2011-09-11 TPC MinutesTransportation and Parking Commission
City of Northampton
210 Main Street, Room 18,
Northampton, MA 01060
(413) 587 -1210
www.northa mpion ma.gov/tpc
MEETING MINUTES
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
City Council Chambers, Puchalski Municipal Building
4:03 p.m. — 5:58 p.m.
Members Present: Maureen Carney, Ned Huntley, Russell Sienkiewicz, Wayne Feiden,
William Letendre, Debin Bruce, Gary Hartwell, Leslie Stein, James Lowenthal, Jesse Adams
Members Absent: Paul Sustick
Others Present: Laura Hanson, DPW
Meeting called to order at 4:05 p.m. by Chair, Maureen Carney. Quorum met.
Corrections to the minutes of the August 16, 2011 were proposed by Leslie Stein. Under 3.a.,
she requested: (1) that the clause at the end of the sentence be deleted, "though the Committee
hasn't been specific to date." and (2) under the 4 bullet of discussion, she clarified that the
goal for the Public Transportation Plan was that it be added to the Northampton Municipal
Transportation Plan and the Comprehensive Sustainability Plan.
Chief Sienkiewicz moved to approve the minutes as corrected; motion seconded by Councilor
Adams; minutes of August 16, 2011 approved. Johnson Hill staffing was not present to take
notes on the meeting and Ned Huntley said he would follow up with them.
Public Comment
Mr. Fred Zimnoch, 23 Pomeroy Terrace, spoke about the problems with the truck
tractor - trailer alternate route around the Main Street railroad bridge (See attached
comments), especially during the winter when snow restricted the width of the
roadway.
Council Member Owen Freeman - Daniels also spoke about the truck route traffic on
Lincoln and North streets. With the expansion at the Coca Cola bottling plant, there has
been even more traffic and trucks were getting caught at the intersection of Bates and
North Streets.
Chair Carney agreed to place the item on the agenda for the October meeting.
2. Northampton Jazz Festival
John Michaels gave a status report on the upcoming Jazz Fest to be held Saturday,
October, 1st in the parking lot behind Thorne's Market. He had coordinated with the
various city departments and thanked those who had worked with him to make it
possible. Councilor Adams voiced his support, saying it had been a goal of his. Debin
Bruce confirmed with Mr. Michaels that the event was intended to be held annually,
and asked him to speak with the Commission next year about any parking and
transportation problems or lessons learned.
3. Northampton High School pedestrian crosswalk
Chair Carney reviewed past Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) correspondence,
noting that the PTO was going to be submitting a traffic calming request. They had
approached the HS Principal about removing one parking spot to give the crosswalk
better visibility. DPW reported that hatch mark painting on the roadway had been
completed and new crosswalk signs had been installed. DPW also stated that they
needed to slow the traffic and collect speed data to update counts from 2009. Chief
Sienkiewicz reported the city had increased police presence around schools and were
reinforcing parking and drop -off rules. Citizen Susan Sullivan of 98 N. Elm Street
requested that the Commission consider a traffic choke or a raised crosswalk. Citizen
Fred Zimnoch reported that he had been at the HS a lunch time today and that "children
were going every which a way ". He asked about the possibility of instituting Student
Safety Patrols; he noted that he'd been one in HS and took pride in it.
Debin Bruce moved to continue the issue at a future meeting once the PTO had
submitted a traffic calming application; Councilor Adams seconded the motion; motion
passed. For the Commissions information, Chair Carney noted that two other traffic
calming applications were on next month's agenda, Massasoit and Union Street.
4. Public Transportation Plan
Leslie Stein asked that the Commission to support the Public Transportation Plan that
had been circulated for the commission's review. She noted that the draft plan had
some minor change, such as the addition of transportation to Florence co- housing.
Wayne Feiden asked if the Public Transportation Plan should be approved by the TPC
or by all the committees that had approved the original Municipal Transportation Plan.
Debin Bruce voiced that she thought the Public Plan should receive the same treatment
as the Municipal Plan and recommended that, following TPC consideration, it be
brought to the Planning Board and the Board of Public Works.
James Lowenthal moved that the Transportation and Parking commission adopt the
Public Transportation Plan; Bill Letendre seconded; motion passed.
2
5. Bike Trail at Round House Parking lot
James Lowenthal brought up the problem with snow removal blocking the bike trail last
winter. Bill Letendre suggested removing the fence and putting the snow in the gully,
thereby clearing both the road and the bike trail.
6. TPC Website
Chair Carney and Laura Hansen had spoken with Mayor Narkewicz about correcting
problems with web postings. Once updated by city support staff, the DPW agreed to
handle posting of traffic information and Parking Manager would handle posting of
TPC minutes and agenda items. Leslie Stein agreed to follow up to get the Public
Transportation minutes posted to the website.
7. Conz Street/Pleasant Street Intersection presentation by Nitsch Engineering
Mr. Huntley requested the presence of and introduced Nitsch Engineering
representatives to provide a quick update on this project.
8. Committee & Department Head Reports
DPW Report attached.
Motion to Adjourn, Mr. Lowenthal; Seconded, Chief Sienkiewicz; Motion Carried
Unanimously 5:58 p.m.
Signed
Debin Bruce, Commission Member