Loading...
Minutes - 1998 - City Council - 01/22/1998 - SpecialEAGLE CITY COUNCIL/ACHD COMMISSIONERS SPECIAL JOINT MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 22, 1998 COUNCIL: 4:00 p.m. 1. CALL TO ORDER: 2. ROLL CALL: Bastian, Guerber, Merrill, Sedlacek. Bastian Absent. A quorum is present. Susan Eastlake and Gary Richardson, ACHD Commissioners, are present. Introductions were made. 3. NEW BUSINESS: A. Status Reports: 1) Capital Improvement Plan: Mayor introduces the issue. Susan Eastlake discusses ACHD's Capital Improvement Plan. Terry Little discusses ACHD's 5 Year Plan. Copies of the plan will be provided to the City when they are finalized. A copy of the 5 Year Plan will be left with the City. General discussion. Edgewood to Eagle would be constructed in 2003. Eagle Road to Floating Feather 1999. 2) Impact Fee Ordinance: Susan Eastlake discusses the draft ordinance. Would like to do the Impact Fee on an annual basis. General discugsion. An increase in the area of 20% to 30%. Eagle, Meridian, Garden City and Boise will be in one Assessment Zone, Kuna and Star will be in another Assessment Zone and there will be a Rural Assessment Zone. The money collected in Eagle will be used in Eagle. General discussion. 3) Proposed Bike Lane Policy: Susan Eastlake discusses the policy. This is a change to the current bike lane plan. ACHD is getting close to being able to establish the cost of the bike lanes. Mayor discusses this issues. The ACHD Bike Lane Policy is on the City Council Agenda next Tuesday. Terry Little will attend the Council meeting. General discussion. 4) Eagle Road from State Street to the Bypass: Steve Spickelmeir, ACHD. Recommending award of this project with a start date the first of March. The project, including Mission Drive, should be done May/June. 5) Downtown drainage problems: Mayor expresses his concerns. Errol Morgan discusses these problems. These drainage problems are now in our system and we will be taking care of them. We are aware of the problems on Park Street and working on this. The County is set-up on zones for cleaning and we respond to complaints. General discussion. 6) Eagle Road/Mission Drive: ACHD CT198C-004: Steve Spickelmeir discusses this project. This project was moved up. Curb, gutter and sidewalk all the way to Eagle Road. General discussion. B. Urban Street setbacks: Butler discusses the issue as related to the work being done on the City Comp Plan. General discussion. Susan Eastlake provides Council with information on Urban Street Setbacks and discusses same. C. Detached meandering sidewalks and landscape strips in subdivisions: Butler discusses the work he is doing on an ordinance. Errol Morgan discusses the issue of the type of trees that would work into this type of plan. Trees can be very destructive to roadways. General discussion. Discussion on an interagency agreement that could automatically by applied by ACHD instead of an ordinance. D. 1st Street: One-way and diagonal parking: Butler displays an overlay showing 1st Street. Discussion on bulb-out at the comers of 1st Street and State Street. Discussion on 1st Street North being one-way north and 1st Street South being one-way south. General discussion. E. Randall Acres: Street maintenance: Merrill discusses this issue. There are no curb, gutters and sidewalks and they are desperately needed. Susan Eastlake states that this would be under the Neighborhood Enhancement Program. General discussion. Surface maintenance is scheduled for that area in 2000. Drainage would need to be considered in this area before curb, gutters and sidewalks are put in. Drainage could be a problem. General discussion. F. Criteria for traffic calming devices: Joe, ACHD, discusses the processes of applying for the speed humps. Speed humps are effective in reducing traffic. These mostly eliminate the cut through drivers. General discussion. G. Discussion on Hill Road: Steve Spickelmeir: Hill Road West of new Highway 55 is unfunded and is 7-8 years out for funding. General discussion. This will be in the City Comp Plan. Discussion on snow removal on State Street now that the road is ACHD. H. Discussion on regularly scheduled meetings: The first Tuesday of the odd months and alternate the site. Discussion on signage. Council Member Guerber left the meeting at 5:00 p.m., there was not a quorum. 4. ADJOUIINMENI: Hearing no further business, the Council meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m. Respect fully submitted: [ SHAR(bN K. SMITH ' ' ...... CITY CLERK/TREASURER APP~J~VED: RI C K"~'YZ A(~I~RI~, MAYOR SUSAN S. EASTLAKE. President GARY E. RICHARDSON. Vice President SHERRY R. HUBER. Secretary TO: Director FROM: Chuck Rinaldi SUBJECT: Meeting on Urban Street Setbacks Cc /-2.2-9P' INTEROFFICE CORRESPONDENCE November 18, 1997 This report covers the meeting of ACRD staff Tuesday, November 11, regarding the question of whether sidewalks and planter strips can be within an easement rather then within street right-of- way. ACRD staff agreed that the answer is: yes, they can be. The possibility of an easement for this purpose would be secured by asking the general purpose governments to increase their setback requirements for new construction by ten feet on arterials and collector streets. ACHD staff also agreed that it was possible to have utilities locate in a strip between the back of curb and the face of the sidewalk. The following is a list of pros and cons of the proposal from representatives of each effected department: Picts Idaho Power's policy is to purchase a 10 -foot overhead easement for all transmissions lines that are moved or newly installed. Having the poles farther from the property lines would decrease the amount of easement to be purchased and would save money for ratepayers. When power lines are in private easements and need to be relocated at ACHD expense, our costs for right-of- way would be reduced. Irrigation boxes, fire hydrants, telephone boxes, and power poles are sometimes moved to keep them out of the sidewalk. By separating the sidewalk from the curb and meandering the walk, fewer of these obstructions may have to be moved. This could result in less expense to utilities, developers, and ACHD depending on who was responsible for relocation costs. Cons, Utility poles near intersections and driveways can cause sight problems for motorists. Usually the farther back structures are, the less likely they will cause a problem for cars entering traffic. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) recommends that utility poles, telephone risers, fire hydrants and other obstructions be located at least 18 inches from the back of the curb so that a vehicle running into the curb will not strike them. ada county highway district 318 East 37th • Boise. Idaho 83714-6499 • Phone (208) 345-7680 -2 - Even with utility obstructions moved outside the 18 -inch corridor, there may be an increased liability to the utility and the District if a vehicle were to hit a utility structure because of it being closer to the roadway than if it were behind the sidewalk. Utility line alignment problems could arise from matching a standard design on a street with a street having a detached sidewalk. This would be true whether it was in an easement or not, because the power lines would not line up at the interface between the two different standards. Note: If a "sidewalk, landscape, utility, storm drain, and street sign easement" was obtained some of these problems could be corrected. Bight_^f Wad Pro Typically, the cost for a permanent easement is approximately 75% of the value of the land. Less right-of-way would be required to be purchased if the sidewalk were to be on private property. Potentially, that could result in lower costs. Of course, this would depend on the width of the utility strip purchased behind the curb. Cons. The staff feels that the courts would most likely decide in favor of a property owner who was claiming that ACHD should pay him full value for land that was to be used for a public sidewalk that is of no use to him. In addition, the property owner would still have to pay property taxes on the sidewalks and be responsible for its maintenance. ACHD might also be liable for attorney fees and costs arising from such a claim. Note: Future consideration should be consistent with ACRD policy regarding sidewalks. More temporary construction easements would have to be purchased at approximately 25% of full right-of-way value to construct improvements near private property. Maintenance Prr The strip of right-of-way behind the sidewalk can be a maintenance problem. Putting the sidewalk on private property with an easement would allow for fences to be built up to the back of the sidewalk and it would be clearer that the private property owner was responsible for maintenance of that area. t' 1 -3- Con The District will maintain the strip at the back of the curb, or perhaps a municipality if it is to be landscaped. The material used to fill this area would determine how high the installation and maintenance costs would be. ctans traction PMS There are no pros in this category. Con It is usually cheaper to pour sidewalk, curb, and gutter at the same time (monolithically). A detached sidewalk would prevent the contractor using this method. Additionally, more asphalt, seeding, sodding, or sprinklers could be required. Note:Presently, many developers choose to install detached or meandering sidewalks Traffic Eras Moving the sidewalk back means traffic signs could be located closer to the street giving them better visibility. In some cases it would be cheaper to meet some Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. ` Ramp wings can be replaced with a 6 -inch wide curb if the ramp side abuts a lawn or planter.'(ISPWC) "ons. Traffic signs may not overhang a sidewalk and should not extend into the road beyond the curb line; therefore, a wider strip would be necessary to accommodate some signs and to keep them at least 18 inches from the back of the curb. Having utility lines located closer to signal poles with luminaires could cause conflicts with the requirement to keep power lines at least 10 feet from them. -4 - Impact fees P.m Having the sidewalk on private property should lessen the cost of buying right-of-way with impact fees if easements can be purchased for less than full land value. .Can If smaller homes and buildings are constructed to make room for sidewalks on a lot, less impact fee money might be collected. Alternatively, the additional setback requirement might result in all developments costing more. Aesthetics Era Mailboxes could be outside the sidewalk. Some consider power poles to be ugly if they are close to their house, and they would be farther from buildings because of this. A meandering sidewalk could be used to save trees that might otherwise have to be removed. Con Some consider power poles to be ugly if they are close to the road, and they would be closer because of this. More trees might have to be removed to accommodate the detached sidewalk. M isc�ealan_.Qus Guns. When constructing infill projects, conflicts could occur, such as cars parked in driveways where sidewalks are closer to houses blocking access by pedestrians. Costs to developers and home buyers might be increased due to the requirement for larger lots in order to meet setback requirements. -5 - Many commercial neo -traditional design projects have buildings closer to the roadway with parking in the rear. Detaching the sidewalk would move the building farther from the street. The location of sediment boxes and seepage beds often push utilities to the back of the sidewalk due to their depth. If the utilities are in the strip at the back of the curb, they will be forced to private property or we must find a different method for handling storm drainage. This is another reason for ACHD to obtain easements that allow for utilities and storm drainage as well as for traffic signs, sidewalk and landscaping. Even if setback requirements were lowered, it would probably not substantially effect how often ACHD is required to purchase structures for road construction. That is because existing buildings are not required to meet setback requirements when conditions are changed by a road project. c. Kent Brown, P.E. Dorrell Hansen, P.E.