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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/10/2019 - Minutes - Regular MeetingCITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING WINDMILL COMMUNITY ROOM, DIAMOND BAR CITY HALL 21810 COPLEY DRIVE, DIAMOND BAR OCTOBER 10, 2019 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Garg called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. in the Diamond Bar City Hall Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, California 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Commissioner Mehta led the Pledge ofAllegiance. ROLL CALL: Commissioners Surendra Mehta, Cynthia Quan, Andrew Wong, Vice -Chair Michael Gonzalez and Chair/Mahendra Garg Also Present: David Liu, Public Works Director; Christian Malpica, Associate Engineer; Fabian Aoun, Associate Engineer; and, Marcy Hilario, Administrative Coordinator, I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A. Traffic and Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes of August 8, 2019. C/Wong moved, VC/Gonzalez seconded, to approve the Meeting Minutes of August 8, 2019 as presented. Motion carried by the following R011 Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS NOES: COMMISSIONERS MehtaVC/GonzalezWong B. Traffic and Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes of September 12, 2019. C/Quan moved, VC/Gonzalez seconded, to approve the Meeting Minutes of September 12, 2019 as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: NOES: COMMISSIONERS: ABSTAIN: COMMISSIONERS: ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: Quan, VC/Gonzalez, Wong, OCTOBER 10, 2019 PAGE 2 T&T COMMISSION 11. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Dr, Steven Christopher, Principal, and Keith Lovell, Facilities Manager, Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, offered his recommendation to the Commission regarding the school's staff and parents concerns about trees that are proposed to be re -planted on the public right-of-way on Golden Springs Drive (near the school's entry/exit driveways). He provided three scenarios outlined in a detailed letter with exhibits dated October 10th which he verbalized to the Traffic and Transportation Commission, Dr. Christopher indicated a best -case scenario that there be no plantings of any kind. This would ensure the line -of -sight for drivers be preserved at the school entry/exit off of Golden Springs Drive. C/Quan asked if parentspark on the street or drive up to the campus and Dr. Christopher responded that there is no street parking. C/Mehta stated that he understood the concern about the trees and wondered if Dr. Christopher felt safe making a left turn, even if there were no trees. Dr. Christopher responded it is not safe, but better without the trees. 45 miles per hour in front of a school entrance and exit seems to him to be extreme and generally, traffic travels at a higher speed than what is posted. C/Wong shared that, as a parent of children who attend Mt. Calvary, he can attest to the difficulty of making right and left turns. The line -of -sight is of concern because vehicles traveling eastbound on Golden Springs Drive travel at a high rate of speed. Also, it becomes difficult to turn into and exit the school grounds. VC/Gonzalez added that he can also attest to difficulty with line -of -sight issues. He hoped there might be compromise to plant something other than pine trees. AE/Aoun provided an update to the Commission regarding the City's responses to the church/school stating that upon originally receiving this inquiry from the school principal, he and another staff member visited the site and drove the area. He is familiar with the turning movements at the school. Based on his observation, there was an opportunity between the trees to see oncoming vehicles. That being the case, perhaps it would not warrant full removal of the trees. Also, they observed four pine trees previously at that location and all four were removed due to the health condition of the trees and the cause of sidewalk damage. Subsequently, it was determined that only three trees will be replaced. There was one pine tree that was on the curb face, closest to the street, which would have created the most visual obstruction. That particular tree is not proposed to be replaced with another tree. With his observations, discussions With engineering staff and maintenance staff, it was determined that replacing the pine trees in order to maintain the consistency along the corridor would be the best action. However, with that said, if there is a desire to have staff look further into the matter, staff could utilize consultant services and engineering services for that purpose. With regard to speed of vehicles coming down the roadway, and in lieu of not replacing any of the trees, the plan would have been to plant the pine trees and to look further into any opportunities for signage to warn OCTOBER 10, 2019 PAGE 3 T&T COMMISSION oncoming drivers that there is a school zone ahead and that they should maintain their speed. Whether or not there are trees, if vehicles are driving faster than the allowed 45 mph on the roadway, it could potentially cause more time for drivers to make a right turn. He is not aware that there is a permitted left turn out of the driveway and that matter could be researched as well. Chair/Garg asked for confirmation that the City will review this request again and provide a determination. PWD/Liu responded that staff will make a formal assessment of the line -of -sight issue pertaining to the replanting of the canary pine trees. As a reminder, the City has worked hard to retain as many trees as possible and have a consistent streetscape, which is the ultimate goal. III. ITEMS FROM STAFF: A. TRAFFIC STATISTICS —August 2019: C/Quan moved, C/Mehta seconded, to Receive and File the August 2019 Traffic Statistics. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Mehta, Quan, Wong, VC/Gonzalez, Chair/Garg NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None B. MONTHLY UPDATES OF VARIOUS PROJECTS/PROGRAMS: a) Adaptive Traffic Control Signal System (ATCS) —AE/Malpica —The project is on schedule to be completed by December 2019. The contractor is in the process of installing and modifying the detection cameras. b) Pantera Neighborhood —Neighborhood Traffic Management Program — AElMalpica — 24-hour traffic counts have been scheduled along Pantera Drive for this Friday, October 11th through next Tuesday, October 15th to capture data for vehicles traveling the area both during the week and on the weekend. Once the data is analyzed, the consultant will provide recommendations to be presented at the next neighborhood meeting. c) Lemon Avenue Interchange Project — AE/Malpica —Staff is waiting for invoices to be presented to the City. Once completed, ACE will file the NOC and close out the project. d) Grand Avenue/Golden Springs Drive Intersection Improvements— AE/Malpica — Construction is tentatively scheduled to commence in January 2020. This will allow for all maintenance agreements between Diamond Bar, L.A. County and City of Industry to be fully executed. OCTOBER 10, 2019 PAGE 4 T&T COMMISSION e) Castle Rock NTMP (between Cold Springs Lane and Fountain Springs Road) — The contract was approved this week and the kickoff meeting with the contractor will take place on October 21st Construction is tentatively scheduled to commence the week of October 28tn This is a 30-day project that includes four (4) speed cushions, striping, signage and red -curbing. f) Diamond Bar Boulevard Complete Streets Corridor — AE/Aoun — Staff continues to pursue additional funding while the consultant continues to work on the design plan. Staff is currently working with Metro to pursue a potential grant opportunity for this project. g) TR63623—South Pointe Residential Development/Larkstone Park— AE/Aoun — The last phase continues, which includes 14 homes that are currently under construction. The contractor and developer are working closely with the City to complete all outstanding items, including repairing the parking lot on Larkstone Drive at Larkstone Park that was damaged as part of their construction work. h) Area 7 and Diamond Bar Boulevard Street Rehabilitation —AE/Aoun — This new project is part of the City's regular road maintenance projects for Area 7, The City is on a seven-year cycle for road maintenance. Area 7 is on the northeastern end of the City and includes the neighborhood of Pantera Drive, where the current NTMP program is being considered. This project will include rehabilitation of all local and collector streets within Area 7 for slurry seal and some for cape seal which require more rehabilitation and localized repairs. Diamond Bar Boulevard's heavy rehabilitation will include grind and overlay. This part of the project will begin mid -November and continue through to the end of the month. The location on Diamond Bar Boulevard is between Mountain Laurel Way and Clear Creek Canyon Drive. Currently, the contractor is in Area 7 demolishing the curb ramps to install new ADA compliant curb ramps, where required by law. C/Quan moved, CM/ong seconded, to receive and file the updates on Various Projects/Programs. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: I NOES: ABSENT: V. NEW BUSINESS: COMMISSIONERS: COMMISSIONERS: COMMISSIONERS: one N V. STATUS OF PREVIOUS ACTION ITEMS: Mehta, Quan, Wong , VC/Gonzalez, Chair/Garg None OCTOBER 10, 2019 PAGE 5 T&T COMMISSION PWD/Liu indicated that, prior to tonight's meeting, the Commission was given the latest request for information with respect to the Commission's consideration of revising the commission meeting schedule. Four Commissioners, present at last month's meeting, concurred with the option to change from meeting monthly to bi- monthly (every other month). C/Quan, C/Mehta and VC/Gonzalez responded to staff that they prefer Option A, beginning with the month of January (January, March, May, July, September and November). Should the needs arise, a special meeting may be scheduled. Chair/Garg stated he responded by email and C/Wong stated he prefers Option A as well PWD/Liu reported that staff is preparing a staff report to present to the City Council. This change requires an amendment to the Municipal Code Ordinance, which must be approved by the City Council and will be introduced for a First Reading on November 5th. Subsequently, on November 19th, the City Council will have a Second Reading and upon conclusion, if approved, the change will become effective 30 days thereafter. Since the Commission historically adjourns during the month of December, this would take effect in January 2020, VI. ITEMS FROM COMMISSIONERS: C/Mehta stated that many of the residents have complained to him that the median shrubs on Grand Avenue at Shotgun Lane, are overgrown again and obscuring the line-of4ght turning into the entrance of The Country Estates. AE/Malpica explained that the City's Public Works Maintenance Division continues to work with the landscape contractor to determine the best -case scenario; whether to continue trimming the shrubs on a more regular basis; replace it with other landscaping; or remove the shrubs altogether. In the meantime, staff will continue to trim the shrubs. C/Quan thought it would be better if the shrubs are removed because Bougainvillea grows fast. The City does a good job of trimming them, but they grow back quickly, especially when the weather is warm. Chair/Garg said that VC/Gonzalez brought up an item at the last meeting about the area just off the intersection of Gold Rush Drive and Pantera Drive, where one of the stop signs is obstructed by tree growth. He wanted to know if staff was working on this issue. PWD/Liu responded that the request was forwarded to the Maintenance Superintendent, who is in charge of bundling and scheduling trimming work. Staffwill follow up and report back to the Commission at the next meeting. VII. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE CITY EVENTS: As noted in the Agenda ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Traffic and Transportation Commission, Chair/Garg adjourned the meeting at 7:20 p.m. OCTOBER 10, 2019 PAGE 6 T&T COMMISSION The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this t 7 day of �A( {: , 2019, Respectfully,Submitt , David'G1 L Secretary