Minutes 6/21/16

June 21, 2016

Minutes

p	Bruce Hoffman, Chair	p	Woody Dukes	a	Brock Campbell
p	Michael Livingston, Vice Chair	p	Bob Hanna	p	Bill Holmstrom
p	Sarah Owens, Secretary-Treasurer	p	Neal Kern	a	Diana Dettwyler
p	Erma Hoffman	a	Rebekah Engle	a	David Dahle

p=present a=absent e=excused

Residents: Deb Comini, Carla Loecke, Mary Anne Spradin,

Organizations: Susan Gallagher, Gallaghers Fitness Resources; Maurice Anderson, St. Mark Lutheran Church

City and County Representatives: Officer Kevin Hill; Kevin Hottmann, Traffic Engineer, Julie Warnke, Planner, Anthony Gamallo, Planner, Keith Whisenhunt, Consultant, Public Works Department

Guest: none

The regular meeting of the CanDo Board of Directors was called to order at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 21, 2016, at the First Christian Church at 685 Marion Street NE, Salem. Bruce Hoffman was in the chair and Sarah Owens acted as Secretary.

The minutes of the May meeting were approved unanimously.

In public comment Bruce Hoffman called for nominations for the City’s various volunteer recognition awards, due by July 13, and reminded everyone that the U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials will open June 30 in Salem with a men’s and women’s 20K race walk beginning and ending at the Capitol.  He also reported that David Dahle had agreed to undertake organizing a National Night Out event for CANDO on August 2.

Susan Gallagher invited the board to participate in this year’s High Street Hustle on August 13, a walk/run event that last year raised $30K for enhanced heart disease prevention and education in Marion and Polk counties. 

Julie Warnke introduced her colleague Anthony Gamallo, who will be working on the Maple-Winter Street Family Friendly Bikeway, which is now in the planning phase.  She informed the board that the consultant had been hired, and, despite the traffic counter being stolen, Public Works had gathered the data they needed (time-of-day volumes and intersection activity while school was in session) for the consultant.  They are at this point just waiting for the notice to proceed.  As a side note, Julie said that a bike-pedestrian counter placed mid-May in the middle of the Union Street pedestrian bridge appears to have recorded upwards of 2500 crossings per day, with a significant spike likely caused by the first On Your Feet Friday of the season. 

Erma Hoffman commented that she had met with Toni Whitler (Public Works, Parks) to discuss additional matching grant opportunities relating to CANDO’s Pringle Park project and  that the City was probably going to replace the two tools stolen from the bike-repair station at Riverfront Park.  She also suggested that the board might want to consider applying for a grant to install a bike-repair station at Minto-Brown Island Park.

The board heard a presentation on plans for construction affecting CANDO by Kevin Hottman, Public Works Department, with contributions from Keith Whisenhunt and Julie Warnke.  Among other projects discussed was the Mission Street Structural Rehabilitation Project, which will this summer repave/grind Mission Street between Commercial and 12^th Streets, upgrade sidewalk ramps at Winter and Mission Streets to ADA standards and install bike-specific signals at the intersection. 

Also discussed was the Broadway and Liberty Streets NE Intersection Project, which will realign Liberty Street with Broadway to form a T-intersection. The improvements include replacing the traffic signal, installing fiber optic interconnect to Market Street, and improving the pedestrian crossings by modifying the southbound right turn lane at Liberty Street.  

Also discussed was the Union Street NE/Commercial Street NE Traffic Signal Improvements Project, which will install a traffic signal at the Union Street NE/Commercial Street NE Intersection to allow for better pedestrian and bicycle access connecting Downtown with the West Salem and North Salem areas. The project will add a turn lane on eastbound Union Street, west of Commercial Street, with a pedestrian safety island.  The project is currently in preliminary design with construction anticipated in 2017 with completion by October 2017.  Although $1,133,000 in Federal and Salem Urban Renewal Agency funds are available for the project, the City has applied for additional funds hoping to be able to avoid using of all or some of the URA funds allocated to the project. 

The board was reminded that the City would be looking to see how well residents accepted and used the Bicycle Lanes coming to High and Church Streets, as the ultimate plan was to make those streets two-way.  If it appears there is a demand for the bike lanes, they are more likely to be retained when the streets go two-way.  Otherwise, they may be lost to parking spaces in the conversion.   

Officer Kevin Hill, who has taken over leadership of the Downtown Enforcement Team from Officer Vanmeter, spoke briefly of his experience and training (e.g., with the Narcotics and SWAT teams and as a firearms instructor) and the need for a different, more problem-solving approach to policing on the DET, which he said he is enjoying learning about.  Among the administrative matters he has been working on are plans to incorporate two additional officers, increase coverage to seven days a week, and gradually increase the rotation on DET from two to four years.   

In new business, Woody Dukes’s Motion regarding SPR-ADJ-DR16-09 to authorize him as Land Use Chair to speak with Ward 1 Councilor Chuck Bennett on behalf of the Board in opposition to the proposed drive-through at 205 Church Street SE was tabled by unanimous consent in light of the recent email from Planner Aaron Panko saying that the city traffic engineering section had requested that the applicant provide additional information clarifying the traffic impact for the proposed development, and that talking with Councilor Bennet “could be” considered a prohibited ex parte contact.

There being no other business before the board, the meeting of the Board of Directors adjourned at 7:13 p.m.