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Minutes of the Regular Meeting of Council <br />Monday, October 16, 2023 <br />Page 20 <br />Chief Matias stated, I'm just saying, I believe we are doing everything we can do. Yes, we could <br />put signs up. People don't look at signs. They don't look at speed limit signs. We know that. I <br />don't think signs are going to make any difference. There's an officer there. Every morning. If <br />they see a violation, they will make a traffic stop and give them a ticket. The problem is being <br />addressed. I can't shut traffic down on Highland Road from 7:45 to 8:15 every morning. It's being <br />addressed. <br />Ms. Calta asked, Chief, can I just jump in? I wasn't insinuating that anybody wasn't doing their <br />job in any way. I just think from vantage points, if he's loading his kids on to the bus, he's not <br />going to see if the driver of the bus is waving someone on. He sees the one side of the bus which <br />is where the kids are. He's not necessarily going to see what the officer does. There's a lot of <br />different angles on a bus. If someone stops and they go and the bus is loaded but maybe not <br />moving yet, there's a lot of different things. This is the first I have heard of this, just so you all <br />know. I think it's just vantage points. <br />Chief Matias stated, these violations aren't where the bus is stopped and the cars just blow through <br />the stop. It is a split second to where the other car traveling 35 miles an hour which is about 50 <br />feet per second and then the bus coming to a stop and then as the bus comes to a stop a second <br />later, the car that's already traveling passes it. Those are the violations that Mr. McDowell is <br />talking about. They are not, the bus stopped; the kids are getting on; the flashers are going; people <br />are just completely disregarding it and going by. These are split seconds that I have seen from his <br />Ring camera. <br />Mr. Meyers asked, yellow lights or red lights? They can pass on yellow? <br />Chief Matias replied, yes. <br />Mr. Meyers stated, I agree with the police department. You see a police car there, you are not <br />going to drive through. That's what they are there for. To let people know they are watching. <br />That's what I don't get either. You see a police car there. You are not going to deliberately drive <br />by the bus. That's why I am wondering are the lights yellow when they are driving by, if that's <br />what he is insinuating. <br />Chief Matias replied, I am not going to try to understand Mr. McDowell's perspective. I respect <br />his position that his family wants the roadway safe for the kids getting on the bus. But again, from <br />my perspective, I believe the Police Department is addressing it appropriately. <br />Mr. Murphy asked, Chief, have you heard from any bus driver specifically, Mr. McDowell's kids' <br />bus driver? <br />Chief Matias replied, no. <br />Mr. Murphy stated, then that's what I would say to Mr. McDowell. He sees the bus driver every <br />morning. He has to be in a good relationship with the bus driver. It's like, hey, can you call the <br />police or can you report this? And the bus driver should say I did or didn't wave that car on. The <br />