HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Committee Minutes 7.8.25 JC (to be approved)
Attendees:
Al Hartman Sean Lynch Jim Collins, Transportation Director
Evelyn Meuret Deb Martin
Jeff Armstrong Excused: DJ Nichols
Also Present: Lt. Kraemer (OPD), James Rabe (Public Works Director)
The meeting was called to order by Al Hartman who gave a quick overview for the public comment
protocol. No one in attendance wished to provide commentary on a non-agenda item.
Roll Call & Approval of Minutes
Chairperson Hartman requested roll call, and later Sean Lynch made a motion to approve the minutes
from the June meeting, seconded by Jeff Armstrong. Motion carried after roll-call vote.
Old Business – N/A
New Business
1. Request to remove the 15-minute parking area on 16th Avenue
Jim Collins said the request came from the original requestor stating the needs of her business has changed
over the years and there is no need for the 15-minute customer parking posted outside their building. She
said the building is now being used as production and storage vs. a retail bakery.
Evelyn Meuret made a motion to approve request, seconded by Sean Lynch.
Motion carried after roll-call vote.
2. Request to lower the speed limit on Witzel Avenue. Jim explained this was a request in the past,
however; the previous highway commissioner was not in favor of the change so it wasn’t pursued by the city
since it is mostly county juristiciton. He did have an initial discussion with the new commissioner who
currently supports the request. Jim researched previous speed studies and the crash history in this area. Most
of the crashes occurred at the intersection of Westhaven and Witzel and were not directly related to speed.
Since the last speed study was conducted, there has been a great deal of development in the area between
Westhaven and Oakwood. James Rabe (Public Works) was also in attendance, he pointed out that potentially
the dynamics of the area could change even more as a developer is looking at another parcel. Jim stated this
approval would be handled a bit differently as a portion of the potenital change is within city jurisction and
Transportation Committee
Meeting Minutes
July 8, 2025
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it changes to county jurisdiction at Westhaven to the city limits. Jim said the Highway Comissioner said if
the Committee recommends the change, he would then take it to their Transportation Committee for
recommendation as well. Chairperson Hartman invited the member of the public to approach the podium
and give comment at this time.
Nancy Drexel (333 N. Westhaven, Oshkosh)
Nancy said she is representing the Havenwood Apartment community who often exits their complex onto
Witzel Avenue in this area. She said what seems to be causing the issue is the number of vehicles exiting
Kwik Trip down the road by the busy intersection. She said people start speeding up trying to catch the green
light as they leave town. The speed study that was referenced was flawed because it documented cars coming
into town vs. leaving town. Many vehicles are traveling 10 mph over the posted speed limit so 45 mph is not
uncommon to see on a daily basis. Also, since the traffic study, this area has changed a great deal and is a lot
more active from a traffic standpoint. Last time they attempted to get it changed, she was told it was denied
because the study counts the number of driveways however, that doesn’t take into consideration the large
volume of cars in an apartment complex. Nancy is hopeful that something can be done this time as she
witnesses near-misses daily. Chairperson Hartman opened the item up for committee comment.
Jim Collins stated it is the county that counts driveways to determine the appropriate speed lmit but the city
looks at speed a little differently. If this gets approved, the signs will be flagged to increase awareness. Nancy
thought an increase in police presence would also be helpful, as well as yellow flashing lights. Deb Martin
said she lives in the area and drives it multiple times per day. She feels less than 30 mph doesn’t make sense
because it would be such a short span and probably cause confusion. Lt. Kraemer (OPD) said the area in
question would coincide with the agreement in place as far as shared enforcement. He confirmed that west
of the intersection is the jurisdiction of the county Sheriff, and east of the intersection is city jurisdiction. Jeff
Armstrong asked if there is anything that would prevent the county from wanting the change, Jim said he
didn’t get that impression from his initial conversations with the new Commissioner.
Evelyn Meuret made a motion to approve the request to lowering it to 30 mph pending county approval,
seconded by Jeff Armstrong. Motion carried after roll-call vote.
3. Request to update the time posted on the Bus Loading ordinance in front of Read Elementary
Jim Collins said this request came from the school principal stating that the current sign states 7:30 a.m. –
4:30 p.m., however many parents start dropping off around 7:20 a.m. Director Collins did go on-site to
observe and he did see both parents and Kobussen buses arring 10-15 minutes prior to 7:30 a.m. so he
recommends changing the sign from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. to accommodate early drop-off.
Evelyn Meuret made a motion to approve the request, seconded by Jeff Armstrong.
Motion carried after roll-call vote.
3. Discussion of the date and time of the monthly meeting
Jim said the Council Workshops are becoming more popular which conflicts with our current committee
room reservation. Jim said he wanted to discuss possible alternatives with the board to address these
conflicts. He presented the following options:
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1) leave as is but end the meetings promptly by 5:00 p.m.
2) switch to an earlier start time
3) switch to a different day (Monday or Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.)
Al Harman, Deb Martin and Evelyn Meuret said they all have flexibility so they were fine with whatever is
decided. Jim Collins said when discussing, it is important to be mindful of Transit dependent people in
case they wish to attend the meeting. Sean Lynch said the earlier time on Tuesday would be okay or just to
have a hard stop time of 5:00 p.m. Jeff Armstrong agreed with Sean and thought it might not be a bad
thing to have a set end time. Evelyn suggested leaving it as Tuesday (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) and if a
particular agenda item is taking up too much time, have it be tabled for further action at the next meeting.
Jim said that could work and if he knows he has an unusually full agenda, he could move the meeting to
3:30 p.m. that month. With that being said, he did want to mention that one exception is the October
meeting. The room is needed all day so he needs to completely change the day of the meeting which leads
into the next agenda item.
4. Reschedule October 14, 2025 meeting to October 13, 2025 (4:00 p.m.) Jim said for October only, the
Tuesday time slot is not available. Since the meeting is televised, Oshkosh Media suggested Monday at 4:00
p.m. to accomondate their staff schedule. Sean Lynch mentioned it may be difficult for him to make it but
will let us know as it gets closer to that date. Jeff said he had trouble opening up the calendar reminders
that were auto-generated by City Hall. Evelyn said she did too but was happy to know it was related to a
notice from the City Hall room booking and not linked to our meeting notices. Jim said we will research to
see if there is a way to not have those notices go out every time something changes with the room
reservation. He will change the October meeting and send a notice as it gets closer (assuming a meeting is
needed) to see if we get a quorum.
Staff Statements
❖ Jim wanted to remind everyone that there is still a vacancy for committee alternate in case they
know of anyone.
❖ Jim said the Saturday bus surveys are currently underway and results should be compiled by the
next meeting
❖ He said that he is working on a traffic study of Congress & High per the request of Committee
member Armstrong.
❖ Jim also wanted to mention the county did approve ATV/UTV road access at their last meeting.
Future Agenda Requests
Al Hartman asked if there were any future agenda requests; to which there were none at this time.
Adjournment
Evelyn Meuret made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Sean Lynch.
Motion carried after roll-call vote Meeting adjourned at 4:40 pm.
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