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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 05/24/1999May 24, 1999 Vo1.33, Page 73 i MINIITES z O)F A SP-ECIAL 1V~EETIIhTG 3 PETALUMA ANID NOVATO CITY COUNCILS a 1VIONDAY, MAY 24, 1999 s ROLL CALL: 7:00 g.m. ' 6 Petaluma Council Members Present: Healy,. Cader-Thompson, Maguire,. ~ Vice Mayor David Keller, Mayor E. Clark Thompson s Absent: Torliatt, Hamilton. 9 Novato Council Members Present: Eklund, Henderson, Dillon-I~iutson, Mayor DiGiorgio io Absent: Gray i i PUBLIC: COMMENT iz Wendy Kallins, .Forest Knolls -presented. her brochures for the Walkable. Communities. She 13 described' the program, "How to Make Streets Friendlier." is Patricia Tuttle-Brown,. Petaluma - on bicycle issues, ask Caltrans to create a bicycle trail is alongside the railroad. 16 STATITS_,OF U. S. HWY. 101 "NARROWS" PROJECT AMID. HWY. 101WII)ENING i7 This is the first step for the project: Caltrans is getting $5 Million to ~8.1Vlillion in;fimds from is the current State Transportation Improvement :Program (STIP) through the California 19 Transportation Commission. zo The Novato Council Members would, like to see Caltrans improvements from Highway 37 zi (Black Point] to the Lakeville Highway (Highway .116) interchange m Petaluma.. At a recent zz meeting of 'the Novato and Petaluma Chambers of Commerce, the attendees agrees that z3 would be too large a project with any-hope of action in the near future. za The first Caltrans. project study :indicated a proposed widening. of U. S. Highway 1Oi by zs utilizing the current Highway 101 southbound lanes for -ranch and. business access. Two z6 lanes would be constructed to..the east of the current northbound lanes. The reason for that z~ proposed plan is there is a Federal statute that appears to preclude improvements along the zs Olompali Park site if such improvements would impact the State Park. z9 ~ Mr. Farhad of 1Vlarin County suggested that at the >Zedwood Landfill. turn-off, there be 3o constructed a 3/4 interchange or ,a `flyover' in order to create a safer egress from the landfh 31 for those proceeding toward the south. 3z Another thought was to increase the length of the acceleration. lane going northbound .from 33 the landfill in order to, give truckers sufficient .room to accelerate to .highway speeds.. But, the 3a trucks would' .then have to travel north all the way to the .first Petaluma exit to use a safe turn. 3s to the south. That portion of. the. roadway south of Petaluma would need to be banked .more 36 appropriately for .such a traffic movement. If that alternative were to be used,. the 37 acceleration lane southbound from Petaluma Blvd. South would also need to be extended. It 3s is estimated that 70 vehicles per day use the landfill. Some thought was given to restricting 39 the operating hours, for landfill access to relieve traffic congestion. Qn the other hand,. it was ao noted that the Novato Refiase trucks need to have access to the landfill quite early in the day. Page , 74 Vol. 33 May 24, 1999 i It was noted the Redwood Landfill now has a 40-year life. z The highway in the San Antonio Creek area will need to be raised to eliminate the highway 3 flooding that occurs each winter. a It was pointed out that there are many highway improvement alternatives yet to be identified. s One was construct a reversible lane. Another was to construct the additional lanes as High 6 Occupancy Vehicle (I-IOV) lanes. Yet another thought was to create `variable toll' lanes. ~ State Senator Burton has advised that the most effective method of addressing these s transportation issues with the State is for both counties to `speak with one voice.' 9 The speakers emphasized that development of alternatives such as rail, ferry, bus and feeder io transportation will all be necessary to resolve the Highway 101 transportation corridor i i congestion problems. i2 There are two pieces of legislation being considered at the State level right now. One is 13 Senate Constitutional Amendment 3, which if adopted by the voters of California, would is place atwenty-year'/z cent sales tax to be used for transportation throughout the state. Each is county would have to have an expenditure plan in place before this State Constitutional i6 amendment would be useable for that county. Additionally, each county that wishes to use i~ these funds would need to have had a majority of its voters support the measure; and the is Board of Supervisors and the City Councils would be required to have supported the 19 measure. There was no detail available at the meeting on the method to be used to distribute zo the sales tax revenue to each county. zi It was suggested that Caltrans should think `regionally' about solving the transportation zz issues and land uses should also be coordinated. The major transportation alternatives, 23 raiUhlghway/ferry/bus, require inclusion of connecting. methods of transportation such as 24 feeder buses to deliver the transit rider to a final destination. Without that final connection to zs and from neighborhoods and to and from business locations, the people would not use public 26 transportation. The system needs to be convenient for the users. z~ The `Narrows" fix could affect other areas. What are the growth impacts on the zs transportation improvements? What are the impacts that may be caused by the recently 29 adopted Urban Growth Boundary? Future residential. and commercial development should be 3o sited at or near transit hubs. 31 The Association of Bay Area Governments has been developing growth figures for the 3z various Bay Area cities for years. It was suggested that they be invited to one of the joint 33 Novato -Petaluma meetings to explain their development of various statistics on jobs and 34 housing. 35 NORTH. BAY WATE)Et TRANSIT SITES 36 The Novato City Council Members thanked Petaluma for their support in reinstating some 37 sites in the north bay for study as possible ferry sites. Port Sonoma has been placed on the 3s study list once again, although there are environmental problems with that particular site. 39 The possibility of utilizing the Petaluma Marina for ferry service rather than for boat slips was ao mentioned. The fact that there is a rail line alongside the marina was described as a `plus.' ai Ferry transportation requires a high level of monetary support from the transit agencies. Also az noted is the fact that there are several transit agencies offering ferry service and the a3 competition for financial support among the carriers could be a problem. Hydrofoil craft as could travel up the Petaluma River quite easily, it was noted. The Petaluma River has the May 24, 199.9 Vo1.33, Page 75 i fourth highest river tonnage in the state. Most of That tonnage is oyster shells and concrete 2 products. 3 TRANSIT ANl) LIGRT RAIL STATUS a The rail commission made up. of 5 members from each- County..It has been looking at s implementation of the rail component in IVlarin and .Sonoma Bounties. There is a meeting 6 scheduled for June 23, :at .Lucchesi Community Center; to discuss what inviable, what rolling 7 stock. should be used,. and what kind. of'marketing strategy is needed. Looking. at a `smaller PP J p 9 train with onlcttwo ~ars~hat would not cloion alternatives would be a good .start. Perhaps a _y se the cross streets when it stopped m San Rafael io would be a good solution ~in the beginning. i i STATE ANI) FEDERAL LEGISLA'T'ION ~ ' iz There is a .$4 Million bond` issue being. discussed at the .State. There is SCA 3; mentioned 13 above. Perhaps there may be a gas tax:issue. The concern expressed is that in the, recent past is voters. have approved gas tax .:measures for transportation improvements, but those monies is have gone to the-Los Angeles area for the most part. ie FUTURE NOVATO - PETALUMA OBJECTIVES 17 Transportation has to be .convenient for ,people. Some people would `drive to the bathroom' is if it were possible. Connecting transportation is going to '6e required. to carry people to and i9 from their final destinations. If Olompali, itself, :asks the. State for better ingress and egress,. zo perhaps the Federal law relating to impacts on State- Parks would be evaluated in a different zi light. zz WHERE' DO WE' GO FROM IiERE? z3 It was agreed .that the group should meet quarterly, if possible. The mayors of Novato and za Petaluma will get together to develop dates and agenda topic. listings for future meetings. zs The statements emanating from these efforts should be o;l' one voice. z6 RECOG1yIT.IION OF BILL KORTUM z7 Bill Kortum, was recognized by the Press Democrat as tieing one of the most .influential and zs thought provoking mein in the County. z9 AIDJOiTRN 3o At 9:30 p:m. the meeting was adjourned to a joint meeting with the Petaluma School District 31 Board on. Wednesday,lVlay26. 32 33 3a E. Clark T ompson; Mayor 3s ATT ST: 36 37 3s Patricia E. Bernard, City Clerk. '