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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinal Minutes November 27Los Altos Hills Pathway Committee Minutes of Meeting November 27, 2007 1. ADMINISTRATIVE Chairman Ginger Summit called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM Members present: Anna Brunzell, Nick Dunckel, Ginger Summit, Bill Silver, Bob Stutz, Jolon Wagner, Sue Welch Members absent: Jim Bliss, Courtenay Corrigan, Nancy Ginzton, Chris Vargas The agenda was approved as amended below. 1. NEW BUSINESS No properties were on up for review for pathway recommendations A. City Council Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, December 13, 2007. At this meeting, Council will allocate the Town's recreational funds ($3 million). Several committees will present their financial needs and argue for receiving a portion for the money. The committees/contenders will include LAH Parks and Recreation, Bullis-Purissima School Fields, Westwind Community Barn, Open Space Committee, and the Pathway Committee. Chairman Summit will present the PWC capital improvement projects recommendations, as well as suggestions for the maintenance budget. All PWC members were encouraged to attend. CIP Projects. The PWC again reviewed and discussed pros and cons of the high-priority CIP projects to be presented at the December Council meeting: 1) Magdalena to Foothill College route (along I280). Much of the infrastructure is already in place and the Fire District considers this an important accessory emergency route. The utility company wants the bridge to carry vehicles; however, if they want this type of bridge they must pay the additional expense. The Town requires only that the bridge be able to accommodate horses, bicycle, and pedestrians. 2) Zappatini Court to Central Drive. This important route for visitors to Byrne preserve can be easily constructed except for steep section from the creek up to Central Drive. A neighbor has put in twelve steps nearby and may allow a pathway on these steps. 3) Buena Vista to Sherlock. A survey is required to establish pathway location and a culvert is needed for the drainage ditch. 4) Taaffe Road to Elena and Black Mountain. This is an important connection that traverses a small triangle of Town-owned land. A pathway can be constructed relatively inexpensively here. 5) Old Altos triangle to Fremont and Burke. This heavily used roadside path near Los Altos town center needs an upgrade for safety. A raised berm is needed on Old Altos to prevent cars from parking in the pathway and protect pedestrians. Road improvement work is apparently scheduled for this area (See VTA report below.). It may also be possible to include this pathway as part of a local or regional bicycle project. Pathway maintenance budget. Steve Garcia will provide details on available funds at a future meeting. Chairman Summit suggested a modest increase in maintenance funds. Potential cost and funding sources for the walking map were discussed. B. Update of Circulation Element for LAH General Plan. The LAH General Plan is being updated as required by the state. The PWC reviewed the existing element (approved march 1996) and discussed possible changes that would make it more clear and/or more consistent with long-standing practices. No time has yet been scheduled for the PWC to provide input to the General Plan committee. Recommended changes include: 1) Goal G1. One member found the wording "All residents of the Town shall have immediate access adjacent or across the street from their residence to pathway or pathways…"confusing and not consistent with current practice. No change was made. 2) Goal G3. Recommend changing "Pathways should meander whenever possible" to "Pathways should meander whenever possible to accommodate safety, topography and landscaping." 3) Policy A4. Recommend changing the sentence "A roadside path shall not be maintained on a cul- de-sac hat serves or could serve six or fewer lots " to "A roadside path shall not be maintained on a cul-de-sac hat serves or could serve eight or fewer lots". 4) Recommend adding to Implementation Actions "The Town will maintain a walking map available to residents that indicates all roadside and off-road paths that are passable at present. Additional pathways will be activated as easements are obtained and construction is completed." 3) B Implementation Action 1. Recommend changing "The pathway fee shall be established at an amount roughly proportionate to the cost of pathway construction on the subject lot, if a pathway were required" to "The pathway fee shall be established as a function of the area of the subject lot." 4) B Implementation Action 4. Recommend changing "A lot that contributed a pathway fee at the time of subdivision shall not be require to contribute again at the time of site development" to "A lot that contributed a pathway fee at the time of subdivision shall not be require to contribute again at the time of initial development but may be subject to a fee at later development." 5) B Implementation Action 21. Recommend adding the clause "to provide safe footing for equestrians and pedestrians" to the sentence "When a pathway crosses a driveway or walkway, the pathway surface shall take precedence". C. Maintenance Spreadsheet. Jim Bliss and Nick Dunckel created a spreadsheet to track pathway maintenance requests and the Town 's response to these requests. A simplified version of the spreadsheet has been put on the PWC (internal committee) website. PWC members can submit photos to Jim or Nick. Maintenance request forms will be available to the public on the Town web site if approved by the City Council. Methods for tracking work on the requests and for providing feedback to persons who submit maintenance requests were discussed. The possibility of creating searchable databases for PWC use (e.g., maintenance requests. PWC minutes, PWC recommendations for easements) using GoogleDocs was discussed and will be explored. 2. OLD BUSINESS A. Final Review of Walking Map. Chairman Summit reminded PWC members to provide final changes to the map and specific wording of the map legend was discussed. Members were asked to identify locations where pathway marker posts are needed and pass the info on to Chairman Summit. It was suggested that to promote pathway use, the PWC prepare handouts describing interesting pathway routes and loops through the Town (e.g. equestrian rides, long running routes, dog walks). Scott Vanderlip created a series of these several years ago which were well received. B. Westwind Community Barn Standing Committee Report. Nick Dunckel, the PWC representative to West Wind Barn and a member of the West Wind Barn Board, reported that the Town is making minor repairs to the barn and has installed a new parking lot surface. C. San Jose Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee. Anna Brunzell, PWC representative to the San Jose Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee reported that an improvement project is planned for LAH. The project will include a route along El Monte near Foothill and along Fremont from Concepcion to Edith and from Edith to Burke. Roadways will be overlaid and resurfaced and drainage improved. VTA will contribute $252K. The PWC will request a berm and raised path along both sides of Fremont as part of this project. The PBAC is also working on technical guidelines for bicycle and pedestrian access, which each city can chose to adopt or not. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of October 22, 2007 were approved as amended. Meeting was adjourned at 9:05 PM. 4. NEXT SCHEDULED MEETINGS Next pathway walk: Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 8:30 AM at Town Hall Next regular meeting: Monday, January 28, 2008 at 7:00 PM at Town Hall Respectfully submitted, Sue Welch January 23, 2007