2011-08-08-TAC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Transportation Advisory Committee Minutes August 8, 2011 Members Present: Bill Levison, Elaine Dratch, Sally Castleman, Francine Stieglitz, Peter Levy, Larry Link Liaisons: Nancy Adler Guests: Marty Cohen, Daniel Cherenson Staff: Sara Arnold, Pauline Burke 1. Minutes: The July Minutes were accepted with the correction that all references to Human Resources will be changed to Human Services. 2. Transportation Services Location in Department Structure: TAC discussed four options for departmental structure that had been identified by the Town Manager. Option 1 leaves transportation services, transportation planning and parking under DPW. Options 2 and 3 move the transportation services component to the Human Services department, transportation planning to the Planning Dept. and the parking responsibilities remain with DPW (Option 2) or are moved to the Police Dept. (Option 3). Option 4 contracts out the transportation services component, transportation planning moves to the Planning Department and Parking goes to either DPW or the Police Department. The following comments were made: • Options 2 and 3 are looking at organizational changes. • The Town needs a person who can focus on transportation planning. • It isn't clear whether there are any financial advantages in Option 4; there will still need to be a Town employee who oversees the contract. • The 128 Business Council is likely to be interested in Option 4, if it were to be pursued. • Parking and Lexpress require the same kind of skill sets: tracking data, record keeping, responding to individuals who have specific needs, etc. • Transportation Services does not belong under the Planning Dept. • Regardless of the organizational structure, Transportation Services needs to interact with the DPW (for route /street infrastructure issues), COA (for senior citizen and special needs issues) and the School Dept. (for student issues), Planning (for transportation planning issues), and Community Development (for issues related to serving Lexington's businesses). • Traffic safety issues are now frequently handled by the police department rather than the Traffic Safety Committee. There was general consensus that TAC should suggest a fifth option: the planning aspects be moved to the Planning Department, but Lexpress and parking remain under the same person because the required skill sets (customer service, data collection, financial reporting, etc.) are similar. Bill Levison will suggest this when he meets with Carl.