EDWARD SIM Village of Colonie DEPUTY MAYOR VILLAGE HALL PATTY SCHWARZ 2 THUNDER ROAD LOCKART COLONIE, NY 12205 TRUSTEE (518) 869-7562 FAX (518) 464-0389 ART WHITE THOMAS J. TOBIN TRUSTEE MAYOR JAMES RUBINO TRUSTEE villagehall@colonievillage.org www.colonievillage.org JAMIE BLOT CLERK MINUTES VILLAGE OF COLONIE TRAFFIC COMMITTEE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2023 The Village of Colonie Traffic Committee meeting was held on Thursday, February 9, 2023, at 2 Thunder Rd, Albany, NY 12205. Acting Chairman Hornick opened the meeting with the pledge of allegiance at 6:30 p.m. Roll Call: Chairman, Frank Prevratil Absent Dan Hornick Present John Gillivan Present George Lashoff Present Les Samiof Present Liasion Ed Sim Present CPD Liaison Investigator DePaulo Absent Kevin France Present Coordinator Hannah Curran Present A motion was made by Mr. Samiof to appoint Mr. Hornick as an acting Chairman in Chairman Prevratil’s absence. This motion was seconded by Mr. Lashoff. Vote: All in favor. The minutes from the regularly scheduled November 10th meeting were reviewed by the present members of the committee. Mr. Lashoff made a motion to approve the minutes, and Mr. Samiof seconded this motion. Vote: All in favor. NEW BUSINESS: Acting Chairman Hornick mentioned that Chairman Prevratil couldn’t be present at the meeting due to a death in the family. He, and the rest of the Committee members, added that they were sending thoughts and prayers to Chairman Prevratil’s family. Mr. Haque, a resident on Peter Drive, had contacted Village Hall to request speed humps on Peter Drive. He stated that speeding is a great concern on that road, and believed speed humps Page 1 of 4 would remedy that concern. Acting Chairman Hornick suggested that this information should be passed on to Investigator DePaulo. Further, he added that a procedure must be followed when requesting an amendment to a street. First, 60% of residents on the street must sign a petition to show their agreeance before the change would be considered in front of the Traffic Advisory Committee. Then, the Committee would provide recommendations to the Mayor and Board of Trustees, who would ultimately vote on the issue. Liasion Sim added that if speed humps were considered, they would not be placed where there is a sharp curve in the road. Mr. Lashoff added that since the road is only approximately 1,000 feet long, and speed humps must be at least 400 feet apart, there would only be around 2 humps. He also suggested adding Peter Drive to the list where the traffic counter could be placed. Correspondence from Mrs. Jackie Judge was received at Village Hall last month, in regards to the passing of her husband, and past Committee member, Dan Judge. Coordinator Curran read the message aloud to the board. She thanked the Committee for their support, adding how much Mr. Judge loved the Village of Colonie. Acting Chairman Hornick stated that everyone had worked closely with Mr. Judge, and he will be greatly missed. Liasion Sim gave an update on the CDTC Sand Creek Linkage Study that will soon be taking place in the Village. He stated that the first meeting was last week, and he provided each member of the Committee with a tentative schedule for the rest of the meetings. He explained that there is a Steering Committee, consisting of himself, Mayor Tobin, 2 representatives from M&J Engineering and 2 representatives from CDTC. Liasion Sim stated that the Traffic Committee would be represented through the Advisory Committee, which would also consist of representatives from the Department of Transportation, Regional Planning Board, Albany County Planning, the Town of Colonie and Capital District Transportation Authority. Chairman Prevratil would be the liaison from the Traffic Committee. Further, focus groups would be established as a means to provide more input to the study. These focus groups may include any neighborhood associations, the bicycle and pedestrian group, as well as personnel from the South Colonie School District. Finally, there would also be general public meetings where residents could attend and present their own concerns. Liasion Sim stated that information would be available on our website to advise Village residents of the public meetings, and they could also submit their concerns online. The final report should be made available to the Mayor and Board of Trustees by late 2023. Liasion Sim reminded the Committee that the purpose of this study is to have a design on paper that could be used to apply for funding for improvement. Further, it will also give the Village an opportunity to implement some smaller changes based on the findings and recommendations. He stated that the CDTC has already been advised of some concerns, such as the potential crosswalk to Bauer Park, the light at Computer Drive and Sand Creek Road, as well as problems making a left-hand turn out of Hunting Road, onto Sand Creek Road. He also informed them of how many traffic counters the Village has so that there can hopefully be simultaneous counts occurring. Liasion Sim also shared that M&J Engineering is the consultant chosen to complete the study, and they are also the same consultant that has been working on the Watervliet Shaker Road project with Albany County. Mr. Gillivan updated the Committee on the Albany County project, stating that the final product will be a 2-lane road with a median, and a multi-use path on the Eastbound side of the road. The next phase of the project would be to connect this path to Airline Page 2 of 4 Drive, but right now, it will end at Sand Creek Road. Liasion Sim stated that he also brought up to the CDTC the possibility of continuing the Pine Bush through the Village, by using Sand Creek Road as a cut through. Mr. Gillivan also stated that he has spoken with the Albany Bike Coalition, and when the time comes, using Locust Park as a designated cut through from Central Avenue to Sand Creek Road would need to be revisited. Liasion Sim concluded this discussion by reiterating that the meeting schedule is tentative, and a final schedule would be made public plenty of time before the meetings are set to begin. He added that this information would possibly be included in the Villager, and if not, mailings would go out to inform residents. A discussion was held regarding the new lawn sign program that members of the Traffic Committee were working on. Mr. Lashoff stated that after a recent count, he has 36 signs remaining. Liasion Sim added that the frames are still on backorder, but asked if he should purchase more signs, and if so, asked if 25 would be enough. Mr. Lashoff said yes, and further explained that he has about 24 frames that could be used. With the new signs and frames, this would give the Committee 25 complete sets to work with, which would be very helpful. Mr. Lashoff explained the lawn sign program to Mr. Mike Normandin, who was present in the audience observing the Traffic Committee meeting. Mr. Lashoff and Liasion Sim explained that members are assigned weekends to go out and move the lawn signs around. Permission is granted beforehand by the property owners in writing or by email, and they are added to a list. Members then go to these requested streets, placing signs on the even side of the road for one week before going back and moving the signs to the other side of the road. By moving the signs from one side to the other, it not only stretches the longevity of the sign, but it also gives more exposure. Mr. Normandin asked if the streets were chosen at random, and Mr. Hornick explained that they try to focus on the streets with the greatest problems. Mr. Judge had designed a rotation program to make it to all the affected Village streets. They further explained that any resident can call and request a sign, and they will be added to the list. Mr. Lashoff stated that they are able to put 35 to 40 signs out at a time, and Acting Chairman Hornick added that they are usually out for an hour at most. The program will hopefully run from April to October this year, depending on when the signs and frames come in. Lastly, Liasion Sim shared an update on the solar signs that had been on order. The first company cancelled the order, but luckily the second vendor had a much shorter turnaround time. The grant is for $50,000 and the total amount for the 4 solar signs was $13,000. The current plan is to try the signs out, and potentially purchase some more if they work out well. They will likely be placed on Locust Park by the tennis courts, Locust Park by Cottonwood Place, Lincoln Avenue by Village Park Drive, and Lincoln Avenue by Robert Drive. Acting Chairman Hornick asked if we are still planning to use some of the funds for the variable message board, to which Liasion Sim said yes. Acting Chairman Hornick also suggested that we invite Senator Breslin when the signs are posted as a thank you for granting us the funds. Mr. Lashoff made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:04 P.M. Mr. Gillivan seconded the motion. Vote: All in favor. Page 3 of 4 Respectfully submitted, Hannah Curran Traffic Advisory Coordinator Page 4 of 4