LEE COUNTY BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN MEETING MINUTES June 15, 2016

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1 LEE COUNTY BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN MEETING MINUTES June 15, 2016 MEMBERS PRESENT STAFF Jane Bowser, At Large, Secretary Mel Dokman, LC DOT T. Patrick Connor, District 2 Andy Getch, P.E., LC DOT Al Giacalone, Vice Chair, At Large, Affordable Housing David Murphy, LC DOT Don Mayne, Chair, District 4 David Wagley, LC DOT Damon Shelor, District 5 Dr. Ileana Sisson, District 1 Dave Wheaton, At Large MEMBERS ABSENT Keith Kibbey, At Large GUESTS Nena Garrett, Lee County School District Ken Lehman, Heritage Palms Donnie May, Fort Myers Shores George Mckinney, Fort Myers Shores William Moore, Beach Club Colony Jim Nottingham, North Fort Myers Dale Pero, Heritage Palms John Spiegel, Eagle Ridge Hank Yole, Beach Club Colony Agenda Item#1, *Call to Order, Introductions and Review of Agenda: Don Mayne, Chair, called the meeting to order at 2:59 p.m., asked for introductions and welcomed guests. Dr. Ileana Sisson moved to approve the agenda, Damon Shelor seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Agenda Item #2: *Approval of the May 18, 2016 Meeting Minutes: Damon Shelor moved to approve the May 18, 2016 meeting minutes as written, Dr. Ileana Sisson seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Agenda Item #3, Public Comments: Mr. John Spiegel expressed a need for a bike path on Eagle Ridge Drive and attended today s meeting to review the BPAC facility request process. Mr. Spiegel has been in contact with member, Pat Connor, District 2, to discuss the protocol and initiate the facility request process. Mr. Ken Lehman attended last month s meeting requesting a sidewalk on the north side of Penzance Boulevard from Wine Palm Road to Bent Willow Lane. Mr. Hank Yole attended last month s meeting requesting a sidewalk on the east side of Joel Boulevard from Charlie Matheny Park to the fire station located at 1000 Joel Boulevard. Orange River Boulevard Sidewalk Request: Mr. Donnie May, of the Orange River Boulevard Sidewalk Action Committee attended today s meeting as well to support a new sidewalk request in the area. BPAC Meeting June 15, 2016 Page 1

2 New Business Agenda Item #4a: Sidewalk request on Ottumwa Avenue/Settler Drive, Muskegon Avenue and Lorraine Drive: Mr. George Mckinney explained that this residential community needs a sidewalk on Ottumwa Avenue/Settler Drive, Muskegon Avenue and Lorraine Drive. There are two schools located in the area; Manatee Elementary and Oak Hammock Middle School where school age children walk to and from school through Ottumwa/Settler/Amanda to get to the elementary or middle school. There are many children waiting at two large school bus stops; one located off Amanda and Settler and the other at Lorraine and Orange River Boulevard. According to Mr. Mckinney, approximately eighteen school buses travel through this small community during school hours and there is not enough room for a car and bus to pass each other on the roads making this a safety concern for both students and pedestrians walking and vehicles passing. Staff provided a cost estimate for installation of sidewalks at the following streets and scored 26 points each in the BPAC Point Scoring System: Ottumwa/Settler; cost is $289,158 Muskegon Drive; cost is $288,641 Lorraine Drive; cost is $287,914 After committee discussion, it was decided to table this item until the July meeting. Old Business Agenda Item #5a, *Joel Boulevard Sidewalk Request from Charlie R. Matheny Park to the fire station located at 1000 Joel Boulevard: Mr. Yole and Mr. Moore of Beach Club Colony requested a sidewalk be installed from Charlie R. Matheny Park and to the fire station located at 1000 Joel Boulevard. Staff provided a cost estimate of $1,171,921 for the entire 1.01 miles of sidewalk which includes new pipe for drainage. According to the residents, the area has drainage issues during rainy season and staff researched and found that a contractor did not pull a permit to do asphalt work in the right-of-way. Staff researched the drainage issue with DOT Operations and found that no drainage improvements will be done at the county s expense. The contractor obtained an after the fact permit and still needs to provide LC DOT Engineering Services with as-builts. After committee discussion, the project scored 40 points in the BPAC Point Scoring System as it has three Lee Tran Bus Stops, has connection to a park, and is part of the Lee Plan Map 3D-1. Mr. Damon Shelor made a motion to limit the project length and install a sidewalk on the east side of Joel Boulevard from Charlie R. Matheny Park to E. 8 th Street; therefore, cost would be reduced to approximately $400,000 instead of $1,171,921. Pat Connor seconded the motion, the topic was open for further discussion. A vote was taken, the motion passed with four votes; three opposed. Welcome: Mr. David Murphy, the new Deputy Director of the Lee County Department of Transportation joined the meeting and staff introduced him to the members. Mr. Murphy previously worked as the Public Works Director in Grafton, Wisconsin and provided background about himself to everyone. ******************************************************************************************************************** BPAC Meeting June 15, 2016 Page 2

3 Agenda Item #5b, *North side of Penzance Boulevard Sidewalk Request: Mr. Lehman, Heritage Palms, presented his request for a sidewalk on the north side of Penzance Boulevard from Wine Palm Road to Bent Willow Lane. After committee discussion, Mr. Lehman and Mr. Pero mentioned it is a possibility for the Board of Heritage Palms Community to pay for a portion of the remaining sidewalk from Wine Palm Road to the end of their property line. Al Giacalone made a motion to add a sidewalk on the north side of Penzance Boulevard from the New Development, Neal Corporation (Bent Willow Lane) to the Heritage Palms property line. Pat Connor seconded the motion, the motion carried unanimously. Dr. Sisson made a motion for the BPAC committee to write a letter to Neal Communities about them completing the sidewalk gap on their frontage of Penzance Boulevard, Pat Connor seconded the motion for open discussion. After committee discussion, Pat Connor rescinded his motion. The motion failed. Agenda Item #5c, TIGER V Update: No update. Agenda Item #5d, MPO Crash Report: No update. Agenda Item #6, Member Comments: #6a, *Changes to the Lee Plan Map 3D-1 for Pine Island Road (Dr. Sisson 10 minutes). Dr. Sisson, John Cammick, Matlacha/Pine Island Fire Commissioner, Benjamin Mickuleit, Deputy Fire Chief, Michael Shevlin, Realtor, Ron Gogoi, Lee County MPO and 4 county staff members recently met with Commissioner Manning to discuss the Pine Island Road shared use path project from Stringfellow Road to Veterans Parkway. The meeting was very positive and encouraging to hear that the county officials are in favor of this project. Dr. Sisson discovered that Lee Plan Map 3D-1, indicates a sidewalk instead of a shared use path. Staff explained the process of the Map 3D-1 and mentioned that BPAC recommended a shared use path for this section of Pine Island Rd at a Map 3D-1 workshop a few years ago. This map did not go through the final approval process, therefore, was never adopted by the BoCC. Staff explained a new developer; Cypress Cay is placing a sidewalk in front of their development at 5100 Pine Island Road. Staff also explained that it would be more efficient to look at all desired changes to Map 3D-1 at the same time, and not just those to Pine Island Rd. After committee discussion, Dr. Sisson made a motion for BPAC to recommend changing this from a sidewalk to a shared use path on Pine Island Road, from Stringfellow Road to Veterans Parkway, Damon Shelor seconded the motion, the motion passed with four votes and three opposed. #6b, Recorded BPAC Minutes and Researching Older Cases (Dr. Sisson 10 minutes). Dr. Sisson expressed the importance of researching recorded BPAC minutes and older cases and suggested that perhaps the committee could suggest a better way on how to correct this and follow up on projects. Staff recommended doing a search on the main county website using BPAC plus a keyword of the desired information. Staff also explained that they are correcting and fine-tuning the documents on the BPAC website, but older.pdf files may not yet have the search capability. BPAC Meeting June 15, 2016 Page 3

4 Damon Shelor - Zoning/Hearing Examiner: Mr. Shelor mentioned that BPAC members and citizens can attend the Zoning Meetings with the Hearing Examiner s Office and share opinions about development, etc. Agenda Item #7, Staff Comments David Wagley Distribution: Mr. Wagley explained that s are sent out as blind carbon copy to make it less likely for BPAC members to break the Sunshine Law and to prevent daisy chains with addresses of the public. BPAC Roster: As a reminder, the BPAC Roster is public information and has member s addresses, s and phone numbers on it. New Facility Requests: Mr. Wagley asked the members if they d like to be a part of the communication ( ) process when citizens in their districts contact staff with new facility requests. Some members would like to be involved in initial communication and others would prefer not to. After discussion, all members want Mr. Wagley to continue to process new facility requests as he has been. Agenda Item #8, Upcoming meeting agenda items: Sidewalk Request on Ottumwa Avenue/Settler Drive, Muskegon Avenue and Lorraine Drive, Bike/Ped Projects in the CIP, TIGER V Grant Update. Agenda Item #9, Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 5:04 p.m. Next Meeting: Wednesday, July 20, 2016 from 3 to 5 p.m. Digitally recorded minutes are available upon request. BPAC Meeting June 15, 2016 Page 4

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