HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-3-19Town and County of Nantucket
COMMITTEE ON ROADS AND RIGHT OF WAY
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Meeting of 19 March 2013 v°r,
4:00 pm in the Training Room of 2 Fairgrounds Road y
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APPROVED FINAL MINUTES ,�„ a C,
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1. Call to Order, Approval of the Agenda, and Approval of Minutes
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A. Chair Allen Reinhard called the meeting to order at 4:03 pm. In attendance were
Anne Atherton (4:07 pm), Nat Lowell, Sylvie O'Donnell, Allen Reinhard, Bert lk"derN
Lee Saperstein, and John Stackpole; a quorum was present.
Not present was Joe Marcklinger.
B. There were no changes to the published agenda.
C. Approval of minutes from February 19, 2013: John Stackpole moved to approve and
Bert Ryder seconded the motion. After Secretary Lee Saperstein explained that he had
omitted one street in reporting Andrew Vorce's presentation, Item 2.D. on Warrant
Article 79 for the taking of four streets, namely Francis Street, and that it had been fixed
in the draft, the committee voted unanimously to accept the Minutes.
D. An opportunity for comments from the public was given in the public notice of the
meeting but no guests were present at this meeting, hence no comments.
2. Installation of Six New Public Way Monuments.
Chair Reinhard announced that, following on -site inspections by him and Lee Saperstein,
a recommendation is made to install the six granite monuments, three posts similar to
those installed previously and three flush markers, donated to the Town by Neil Paterson.
One of the upright posts should go at the intersection of Nosegay Lane and Sankaty Road
(at Zero Sankaty Road) and the other two posts should go on either side of Eel Point
Road to mark the shore- to-shore footpath that has been created on Town and Land Bank
lands. A small parking area has been marked on the south side of Eel Point Road and it is
due to be cleared and fenced in a few days. The north -side path goes to a set of new steps
down to Dionis Beach; these were damaged in the recent storms but repairs are
underway. The Planning Department, PLUS, has asked the original builder to fix their
foundations.
The three flush - with- the -ground monuments will mark those lateral ways from the
`Sconset Bluff Footpath that have clear permission to do so: one marker will go along the
path at its intersection with Nosegay Lane and two markers will go at either end of the
way between 65 and 67 Baxter Road, i.e. one at Baxter Road and one on the footpath.
This way is the effective northern end of the Footpath. When the Town obtains clear
permission on the other lateral ways that have been nominated by the subcommittee,
Ann's Lane and Rosaly's Lane, we will recommend installation of additional flush
markers. D. Anne Atherton volunteered to add these six markers to our table of
monuments and asked the Chair to ensure that photographs were taken during the
installation.
A short discussion on how and by whom installation should be done led to the offer from
John Stackpole for staff from the Nantucket Land Bank to do it. Lee Saperstein
mentioned that the gap in the hedge between 65 and 67 Baxter was not four feet wide and
we should ask the owners to cut it back rather than have them discover that it had been
done for them by the Town. D. Anne Atherton volunteered to contact the owners.
3. Taking of Woodbury and Barnabus Lanes; also Winn Street for a Bike Route.
The Town has been asked to take Woodbury Lane, Bamabus Lane, and Winn Street, to
make them into public ways and assume maintenance for them. The Town Manager
referred this request to the Committee for its advice, hence this agenda item.
Woodbury, which connects North Liberty Street to New Lane, and Bamabus, from
Woodbury to New Lane at its intersection with Upper Main Street, are in the privately
developed Woodbury subdivision. By report, they are paved with paver blocks and are in
fair condition; no one from the committee had inspected them prior to this meeting.
Winn Street, from Milk Street to Vestal Street, is unpaved and is a Town -owned public
way. From Vestal Street to the Madaket Road, it is paved but is a private way; the
request for taking is for the privately owned portion. In 2008, the then Director of the
Department of Public Works recommended against these takings because of the increased
maintenance burden that would be assumed by the Town.
In opening the discussion on this request, Sylvie O'Donnell asked if these ways were on
the list of priority takings that had been developed by the Committee and revised as
recently as 2008. Criteria for putting a private way on this list included need for
emergency access, use by the public as a connector (i.e. not a dead -end road) including
access to subsidiary ways, and an expressed interest by abutters. Chair Reinhard
indicated that none of the three ways in this request is on the list. It became apparent to
the Committee members that the issue should be divided with Woodbury and Bamabus to
be one request and Winn Street another. A general issue for both sets of streets is parking
and whether or not it is permitted on private ways. There was a presumption that it is
permitted but it was felt that this opinion should be checked with the Director of
Planning.
There was a general reluctance to make a recommendation on the Woodbury
St./Bamabus Lane question until more information was obtained. In particular, the
wishes should be sought from the affected homeowners about their willingness to have
the ways taken. Also, the Town's transportation planner, Mike Bums, should be asked if
there was any public interest in taking these ways so that they could be incorporated as a
bike route leading from Town Center to the ways to the Beach (Hummock Pond and
Madaket Road bike paths). The consensus was to defer this question until more
information can be obtained.
Winn Street, however, partly public and partly private, does present an opportunity to add
a safe bike route that avoids Prospect Street and Quaker Road. John Stackpole moved
and Sylvie O'Donnell seconded a motion to recommend that the Town take the
remaining portion of Winn Street. The ensuing discussion included a suggestion that
Winn Street should be tied to the plans for bike route connectors from Town center to the
ends of the beach bike routes, particularly along Hummock Pond and Madaket Roads,
and to the plans for sidewalks along Prospect Street and Quaker Road. John Stackpole
also suggested that the Town consider reversing the one -way direction on nearby
Saratoga Street so as to reduce the danger to traffic as it exits onto the Milk Street. The
Committee concurred unanimously with the motion to recommend the taking of Winn
Street.
4. Nantucket Railroad Trail Project Update.
Lee Saperstein reported that the Railroad project is progressing, with the bulk of the work
being done by Joe Marcklinger as he perfects the map of the route. He had shared with
us the information that he obtained from the files in the Office of the Town Clerk and is
now putting it on the map. When asked about a proposed meeting with directors from the
Nantucket Conservation Foundation and the Land Bank, Allen Reinhard said that both
organizations are interested in marking new trails. It is likely that they would have time
in the fall to embark on the cutting and marking of trails. Lee Saperstein said that, when
ready, we would share the Railroad map with interested parties; he also said that he
would try to entice the Nantucket Historical Association into giving us an opportunity to
talk about this project at one of their "Food for Thought' brown -bag lunch talks.
5. Update: Publication of "A History of Road and Ways."
Allen Reinhard gave an update on the progress toward publication of Fran Kartumen's
book on a history of Nantucket's Roads and Ways. This publication is supported by
Harbor Fuels. Allen indicated that new sections have been written and that a selection of
pictures from the archives of the Nantucket Historical Association has been made. John
Stackpole suggested that Joe Marcklinger's map of the railroad route be considered for
inclusion. Editing, formatting, and printing are under review and it is hoped to have it
published by this summer.
6. Greenway, Dionis Stairs and Earth Day Walk, April 22Md.
The new Shore-to -Shore Footpath, part of the Committee's Creenway Project, will be
featured in a public walk in celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd. Walkers will meet at
the Dionis Beach public parking lot at 10:00 am and then take a circular walk of about
3.5 miles, with return to the parking lot by noon of that day. The theme of the walk will
be to illustrate how the town and conservation groups throughout the island work
together to provide access to Nantucket's open space and conservation lands.
7. Old, new and other business
A. Under new business, the Committee discussed the placement of posts at the end of
Cathcart Road. Originally informed by an e-mail from D. Anne Atherton that she had
read a Facebook posting by a local fisherman who was deeply upset by not being able to
drive onto the beach at the end of Cathcart Road, the Committee learned that efforts to
resolve the issue were underway even before we met. In response to her e-mail, there
was an exchange of a -mails among Kara Buzanoski, DPW, and Jeff Carlson, DNR, and
the Committee that explained that steps had been taken to protect private land to the east
of Cathcart Road and that these steps — placing poles in the ground at the end of Cathcart
Road — were a little more aggressive than intended. The posts have since been relocated.
The beach at the end of Cathcart Road is accessible to the public because the portion to
the west of the end of the road belongs to the Nantucket Land Bank, who has located a
kayak/dinghy rack there. With a shortage of places in Nantucket Harbor for fishermen to
access their boats and land their catch, this has become a popular site for those, scallopers
for instance, who work inside of the harbor. Unfortunately, instead of driving onto the
beach to load and unload and then parking their vehicles back in the provided parking
area, a number were leaving their vehicles on the private land. A complaint from the land
owner precipitated the action. It was suggested that a few discreet signs indicating where
vehicles might enter the beach and where they might not would help to resolve the
dispute.
B. Sylvie O'Donnell asked about Warrant Article 74 for the purchase of 2 Bartlett Road
and whether or not it was needed. The response from Chair Allen Reinhard and several
others was that it was essential to ease traffic congestion and potential future accidents.
Sylvie O'Donnell then asked if connecting the two ends of Cato Lane would not achieve
the same result and the response was no on two counts. The fast is that there is no public
consent to make this connection and the second is that traffic on Bartlett Road would not
turn to use Cato Lane even if it were opened.
C. Lee Saperstein mentioned that one of the Action Items in the Harbor Plan that had
been assigned to the Committee on Roads and Right of Way was to keep a watching brief
on potential new Public Access points to the Harbor. He is a member of the HPIC and
told them, during a conversation about implementation progress, that our Committee was
very aware of its responsibility in this regard. He did suggest, however, that this
commitment be made visible by including it in our list of Outstanding Projects.
D. Nat Lowell asked if there was any progress toward implementing the Sidewalks'
Advisory Committee recommendations on crosswalks and curbs disturbed by the recent
sewer renovation project. Allen Reinhard said that cost over -runs suggest that there will
be no money for work not explicitly described in the contract.
S. Adjourn at 5:34 pm. Having reached the end of the agenda, adjournment was by
acclamation.
Next meeting: Apri116, 2013, 4:00 p.m., 2 Fairgrounds Road training room.
R &ROW Committee Outstanding Projects List:
• Nantucket Open Space Plan Update
• Nantucket Greenway and Footpath System
• Nantucket Town Sidewalk Survey with recommendations
• Railroad ROW trail project
• First Way Pedestrian/Bike Access and Road Improvement Safety Project
• Installation of sidewalk from Prospect St. multi-use path to Upper Vestal
Street
• Bike path linking Surfside, Hummock Pond & Madaket Bike paths via Mill
Hill
• In Town Bike Path from Washington St. Ext to Rotary
• Spruce Street viewing platform
• Harbor walk
• Publication of "A History of Roads and Ways"
• Chapter 91 Public Access License Enforcement: Harbors Plan
Implementation Com.
• Identify new Public Access points to the water.
• Surfside paper road/abutters way takings
• Update Priority Takings List and process used to evaluate priority for takings
Completed projects needing implementation and follow up:
• Access to Sconset Footpath, maintenance and signage
• Work with DPW on maintenance plan for public way monuments and trails
• Oversight of maintenance West Chester St. Ext., Crooked Lane and Cathcart
Road
Submitted by Lee W. Saperstein, Secretary