City Council Services, Safety & Parks Committee · Monday, September 30, 2024 · City Council Digest

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of July 23, 2024

packet pp.5–6

Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 07-23-24 City Council Services, Safety & Parks Page (1) Committee Minutes CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Services, Safety & Parks Committee 6:30 PM Council Chambers, 135 E. July 23, 2024 MINUTES Sunset Way, Issaquah WA

4. AGENDA ITEMS

School Zone Speed Camera COM 0069

45 min · Dale Markey-Crimp, Assistant to the City Administrator · packet pp.7–57

Topics: Public SafetySchools

▶ Watch from 0:28 Open packet at p.7 ↗

Staff report:

The Administration is recommending that the Services, Safety, and Parks Committee recommend the addition of one school zone safety location and that the Mayor sign an amendment to the agreement with Verra Mobility to add two cameras at this location at Newport Way NW.

931 segments .txt ↗

0:06 ↗ welcome everyone I council member toam

0:09 ↗ Mars call the services safety and Parks

0:12 ↗ uh September 30th city council meeting

0:15 ↗ to order public comment there are

0:17 ↗ multiple public comment opportunities at

0:19 ↗ tonight's meeting there's a general

0:21 ↗ public comment opportunity at the

0:22 ↗ beginning of the meeting or you can make

0:24 ↗ comments after the presentation and

0:26 ↗ Council question and answer period on

0:28 ↗ tonight's agenda item members of the

0:30 ↗ public May address council at this time

0:33 ↗ uh we don't we have no members of the

0:34 ↗ public in person but they can certainly

0:36 ↗ join us virtually uh those who have

0:38 ↗ signed up in advance to make comments

0:40 ↗ will be called on first if you're

0:41 ↗ joining us virtually and would like to

0:43 ↗ make comments please raise your virtual

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0:56 ↗ raise hand icon in the lower right hand

0:58 ↗ corner

1:00 ↗ I will wait for a moment to see if

1:01 ↗ anyone wishes to raise their virtual

1:06 ↗ hand cler chair marks we have no virtual

1:09 ↗ attendees what as a reminder written

1:12 ↗ comments can be submitted at any time to

1:14 ↗ city council isqua

1:17 ↗ w.gov uh next up uh let me go to my uh

1:24 ↗ meeting uh next up we have approval of

1:27 ↗ minutes Mr chairman move to adopted July

1:29 ↗ five minutes second moved by council

1:33 ↗ member Joe seconded by council member D

1:35 ↗ Michelle uh any discussion hearing none

1:39 ↗ all those in favor say I I I opposed

1:42 ↗ extensions motion carries 3 to

1:45 ↗ zero uh uh agenda items we have one

1:49 ↗ agenda item this evening Co

1:52 ↗ 0069 ghoul zone speed camera with Dale

1:55 ↗ Mary KMP assistant to the CD

1:57 ↗ administrator Dale take it away thank

2:00 ↗ you council member

2:10 ↗ Mars good evening Council committee

2:13 ↗ members uh my name is Dale Mary crimp

2:15 ↗ I'm the assistant the city administrator

2:17 ↗ and I am glad to be here this evening

2:19 ↗ with

2:20 ↗ you the purpose of tonight's meeting um

2:24 ↗ is to return here to the services safety

2:27 ↗ and Parks committee to present the

2:29 ↗ findings of the vendor analysis for

2:32 ↗ potential new school zone speed camera

2:34 ↗ locations to present the

2:36 ↗ administration's analysis proposal and

2:40 ↗ rationale for a new location at isqua

2:42 ↗ Valley Elementary School and to obtain

2:45 ↗ Council committe recommendation on the

2:47 ↗ administration's

2:49 ↗ proposal specifically the administration

2:52 ↗ is requesting that the members of the

2:54 ↗ services safety and Parks committee

2:57 ↗ provide the following Direction review

3:00 ↗ the administration's proposal to add a

3:01 ↗ new school zone safety camera location

3:04 ↗ at isqua Valley Elementary School on

3:06 ↗ Newport Way Northwest and provide

3:09 ↗ Direction on the administration's

3:10 ↗ proposal to sign a contract Amendment

3:13 ↗ with our current vendor ver Mobility to

3:15 ↗ install and operate two cameras on

3:17 ↗ Newport Way

3:19 ↗ Northwest a little bit of background

3:21 ↗ before we get to that direction though

3:24 ↗ uh the city's first School Zone location

3:27 ↗ was uh launched in 2008 on Second Avenue

3:30 ↗ near isqua high school and isqua middle

3:33 ↗ school the city has considered

3:35 ↗ additional locations in the past but

3:38 ↗ lacked at the time lacked evidence to

3:41 ↗ demonstrate either a true safety concern

3:43 ↗ or the financial viability of those

3:45 ↗ potential

3:46 ↗ locations in May of this year at the uh

3:50 ↗ committee meeting the police chief

3:52 ↗ paulan presented information about red

3:55 ↗ light photo enforcement cameras and uh

3:58 ↗ the administration recommended a new

4:00 ↗ school zone location on Newport Way

4:03 ↗ Northwest near isqua Valley Elementary

4:07 ↗ School at the time the council committee

4:09 ↗ directed the administration to move

4:11 ↗ forward with a vendor study so

4:13 ↗ specifically to reach out to our current

4:14 ↗ vendor of our school zone safety camera

4:17 ↗ and look into potential School Zone

4:18 ↗ locations to listed here on the screen

4:21 ↗ Newport Way Northwest which was

4:23 ↗ recommended by the administration and

4:25 ↗ also Northeast Park Drive near Grand

4:27 ↗ Ridge Elementary School which was at the

4:29 ↗ request of the

4:30 ↗ committee and also to look into red

4:33 ↗ light violation cameras at these six

4:37 ↗ intersections listed here um and as you

4:40 ↗ can see in the uh packet information ver

4:44 ↗ Mobility our vendor looked into not just

4:47 ↗ one camera at those locations but it

4:50 ↗ possible different directions at each of

4:51 ↗ those

4:52 ↗ intersections also I think it's valuable

4:54 ↗ to reiterate at this meeting that Talis

4:57 ↗ Drive was previously considered as a

4:59 ↗ potential location for a school zone

5:01 ↗ camera but a study that was done by the

5:03 ↗ school district indicated that the

5:06 ↗ incidence of speeding and the rate of

5:08 ↗ speed on Talis Drive did not warrant a

5:11 ↗ school zone

5:14 ↗ camera I want to first talk about the

5:17 ↗ red light photo enforcement C

5:20 ↗ study all directions at all six

5:22 ↗ intersections in some case those are

5:24 ↗ four directions and in some case they

5:26 ↗ are two were studied as part of ver

5:29 ↗ Mobility

5:30 ↗ study they looked the the analysis which

5:33 ↗ is in your packet I believe it's

5:34 ↗ attachment a indicates that all

5:37 ↗ locations would at maturity which is

5:40 ↗ about 18 months into a program lead to

5:43 ↗ about one at least one violation a day

5:46 ↗ and at the most dangerous or the busiest

5:48 ↗ intersections up to seven violations per

5:50 ↗ day and that's at southbound West Lake

5:53 ↗ samamish 56th Street however attachment

5:56 ↗ B in your packet in which shares the

5:59 ↗ financial analysis that the city did

6:01 ↗ indicates that even before considering

6:04 ↗ potential Revenue restrictions on a new

6:06 ↗ red light photo enforcement

6:08 ↗ program those the none of those sites

6:11 ↗ net out to positive net revenues so we

6:14 ↗ actually would not even be able to cover

6:15 ↗ the cost of operating new cameras we

6:18 ↗ looked at a number of different options

6:19 ↗ we looked at what if we just install at

6:22 ↗ the one busiest most dangerous

6:24 ↗ intersection that did not net out net

6:27 ↗ revenue um we looked at what about

6:28 ↗ economy of SC what if we put one in

6:30 ↗ everywhere that also doesn't end up with

6:32 ↗ net revenues even in the first year of

6:34 ↗ the program therefore at this time the

6:37 ↗ administration does not recommend a red

6:40 ↗ light red light photo enforcement

6:44 ↗ program let's however take a look at

6:47 ↗ school zone safety vom Mobility

6:50 ↗ conducted a second study on two

6:52 ↗ potential School Zone locations they did

6:54 ↗ this study between September 3rd and 6th

6:57 ↗ uh this study was done much later than

6:59 ↗ the red light photo enforcement because

7:01 ↗ we needed to wait for school to be in

7:02 ↗ session and the cameras to be blinking

7:05 ↗ um so that we'd have a good and accurate

7:07 ↗ idea of who's still speeding potentially

7:09 ↗ driving in a dangerous way when the

7:11 ↗ lights are

7:13 ↗ flashing unlike the red light report and

7:15 ↗ as was mentioned in the packet today

7:18 ↗ this study did not

7:20 ↗ provide traffic violations at maturity

7:24 ↗ and it is very difficult for even ver

7:27 ↗ which collects a lot of data to pres

7:30 ↗ predict travel on stretches of Road and

7:33 ↗ so this actually provided a point and

7:35 ↗ time count so you saw this was the

7:38 ↗ incident of incidents of traffic between

7:40 ↗ September 3rd and 6th these are the

7:42 ↗ potential violations meaning folks that

7:44 ↗ are traveling at 26 miles an hour or

7:47 ↗ above during school zone hours but they

7:49 ↗ cannot necessarily predict out this is

7:52 ↗ what will happen in 18 months if you

7:54 ↗ install a u if you install a ticketing

7:58 ↗ uh mechanism here

8:00 ↗ as you could see from the data and as

8:01 ↗ you can see on the screen here both

8:03 ↗ locations had a high incidence of

8:05 ↗ speeding at 26 mph or above during

8:08 ↗ school zone

8:09 ↗ hours however we figured we needed

8:11 ↗ further analysis to really determine

8:13 ↗ what the violations at maturity might

8:15 ↗ look like and therefore whether a camera

8:18 ↗ enforcement program would be the most

8:21 ↗ appropriate intervention to curb

8:23 ↗ dangerous

8:25 ↗ behavior in order to do this we made

8:28 ↗ some assumptions about both revenue and

8:31 ↗ expenditures that these programs would

8:35 ↗ net the following assumptions are about

8:37 ↗ specifically about Revenue so violations

8:42 ↗ um in this report are likely inflated

8:44 ↗ due to a couple reasons one they are

8:46 ↗ violations at the beginning of a school

8:47 ↗ year we can imagine um over the course

8:50 ↗ of the school year as people become more

8:53 ↗ familiar with the lights flashing they

8:55 ↗ will likely slow down we made the

8:56 ↗ assumption that even without ticketing

8:58 ↗ we would expect expect to see violations

9:00 ↗ go down about 10% over the course of

9:03 ↗ this year simply by becoming familiar

9:05 ↗ with the flashing light and the fact

9:07 ↗ that school is back in

9:08 ↗ session we also assumed that drivers

9:11 ↗ will be responsive to noticing and

9:14 ↗ warning tickets early in the program and

9:16 ↗ that violations will probably stabilize

9:19 ↗ pretty quickly within the first six to

9:21 ↗ eight months and we base that off of

9:24 ↗ data we have from our current speed zone

9:27 ↗ camera um and knowing that there had

9:29 ↗ been a very uh dramatic bump at the

9:32 ↗ beginning uh and that bump in tickets

9:35 ↗ and violations tapered fairly quickly

9:37 ↗ and so we assume that about another 30

9:40 ↗ to 40% reduction in actual violations

9:44 ↗ due to both warnings and getting those

9:46 ↗ first tickets that you pay

9:48 ↗ for we also think that although there

9:50 ↗ will be some additional uh corrective

9:53 ↗ behavior that Newport Way Northwest will

9:56 ↗ experience less dramatic reduction due

9:58 ↗ to the high volume of pass through

10:00 ↗ traffic uh that that road in particular

10:03 ↗ experiences and that Grand Ridge

10:06 ↗ Elementary so Northwest Northeast Park

10:08 ↗ Drive will experience a more dramatic

10:11 ↗ drop in violations due to the nature of

10:13 ↗ traffic being neighborhood or more

10:15 ↗ internal City traffic folks will get

10:18 ↗ that first ticket and they will really

10:21 ↗ quickly change their behavior whereas on

10:23 ↗ Newport Way Northwest someone might get

10:25 ↗ a ticket passing through but because

10:27 ↗ they're not driving that stretch of road

10:29 ↗ every every day it might take longer to

10:31 ↗ correct their behavior or they might

10:33 ↗ simply forget and then realize again as

10:35 ↗ they're driving we still in both

10:38 ↗ situations expect that the cameras will

10:41 ↗ lead to a change in Behavior it's just

10:43 ↗ where will that change happen more

10:44 ↗ quickly and then I guess the next

10:46 ↗ question becomes then is a camera

10:49 ↗ program with a five-year lease the

10:50 ↗ appropriate

10:52 ↗ intervention and the last assumption

10:54 ↗ here that we think is important to name

10:56 ↗ we assume that about 50% of tickets will

10:58 ↗ be paid uh that might seem low but that

11:00 ↗ is given our current program that's

11:03 ↗ about the pay rate on tickets

11:05 ↗ currently uh I believe um Deputy council

11:08 ↗ president has a question absolutely yeah

11:10 ↗ and just a quick question that

11:11 ↗ assumption was um included in our

11:14 ↗ Revenue projections is that correct it

11:17 ↗ is that is correct okay

11:20 ↗ thanks can I ask the uh this assumption

11:24 ↗ about Grand Ridge quicker to change as

11:26 ↗ there's no pass through traffic in this

11:28 ↗ neighborhood did that hold true for the

11:30 ↗ cameras on Second Avenue Second Avenue

11:34 ↗ uh experiences still a fair amount of

11:36 ↗ pass through traffic not not to the

11:38 ↗ extent that uh Newport Way Northwest

11:41 ↗ does is that it's a m it's a major pass

11:44 ↗ through avoider but there it is a

11:45 ↗ through road you can drive all the way

11:48 ↗ through um and so we use some of the

11:50 ↗ same assumptions on actually on Newport

11:52 ↗ Way in terms of drop off um rather than

11:56 ↗ on Northeast Park

11:59 ↗ okay thank

12:03 ↗ you let's talk about expenditure

12:05 ↗ assumptions so in order to know whether

12:08 ↗ a school zone camera system is a

12:10 ↗ financially viable intervention we also

12:12 ↗ made the following uh expenditure

12:16 ↗ assumptions with this analysis one is

12:18 ↗ not an assumption it is a piece of

12:19 ↗ knowledge but uh the annual cost of a

12:22 ↗ camera lease is

12:24 ↗ $57,000 per year the monthly ticket

12:27 ↗ overage fee is $5 per TI ticket for any

12:31 ↗ tickets over 800 the monthly allowance

12:35 ↗ the annual cost of police personel to

12:37 ↗ process violations is

12:39 ↗ $195,000 in salary and benefits for

12:42 ↗ full-time or limited term employee with

12:44 ↗ an annual 4% cost of living adjustment

12:48 ↗ and the annual cost of a court of a

12:50 ↗ court Personnel to administer violation

12:52 ↗ payments is 145,000 in salary and

12:55 ↗ benefits per full-time or limited term

12:57 ↗ employee with again an annual 4% cost of

13:01 ↗ living

13:04 ↗ adjustment as you can see here um and

13:06 ↗ I'll show it in a couple of different

13:07 ↗ ways so this is the table but we'll also

13:09 ↗ look at it in a chart as well um and

13:11 ↗ attachment D in your packet provides a

13:13 ↗ much more detailed revenue and

13:15 ↗ expenditure analysis this is just sort

13:17 ↗ of the net revenue assumption net

13:19 ↗ revenue calculus by year uh for each

13:21 ↗ potential camera in these two locations

13:24 ↗ so over its 5-year lease life cameras on

13:26 ↗ Newport Way are estimated to net more

13:29 ↗ Revenue even while effectively reducing

13:32 ↗ dangerous driving from the current

13:33 ↗ levels revenues are expected to be

13:36 ↗ higher and therefore we can be more

13:38 ↗ confident that uh they will not only

13:41 ↗ cover the program costs but provide

13:43 ↗ revenues that can then be used for

13:45 ↗ transportation and traffic improvements

13:48 ↗ which is what our additional revenues

13:49 ↗ are used for currently in our Second

13:52 ↗ Avenue

13:53 ↗ camera shown another way uh this is just

13:56 ↗ a simple chart of that same data uh

14:00 ↗ while we while the current violation

14:02 ↗ predictions indicate comparable

14:04 ↗ dangerous behavior in both locations we

14:06 ↗ believe that speeding on Northeast Park

14:09 ↗ will be more quickly impacted by any

14:12 ↗ intervention and that intervention while

14:14 ↗ it could be a camera could also be a

14:16 ↗ patrol officer given the nature of that

14:18 ↗ road terminating in a roundabout and

14:20 ↗ then circling back

14:24 ↗ down so you might be asking what about a

14:27 ↗ third location I know I was asking that

14:30 ↗ um especially given that speeding is a

14:32 ↗ significant issue in both locations as

14:34 ↗ demonstrated by the study this past

14:37 ↗ legislative session HB 2384 which went

14:40 ↗ into effect on June 6th of this year

14:43 ↗ provides cities an expanded authority to

14:46 ↗ use automated traffic cameras however it

14:49 ↗ also uh provides more restrictions on

14:51 ↗ how those revenues collected can be used

14:55 ↗ specifically I think it's important to

14:56 ↗ highlight that in year four and Beyond

14:59 ↗ 25% of revenues from any third in our

15:02 ↗ case third but in other bigger cities

15:05 ↗ additional locations after operational

15:08 ↗ costs would be diverted into the Cooper

15:10 ↗ Jones active Transportation safety

15:12 ↗ account an account that is um

15:15 ↗ administered by the

15:16 ↗ state what this new law does allow is

15:19 ↗ that it does allow us here in isqua

15:21 ↗ given the fact that we already have a

15:23 ↗ school Z safety program established it

15:25 ↗ does allow us the addition of one new

15:27 ↗ location that's important location

15:30 ↗ number of cameras within that is could

15:33 ↗ be two could be one but one new location

15:35 ↗ to our current program without any new

15:38 ↗ Revenue

15:40 ↗ restrictions however regardless of new

15:42 ↗ cameras that we would off that we would

15:44 ↗ add we would need to conduct an equity

15:47 ↗ impact assessment on that location as I

15:49 ↗ mentioned in the packet um I think we

15:52 ↗ have another question great uh can you

15:55 ↗ just uh talk a little bit about how uh

15:58 ↗ Revenue are distributed out of that

16:00 ↗ Cooper Jones active Transportation

16:02 ↗ safety account uh if we put money in I'm

16:05 ↗ going to presume we don't necessarily

16:06 ↗ get money out is that right I'm going to

16:09 ↗ follow up on that for you I don't know

16:10 ↗ precisely um but my understanding in

16:13 ↗ initial reading is that is not money

16:14 ↗ that we would touch again right okay

16:16 ↗ thank you let me just make a

16:22 ↗ note uh I'll add a follow on do we

16:25 ↗ understand what putting that money into

16:27 ↗ the Cooper Jones active Transportation

16:30 ↗ safety account would do to the uh the

16:33 ↗ profitability of the uh the additional

16:35 ↗ site we do

16:38 ↗ absolutely my marks like you knew where

16:41 ↗ I was going um so I did do an initial

16:44 ↗ additional analysis so looking at what

16:47 ↗ would be the impact of we do add this

16:49 ↗ third location but in year four and

16:51 ↗ Beyond we see a reduction after

16:54 ↗ operating of 25% of those revenues and

16:57 ↗ so this chart on your screen or in your

16:59 ↗ packet shows you a comparison

17:02 ↗ between Grand Ridge as a site as a

17:05 ↗ location for a school zone without uh it

17:08 ↗ being a third location so that

17:09 ↗ assumption could be made it's a second

17:11 ↗ location um and then you see in you see

17:15 ↗ also the scenario where it is a third

17:17 ↗ location so you see in 2028 a steep

17:20 ↗ decline in revenues it was already a

17:22 ↗ tight net revenue scenario becomes even

17:24 ↗ tighter um and so I think an important

17:27 ↗ thing to see that it becomes it's still

17:30 ↗ just viable financially becomes much

17:33 ↗ potentially less

17:37 ↗ viable so the options that the

17:39 ↗ administration considered one was to

17:41 ↗ maintain the current program we have one

17:44 ↗ school zone safety site um on Second

17:47 ↗ Avenue continue to operate that program

17:49 ↗ The Challenge with with this is that it

17:50 ↗ does fail to address the confirmed

17:53 ↗ dangerous driving that we now know for

17:55 ↗ certain um patrol Pursuit is also quite

17:59 ↗ dangerous I believe Chief Schwan

18:00 ↗ emphasized that when she presented in

18:02 ↗ May specifically in school areas

18:05 ↗ specifically um on straightaways where

18:07 ↗ people can speed quickly um and so we

18:10 ↗ just know that that is not necessarily

18:12 ↗ the safest

18:13 ↗ option a second option is to get to add

18:17 ↗ two locations including a new program at

18:19 ↗ Grand Ridge Elementary Northeast Park

18:21 ↗ Drive traffic we know is going to be

18:23 ↗ more however responsive to photo to

18:25 ↗ photo enforcement there we believe

18:27 ↗ especially in the first three years

18:28 ↗ years given that it is an internal Road

18:31 ↗ a neighborhood Road more than pass

18:33 ↗ through traffic that's trying to beat um

18:36 ↗ congestion in our main downtown area so

18:38 ↗ we believe that the the revenues will or

18:41 ↗ not the revenues but that we will

18:42 ↗ experience Revenue decrease um while

18:45 ↗ also experiencing expenditure increase

18:48 ↗ over time M challenging the fiscal

18:50 ↗ viability of that particular site also a

18:54 ↗ third location which would be necessary

18:56 ↗ if we were to add two new locations

18:57 ↗ would be subject to new Revenue

18:59 ↗ restrictions specifically in the fourth

19:00 ↗ and the fifth year most speeding um is

19:03 ↗ happening outside of school zone hours

19:05 ↗ and I'll I'll show some diagrams about

19:07 ↗ that here in a moment can I ask um do we

19:10 ↗ not give tickets outside of school zone

19:12 ↗ hours we do not t we only ticket when

19:15 ↗ the cameras are

19:17 ↗ flashing the lights are flashing excuse

19:19 ↗ me thank you ah do we not our our

19:22 ↗ cameras over by the high school we don't

19:24 ↗ give out tickets when the when it's not

19:25 ↗ flashing only when flashing only during

19:28 ↗ school zone hour I did not know that

19:30 ↗ thank

19:31 ↗ you and um potentially we could station

19:35 ↗ a single officer uh at Grand Ridge that

19:39 ↗ could help with some of that

19:40 ↗ enforcement and the third option is to

19:42 ↗ add one location um to our current

19:45 ↗ program at isqua Valley

19:49 ↗ Elementary I want to share a go ahead

19:51 ↗ Council um do we know how fast traffic

19:55 ↗ is we we know the number of speeders

19:58 ↗ that are occurring during scho hours do

20:00 ↗ we know how fast they're driving during

20:02 ↗ school hours we do um and so I want to

20:06 ↗ talk a little bit about the travel

20:08 ↗ patterns and you can also see so in your

20:12 ↗ packet um I believe it is attachment C

20:16 ↗ you can see the analysis um on the data

20:19 ↗ collected from by ver Mobility at both

20:21 ↗ School Zone locations um in this green

20:25 ↗ shaded version the dark shaded are the

20:29 ↗ potential violations during school zone

20:31 ↗ hours um this is for Newport way I think

20:34 ↗ it's important to emphasize that when

20:36 ↗ traffic starts it basically starts and

20:38 ↗ it regardless of school zone hours

20:40 ↗ people are traveling at about the same

20:42 ↗ speed all day long uh that is slightly

20:44 ↗ different than the pattern around um gr

20:47 ↗ Ridge Elementary School you can see

20:49 ↗ actually during the uh School Zone hours

20:54 ↗ on average folks are driving at a lower

20:57 ↗ rate of speed uh than during the

20:59 ↗ non-school Zone hours also in your

21:02 ↗ packet you can see the speeding by speed

21:06 ↗ so in the top right hand corner of each

21:09 ↗ uh cam potential camera Direction you

21:12 ↗ can see the the variance of speed so for

21:15 ↗ instance it has uh on isqua Elementary

21:19 ↗ the first one you can see that about

21:22 ↗ over 5,000 of the folks driving through

21:24 ↗ there we traveling under or between 16

21:28 ↗ and 20 miles an hour um and then your

21:30 ↗ fastest Speeders you had three folks

21:32 ↗ that were going upwards of 46 M miles an

21:34 ↗ hour but it has it for each four M an

21:37 ↗ hour bucket and so you can see that bro

21:39 ↗ the data broken down that way as

21:43 ↗ well thank you so the proposal in front

21:47 ↗ of you this evening the administration

21:49 ↗ is proposing adding a second school zone

21:51 ↗ safety location within our current

21:53 ↗ program so not a new program not uh

21:57 ↗ subject to the new Revenue restrictions

21:59 ↗ of the new law at isqua Valley

22:01 ↗ Elementary on Newport Way Northwest

22:04 ↗ we're proposing adding a Northbound and

22:06 ↗ a southbound camera this will help us

22:08 ↗ remain within the terms of our current

22:10 ↗ code so no new Revenue restrictions it

22:14 ↗ also will help us address the high

22:15 ↗ incidents of ongoing speeding so

22:17 ↗ speeding throughout the day regardless

22:19 ↗ of whether or not the lights are

22:20 ↗ flashing but the fact that folks are

22:22 ↗ maintaining that speed even when lights

22:24 ↗ are

22:25 ↗ flashing and the high frequency of pass

22:27 ↗ through rather than internal or

22:29 ↗ neighborhood traffic provides more a

22:32 ↗ more favorable Financial viability over

22:35 ↗ the required 5-year lease

22:39 ↗ term the administration is recommending

22:41 ↗ that the services safety and Parks

22:43 ↗ committee recommend the addition of one

22:45 ↗ school zone safety location at isqua

22:47 ↗ Valley Elementary School and recommend

22:49 ↗ that the mayor sign an amendment to the

22:51 ↗ agreement with ver Mobility to add two

22:53 ↗ cameras at this location at Newport Way

22:56 ↗ Northwest the timing and next steps on

22:58 ↗ this

22:59 ↗ um if it were to move forward would be

23:01 ↗ first to conduct an equity impact

23:04 ↗ assessment on the location as mentioned

23:06 ↗ in the packet similar assessments have

23:08 ↗ been done by neighboring jurisdictions

23:11 ↗ um and we would imagine this would cost

23:13 ↗ between five and

23:15 ↗ $8,000 in December we would finalize

23:19 ↗ communication to the community including

23:21 ↗ Outreach directly to any school uh but

23:25 ↗ also setting up more information about

23:27 ↗ why schools safety cameras um what are

23:30 ↗ we hoping to what are we hoping the

23:32 ↗ impact of this camera will be and why do

23:34 ↗ we see it as a viable solution to solve

23:36 ↗ this problem of safety in our school

23:37 ↗ area and also in December if we were to

23:40 ↗ move forward this would be when we would

23:41 ↗ sign that contract amendment in January

23:44 ↗ and February is when the new cameras

23:45 ↗ would be installed and the program would

23:47 ↗ be

23:48 ↗ launched so the direction needed tonight

23:51 ↗ specifically the administration is

23:52 ↗ recommending or excuse me is requesting

23:55 ↗ uh that you review the administration's

23:57 ↗ proposal to add a new school speed zone

24:00 ↗ camera location at isqua Valley

24:01 ↗ Elementary School and to provide

24:03 ↗ Direction on the administration's

24:05 ↗ proposal to sign a contract Amendment

24:07 ↗ with ver Mobility to install and operate

24:09 ↗ two new cameras on Newport Way

24:13 ↗ Northwest and with that I will pause for

24:17 ↗ questions council member

24:20 ↗ Joe thank you I had a question on the uh

24:22 ↗ Equity study you just touched on uh

24:25 ↗ would that Equity study be the same

24:28 ↗ study is required under HP 2384 or does

24:31 ↗ it differ that is the same study okay

24:34 ↗ and then uh followup question it the

24:37 ↗ analysis indicates that uh the impact

24:41 ↗ study needs to look

24:42 ↗ at um the placement of livability

24:46 ↗ accessibility economics education and

24:49 ↗ environmental health when identifying

24:51 ↗ where to locate the automatic automated

24:54 ↗ Traffic Safety camera could you give a

24:56 ↗ little bit more information about that

24:59 ↗ if you could so the the great thing is

25:02 ↗ that actually the vendor assessment has

25:04 ↗ done a little bit of that work for us

25:05 ↗ already um a great example and I'm

25:09 ↗ kicking myself for not including it in

25:10 ↗ the packet this evening Lake Forest Park

25:13 ↗ uh recently did a similar study uh for

25:16 ↗ their new traffic camera program um and

25:19 ↗ so it I can't speak exactly to the

25:21 ↗ methodology but that would be a good

25:22 ↗ example of what you would see a lot of

25:25 ↗ the the data is actually pretty similar

25:27 ↗ so it's around what is the current

25:29 ↗ travel pattern there what is the current

25:31 ↗ incidence of speeding um what is the

25:34 ↗ flow of foot traffic and bike traffic in

25:37 ↗ that area as well um and trying to get a

25:39 ↗ sense of who might be if anyone

25:43 ↗ um the word I'm looking for who might be

25:47 ↗ um impacted un necessarily by the

25:50 ↗ installation of new

25:52 ↗ cameras okay and um I guess there could

25:55 ↗ be a number of different parties that

25:57 ↗ could be impacted when I was thinking

25:59 ↗ about this um are we concerned about

26:02 ↗ equity in terms of the racial socio

26:06 ↗ economic breakdown of the people that

26:08 ↗ are getting the tickets are we concerned

26:10 ↗ about the equity impact to the people in

26:14 ↗ the neighborhood or the people going to

26:17 ↗ and from school as you point out kind of

26:19 ↗ walking to school and I don't know if

26:21 ↗ you have the answer that I was just

26:23 ↗ curious um as to how what Equity lens

26:26 ↗ we're using and what Equity point of

26:28 ↗ view we were going to approach it from

26:30 ↗ it would be people in the neighborhood

26:31 ↗ and people going to and from school

26:34 ↗ there's not a great way on a

26:37 ↗ pre-installation timeline for us to

26:39 ↗ predict the demographics of people

26:42 ↗ driving through the area okay thank you

26:44 ↗ for that clarification appreciate it

26:47 ↗ yep Deputy council president thank you

26:51 ↗ so one of the things that um isn't

26:54 ↗ talked about here is would uh I'm

26:56 ↗ presuming this would allev iate or

26:59 ↗ relieve a traffic um officer from

27:03 ↗ patrolling Newport Way as often as they

27:06 ↗ do now uh are there any potential

27:08 ↗ savings that we would make through

27:10 ↗ putting the cameras in um and that might

27:14 ↗ be I know that might be hard to document

27:16 ↗ because they probably are responding on

27:19 ↗ a needs basis but it seems to me that in

27:21 ↗ some ways we're going to save some money

27:24 ↗ here in terms of Officer presence on

27:27 ↗ Newport Way is that that correct I can't

27:29 ↗ say that that that is correct I do think

27:32 ↗ what I would hope and assume would be

27:34 ↗ true is that by not needing to be there

27:36 ↗ they could be elsewhere I think in

27:38 ↗ general we have a need for officers in a

27:40 ↗ number of places so if we can alleviate

27:43 ↗ their need to be there that means

27:44 ↗ they're able to be present in other

27:45 ↗ parts of the

27:47 ↗ community okay all right that was my

27:49 ↗ assumption too uh and um the other I

27:52 ↗ also was interested in the equity study

27:55 ↗ um would we be looking at

27:59 ↗ Equity differences between Grand Ridge

28:01 ↗ and isqua Valley Elementary um would

28:05 ↗ that be part of that Equity study are we

28:08 ↗ looking at are more people of color for

28:11 ↗ example impacted at grandbridge than at

28:13 ↗ isal Valley Elementary or vice versa at

28:17 ↗ we would be just looking at the one

28:19 ↗ location if we were going to move

28:21 ↗ forward specifically to understand the

28:23 ↗ impacts on Newport Way um rather than

28:26 ↗ comparing the two okay thank

28:30 ↗ you we have any other

28:34 ↗ questions and uh does that conclude your

28:36 ↗ presentation for us this evening it does

28:39 ↗ I'll ask the clerk whether we have

28:40 ↗ anyone uh uh remote have we have we had

28:44 ↗ anyone join us remotely who might

28:45 ↗ potentially want to make public comment

28:48 ↗ chair Mars we have not we have not okay

28:51 ↗ so I guess now we can go into the

28:52 ↗ direction needed

28:56 ↗ section I will go first thank you uh

29:00 ↗ appreciate the staff presentation

29:01 ↗ tonight very thorough and you were able

29:03 ↗ to answer uh some of the curveball

29:05 ↗ questions that chairman Marts had for

29:07 ↗ you appreciate that um I believe this is

29:10 ↗ a good uh program to uh pursue and to uh

29:14 ↗ complete the equity

29:16 ↗ study um I had I had kids who went to

29:19 ↗ Ive and I often travel to the road

29:22 ↗ myself and and try to walk that road um

29:25 ↗ the speeds during school hours are are

29:28 ↗ manageable um and when people slow down

29:32 ↗ to 20 M hour uh people speed during

29:35 ↗ those times it is a little bit scary so

29:38 ↗ I think this proposal is uh appropriate

29:41 ↗ for Public Safety I think that it's uh

29:44 ↗ an appropriate direction for the

29:46 ↗ administration to pursue I would ask

29:49 ↗ they look into signing the contract

29:50 ↗ Amendment with the vendor Vera Vera

29:53 ↗ Mobility excuse me

29:58 ↗ Deputy council president thanks uh well

30:01 ↗ first of all yes I uh would like to see

30:04 ↗ us put a traffic uh camera uh along

30:07 ↗ Newport Way again I also travel that

30:10 ↗ road frequently and um it it can get uh

30:15 ↗ dangerous out there if uh people are

30:18 ↗ speeding um there's already a lot that

30:20 ↗ we've done out there but I think there

30:21 ↗ could be more and I think we talked way

30:24 ↗ back when we first started looking at

30:25 ↗ this uh that we would revisit this when

30:28 ↗ the traffic circles go in and yes

30:30 ↗ because that might have an impact on

30:32 ↗ speed as well so so at some point we

30:34 ↗ might revisit this my concern um and I

30:38 ↗ told you earlier I'm a little conflicted

30:40 ↗ because we discovered through this

30:42 ↗ process that grand Bridge Elementary

30:44 ↗ does have a

30:45 ↗ problem um and I um when I'm looking at

30:49 ↗ the speeding figures for after

30:53 ↗ school uh in that Community grandbridge

30:56 ↗ is a public facility and there 's a lot

30:58 ↗ of activities that are going on there

31:00 ↗ after school and so um getting an extra

31:04 ↗ officer out there I think to help that

31:06 ↗ Community again um I brought this one up

31:10 ↗ because uh had heard over the years many

31:12 ↗ many complaints about people speeding

31:15 ↗ past that school um in dangerous fashion

31:18 ↗ and especially when it's dark and rainy

31:20 ↗ it's really a dark Road at that time so

31:24 ↗ I don't know what that what that might

31:26 ↗ mean but I'm wondering if we can work

31:29 ↗ with the school district to identify

31:31 ↗ those large community Gatherings at that

31:33 ↗ school and see if we can get some extra

31:35 ↗ enforcement out there during those

31:37 ↗ periods of

31:39 ↗ time if we didn't have to sign a

31:41 ↗ five-year contract i' you know it' be

31:44 ↗ fun to do a pilot for a year but we

31:46 ↗ can't do that so uh just to see if it

31:49 ↗ really made an impact but since it's a

31:51 ↗ five-year contract I don't think we we

31:53 ↗ ought to uh obligate ourselves to that

31:56 ↗ so I I do want uh the U administration's

32:00 ↗ uh recommendation thank you thank you um

32:04 ↗ can you go back to the slide that shows

32:07 ↗ the impact of the uh revenues in the

32:09 ↗ fourth and the fifth year going over to

32:12 ↗ uh other fund yeah I I just totally

32:15 ↗ think we should do um both locations um

32:17 ↗ they're both a problem it seems very

32:19 ↗ arbitrary to me to tackle one of the two

32:22 ↗ they're both they're a comparable

32:24 ↗ magnitude problem it's a comparable

32:25 ↗ number of speeders going past the two

32:28 ↗ locations um it seems really bizarre to

32:31 ↗ just choose one of the two and not do

32:33 ↗ the other two clearly um the

32:36 ↗ cameras uh at Grand Ridge would make

32:39 ↗ enough money over the five years to

32:41 ↗ cover the cost and and a lot more than

32:43 ↗ that even if in years four and five uh

32:46 ↗ it didn't make a lot of money uh they

32:48 ↗ would bring in a lot of money in the

32:49 ↗ first three years according to our

32:52 ↗ projections um and so we have we have

32:54 ↗ facts and we have theories right the

32:56 ↗ facts is that people are speeding at

32:58 ↗ both of these locations a ton uh in

33:01 ↗ front of where our kids go to school um

33:03 ↗ there's a theory that we won't make a

33:05 ↗ ton of money in years four and years

33:06 ↗ five but again over the course of the

33:09 ↗ contract um both will make a lot of

33:11 ↗ money and if you stand back and sort of

33:13 ↗ squint they're both going to make the

33:15 ↗ same you know there's going to be same

33:16 ↗ number of digits the amount of money

33:18 ↗ that we would make in both of these

33:19 ↗ programs and if we have to give some of

33:21 ↗ the money back to the state well we do

33:23 ↗ that in other programs as well so I

33:25 ↗ would really like to see us do um both

33:27 ↗ of these schools they're they're an

33:29 ↗ equal magnitude problem currently and it

33:31 ↗ would be a great problem to have at the

33:33 ↗ end of year five if we've if we've

33:35 ↗ caused a huge reduction in speeding and

33:37 ↗ Grand Ridge and we're not making much

33:39 ↗ money at the end of year five then we

33:41 ↗ can we can dismantle that those cameras

33:43 ↗ and declare Victory so I would I would

33:47 ↗ ask that my fellow um committee members

33:50 ↗ um consider a recommendation of both

33:56 ↗ locations council member Joe yeah I'll

33:58 ↗ just ask um I'm not opposed to that I

34:01 ↗ just want to hear from staff to see if

34:03 ↗ that would cause um any delays or

34:07 ↗ additional uh work that might need to be

34:09 ↗ done and how that might impact the

34:11 ↗ timeline sure I think one of the big

34:13 ↗ concerns uh that I didn't go into in

34:15 ↗ this presentation is Staffing um so you

34:18 ↗ see the numbers there the expenditure

34:20 ↗ numbers around hiring enough people to

34:24 ↗ administer this program um

34:28 ↗ however hiring enough people to

34:29 ↗ administer to school zone cameras may be

34:32 ↗ a challenge uh you're looking at that

34:35 ↗ point at the addition of upwards of

34:37 ↗ potentially five Court staff um and

34:41 ↗ potentially

34:43 ↗ even in some cases at least at the

34:46 ↗ beginning um maybe up to eight police

34:50 ↗ officers uh and so that could be the

34:52 ↗ that I think is probably the biggest

34:53 ↗ barrier uh is potentially the the

34:55 ↗ ability to staff the

34:59 ↗ response to the violations that we would

35:01 ↗ see if we were to install both at the

35:03 ↗ same

35:05 ↗ time well now I'm confused because these

35:07 ↗ are net revenues I assumed they were the

35:09 ↗ revenue after covering the costs

35:11 ↗ associated with the programs not not an

35:13 ↗ issue of cost an issue of hiring so not

35:16 ↗ an issue actually not an issue of we

35:19 ↗ have we would have the dollars to pay

35:21 ↗ for the people it would be the issue of

35:23 ↗ bringing that many new staff members on

35:25 ↗ here um between now and the end of

35:27 ↗ January when we would hope to launch the

35:29 ↗ first camera so we're looking at maybe

35:33 ↗ two uh court and four police right now

35:36 ↗ for one um and we look at upwards of

35:38 ↗ potentially double that that would just

35:40 ↗ be the that would be the barrier not the

35:42 ↗ not the dollars but the human human

35:46 ↗ capital all right but I mean this has

35:48 ↗ been a problem evidently for a while and

35:51 ↗ if it takes us a little while to staff

35:53 ↗ up takes us a little while to staff up

35:55 ↗ the the other thing I would I I um would

35:58 ↗ mention in consideration in both of

36:00 ↗ these is I do not like the idea of

36:03 ↗ saying well we can just put an officer

36:05 ↗ up there so we don't need these cameras

36:07 ↗ every single officer we have is vital

36:10 ↗ right to the city and is is hard one

36:13 ↗ right and and every uniformed officer

36:15 ↗ that we have that's out there on patrol

36:18 ↗ we need on patrol not stacked up when we

36:21 ↗ could solve the problem with a robotic

36:25 ↗ just we are told time and time again how

36:27 ↗ how vital are very small police council

36:31 ↗ member to Michelle Deputy council

36:32 ↗ president just just a note that the

36:34 ↗ cameras won't be working after uh school

36:37 ↗ gets out so so even if we did this extra

36:41 ↗ program it's going to stop at 5:00 is it

36:45 ↗ on Second Avenue so so that wouldn't

36:48 ↗ solve the problem of of the extra

36:50 ↗ Speeders uh in the evening we'd still

36:53 ↗ need an officer up there I think so or

36:57 ↗ now I thought about do we start the

36:59 ↗ cameras a little bit later and let them

37:01 ↗ go a little bit later that might be

37:03 ↗ another option

37:05 ↗ but we'd still need uh if we if it was

37:08 ↗ during the regular school hours we're

37:10 ↗ still going to need an officer up there

37:12 ↗ I will say that point well taken by your

37:15 ↗ comments this is going to go back to the

37:17 ↗ full Council right so I think maybe it

37:19 ↗ goes back to the full council with a

37:21 ↗ split decision and we red discuss it at

37:24 ↗ that point if that's the will of the

37:26 ↗ body then then then we then that'll be

37:28 ↗ the will of the body

37:32 ↗ okay so I uh so I take it uh both of you

37:35 ↗ still would like to just have uh the

37:37 ↗ cameras

37:39 ↗ on

37:42 ↗ Newport and not on at Grand

37:45 ↗ Ridge I think the recommendation should

37:47 ↗ go back with um a split decision as as

37:52 ↗ council member D Melle points out um

37:54 ↗ that U the location on Newport is sounds

37:59 ↗ like it has three votes and then the uh

38:02 ↗ other camera is uh recommendation for

38:06 ↗ full Council consideration with no decis

38:09 ↗ of two 21 or

38:11 ↗ 30 I think 21 reflects the sense of the

38:14 ↗ body two of the council members would

38:16 ↗ like to um have the program in front of

38:19 ↗ isqua Valley Elementary and one of the

38:21 ↗ three would like to have it in front of

38:22 ↗ both elements great very well sounds

38:24 ↗ good does the administration have what

38:26 ↗ they're looking for from us this

38:28 ↗ evening all right Dale thank you so much

38:30 ↗ for your presentation this evening uh do

38:33 ↗ my fellow committee members have

38:35 ↗ anything else uh for the committee at

38:37 ↗ this

38:38 ↗ time all right well uh I have no

38:41 ↗ announcements to make so with that we

38:43 ↗ are adjourned at

38:46 ↗ 708 thank you all very much thank you at

38:48 ↗ home

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

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Attendance

Council / Members (3)

Tola Marts

Barbara de Michele

Russell Joe

Staff (2)

Wally Bobkiewicz, City Administrator

Chris Grabowski, Deputy City Clerk

Recommendations & actions (1)

Sentences extracted from the narrative containing words like recommended, requested, directed, moved, or approved. Best-effort — verify against the full minutes for context.

Councilmember Joe moved (DCP de Michele 2nd) to approve the minutes as presented.