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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012 06 20 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING JUNE 20, 2012 CALL TO ORDER The Regular Meeting of Wednesday, June 20, 2012 of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee was called to Order at 7:02 p.m. by Chairperson William B. Carpenter in the Commission Chambers of the Municipal Building (City Hall, 1126 East State Road 434, Winter Springs, Florida 32708). Roll Call: Chairperson William B. Carpenter,present Vice Chairperson Gary Brook, present Committee Member Larry Hartman, absent Committee Member Kok Wan Mah,present Committee Member Lance Stephan, absent Assistant to the City Clerk Sean Beaudet, present Assistant to the City Clerk Cherilyn Taylor,present A moment of silence preceded the Pledge of Allegiance. Assistant to the City Clerk Sean Beaudet referenced Ordinance 2012-08 which had recently been Approved by the City Commission, and that a copy was at everybody's seat on the dais tonight. Assistant to the City Clerk Beaudet reaffirmed the importance of all of the Advisory Boards and Committee Members to the Mayor and City Commission and briefly addressed this Ordinance. INFORMATIONAL AGENDA INFORMATIONAL 100. Not Used CONSENT AGENDA CONSENT 200. Office Of The City Clerk Requesting Approval Of The March 21, 2012 Bicycle And Pedestrian Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes. Chairperson Carpenter stated, "I will entertain a Motion to Approve." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS,FLORIDA MINUTES BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING—JUNE 20,2012 PAGE 2 OF 8 "SO MOVED." MOTION BY VICE CHAIRPERSON BROOK. SECONDED BY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER MAH. DISCUSSION. VOTE: CHAIRPERSON CARPENTER: AYE VICE CHAIRPERSON BROOK: AYE COMMITTEE MEMBER MAH: AYE MOTION CARRIED. AWARDS AND PRESENTATIONS AWARDS AND PRESENTATIONS 300. Chairperson William B. Carpenter Presentation Of A Video Titled "Strategies For Creating A Culture Of Safety For Bicycling". Chairperson Carpenter presented a PowerPoint Presentation on bicycle safety that was heard at the Congress For New Urbanism by one of the co-founders of the "Cycling Savvy" Program. After the presentation, Chairperson Carpenter mentioned the "message of progressive infrastructure". Discussion ensued on alternatives to bike lanes, and Florida Laws. Chairperson Carpenter mentioned an undesignated bike lane on Tuscawilla Road which always seems to have glass and debris along it. Discussion followed on City Ordinances related to bicyclists and bicyclists obstructing traffic to which Chairperson Carpenter suggested, "It might be a good idea to get the Police Chief over here to discuss some of those things, at one of our meetings." No objections were noted. Further comments followed on bicyclists observing traffic rules. Tape 1/Side B Bicyclists, respect, and rules of the road were addressed next. Vice Chairperson Gary Brook mentioned groups of bicyclists beginning their rides at the Winter Springs Town Center and some issue with traffic laws; and the Chief of Police Kevin Brunelle's interest in educating bicyclists. Board Member Kok Wan Mah said, "If we do have an opportunity to understand what those conflicts are between our Law Enforcement and the bicyclists I would like to look into that." Chairperson Carpenter agreed and said"Yes." No objections were voiced. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS,FLORIDA MINUTES BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING-JUNE 20,2012 PAGE 3 OF 8 A document that Chief Brunelle had provided Vice Chairperson Brook was mentioned, to which Vice Chairperson Brook said, "If you would like to have him here, I can suggest that he do that." Chairperson Carpenter noted, "I think it would be a good idea. We could put that on the Agenda for next." No objections were noted. Vice Chairperson Brook then commented, "Let me work on that." Furthermore, Chairperson Carpenter remarked, "It is a great Police Department. No question about it - that is something that I think, we need to understand better and maybe there is something that we can help with. And I agree with you. I don't want to discourage those people from coming here. I think it is good. We have got the Trail there—we need to encourage those people to use Winter Springs." With further comments, Chairperson Carpenter stated, "Okay, we will get him in next meeting." Vice Chairperson Brook added, "I will coordinate that." •S❖ AGENDA NOTE: THE FOLLOWING AGENDA ITEMS WERE DISCUSSED NEXT, IN THE ORDER AS DOCUMENTED OVER THE FOLLOWING PAGES. •:••:. PUBLIC INPUT Mr. Barry Campbell, 231 Oak Road, Winter Springs, Florida: referenced the MetroPlan Orlando organization; and thought it would interesting to having individuals with different perspectives discuss various beliefs regarding bicycle lanes before any shift in direction is made. Discussion followed on changes in bicycling infrastructure and how valuable trails are. Chairperson Carpenter said to Mr. Campbell, "Thank you for the suggestion and I will try to round somebody up and see if we can't get somebody in to discuss it, and have both sides of it." No objections were voiced. PUBLIC HEARINGS AGENDA PUBLIC HEARINGS 500. Not Used CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS,FLORIDA MINUTES BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING-JUNE 20,2012 PAGE 4 OF 8 REGULAR AGENDA REGULAR 600. Community Development Department—Planning Division Providing The Bicycle And Pedestrian Advisory Committee Updated Information Regarding The Draft Of The Wayfinding Design Manual. Mr. Randy Woodruff, AICP, Senior Planner, Community Development Department presented this Agenda Item. Mr. Woodruff stated that "Staff is still working on our Wayfinding Design Manual. As we mentioned last time, we have sat down and met with FDOT (Florida Department of Transportation), got their input, got their regulations. We are still looking into language that we're going to put into the manual as it relates to the type of funding for the Wayfinding. Things that we're looking at, at this point are the one (1) cent gas tax, CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) funds, particular FDOT (Florida Department of Transportation) funds, Capital Improvement Plan. We're thinking of putting something of that nature in there; maybe looking at MetroPlan (Orlando) as it relates to our Tier 3 for the pedestrian signage." Mr. Woodruff added that Chairperson Carpenter had advised Staff about the "Community Transformation Grants" program and stated, "So, we're going take a look into that as well and see what we can do, and what type of applications we can put together. But,just to - let the Committee know, that we are still actively pursuing this manual again. It just takes time to put it all together. We're still working on it." Vice Chairperson Brook inquired, "When will we get a preliminary view of some of the signage or concept?" Mr. Woodruff replied, "We'll present a final document back to the Committee at that time, whenever we're able to wrap things up. When that will be? Again—I don't know, at this time." Continuing, Chairperson Carpenter stated "It is a very exciting project and I am really pleased to see the progress we are making on it. Obviously funding is a problem and that is something that we really need to work hard on. The Grant that Randy (Woodruff) mentioned that I sent to him is actually through the Center for Disease Control - they are funding seventy million dollars ($70,000,000.00) for community enhancements that promote health, and these kinds of infrastructure for bicycle and pedestrians have qualified for that money because it gets people out and gets them into doing active things. So, if anyone does run across any other sources of funding,please let us know." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS,FLORIDA MINUTES BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING-JUNE 20,2012 PAGE 5 OF 8 400. REPORTS Chairperson Carpenter mentioned some ideas for possible future Agenda Items and said he had met with the Director of the Oviedo YMCA's about a program that Chairperson Carpenter thought would encourage bicycle travel to the YMCA, and would be helpful with alleviating parking shortage issues there, and to which the YMCA Director seemed to be pleased with. Chairperson Carpenter also commented on asking some businesses about getting a bicycle rack if they do not have one, and suggested to his Committee Members, "What we need to do is interact with the community and promote bicycling; think of new ways to get people out and about." Next, "Best Foot Forward" which is a pedestrian safety program sponsored by "Bike- Walk Central Florida" and funded by Winter Park Health Foundation and MetroPlan Orlando was mentioned by Chairperson Carpenter, who explained that the program is being used to educate the public on bicycle and pedestrian safety, especially at crosswalks; and noted that many municipalities in Orange County, Florida are going to begin this educational process." Chairperson Carpenter was hopeful it would come to Seminole County, Florida in the future and added, "That will be something that we may be talking about next year." Next, Chairperson Carpenter mentioned he recently gave a presentation to the Tuscawilla Homeowners Association which included information on the "Best Foot Forward" program, "Cycling Savvy", and pedestrian and bicycle legal matters, and encouraged the Committee Members to also give presentations to their own Homeowners Associations, and/or Chairperson Carpenter would be willing to do such presentations. Vice Chairperson Brook said that regarding Chairperson Carpenter's efforts, "The other thing you did is you made the community aware of the City's effort to do so." Chairperson Carpenter added, "I did talk about how BAPAC (Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee) here, is trying to reach out to the community in helping promote bicycling and pedestrian activity in the City." Continuing his Report, Chairperson Carpenter suggested, "One of the things that we could talk about is State Bicycle and Pedestrian Law Reform. There are a number of things in those Laws that are kind of old and don't really fit this model that we are trying develop for bicycle and pedestrian safety; and also with how it relates to complete streets and what that means when you are talking about a "complete" street. That might be a potential Agenda Item. Would that be interesting to you all?" CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS,FLORIDA MINUTES BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING-JUNE 20,2012 PAGE 6 OF 8 Vice Chairperson Brook asked "what would then be done with the information?" Chairperson Carpenter suggested, "What I would envision is that we would ask the Commission to make a resolution — advocating those changes, if we could agree on them." Committee Member Mah stated, "It sounds to me like more of a grassroots effort with folks like `Bicycle Savvy' or something like that." Committee Member Mah and Vice Chairperson Brook thought this might be too big of a project, and Committee Member Mah suggested perhaps focusing on more localized efforts. Chairperson Carpenter remarked, "Yes." Chairperson Carpenter then addressed the GreeneWay Interchange District in relation to connecting to the Winter Springs Town Center and commented on different modes of transportation such as a bus service like "(LYNX) LYMMO" and bicycle and pedestrian trails. Additionally, Chairperson Carpenter noted, "That might be something that we could get Randy or some of the other people" from Community Development Department to address the Committee, if of interest. Chairperson Carpenter next noted, "We talked about funding sources — you mentioned the `Safe Routes To School' newsletter. It was sent to you all and if you are interested in receiving that, contact the organization's sender directly. Additional comments followed on this being an excellent program to which Chairperson Carpenter added that for sidewalk funding, "It is something that we need to stay on top of and be aware of, because there is a lot of money available there." Chairperson Carpenter mentioned that he recently attended "A meeting of the Seminole County Trails subcommittee. It is a subcommittee of the Parks and Leisure Committee and what they are doing right now - they meet every month. They are taking a six (6) month, eight (8) month period here and they are going through the entire Seminole County bike routes and seeing how it ties into each community in Seminole County; and last week, they were looking at Winter Springs. So, I attended and I took our map — that we had developed and took it over and showed them what we had interest in, in the future. They were very interested in the —the multi- purpose paths in the power Easements that we talked about linking the east and west sides of Winter Springs and then, further linking that to the Trail, going south and going north. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS,FLORIDA MINUTES BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING-JUNE 20,2012 PAGE 7 OF 8 What they are going to do next month is, they have asked their staff support to provide overlays for the Seminole County map that show all the power Easements, and they are going to start looking at all those power Easements; so, I think we have got their interest and attention on that and they have committed to looking at that and getting back to us. And what they are going to do, their mission in going through this whole thing is to put together a program which would be incorporated into the next request for funds from Seminole County residents, for transportation improvements — and parks and recreation, and all kinds—they are going to roll it all into one." Further comments. Continuing, Chairperson Carpenter commented, "One of the things that we should think about when we talk about our Wayfinding system and development in Winter Springs is `smart growth'; but also, when you are considering `smart growth' and that means, providing dense growth near transportation hubs; you also have to talk about `placemaking' —making great places that people want to go to." Chairperson Carpenter then said to the Committee Members, "If you are interested in having a presentation on that, we could arrange that. It might be something that would be interesting to have a Planner come in and talk about those things and how it relates to what we are doing in BAPAC (Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee); so, maybe I will look into that." Lastly, Chairperson Carpenter stated, "It doesn't really have as much application here in Winter Springs as it maybe some other areas, but one of the things they are doing in Miami-Dade County, is they are taking unused, what they call 'Brownfields', old properties, that are commercial properties that are not being used anymore and they are turning them into little parks, and then they are trying to connect those parks in a system of parks, throughout [Miami-]Dade County; and they have really done quite a bit with it and it is really interesting. If you are interested in seeing something about that, I have got some web links you can look at." Further discussion followed on"Brownfields". PUBLIC INPUT No one addressed the Committee at this time. In other City business, Chairperson Carpenter referenced a document distributed by Staff related to a"Pedestrian and Bicycle Accommodations Workshop" which is scheduled for Thursday, June 21, 2012. Chairperson Carpenter noted he was planning to attend this workshop. Further comments. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS,FLORIDA MINUTES BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING—JUNE 20,2012 PAGE 8 OF 8 ADJOURNMENT Chairperson Carpenter adjourned the Regular Meeting at 8:20 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: ANDREA LORENZO-L UACES, MMC, CITY CLERK AND t SEAN B , UDET ASSISTANT TO THE CITY CLERK APPROVED: i '‘:5L WILLIAM B. CARPENTER, CHAIRPERSON BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE NOTE: These Minutes were Approved at the January 30,2013 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Regular Meeting.