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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Committee Minutes 8.12.25 (jc edits Attendees: Al Hartman DJ Nichols Jim Collins, Transportation Director Evelyn Meuret Deb Martin Steve Tomasik, Operations Manager Jeff Armstrong Excused: Sean Lynch Also Present: Lt. Brett Robertson (OPD) 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 Jeff Armstrong made a motion to approve the minutes from the July meeting, seconded by Evelyn Meuret. Motion carried after roll-call vote. Old Business – N/A New Business 1. Request for no parking on Arizona Street (west side, from 356’ to 394’ north of 17th Avenue) Jim Collins said the request came from a citizen that could not attend the meeting due to a last-minute family emergency. The request is to change to no-parking next to this residents’ house as he stated he has difficulty enterning and backing out of his driveway due to the proximity of a telephone pole on the terrace along the side of his driveway with vehicles parked so close to his driveway apron. Jim said the street is 26’ wide and upon inspection, he did see the challenge of the telephone pole and the location of a fire hydrant near where the parking area is located. The street already has no parking on the east side of the road. As normal protocal, all residents in that block were sent a meeting notice and invited to give commentary. Jim Collins shared with the board copies of emails he received from other home owners. The emails mentioned similar concerns about losing on street parking. However; after the limited area being discussed was explained, most were not as concerned. One of the emails was still against this request even with the small limited area requested. Chairperson Hartman invited members that were present from the public to approach the podium and give commentary of this agenda item at this time. Transportation Committee Meeting Minutes August 12, 2025 2 | Page 1) Eric Buhrow (1640 Arizona Street) Eric said he owns the Ram 1500 that is usually parked in the area related to this no parking request. He feels it should be denied because the neighbors all have similar, small driveways and there already is no parking on the opposite side of the road on Arizona Street making it challenging. He feels it shouldn’t be difficult to back out of the requestors driveway as there are not vehicles parked across the street which would be more of an obstacle. 2) Steve Roland (1634 Arizona Street) Steve said he has lived in the area for 30 years and this is already a very narrow street. He agrees that they all have small driveways so they are all in the same situation and do not want to give up any on-street parking. He feels the real issue is the location of the telephone pole which several other home owners are also challenged with but have learned to adjust to it. The no parking doesn’t impact the issue as the pole will still remain in the same spot regardless if the request gets approved. He feels if this request gets approved, it could open the doors to several other home owners wanting the same thing which will reduce on-street parking even further. 3) Kris Larson (Council member) was contacted by the home owner and he attended the meeting in his absence to offer some background. He said the pole is not the issue, the large vehicle parked in the area of this resident’s driveway makes it difficult for this man to get into and out of his driveway. The space is small due to a fire hydrant in addition to the pole. 4) Teresa Roland (1634 Arizona Street) Theresa did send an email offering written comments which was included in the packet, however she was present and wanted to reiterate some points. She has lived there for 30 years and is confused by this request. She has witnessed several other owners back boats and campers out of this same driveway with no issues. She said the requestor is often parked in the street across from her house and they just need to use caution when backing out. Arizona Street already has limited street parking and she knows if staff would speak with more home owners, they would not be in favor of losing more street parking. She also mentioned that in her written comment, she provided a photo to show that there is ample space for two small cars or one full size truck. Jeff Armstrong made a Motion to approve the request, however there was not a 2nd so item did not carry as a recommendation from this Committee. 2. Request to remove the 2-hour parking restriction on Washington (south side, from 54’ east of Court to Broad) Jim explained this was a request from the downtown YMCA organization. They have outgrown their current parking lot and are in the process of expanding it, however it will not be ready for quite some time. They have worked with adjacent businesses to obtain any extra off-street parking however some are located further away making it a safety concern for employees to walk to their parked vehicles at night. The request is to remove the 2-hour parking restriction on Washington Avenue which the operations staff at the Howard do not have an issue with. Jeff Schneider (CEO/President – Oshkosh YMCA Organization) was present and said Jim already gave a good summary of why it is being requested. He said he also spoke with the neighboring home owner and businesses and they did not have any issue with removing the 2-hour restriction. It hasn’t been an issue previously because parking hasn’t been enforced as heavily in the downtown area until the past few months. Evelyn Meuret made a motion to approve the request, seconded by DJ Nichols. Motion carried after roll-call vote. 3 | Page 3. Discussion of Saturday Fixed Route Transit Service Jim said as a follow-up of the June discussion, he wanted to present the results of rider surveys that the committee requested be conducted to gain a better understanding of what type of riders are using Transit on Saturdays. Enclosed in the meeting packet are several graphs summarizing the survey results. An initial rider survey showed that the majority of Saturday riders are going to and from work. A follow-up survey showed that the majority of riders going to and from work appear to work full-time. Jim said staff would work on quantifying potential savings if Saturday afternoon service is adjusted and report back at a future meeting. DJ Nichols said it would be helpful to know the cost savings and also how this will impact businesses (both from a worker and customer standpoint). Deb Martin wondered if the possibilitiy of just ending mid-afternoon would be an option; however Steve Tomasik said ridership usage goes back up later in the afternoon. DJ asked about the staffing issue that was mentioned last time during discussion. Jim said when the new building is open with the publilc restrooms, another supervisor probably will be needed to help monitor that building. Steve said they will continue to anyalze data. It is challenging because with the addition of a MicroTransit – on demand service, the potential risk is that it becomes too attractive and the goal isn’t to take away from other local services. Jim said they will continue to evalute. 4. Request to replace the yield sign at the intersection of Crane and Columbia with a stop sign. Jim said there has been several crashes at this intersection the past 12-months, however prior to that timeframe, there have been none. The initial step was to flag the yield signs to make them more visible to improve safety. Staff Statements ❖ Jim said the only meeting that has been changed is the October meeting due to a schedule conflict with a budget workshop. It will be on Monday vs. Tuesday that month. ❖ He also said the cooperative agreement between the City of Oshkosh/GO Transit, the State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation, East Central Regional Planning Commission and the Oshkosh Metropolitan Planning Organization is being renewed. Future Agenda Requests Al Hartman asked if there were any future agenda requests; to which there were none at this time. Jim said some possible future discussions will be monthly transit fare capping , Saturday Transit service follow-up and a Traeger Traffic Impact Analysis presentation. Adjournment DJ Nichols made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Jeff Armstrong. Motion carried after roll-call vote Meeting adjourned at 4:44 pm.