Recommendation to adopt the findings of the Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee relating to updating crossing guard locations at intersections throughout the City based on qualification criteria; and Receive and file the Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee report on Crossing Guard Deployment Plan for the 2016-2017 School Year and concur with its recommendations. (Citywide)
Motion carries. We have item number number 26. Next report from Public Works and police recommendation to adopt the findings of the Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee relating to updating crossing guard locations at intersections throughout the city. Based on qualification criteria and receiving final report on crossing guard deployment plan for the 2016 2017 school year citywide. Thank you as our staff report. Yes. Public Works director Craig Beck and our traffic engineer, Eric Woods from. Good evening, Vice Mayor, members of the City Council. This item before you is the result of a citywide initiative started in 1978 to perform a pedestrian safety advisory committee to look at crossing guard locations throughout the city. So many people think that the school districts have crossing guard responsibility. Actually, it is the city we utilize general fund to pay for the crossing guards. So tonight, the peace sack recommendation is before Council for Consideration, which is focused on the crossing guard deployment plan for the 2016 2017 school year. And I'd like Eric Winston to just walk through some of the criteria that was used to evaluate these locations. Good evening, Vice Mayor, Council Members. The recommendations from Peace Act for the upcoming 2016 2017 school year relating to crossing guards include the recommendation of three new locations for school crossing guards and the removal of seven locations for crossing guards. These seven locations have not. Been staff for. The past six or seven years, so this is not a new loss for crossing guards within the within the city. The criteria we use to look at crossing guard placement and removal is number of students, elementary school students, crossing given location and the number of vehicles per hour that students have to cross conflict with crossing streets. And that number varies depending on if you've got a traffic signal or a stop sign or uncontrolled. Other locations have been evaluated as part of this program and have not been recommended because they do not meet those criteria. In addition to the school crossing guards, public works and traffic engineering, look at additional pedestrian safety improvements at these locations, whether or not school crossing guards are recommended or not. Some locations have been recommended for enhanced visibility, marked crosswalks, continental style crosswalks or other locations. I'm happy to take any questions we have at this time. Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzalez. Yes. I'd like to thank you for your efforts in all of this. I think the Public Safety Advisory Committee, their work in finding locations for us is it's incredible. We've been waiting for this for a long time. So I know a lot of us are excited. Quick question. I have one question relative to Third Street. I see Main Avenue is one that is selected, but third and Golden was not selected and I don't know the reasoning why. Do you have that information? Yes. Councilmember the of the volume of elementary school students at Third and Main was about twice the number over twice the number as a third and golden. That's why that was recommended over and over. Third and golden. Okay. So it was just the amount of students. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. Councilmember Pearce. I just want to thank you guys for bringing this forward and being really clear about, you know, the fact that the ones that we're removing haven't had stopped there in a while. And just thank you for that. Thank you, Councilman Mongo. I, too, appreciate the clarity. And fortunately there's some misinformation out in the community. And so I wanted to ask a couple of quick questions to make sure that we had the record correct. So, Mr. West, if I remember correctly, the Public Safety Advisory Committee was reactivated last year by this council after having not met since 2008, because this council cares about safety, transparency and our community's input on safety. Is that correct? Yes, it is. At that time, August of last year, the committee evaluated six intersections that were last evaluated for crossing guards in 2005, more than a decade ago. And all of those that were in the fifth District have not had a crossing guard at them since 2009, far before my time on this council. Is that accurate? That is accurate. I know this is Councilman Mongo. Not probably. I know there's only one at home to be confused. So to be clear, I'm using the proper questioning methods. Right. So to be clear, this council's vote does not remove any active crossing guards from the fifth District. That is absolutely true. Maybe I should have been a lawyer. Susie's inspiring me. Furthermore, the proposed budget for school crossing guards budget is budgeted for an increase from last year's 972,000 to a proposed budget of $1.142 million in 2017. So should this Council approve the proposed budget, we would be furthering our commitment to public safety and the safety of our intersections . Is that accurate? Yes. Wonderful. I just want the community to know that this council is more active and more committed to public safety than we have seen since, I believe the record shows 2005. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Mongo. Councilman Austin. So I want to first say objection for leading the witness, but thank you for the staff report and the clarity. I have one location obviously in my district that I am a little concerned with because it is slated for elimination. One of the sites is Duley Elementary School and the location is Daisy and Alamo. And I know that it hasn't been starved for for several years, but we are we're there's some changes happening in that direction, that neighborhood that that could could impact this. And I just would like to know, how often is this going to be evaluated, the Peace Corps, how often are they meeting? And will there be opportunities for for the community to kind of weigh in? Should there be some changes? Councilmember, as you heard, that this committee has been lax in meeting. But we think it's an important thing to review on a regular basis. So we we have actually the city's traffic engineer who participates in the Peace Act meetings. We'd be more than happy to reevaluate this site if you believe that that something has changed since we looked at it about a year ago and come back to this council, if we have findings that would dictate that it should be added. I would just just ask that you do some outreach to the school community and to the principal at Dula Elementary as well, because I'd like to and I do know that that, you know, the participation on the BP stock has been optimal either. And so I want to make sure that, you know, we make sure that everybody is at the table. Certainly happy to do that. All right. Thank you for the clarity. Thank you, Councilman Austin Councilmember. Thank you. If panelists will indulge me, I would just like to mention one crossing guard from the fourth District, Connie Donati, who retired this year after 22 years of service, walking that route between the third and the fourth District on Atherton at Studebaker. And Connie is 78 years old. She watches the meeting. So I hope she's watching this item. And she's 78. And they calculated that each day she steps up on the curb 75 times. So it was time for retirement, I think. Thank you, Connie. Thank you, Councilmember Eureka. Thank you, Councilman. Vice Mayor. Excuse me. I notice that there's very good. Only one that. In West Palm Beach. I have four or five schools in West Palm Beach and only one crossing guard. How is it? Is that a correction? It's only for the elementary school. Is that it? That's correct. Only elementary schools. Okay, I stand corrected. Then I will. They will. Thank you. Is anything public? Councilmember Mongeau I received a text message from the community, so I thought I would add one more clarifying point on redirect. Mr. West, is it true that all of the intersections that we have evaluated in the Fifth District that have not had crossing guards for quite a long time, but are now here on this docket. Are now. Signaled intersections with buttons that people can push for green. Yes, that's what I understand. Wonderful. So we've made those intersections more safe. Yes. Thank you for that. Thank you. Councilmember Durango. My chief of staff is earning her her pay today. She indicates to me that they have about four elementary schools, some that are key to it, and yet only have one crossing guard was at Garfield. Polina. But in. Mr. WEBSTER So I think that there's a disproportionately number of categories lacking in my district, perhaps. I want to take this offline and perhaps let's talk further about what I have my needs in that area. Catherine. We'd be happy to work with your office to identify particular intersections that you believe we should study in. Have future inclusion in this in this program. Thank you. Thank you. And is there any public comment on this item saying non, please cast your votes. Motion carries.