul Bures, Village Engineer Jeff Wulbecker and Traffic Engineer Matt Lawrie. Representatives from the consulting firm KLOA, Inc. present at the meeting included: Eric Russell and Michael Werthmann (arrived late). TRAFFIC WORKSHOP WITH SAFETY COMMISSION See-Gwun Avenue Traffic Study Traffic Engineer Lawrie provided a summary of the issues and the data collected as part of the study. He also provided Staff's recommendation to install Stop signs on See-Gwun Avenue at Council Trail and opposition to speed humps. There was unanimous support for the Stop sign recommendation from both the Village Board and Safety Commission. There was then a lengthy discussion regarding the installation of speed humps along the street. The Safety Commission unanimously opposed the installation of speed humps along See-Gwun A venue. A few Safety Commission members voiced their general opposition to speed humps in Mount Prospect as a way of slowing traffic. The Police and Fire Departments also expressed concern with speed humps because of the potential impact to their operations. A majority of the Village Board, however, were in favor of installing speed humps along See-Gwun Avenue as a "test project". Because of ongoing complaints and a petition from See-Gwun Avenue residents requesting speed humps, the Village Board was open to test them. Staff was directed to develop a plan, meet with the residents and install speed humps this year. Staff is then to monitor their effectiveness and report back to the Village Board. Request to Resume Traffic Control Studies of Individual Intersections Traffic Engineer Lawrie provided an overview of this issue. With the neighborhood strategy, the Village Board last year directed Staff to no longer review individual intersections but rather wait until the neighborhood would be reviewed as a whole. Staff has received requests from residents to review several intersections outside the neighborhood currentIyunder study. Recognizing the neighborhood program could take many years to complete, Staff has requested to resume studies of individual intersections. Based on discussion by the group, there was consensus from both the Village Board and Safety Commission to allow studies of individual intersections keeping the neighborhood strategy in mind. Residents should be told that any decision made during an individual intersection study is an interim -_...._..__."...~."......-~....,-""~".',-,...,""..,,_..'~ ~..,-'-.^-,',,"""'.,,''''':.,,"'-i>.''''''S'.... 7.",.",""""",'''',?"''7'""",Y'~''''''''-''''''''''.=''"''''''_""'_'''''''''_c.'''''''._''_~","="","",,,''~,,"'_=',.~.,W""'_____ solution until the neighborhood is reviewed. Staff is to consider the neighborhood strategy to minimize a change to the interim solution when the neighborhood comes under review. Residential Speed Limit Program - Zone 8 Study Traffic Engineer Lawrie first provided a general overview of the program. He then explained the existing conditions in the neighborhood, the review' process of each of the streets, and the recommendations for the 12.8 miles of streets in the neighborhood. Both the Village Board and Safety Commission supported the program and the review process. There was discussion to provide speed limit signs at regular intervals for proper notification to motorists. At the end of the discussion, there was consensus to move forward with the recommendations. Residential Intersection Traffic Control Program - Zone 8 Study Traffic Engineer Lawrie introduced Eric Russell with KLOA, Inc. to present the study prepared by their firm. Mr. Russell presented in detail the review process and recommendations for traffic control at the 61 intersections in the neighborhood. Both the Village Board and Safety Commission supported the program and the review process. There was agreement that implementation of the recommendations for both this study and the speed limit study move forward together. After implementation later this year, enforcement will be a key component in regulating the changes. Chief Eddington indicated the new Traffic Unit will be in place by September I st. At the end of the discussion, there was consensus to move forward with the recommendations. Next Steps for Zone 8 Traffic Engineer Lawrie outlined Staff's proposal to move forward with both the speed limit and intersection traffic control programs. Information would be disseminated via resident mailings, an MPTV program, the Village web-site and Open Houses. He also provided a preliminary schedule to accomplish the tasks through implementation. It was suggested that there be two Open Houses and that they be held in the neighborhood, possibly at Prospect High School. Other suggested information outlets included newspapers, the library and Randhurst Mall. There was consensus to move forward with reaching out to the neighborhood with information at the proposed schedule. Staff agreed to keep the Village Board informed as to the progress of the resident notification materials and development of the Open Houses. Zone Studies in 2006 Traffic Engineer Lawrie outlined Staff's proposal to study five additional neighborhoods in 2006. Studies in three neighborhoods would begin in May with implementation by November. Studies in the other two neighborhoods would begin in September with implementation by April 2007. Staff would continue to manage the speed limit program and a proposal would be requested from KLOA, Inc. to study the intersection traffic control. Traffic Engineer Lawrie also outlined the potential consultant fees and material cost to complete the studies. After some discussion, there was consensus to move forward with Staff's proposal to study five additional neighborhoods in 2006 at the suggested schedule. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to discuss, the Committee of the Whole adjourned into Closed Session at 9:15pm. The meeting reconvened into Open Session at 10:05pm and immediately adjourned with no further business to discuss. Respectfully submitted, Matthew P. Lawrie, P.E. Traffic Engineer h:\engineering\traffic\safecomm\recs&min\jan06cow _ min.doc