HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-03-216
Town and County of Nantucket 7 o
ROADS AND RIGHT OF WAY COMMITTEE T
Meeting of 21 March 2017
Conference Room of 2 Fairgrounds Road
FINAL AND APPROVED MINUTES
1. Call to Order, Approval of the Agenda, Approval of Minutes, and Public
Comments.
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A. Chair Allen Reinhard called the meeting to order at 4:02 pm. In attendance were Nelson r
( Snookie) Eldridge, Leslie Forbes, Nat Lowell (left at 4:30 pm), Allen Reinhard, Lee Saperstein,
John Stackpole, and Stephen Welch (arrived at 4:06 and left at 4:49 pm); there was a quorum at
all times.
Absent was Bert Ryder.
Guests: Mike Burns, Transportation Planner, Tom Erichsen, Smith Point Association, Phil
Gallagher, and Ray Sylvia, DPW.
The agenda as distributed was accepted.
B. Public Comment. Tom Erichsen, President of the Smith Point Association, addressed the
Committee about his group's concern for open and public access along Ames Avenue in front of
Millie's Bridge. There is a strip of Town lots along Ames at this point, identified as 5 Ames
Avenue. In 2001, the Annual Town Meeting approved a warrant article that identified this strip
as open space to be used for recreational purposes. Tom Erichsen has learned that the owners of
4 California Avenue (The Stilt House) have explored with the Board of Selectmen a potential
land swap with the lot on Ames Avenue. He is concerned that such a swap would prevent the
movement of Ames Avenue landward in the event of further beach erosion and, thus, blocking
access to Millie's Bridge. Allen Reinhard said that Andrew Vorce was reviewing the issue. He
said, also, that he will follow up with Andrew Vorce, Town Planner, and Dave Fronzuto, Town
Emergency Management Director, to find out what is happening and if there is a right -of -way
issue that should be an agenda item for our committee. Tom Erichsen left the room at 4:21 pm.
C. Minutes. Stephen Welch moved approval of the minutes from January 17, 2017; Snookie
Eldridge seconded and they were then approved unanimously.
2. Downtown Sidewalk Repair and In -Town Bike Paths Update.
Mike Burns, Transportation Planner, reported that consultant, Dan Mulloy of Site Design Inc.,
has reviewed all sidewalks in Phase I and correlated the detailed land survey performed recently
with the Town's GIS information. Chuck Larson, Deputy Director of the DPW participated in
this review. They are determining planning and construction options and hope to have decisions
soon on preferred options so that bids might go out in the fall with construction to begin after
Labor Day. Key among these options are those that widen heavily trafficked routes from and to
the ferries on Straight Wharf and Easy Street. Once the first phase gets underway, along with
additional surveying information, they will be able to make future budget projections more
accurately. Allen Reinhard reminded the group that our committee did a lot of preliminary work
on the sidewalk survey and Mike Burns reinforced that comment.
Lee Saperstein mentioned that he had received a telephone call from a concerned citizen about
parking on narrow, historic streets and the potential this creates for sidewalk damage. The group
agreed that this was a policy issue that belongs to the Board of Selectmen.
Mike Burns reported, also, that the Mill Hill bicycle connector and walking trails will be bid in
the spring for construction soon afterwards. He reported, also, that Google ( Google Earth and
Google Maps) has been collecting new street -view imagery of Nantucket for its maps; some of it
is ready for viewing now.
3. Access to Historic Coloured Cemetery and Founders Burial Ground update.
Allen Reinhard told the committee that Jason Graziadei, Nantucket Cottage Hospital, has
informed us about an advertisement that will go into the paper showing the hospital's plans for
access to the Historic Coloured Cemetery during the next phase of construction. In that ad, there
are instructions about how to get to the Cemetery. He then introduced Ray Sylvia, sign -maker
for the Town, who has helped to move the signs that direct people to the Cemetery from their
previous location by the Hospital to North Mill Street and then down the un -named way to the
entrance to the Historic Coloured Cemetery and a new parking area. Lee Saperstein repeated a
comment from Bob Gardner, Water Company Manager, that the contractor for the pipe - laying
project on Prospect Street has committed to improving North Mill Street at the completion of the
project.
Allen Reinhard reported, also, that, with work done by the DPW, access to the Founder's Burial
Ground is as good as it has ever been. He complimented the DPW for the work that they had
done. Guest Phil Gallagher asked about interpreting a beach access sign in Madaket. Allen
Reinhard said that he knew the location and would look at it.
4. Special Municipal Employee Committee designation.
Allen Reinhard reported that a simple request to the Town's Administration resulted in our
committee's addition to the list of Special Municipal Employees. This designation removes
ambiguities over committee members working on other boards or commissions or for the Town.
5. Alliance Lane/Eel Point Road Public Access, and Public Way Monument
Placements.
Allen Reinhard said that he had found another, older public way monument on Eel Point Road
opposite Alliance Lane. It is not on the side of Eel Point Road but, instead, is at the end of
driveway. A projection of the Town's GIS showed a way leading up to the home at 57 Eel Point
Road with Town -owned land beyond the house and abutting the water. He said, also, that he was
not sure whether we should add the monument to our list. Leslie Forbes suggested that we could
use the wording, "pedestrian walkway" at this location. Lee Saperstein said that we should
check on this way's status, public or private, before making a decision. Allen Reinhard said that
he would follow up with the Planning Office.
Allen Reinhard has checked with Andrew Vorce on the status of takings and has a list of
footpaths that need monuments. Leslie Forbes remarked that the markers in the walkway on
Easy Street say "Pedestrian Walkway" and might be a model for other locations where we do
not wish to suggest that vehicles are permitted.
Here is the list of public ways and public footpaths along with a suggested marker:
Henry Street
Upright Monument on Hulbert Ave. side. Beachside marking
undecided (upright or flush)
Willard Street
Upright Monument on Hulbert Ave. side. Beachside marking
undecided.
Johnson Street
Flush Monument.
Rosalie Street
Flush monuments at Baxter Rd. and Sconset Footpath.
Eel Point Road
2 upright monuments marking paths at General Services
Administration (GSA)/Town property at pole Number 28.
Woodbine at Nonantum
Upright Public Footpath monument or Flush Public Footpath
Irving St.at Nonantum
Flush Public Footpath monument
In addition, the existing Public Way monuments at West Chester St Extension should be moved
to be more visible.
The southerly end of Monohansett Road, beyond its intersection with Okorwaw, ends in a circle
on which sit numbers 1, 1R, and 2 Monohansett. Because of a property sale and application for
subdivision, the existing footpath from the circle to Adams Street, thence to the beach, will be
lost. An agreement with the property owners will provide an easement along the property
boundary between numbers 1 and 2 and, thence, to Adams. Allen Reinhard said that we suggest
to the planner that this needs to be a ten -foot easement to maintain access to the beach for
residents. We also may want to replace the flush monument at the Sankaty end of the Sconset
Footpath with an upright Public Way monument.
A related project is to develop a map of the island indicating the locations of all the public way
monuments, along with a schedule of periodic or annual visits for the benefit of the DPW road
crew supervisor. This would be an easy -to -read illustration of our current spreadsheet.
Completing this list will be a great accomplishment of the ROW Committee.
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6. Old, New or other business: Chapter 91 update,
Leslie Forbes reported that she had obtained the names of officials on Martha's Vineyard who
have experience with Chapter 91 Licenses. She will ask Jeff Carlson, Nantucket Natural
Resources Coordinator, for contact information. Lee Saperstein suggested that we might need to
visit them to get a better picture of how they grant and enforce these licenses. After the meeting
and while reviewing January's minutes, he noted that he was supposed to visit with the Town's
Register of Deeds to see if the digital website could accommodate an additional filter for Chapter
91 Licenses. He did visit and her response was that it could not.
7. Adjourn.
The end of the agenda was reached at 5:18 pm and the meeting was adjourned.
The next meeting of the committee is 4:00 p.m., April 18, 2017, at 2 Fairgrounds Road.
Roads and Right of Way Committee Outstanding Projects List:
Proiects Underway and need only oversight until completion
• Downtown Sidewalk Survey Project;
• In Town Bike Path from Washington Street Extension to Rotary;
• Boulevarde to Airport road takings, and reconstruction as Public Ways;
• Bike path linking Surfside, Hummock Pond & Madaket Bike paths via Mill Hill;
• First Way Pedestrian/Bike Access and Road Improvement Safety Project.
Proiects in need of advancement, completion or encouragement
• Installation of sidewalk from Prospect Street multi -use path to Upper Vestal Street;
• Sconset Footpath install Public Way Monuments;
• Chapter 91 Public Access License Enforcement: Harbor Plan Implementation;
• Nantucket Open Space Plan Update.
Long Term Proiects and proiects on hold
• Nantucket Railroad Trail Project;
• Nantucket Greenway and Footpath System;
• East Creek Road viewing platform and CPC grant;
• Work with DPW on maintenance plan for public way monuments and trails;
• Maintenance Plan for West Chester Street Extension and Crooked Lane;
• Harbor Walk.
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