Public Works Committee

PUBLIC SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 6:01pm. Roll call was taken and Danette O’Donovan Matyas, Mary Anderson, Fred Braun were present. Dan Balzano was absent. Approval of Minutes – August 11, 2015 Meeting A motion was made to approve the minutes and seconded. Aye – 3 Nay -0 New Business Item One: Crain Street Parking Camille Provenzano, a 56 year resident of Crain, initiated this topic and was called forward to speak to her concerns. She was concerned about residents not shoveling their sidewalks. She was also not happy that sings were removed several years ago from the South side of Crain that read, “No Parking 2am-8am.” Discussion took place and the consensus was that something needed to take place to improve the snow plow drivers’ ability to remove snow on this street, if nothing else. Min Name/Comment 3:33 MS. CAMILLE PROVENZANO, 7242 W CRAIN ST, 56 year resident Ms. Provenzano stated that problems started about 2 years ago after the “No Parking 2am to 8am” signs were taken down on the south side of Crain. One night she counted 40 cars from middle of Crain St to Harlem Ave. Because of all the parked cars, Crain St. does not get plowed curb to curb and trees do not get trimmed. Also, residents are having a very difficult time getting in and out of driveways because cars park across from driveway and right next to it. She requests that Crain St., from Harlem Ave to Oketo Ave, be either a snow route, or the “no parking” signs be put back on the south side of the street. Min Name/Comment 11:08 MR. HARRY WEBBER, 7233 W CRAIN ST. Mr. Webber states that 50 years ago they went before the council to get approval for the “no parking” signs and those same signs were taken down 2 years ago without any approval or input from the residents. The Village of Niles caused this problem by allowing the houses a garden apartment increasing amount of parked cars. Snow problems are ridiculous. Other villages do not allow parking on streets overnight. 16:15 JANICE FILLICARO, 7226 W CRAIN ST. Ms. Fillicaro is the one that initiated the removal of the “no parking 2 am to 8 am” signs on Crain St. and says a letter informing all residents WAS sent out and it can be proven. She does not have a problem making Crain St. a snow route and feels that would be an easy solution that would resolve many problems. She does not want the “no parking” signs put back because the residents that use street parking would be forced to park much further away and she knows firsthand how difficult it is especially in winter. 18:08 MS. SHARON MEEHAN, 7252 W CRAIN ST #2. If Crain St is made a snow route, Ms. Meehan states that it should be on the apartment side of the street and not the house side because that is where most of the parking is needed (street is lined with cars driveway to driveway). Cars got buried and there were ice ruts all winter long. 20:15 DAN HEALY, 7321 W CRAIN ST., 43 year resident on Crain St. Last 2 years have been the worse they’ve ever seen – since “no parking” signs were removed. All cars that park on south side of Crain come from apartments. They park to the edge of the driveways - residents can’t get in and out. “No parking” signs should be put back up and the south side of Crain St. should be a snow route. The apartments have driveways and garages and tenants should park more cars there. 24:26 CAROL JUNG, 7247 W CRAIN ST Ms. Jung states that during the past 2 years Crain St. has had minimal snow removal. Most residents on the south side of Crain street were not notified that the sign would be removed. She states that many times she could not get out of driveway because of large ice chunks that were deposited by the plows only being able to go down the middle of the street. She request that “no parking” signs be put back and make street a snow route. Or finally enforce the ordinance Div 2, Sec 98– 176C. 27:00 BOB RAMINIAK, 7243 W CRAIN ST Mr. Rominiak read an email he sent village in March of 2015. Since “no parking” signs were removed, Crain does not get plowed properly; some cars get plowed in and never move. Garbage collection and street cleaning is also affected by the many cars in street. He’s asking why the apartment building owners do not allow their tenants to park in driveways or garages. Suggest that when it snows, “no overnight parking” signs can be put up alternating no parking days between south and north side of street. 30:00 CARMENE TOMASKA, 7242 W CRAIN ST No problems when signs were up on south side of Crain St. Wants the signs to go back up. Snow situation was the worse she’s ever seen. She’s lived on Crain her whole life. She pays taxes and not concerned with tenants not being able to find parking spaces – they found them before when signs were up. 54:40 CAROL MIZIALKO, 7349 W CRAIN ST North side of street last big snow storm there were several cars that never moved. Min Name/Comment 56:45 POUND, GENEVIEVE, 7259 W CRAIN ST Ms. Pound questioned how long one vehicle can be parked in one spot. Chief McEnerney responded with 72 hrs and said she can call police if it is still parked after 3 days. 58:08 MS. CAMILLE PROVENZANO, 7242 W CRAIN ST. Ms. Provenzano mentioned that a truck was parked in front of her house and she eventually contacted Code Enf to have it moved. Item Two: Franks Road Traffic Residents spoke about concerns with speeding vehicles and a high volume of large trucks using Franks Road. In advance of the meeting a traffic study was performed by the Niles Police Department. Chief Mc Enerney discussed the study. He stated that it did not reveal a high volume of trucks using Franks Road, nor a significant issue with speeding vehicles. Charmaine Block, a resident of Franks Road, provided some pictures of semi-trucks using Franks Road. They also requested that the speed tracking trailers be placed a different locations to ensure the data was accurate. Min Name/Comment 1:05 CHARMAIN BLOCK, 6820 W HARTS RD Ms. Block states there is speeding on Franks towards the corner at Harts. Cars slow down before the speed tracker. Only 21 houses on block with children, dogs and older residents walking. Resident also concerned about Public Works big trucks on Franks throughout the day. Res said the nice residential street has become a congested and a cut-through street for all vehicles including UPS and Fedex trucks. She would like signage: no left turn at Harts Rd and at Touhy Ave., or a stop sign at Cherry St. or “No Trucks” sign at both ends of Franks. Ms. Block’s son also spoke and had the same concerns. It was agreed by all concerned to perform a secondary speed study before making any decisions. It was also noted that there were not “Speed Limit 25” signs on Franks. While these are not required on every street, it was agreed that a sign would be posted at each end of Franks in an effort to make sure motorists knew the speed limit while driving on Franks Road. Adjournment A motion was made to adjourn and seconded at 7:17pm. Aye – 3, Nay - 0