Nac 3 Minutes September 11, 2006

Guest Speaker Tonight is Tim Davis, City Planner, for Transportation

Connie Pryor opened the meeting at 7:05 in the cafeteria at Monocacy Elementary School. She introduced the NAC Board members present and then took a moment to recognize Sept. 11.

Connie next introduced Stephanie Davis who gave a brief history of how the NAC's came about and their purpose in the neighborhoods. This purpose is so that the people in the community can bring their questions and concerns to the City Officials. Also, it serves as an instrument to keep communities informed of pending City projects, etc.

Stephanie explained about the new GIS System on the City Of Fredericks Website. This site can obtain the Plat and Lot numbers in the City. It also provides a General Map of the City and a Crime Map that tracks the crimes within the city.

Connie did a quick overview of the NAC's accomplishments and NAC updates since the last meeting in June.

--- Bird Poop from birds roosting in the trees on Amber Drive between Hillmeade Square and Hayward Road had become a horrible problem. Concern for the safety and health of the kids walking to school on the poop crusted sidewalk prompted Connie to email a digital picture of the street and sidewalk. The City sent out a crew to power wash the sidewalk and the following week, the Bradford Pear Trees were trimmed which reduced the volume of the trees. This problem was addressed immediately by the City.

Some residents wondered if the City would trim the trees (that belong to the city) on their streests, too? Connie will make some inquiries and find out answers for residents. She thinks that the City Arborist, Tom Rippeon is responsible for the maintenance of the trees.

--- Maryann Wright gave an update on the intersection of Hayward Rd. and TJ Drive. Since the last meeting several NAC members, City Officials and people from the Board of Education met at the intersection, evaluated, made suggestions and came up with some solutions. Within days of the meeting, the City installed Stop signs, rumble strips and signage indicating new traffic patterns. Maryann thanked Tim Davis, City Planner (traffic) and Dr. Anis Tannier, City Traffic Engineeer, for their efficient and quick response to this problem. Maryann mentioned that she had been in contact with Kari Ausherman (contact person for the new professional building, The Patriot Center) and people associated with Rentals Unlimited, too at this intersection. No success with Allegheny Power in regards to getting the power boxes relocated to increase visibility at the intersection.

The City is considering placing another stop sign on Hayward Rd. at the intersection of Amber Dr. to slow the traffic down as it heads towards Route #15.

One resident pointed out that cars on TJ Drive that are turning right onto Hayward are not stopping at the stop sign but are just rolling around the corner, causing difficulty for cars traveling towards Rt#15 on Hayward after they stop at the stop sign. The City has parked a Police Cruiser at the intersection as a deterrent for running the stop sign, but after a few days people seem to notice that the cruiser is not occupied and is ineffective as a deterrent.

--- Jerome Lyons has attended the City Wide NAC meetings which have concentrated on the issues of APFO and discussions that the City wants to investigate a Rental Licensing Agreement, which could help monitor and control the number of people living in rental properties in hopes of dealing with the overcrowding issues within the City. The City Wide NAC meetings are gatherings of representatives from each of the NAC's to work together on common concerns

--- Corporal Eric Stanley and Officer Meyers from the midnight shift gave the crime reports from the month of July for our NAC. There were only 11 reportable crimes only 2 of which were of a serious nature; one domestic assault and one shoplifting The home owned by Sami Conyers on Stonehaven Lane was vandalized with graffiti. There is some discussion whether or not this graffiti is related to gangs. The officers brought Community Resident Survey Forms for residents to fill out. The forms can be returned to Connie Pryor and she will forward them to the Police Dept If residents have gang concerns they can call Gang Specialist, Detective Marker, with the City Police

Key Speaker for the evening, Tim Davis, City Planner, expert on transportation

Mr Davis gave an overall scope of what had been accomplished at the intersection Of Hayward Rd. and TJ Drive, as well as future plans for the intersection and immediate area. Aside from the traffic changes at this intersection, the City lengthened the access lane from Hayward onto Rt#15 to make the merger safer and lengthened the exit lane off southbound Rt#15, too. Eventually, Hayward Rd. access to Rt#15 will be closed. This won't happen until the Monocacy Blvd. Intersection that will be an overpass connecting Christopher's Crossing to Monocacy Blvd. is completed. Tim gave a brief overview of the timeline for the construction of the Monocacy Blvd. Interchange. It will take about 18 mo. in the Planning stage, another 18 mo. when it goes to the engineering stage and then about 2 years for construction. Right now, the intersection will not be completed for at least another 5 years. The City and Frederick County fund the Planning stage and a portion of the engineering, but the Big Funding comes from the State.

Future Developments on the North side of the City:

Tim provided handouts from the GIS -- an overview of the proposed future developments

The Proposed Shopping Center on the West Side of Rt #15 between Christopher's Crossing and Hayward Rd., Northgate Center, will not be constructed until they have access to major roads. The Shopping Center is at a standstill until the Monocacy Blvd. Interchange is built.

The Clemson Property (between Rt #26, Rt#15 and Rt#355 area) where Lowes and Wegmans is proposed for construction still needs to be annexed into the City Annexation Agreements take about 1 year minimum in normal planning. The Developer of this property already has done a lot of the pre-approval proposal work and is waiting on the annexation. Tim couldn't predict when the Lowes and Wegmans Stores would be built.

Market Square on the Bowers Property goes to City Planning on Oct. 9th @ City Hall 9am

Canterbury Station Meeting is Sept. 18, 6pm at City Hall

Gas House Pike completion of the Monocacy Blvd. will start in the next 18 - 24 months and will take 1 1/2 to 2 years construction

Mr. Graham, an engineer from the Firm of Harris and Smariga, provided a handout for the new phase about to start at the Tuscarora Creek Development. The next phase is to construct the Community Center which will also have tennis courts, a pool and a community Building

Connie presented Tim Davis with a plaque from NAC 3, "thanks for responsiveness"

Tim picked the winners of the raffles:

Winners of the maps for the state of Maryland Tourism: Judy Hill and Lloyd Hoover

Winners of the local Frederick County Tourism Maps: Greg Glenly and Erin Kline

Next Meeting is on Oct. 10 at Monocacy Elementary School and it will be "Meet the Mayor" Night with Mayor Jeff Holzinger

Meeting adjourned at 8:10 pm.