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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-05-27-WALKS-min Lexington Sidewalk Committee Meeting Minutes Monday, May 27, 2015, 7 PM Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building Present: Chair Craig Weeks, Jeanne Canale, Judy Crocker, Francine Stieglitz Members Absent: Mary Fanucci Hosmer, Sean Osburne Liaisons Absent: Elaine Celi (LPS Transportation), Michelle Ciccolo (Selectmen), Tim Dunn (Planning Board), Marc Valente (DPW) The meeting of the Sidewalk Committee (SWC) was called to order at 7:09 PM. The Chair stated that the purpose of this meeting was to serve as a public hearing to gather comments on the proposed installation of a new sidewalk on Hill Street. Committee members will not deliberate nor comment on any public remarks, but instead use this meeting to learn of public sentiment. Deliberations will be held at the next scheduled Committee meeting on June 8. LexMedia is filming the hearing. He also asked everyone to sign the sign-in sheet. Mr. Weeks stated that DPW currently has plans to resurface Hill St. this summer (FY16). The Committee does not have in its possession any engineering or site maps. Therefore, it will ask the community to rely upon a google doc map being shown as a reference during the meeting. 1.Public Comment: Comments and concerns from the Community on the proposed new sidewalk installation on Hill Street a.Rob and Miranda Wilkerson, 18 Hill St – are pro-new sidewalk. He said that there are about 50 residents on Hill St. and 200 outside of the abutter area who have shared their opinions on a recent google group. This group asked Hill St residents their opinion on the proposed new sidewalk including categorizing neighborhood issues. The resultant 8-page document has been submitted to the Traffic Safety Group. According to the findings of their google group: 31 support, 2 opposed, 1 household is split, 6 have no view, 9 shared no response on a new sidewalk installation. Arguments from their poll against the new sidewalk include: country lane nature of the road will be ruined; false sense of security for pedestrians on sidewalks therefore one would make the road more dangerous; tree destruction; landscaping consequences; residents do not want to clear snow from sidewalks. Arguments from their poll in favor of a new sidewalk include: increases pedestrian safety on a road with high vehicle speed, blind corners, bicyclists; makes it safer for local Hastings and Diamond students to walk to school; same reasons as were listed 4.5 years ago with the previous neighborhood petition. b.Mike Lipton, 64 Hill St – a resident since 1981 and raised his kids in this house. He is for traffic abatement measures and to a sidewalk on the golf course side of the street. He is concerned about the steep hillside that meets the roadway with ledge near his property and tree loss. Dramatic changes in front of his house would make his driveway too steep and would need a new retaining wall. He is not against safety as a whole. c.Dave Robinson, 15 Hill St – spoke of the granite marker on his front property that indicates that there is a generous setback for the Town’s right-of-way. There is also a telephone pole on his property. He also said that the street is not a friendly neighborhood walking area but instead is an accident waiting to happen. When some residents raised the sidewalk discussion, the estimated cost was $1 million. He queried what is the cost for a child? He believes that this is a quality of life issue and that the density of the area needs access to the Center. He closed by mentioning high vehicular speeds and lack of snow removal to make for pedestrian passage allowable. d.Ned Goodell, 34 Hill St – is in favor of a new sidewalk. He is concerned on the impact on the street as a whole. He inquired what engineering might be able to do with the current street project to make a new sidewalk installation easier to build in the future, particularly when the engineering works needs to deal with grades and water run-off. e.Bettina McGimsey, 11 Hamblen St – she is the past Safe Routes To School Committee Chair for Hastings and one of the families sponsoring this initiative. Her concern is the volume of nonresident drivers in the neighborhood given the Hill St. access to the two local golf courses and that the road serves as a cut through area. Her neighborhood has no sidewalk leading into the Center. She believes that the sidewalk addition is particularly pertinent given 2015 Annual Town Meeting Article 35 Pedestrian Safety and Article 45 Complete Streets. At this point in the conversation, Ms. Canale asked the Chair if the Traffic Safety Group had provided any input? Mr. Weeks replied that that Committee deals more with traffic calming and vehicular speeding. f.Lawrence Wood, 1 Hill St – He is for a new sidewalk and his chief concern is the school children. He also has observed a number of Orthodox Jews on Saturday walking to the Chabad Temple. g.Kim McDevis, 77 Hill St – she has noticed that older students are driving and would like to see them better instructed on how to safely drive on Hill St. h.Seth Silverman, 36 Hill St – he has Diamond students and is concerned about the blind curves encountered on the road. He often walks on the opposite side of the road from his house for he feels that the line of sight is safer. i.Corinne McCoul, 65 Paul Revere Rd – she has Hastings and Diamond students. She only allows her children to walk as far as Milk St when coming from Diamond due to safety concerns. This requires her to drive the few blocks from her home to pick- up her children. Upon seeing no indication of further comments from the audience, the Chair thanked everyone for attending. Motion to adjourn was made by Ms. Stieglitz and seconded by Ms. Crocker. The vote was unanimous 4-0 and the meeting adjourned at 7:48pm. Respectfully submitted, Judy Crocker Materials: Sign-in sheet with 21 names Handout supplied by Mike Lipton