HomeMy WebLinkAboutTSMinutes_2017_01_12BROOKINGS TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
City & County Government Center, Room 312
Thursday, January 12, 2017
12:10 p.m.
The Brookings Traffic Safety Committee held its monthly meeting on Thursday, January 12,
2017, at 12:10pm in the City & County Government Center, Room 312.
Members Present: Skip Webster, Jackie Lanning, Carol Rettkowski, John Howard, Kacie
Richard, Shayn Damm, Gary Gramm, Gregg Jorgenson, Brian Leuders and Tony Sonnenburg,
Members Absent: Tim Heaton, Jeff Miller, James Weiss and Matt Bartley
Others Present: Jeff Sterud from Twin City Fan
Call to Order: Howard called the meeting to order. Webster/Gramm made a motion to
approve the minutes from the September December 8, 2016 meeting. All present voted aye.
Motion passed. Lanning introduced Kacie Richard to the committee, who was appointed to
the Traffic Safety Committee to replace Becky Schmieding.
Additions to Agenda: Howard stated he had more information on the 4th Street and 13th
Avenue discussion and wanted to add that to the agenda.
Old Business:
None
New Business:
Discussion on request to allow overnight parking on the west side of Faculty Drive between 6 th
Street and 7th Street (west segment of Faculty Drive)
Lanning received a request from Robert Foley who lives at 620 Faculty Drive to allow overnight
parking on Faculty Drive. He submitted an email to Lanning stating that their pickup trucks do
not fit in their driveway and they have received tickets when they overhang the sidewalk. He
stated at night they park in the Dunham’s parking lot, but then have to walk back to their
residence. He said he did not feel safe walking late at night. He spoke to Mayor Reed, who
suggested that the Traffic Safety Committee discuss the issue. Lanning said she talked to
Foley, but he was not able to attend the meeting. Lanning stated that parking was removed
overnight many years ago, which she thought was for safety around the curve and for street
sweeping and snow removal. Webster wondered if there were too many students in the rental.
Sonnenburg said that parking was allowed overnight on 7 th Street near that location. Howard
stated he wanted to hear from the City police and street departments on their opinion. Damm
stated McDonalds is open 24 hours a day and wondered where they park and the committee
thought they park on the street. Rettkowski said she understood the safety issue, but thought
this may be a landlord issue and it should be up to them to have adequate parking. Leuders
said maybe years ago it was a traffic safety issue for street maintenance but it didn’t seem like
parking along McDonalds where the street was straight would be a safety issue. Kacie
Richard agreed and said it probably seems illogical to the property owners on why they can’t
park on the street overnight on that block. Damm/Richard made a motion to allow
overnight parking on the west side of Faculty Drive between 6 th Street and 7th Street. 4
members voted in favor and 5 voted against, motion failed. Lanning stated she was not
necessarily against overnight parking, but she wanted input from the police and street
departments and to invite the property owners on that block. Lanning made a motion to put
this item on the next meeting’s agenda for more input, which was seconded by Webster.
All present voted aye. Motion passed.
Discussion on request to remove parking near 101 Sunrise Ridge Road, Twin City Fan location
Jeff Sterud from Twin City Fan (TCF) attended the meeting and described the parking situation
near their north and middle driveways. He said people near the retirement home on Sunrise
Ridge Road sometimes park near their north driveway and it was difficult for drivers to see as
they exited the north driveway. He said that Twin City Fan employees also park near the
driveways. He was requesting no parking on the east side of Sunrise Ridge Road from the
north driveway to their north property line, and between the north driveway and the middle
driveway, and 50’ south of the middle driveway. Howard asked who usually parked on the
east side of Sunrise Ridge Road near the middle driveway. Sterud said he thought it was
mostly TCF employees that park on both sides of Sunrise Ridge Road, not the apartment
tenants. Leuders stated from a safety standpoint, eliminating parking was a safety factor for
the visibility at the driveways. The committee discussed that Quality Tool had 30 feet of
parking removed on each side of their driveways and since that distance worked for them, it
would be a good dimension for T CF. Webster stated that 40 feet would be about two car
lengths, but didn’t feel the parking removal would need to be any longer than that. Damm
made a motion to remove two car stalls for a total of 40 feet on the east side of Sunrise
Ridge Road, on each side of the north and middle driveways. W ebster seconded the
motion. All present voted aye. Motion passed.
Review and approval of the 2016 Annual Traffic Safety Committee Report
The committee discussed the annual report. Howard said he did not have any problem with
the content, but noticed that the stop sign issue at 5th Street & 13th Avenue was not resolved.
Lanning said they were going to have further study done and she will follow up on that topic for
the next meeting. Leuders/Gramm made a motion to approve the annual report. All
present voted aye. Motion passed.
Election of Officers for 2017
The committee briefly discussed the election of officers. Webster/Sonnenburg made a
motion to nominate John Howard as Chair of the Traffic Safety Committee. All present
voted aye. Motion passed. Rettkowski/Gramm made a motion to nominate Skip
Webster as Vice-Chair of the Traffic Safety Committee. All present voted aye. Motion
passed.
Update on request for yield signs or stop signs at the intersection of 4th Street and 13th Avenue
Howard stated he received more information on the request at this intersection. He said he
asked which intersection they felt was more important for traffic control – 4th Street/11th Avenue
or 4th Street/13th Avenue. The people stated that 4th Street & 13th Avenue was more important
since it was a non-parallel intersection with a jog in the street. They stated most of the traffic
on 11th Avenue seems to be driving too fast, which was more of a police enforcement issue.
Lanning said she had not gotten a mailing notice sent for this meeting, but she will invite the
neighboring property owners to the February meeting to discuss 4th Street & 13th Avenue.
Member Reports:
None
The next meeting will be February 9, 2017. Meeting adjourned.
Submitted by: Jackie Lanning