HomeMy WebLinkAboutTSMinutes_2016_09_08BROOKINGS TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
City & County Government Center, Room 241
Thursday, September 8, 2016
12:10 p.m.
The Brookings Traffic Safety Committee held its monthly meeting on Thursday, September
8, 2016, at 12:10pm in the City & County Government Center Suite 230, Room 241.
Members Present: Skip Webster, Jackie Lanning, Carol Rettkowski, John Howard, Brian
Leuders, Becky Schmieding, Matt Bartley and Tony Sonnenburg.
Members Absent: Tim Heaton, Shayn Damm, Gary Gramm, Jeff Miller, James Weiss and
Gregg Jorgenson.
Others Present: Numerous people from the Timberline Addition.
Call to Order: Webster called the meeting to order. Schmieding/Bartley made a motion to
approve the minutes from the August 11, 2016 meeting. All present voted aye. Motion
passed.
Additions to Agenda: None
Old Business:
Discussion on removing parking from the south side of Telluride Lane between Western
Avenue and Copper Mountain Road
Jorgenson received a safety concern about parking on the south side of Telluride Lane on
that block. Lanning gave the committee an update of the past TSC discussions on that
area. On July 14, 2011, the committee voted to remove parking from the north side of
Telluride Lane between Copper Mountain Road and Western Avenue South and to add 20
feet of no parking on the south side of Telluride Lane by the stop sign. The committee also
discussed this topic on January 9, 2014, and no action was taken at that time. Daryl
Englund, 1200 Telluride Lane, stated he felt the parking was a safety issue and with cars
parked they can’t see down the street. He said streets are there to safely transport vehicles,
and secondary is the safety of parking. Pat O’Connell, 1102 Copper Mountain Road, stated
he spent time observing the area and had a safety concern with winter conditions. He said
there was not much room to get cars through and some people stop on Western Avenue to
be able to clear the corner. He said it is treacherous on the south side of Telluride Lane
with people backing out of their driveways. He mentioned that he didn’t want to just move
the parking problem to a different area. Schmieding asked what he suggests as a solution.
O’Connell stated he wasn’t sure as there are multiple students and multiple vehicles, but
traffic could potentially be shuffled down Copper Mountain Road. He said he was hoping
the committee could come up with a solution. Mr. Mitchell of 404 Telluride Lane, stated
there are 4 students living in the apartment and they try to park one vehicle by the stop sign,
one across from the duplex, and the other vehicles in the driveway. He stated if the issue is
near the intersection, then maybe parking could be removed between the stop sign and the
driveway. Jim Kohler, 405 Telluride Lane, lives across from 404 Telluride and had
witnessed 2 accidents in that area. He stated Mitchell had a good solution although he was
concerned about children who play in the street which was also a parenting issue. Jim
Johnson, past president of the Timberline Association, also thought t he parking was a
safety issue, with people on bikes and he wanted to leave a space by the mail boxes on
Copper Mountain Road. A tenant of 404 Telluride Lane stated they can’t fit all the vehicles
in the garage and are forced to park on the street. Bartley stated the issue seems to be the
students and citizens who live in the town homes, but it was not really a City issue. Webster
asked if there was room in the driveway for two vehicles. Lanning stated she thought the
duplexes met the parking code at the time they were constructed. Schmieding stated there
seems to be a long term issue and a short term issue. For the short term, she asked if they
could park on the north side of the street. Englund described there were no twin homes on
the south side of Telluride when the duplexes were constructed which is why the parking
was placed on that side. Paula Tursam, 1106 Copper Mountain Road, asked where the
students would park in the winter. She stated when Western Avenue was plowed, there is a
bump on Western Avenue and people can slide into the south side. Leuders felt it was a
City issue and there was discussion about the parking code. Howard said this was a safety
committee and would rather address the safety issues, not parking. He said he understood
the problem, but it would not be solved by deciding where to park cars. He stated parking
should be with the owner of the buildings. Webster/Schmieding made a motion to
remove parking from the south side of Telluride Lane between Copper Mountain
Road and Western Avenue. The motion failed due to lack of a second. Howard said
no matter what the committee recommends, there may be parking issues.
Sonnenburg/Schmieding made a motion to remove parking on the south side of
Telluride Lane from the east side of the driveway at 405 Telluride Lane to Western
Avenue. All of the committee except one voted aye, one voted no. Motion passed.
New Business:
Discussion on removing parking from the east side of Elm Avenue from 5th Street South to
the south approximately 300 feet.
Lanning received a letter from the resident at 513 Elm Avenue concerned about visibility
along Elm Avenue and vehicles parking too close to the driveways. This section of Elm
Avenue is on the east side of the High School, and the letter stated some of the vehicles
belonged to the school staff. Lanning passed out pictures she received from the resident
showing the parked vehicles. Schmieding stated the vehicles parking too close to the
driveways would be in violation if they park within 5 feet of the driveways. Sonnenburg
suggested that yellow could be painted near the driveways. Bartley also suggested they
could be ticketed instead of the continued maintenance with painting and Leuders agreed
that ticketing would be a good option. Howard stated this item could be kept on the agenda,
but to increase enforcement. Webster stated there could also be no parking for certain
times of the day, such as 7 to 4, as another option. The committee agreed to start with
enforcement and Lanning will notify the High School principal. No motion was made.
Member Reports:
Schmieding discussed the “Dip” sign located near State Street and 20th Avenue
intersection near the valley gutter. She said the sign is a long distance before the dip
and cars don’t know they should slow down for the dip. Bartley said the sign was
likely placed on a street pole for convenience. Schmieding suggested to either move
the sign closer to the dip, or put up a stop sign. Lanning and Bartley will review the
sign placement.
The next meeting will be October 13, 2016. Meeting adjourned.
Submitted by: Jackie Lanning