07/18/2000 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 7/18/2000 _ that we should not look at other crossings. It is hopeful that, if we learn something from ,,~, this situation and we come up with some new advanced ideas, that they could be used at any crossing in the city. So we are not exclusive to these two situations. And by no means did he represent that. President Saringer mentioned that she had polled some of her neighbors because there are a lot of young children on the street. Their comments were helpful as they revealed the fact that the light did not always work. Mr. O'Grady, chairperson of the Public Safety, Health & Welfare Committee: 1) The committee met jointly with the Streets & Drainage Committee on July 11. Present were Public Safety chairman O'Grady, with members Nashar and Limpert; Streets & Drainage chairman Gareau, with member McKay; Council members Miller and Kasler; the directors of Public Safety and Service; interested residents. The issue for discussion was whether parking should be permitted on West 231` Street. Introduced was a memo from traffic engineer Larry Griffith stating that West 231 is wide enough to permit parking on one side of the street. According to our city code, a street must be at least 15 feet wide in order to allow parking on one side. West 231 ranges in width from 21.5 to 23 feet, so the width supports parking on one side of the street. Service Director Bohlmann reported that the North Olmsted Fire Department stated that, if cars are parked improperly, that it could potentially slow response time. Otherwise, the North Olmsted Fire Department noted no other concerns. The North Olmsted Police Department set up a speed trailer on West 231 and reported that motorists were traveling at a reasonable speed for the roadway. Safety Director Jenkins stated that Police Chief Ruple drove the street and feels that a motorist using reasonable caution should encounter no safety concerns. Discussion followed with members of Council and residents complaining of cars parked improperly on the street causing obstruction to through traffic. Also mentioned was the increased perception of danger on the street's curves. As chairman, he offered a compromise between making no changes and completely prohibiting parking on the street. The compromise was to prohibit parking on the street's curves, then increase enforcement of rules regarding overnight parking and improper parking on the street. This proposal was not acceptable to the members of the joint committee, and instead a motion was made to pursue a piece of legislation which would ban parking on both sides of West 231 The vote of the committee members was 5 to 1 with only Mr. O'Grady dissenting. President Saringer asked Mr. O'Grady whether the question was raised of where guests visiting residents on W. 231` would park. Mr. O'Grady said it was brought up by him. There were residents at the meeting who had concerns about the safety of the street. These are the residents who pull out of their driveways and have difficulty seeing down the street because of the cars parked there. There are other residents who, for one reason or another, choose to park on the street. He is proposing a meeting on Tuesday, July 25, at 6 p.m. to allow residents an opportunity to express their opinions. Mr. Gareau noted that W. 231 has double yellow lines on the street which indicates a no passing zone. To answer Mrs. Saringer's question of where would guests park, he said they would park in much the same fashion as residents do on Maple Ridge Road, Clague Road, Columbia Road, Fitch Road, Porter Road, Butternut Ridge Road and so forth. All that is being asked is that drivers pull off so they are not completely obstructing one lane of traffic. The ground is shored-up, and it's a matter of asking people to simply pull their vehicles off the traveled portion of the roadway because a driver traveling down the r 7