[MissoulaGov] Committee Update 3-11-09

[David Strohmaier]

One bit of clarification . . . we didn't get around to setting a public hearing on the cell phone ordinance. Actually, a motion was made to set a public hearing but it was later withdrawn because we ran out of time. We'll take another run at this in the weeks to come.

 

Dave

Dave Strohmaier 508 E. Pine Missoula, MT 59802 (406) 327-8911, home (406) 721-1958, office


 


Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:11:58 -0600
From: BJaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us
To: missoulagov at cmslists.com
Subject: [MissoulaGov] Committee Update 3-11-09





Greetings,
This morning in Public Safety we discussed an ordinance to ban the use of cell phones while driving. Apparently there are studies showing that talking on the phone while driving is just as dangerous as driving drunk. Studies also show that hands free phones don’t really help. The problem is not so much the physical ability to manage the wheel while holding the phone, it is the distraction of having the conversation.  I was also told that it is different from having a conversation with someone in the car because the person on the other end of the phone conversation is not responding to road conditions like a passenger. The ordinance would also ban the use of cell phones while riding a bike.  
As a frequent user of my cell phone while driving I am hesitant to get behind this one. But on the other hand I know I have made bonehead driving moves that would not have happened if I were not distracted by the phone. So I imagine I will come around. 
I have also determined through firsthand experience that it is much harder to talk on the phone while biking than driving. I have pretty much given up that practice.  We already have an ordinance that requires a cyclist to keep both hands on the handle bars so that one is already covered.
There was some discussion about problems with having a law that only applied inside the city limits. But only a few years ago it was legal to drive with an open container of alcohol outside city limits. And fireworks are legal outside city limits.  And then there are dogs on leash. That only applies in the city. So there are a lot of examples of the city having laws that differ from the rest of the state. We set a public hearing on the matter.
 
In conservation we looked at a proposal from the Greenhouse Gas Team promoting the use of local wood products. We had a presentation from Professor Peter Kolb on the forest management practices in Germany. Once again the Europeans make us look like Neanderthals. Germany is almost the exact size of Montana but they have something like 80,000,000 people. They have about the same amount of forest as we do but produce about 16 times the number of board feet of wood products.  And they do it all sustainably with an incredibly diversified wood products industry. It was a fascinating presentation and we ran out of time before we got to look at the actual resolution request. We will take it up again in a few weeks.
 
In PAZ we discussed development agreements again. The development agreement is a contract between the City and a developer that will be required for annexation.  We first pursued the idea for properties that were being annexed that were not going to go through subdivision. Such as a large lot that will be divided into single family detached condominiums.  A development agreement would be the only opportunity for the council to review and condition the future development.  A secondary interest in development agreements is to make the conditions of subdivision part of the contract for annexation. This is driven by the desire to make the terms under which we are willing to approve a project more defensible in court. Since our experiences with Bob Brugh and John Didel, I now see all developers as potential litigants.  For that matter I see the neighbors who protest the development as potential litigants as well as anyone else who has a horse in the race. 
 
A related matter we also took up was modifying our resolution regarding contract sewer connections. We made a number of modifications including the requirement for a development agreement for developments outside of city limits that want access to the sewer. For now on they will be subject to pretty much all the same conditions as developments inside the city including park dedication and payment in lieu of impact fees. We set a public hearing on both items for April 6th.
 
In A&F we approved some union contracts. Labor costs are the lion’s share of our budget but we pretty much just rubber stamp these agreements. They are the outcome of the negotiations between the administration and the union. It would actually be a violation of labor law if we didn’t approve them.
 
The main item we discussed in Public Works was the request to make an exception to our noise ordinance for some MDT resurfacing projects. This enables them to do the work at night on high volume roads.  The sticking point was the proposal to redesign South and Reserve. They want to make it so there are double left turn lanes off of both directions of South.  There were a few problems. One was the fact that a major intersection in the city of Missoula was being redesigned and we were only hearing about it because they wanted an exemption from the noise ordinance.  Another problem was that there was no provision for bicycle infrastructure. It was incomprehensible to me that such a thing would even be considered. When City Engineer Kevin Slovarp was asked about the bicycle lanes he said it never occurred to him. He is really good at giving the wrong answer in situations like this.
Later I found out the right answer when I spoke with Phil Smith, our bike and Ped coordinator, to find out why there was not some more advocacy here. Phil’s answer was that we generally don’t put bike lanes in at intersections with turning lanes. The cyclist is expected to just take the appropriate lane.  
The problem with this intersection is that the road starts spreading out into the various turning lanes about 585 feet away from the actual intersection. So you are supposed to take the lane and ride with 35-40 mile an hour traffic for 585 feet. Clearly there is an opportunity here for some improvement.
 
When the committee refused to grant the exception for the project on South, John Hendrickson made a comment to the effect that this is why MDOT screws us on funding. If only we would be more compliant and let them build their highways through our community like they know best we would get more money. After the meeting when he was having a good ol’ boy chuckle with the MDT guy about us silly Missoula people I asked him what was so bad about Missoula having high standards and wanting to have a say in the design of our transportation system. He told me that in this case it was impossible to have anything less than 12 foot lanes at the intersection so this was the only way it could be built.  I’m having trouble believing that but need to look into the 12 foot lane rule some more.
 
In Committee of the Whole (COW) we heard from some FEMA people about a workshop they were doing for Missoula.  They were here gathering information for a disaster preparedness training they will be doing for about 50 participants.  The training is in Maryland and the feds are picking up the tab for the whole thing. We don’t have a lot of natural disaster hazards here so the training will be about earthquakes. My understanding is that the recent gas explosion in Bozeman was related to seismic activity so it isn’t that off base. In general, the biggest fear here relates to something going wrong with a train which could of course be caused by an earthquake.
 
 Thanks for your interest,   
 
Bob Jaffe
Missoula City Council, Ward 3
bjaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us
406-728-1052
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