[0:00] It is 7:10, we'll call the meeting to order and we'll rise for the Pledge of

[0:03] Allegiance. Thank you, Dave.

[0:09] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:15] Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:22] justice for all.

[0:29] » All right, and I'll do a roll call. >> Council member Ritsma?

[0:33] » Here. >> Council member Earl Barkus?

[0:36] » Here. >> Council member Zalewski?

[0:39] » Here. >> Council member Eric Barkus?

[0:41] » Here. >> And Mayor DeBord?

[0:44] » Here. All right, so for the consent agenda

[0:46] tonight, I'm going to remove approval of the agenda from that consent package cuz

[0:51] I'd like to amend it. Um so with that, I'll look for a motion to approve the

[0:56] consent agenda minus the agenda approval.

[0:58] » I'll make that motion. >> I'll second.

[1:01] » Any discussion? If not, roll

[1:06] » Okay. Uh Chairman Council or Council member

[1:10] Ritsma? >> Yes.

[1:11] » Council or Mayor DeBord? >> Yes.

[1:15] » Council member Zalewski? >> Yes.

[1:18] » Council member Eric Barkus? >> Yes.

[1:21] » Council member Earl Barkus? >> Yes.

[1:24] » All right, so for the approval of the agenda,

[1:28] uh I would like to make a motion to amend it. I'd like to include an item

[1:32] right after this agenda approval, um

[1:36] to consider suspending city council decisions and discussions regarding the

[1:41] future development projects or agreements with the township.

[1:45] I would like that as number three right after the approval.

[1:49] So I'll make that motion. >> I'll second.

[1:52] » Any discussion or changes to the rest of the agenda?

[1:56] If now? >> Okay.

[1:59] Mayor of the board? >> Yes.

[2:01] » Council member Goldweber?

[2:03] » Yes. >> Council member Eric Barcus?

[2:06] [clears throat] >> Yes.

[2:07] » Council member Earl Barcus? >> Yes.

[2:10] » Council member Winston Scott? >> Yes.

[2:13] » All right, back to me then. So, here's what I wrote up.

[2:18] Just some thoughts. Uh it has become crystal clear

[2:21] throughout this year-long process, and maybe longer, that the township boards

[2:26] are not acting in a transparent and good faith manner.

[2:29] The lack of a clear direction and actions and comments to that end has

[2:33] made it, in my opinion, impossible to continue further negotiations relating

[2:38] to amendments to the water and sewer agreements, or any further discussion of

[2:42] future projects or cooperative development.

[2:46] I've attended and watched multiple township meetings, and I've followed the

[2:49] process very closely, so these comments I don't make lightly.

[2:53] Uh something as simple as allowing the city attorney to continue in her

[2:58] capacity as a member of the negotiations has now become an issue, as well. I feel

[3:03] like simple things like that are causing stress and delays. It makes me

[3:08] » [clears throat] >> have less faith that the more difficult

[3:11] things will be even more convoluted. Uh I don't think from our perspective

[3:15] there should be any concession or urgency in regard to future cooperative

[3:19] agreements or water and sewer agreements with the township.

[3:23] We're already bound by the current existing water and sewer agreements, and

[3:26] we'll continue to operate under them and their terms for the time being.

[3:31] The changes to the existing water and sewer agreements being proposed at all

[3:34] levels will impact our residents and our community for decades, and there needs

[3:39] to be clear, concise, and honest communication and good faith to that

[3:42] end. That has not been the case to this point, and it is unfair to the community

[3:47] we were elected to represent to allow that to continue.

[3:51] What I'm proposing to this city council is to hold a formal vote

[3:55] to suspend any city council or city staff

[3:59] discussion or decisions regarding future development projects or agreements with

[4:04] the township indefinitely. I believe it is time to take a

[4:08] significant break to allow these issues to be corrected and cleaned up before

[4:12] any further damage is done. So, I will make that motion.

[4:18] » I will second. >> Any discussion on any of that?

[4:24] I will say for the discussion part of it that we will be back as a council

[4:30] to hold a formal vote and council comments before we re-engage, if we

[4:36] choose to re-engage down the road. So, with that, JANELL?

[4:41] » THANK YOU. >> [applause]

[4:48] » COUNCILMEMBER >> YES.

[4:51] » COUNCILMEMBER ERIC BURGES? >> YES.

[4:54] » Councilmember Burrell Burges? >> Yes.

[4:58] » Councilmember Rick Ma? >> Yes.

[5:01] » And Mayor DeBoer? >> Yes.

[5:04] All right. Now, we will go to item number four, citizen comment for the

[5:09] four agenda items first.

[5:17] All right. >> We don't have a clock tonight, so

[5:20] » We don't have a clock tonight. >> So, I'll be letting everybody know

[5:24] 30 seconds left that your 3 minutes is almost expired.

[5:29] I am >> 20

[5:31] 20 20 pages long? >> No.

[5:34] Excuse me. There we go. >> Okay. I'm Perry Beacham. I reside at 924

[5:39] Riverside Drive. I originally wanted speed tables to slow traffic, but have

[5:44] come to to to the

[5:47] had come to like the re-routing of Riverside Drive.

[5:51] Riverside was never intended to be a thoroughfare to leave Lowell. It doesn't

[5:56] have the infrastructure for 4,000 to 6,000

[5:59] 6,000 cars per week that was recorded by the study.

[6:03] I had heard it said Riverside Drive is the prettiest drive in Lowell, and I

[6:08] agree. Everyone can still drive Riverside Drive

[6:13] and see the beauty of the Flat River. It's not a race out of town. I do think

[6:19] it is unwise to spend 51,000 on a permanent diversion. The current

[6:24] diversion allows the city to open Riverside for special events like

[6:29] triathlon, parades, or whatever the future brings. Even with the diversion,

[6:35] I continue to see vehicles moving faster than 25 mph, just fewer of them. I'm

[6:42] afraid that once the resurfacing is complete, travel speeds are going to

[6:47] increase. I was traveling on Northshore Drive in Ferrisburg this last week, and

[6:52] they had three to four speed tables that kept vehicles in the 20 to 30 mph range.

[6:58] They were synthetic rubber and removable. I assume they remove them in

[7:03] the winter. I don't like the idea of stop signs. I

[7:07] watch cars every day sail through the stop sign at the end of Riverside. I

[7:11] haven't seen the rendering of what 51,000 diversion looks like, but how are

[7:16] you handling bike traffic? Are they going to have to be on the sidewalk? The

[7:21] city has a ordinance that restricts bikes on sidewalks. I think it is crazy

[7:26] to put a child on a bike and put them on the edge of the road with traffic, but

[7:30] that's a whole other topic. It has been stated that Lowell doesn't

[7:35] have the manpower to to police all streets in the city in a timely manner.

[7:40] So, I would still like to see several speed tables along Riverside Drive that

[7:44] allows traffic to flow but at a reasonable speed. Lastly, the

[7:49] restaurants on Riverside Drive have to navigate Riverside Drive the same as

[7:53] everyone else. It is not exclusive to

[7:59] non-residents. Thank you. >> [applause]

[8:07] » Bruce Matthews, 326 Riverside. First,

[8:11] congratulations on the previous motion. It's just

[8:14] the kind of leadership that we like to see. So, thank you.

[8:20] The uh just receiving this memo from from

[8:24] Mike Burns in the in the agenda for tonight.

[8:29] Uh late last week Mike Stacy's been asked to place this on

[8:33] the place on the agenda the uh uh barrier issue on Riverside.

[8:38] And so, my my question is where does this come from?

[8:42] You know, we we spent an awful lot of time talking about Riverside and the and

[8:46] the problems and documenting the the safety issues and safety concerns. So,

[8:51] documenting the fact that the quiet

[8:56] urban street is uh is not designed for the kind of

[8:59] traffic that we documented in the city. [clears throat]

[9:02] Um so, I hope that this is being brought up again not to discuss whether or not

[9:08] there should be, you know, issues or or addressing the issues of of speeding on

[9:12] Riverside but you know, perhaps the issue has to do

[9:17] with the cost of the barrier or whatever.

[9:19] I don't think any of us that have been in favor of of

[9:22] of addressing the speed issues, you know, see that that $50,000 needs to be

[9:28] spent on it. It's certainly the barrier is working as it is right now.

[9:33] But but I'd hate to see us reopen and re-examine what we'd already re-examined

[9:39] at an item you know last last spring. So I

[9:43] I encourage us if if in fact the purpose of this agenda is item is to uh

[9:49] uh reopen this whole case. I just encourage

[9:52] not to do that and if there's some discussion about the barrier itself then

[9:57] you know then then I would like to go on record as being in favor of maintaining

[10:01] the barrier in some capacity. So so thank you for that. I'd also like to say

[10:06] that despite uh uh

[10:10] furor on social media that is is is full of uh

[10:14] full of errors. Um Riverside Drive Drive is not private. It

[10:18] is not the intent of anyone on Riverside Drive to do anything but share our

[10:23] beautiful drive, you know, with everyone. I mean I'd anybody to come up

[10:26] sit with me on my porch and have a cup of coffee and watch the river. Um

[10:30] there's no intent from my from our our perspective to to close or

[10:35] privatize or any of that sort of thing that

[10:37] is being battered around. So you know, we we love our drive and we want to

[10:41] share it. We just want to share it safely.

[10:44] Thank you. >> Thank you, Bruce.

[10:48] » [applause]

[10:52] » Hi, I'm Gina Ladner. I live at 1451 Bowes.

[10:56] Um I too have an issue with $51,000

[11:01] spent on a barrier. Um I don't know um how many bids were

[11:08] um considered.

[11:10] » [clears throat] >> Probably is a cheaper way to do that and

[11:13] still keep the integrity of Riverside Drive.

[11:18] Um And this may or may not

[11:23] be off course, but

[11:26] Riverside Drive speed traffic. What about Main Street? It's two lanes.

[11:32] » [clears throat] >> I counted

[11:36] and I stopped at 30 and it was less than 2 hours. How many semi trucks drove past

[11:41] my store? That's just 2 hours. 30 trucks.

[11:46] Um and the speed, even the trucks aren't going 25.

[11:52] They're just flying down there. So, if we're going to if we're looking

[11:57] at safety, Main Street needs to be considered as

[12:01] well. Thank you.

[12:03] » Thank you.

[12:09] Good evening. My name is Bruce Washburn. I live at 517 North Clinton.

[12:15] Um I just have a few comments. Uh I believe

[12:20] as Barry mentioned and Bruce alluded to, um

[12:24] I think the design the current design was decades ago.

[12:29] So, I think we need to try to do the best solution

[12:33] to appease both the positive and negative uh

[12:38] direction we take. And I would just like to step forward a

[12:43] bunch of steps and say I think it would be a good idea to just consider

[12:48] um the way it currently is, they moved it this side of the elm.

[12:53] Um maybe just do a simple curve which would reduce our 51,000

[12:58] and um put a green space, if you will, between

[13:02] that curve and then the curve that would come naturally out of the elm to the

[13:07] existing curve. And it would be a I think a very

[13:11] inexpensive um I know a lot of the conservatives,

[13:15] you know, it has to be simple, it looks good. Not just a big barrier.

[13:19] Magnetic signs, uh reflectors, and I get that.

[13:23] Um but the other thing I would consider, and I think you pretty

[13:28] much it, the rubber speed bumps. Would keep

[13:33] traffic to a minimum. As both guys said, nobody wants it to be closed. It's not

[13:38] closed. And it's the most beautiful street we have.

[13:41] So, just maintain the traffic and speed to something that's safe, most

[13:49] importantly, and and good for all.

[13:52] So, those are the two options I think we should consider. And you know,

[13:58] worth the weather now, we can make a decision.

[14:01] So, I just hope you all will consider that.

[14:06] » Thank you.

[14:10] » Hello. My name is Becky Soyka. I live at 1333 Boyds Bridge Road.

[14:16] And what my thoughts are as far as Riverside goes,

[14:20] is it really should be open. It belongs to

[14:23] the the town. It belongs to the people. It doesn't belong to just a select few.

[14:29] And as far as the speed limit, enforce the speed limit. And that isn't the only

[14:34] street in town that we're concerned about with people

[14:38] riding bikes or walking or or even living on the street. I mean, on

[14:42] the east side of town, I lived over there for years.

[14:46] And speed was always an issue, but we never closed down any roads.

[14:50] But the best thing that you can do is perhaps put in a stop sign or two like

[14:54] you did around the bowl. And try that and see how that works with

[14:58] it being open. Because it's it it actually is one of

[15:02] the most beautiful roads along with several others in town. And I think we

[15:06] need to look at that, too, before we just decide to shut it down and spend

[15:10] all this money and barriers and blockades and

[15:14] you know, just really limit it. Thank you.

[15:17] » [applause]

[15:21] » Jared Schwartz, 420 Riverside. Um

[15:25] I just want to record I agree with Bruce.

[15:29] Question comes to mind as to why this issue is being revisited. I thought we

[15:33] had two two rounds of public hearings, if I

[15:36] remember correctly, and it was voted on in May.

[15:40] Um but

[15:42] I'm assuming we'll hear more about that after the comments are closed.

[15:46] Um and I also want to go on record with

[15:48] saying that I I think the road should remain

[15:52] closed in some way. Again, my concern is that section of parking that's at right

[15:59] as soon as you come off M-21. Um that you do a a weave before you get

[16:06] onto a more of a straightaway on Riverside. And uh

[16:11] the traffic volumes have been cited anywhere between 4,000 and 6,000 cars a

[16:16] week going through that weave. The moment you come off M-21, you

[16:21] potentially have cars backing up right there where you're at. With that volume

[16:25] of traffic coming through what is essentially a glorified parking lot,

[16:29] you're going to have you It's not a question of when something

[16:33] awful happens. It's a question Excuse me, it's not a question of if something

[16:36] awful happens, it's just a question of when.

[16:39] So, um I don't know the perfect solution there. Um

[16:43] the maybe the barrier at where it had been for the last few

[16:48] months isn't the best solution. Um maybe it's something that needs to be farther

[16:52] down in some way and there's issues with um

[16:55] uh service trucks and other things being able to access the the businesses. I get

[16:59] out of my expertise, but uh if the road is left completely open

[17:05] without any um with the the repainting done without any

[17:10] barriers or any um speed reduction of any sort,

[17:15] that section is going to be uh

[17:17] awful. Very, very dangerous.

[17:21] » Thank you.

[17:26] » Hello, Rob Newman, 928 Riverside Drive. Saw this come up. Yeah, we've had two or

[17:31] three sessions of this. I don't know why we're having this dialogue again. What

[17:34] you currently have in there has worked very well. It may not be pretty to look

[17:38] at, but it has really made that road a lot safer.

[17:42] Kids I'm not as worried as kids as they used to be about it. And I think to

[17:47] change anything, maybe if you want to improve the looks of the barriers, the

[17:51] barriers have worked. Traffic will never slow down cuz we

[17:54] don't have enough police enforcement. That's just the way it is. And until

[17:58] that changes, leave the barriers that are there now.

[18:01] You can look at the speed tables, get the road paved, and I want to address

[18:06] one other thing, too. To the people that know the individuals

[18:10] that are out there that are threatening city council, mayor, the the board,

[18:14] people on Riverside Drive. We have people driving [clears throat] on the

[18:16] road honking their horns and flipping my 81-year-old neighbor off.

[18:21] I think that's really gone overboard. And I blame social media.

[18:25] Thank god I'm not on it. So, on a bright spot, thanks to the people

[18:30] that have helped, the Friends of the Flat. I'm allowed to say that, I

[18:33] believe. The contributors, the the people that sponsored us.

[18:37] There's some positive stuff happening here in the world. I think we need to

[18:40] redirect to the right positive things. Thank you.

[18:48] » Kimberly Hale.

[18:51] Can I wait a minute? >> No, you're good.

[18:53] » Yeah, 1019 160th Street, Elco. We also own the house at 528 Lafayette.

[19:01] Um and we also are supporters of Friends of

[19:05] the Flat and utilize the river. I am here speaking against the barrier, and I

[19:12] am also against the $51,000

[19:17] price tag that seemed to have come after this approval,

[19:22] and how many bids were placed on this project?

[19:26] Um I did see

[19:30] the uh studies that were or done on

[19:34] Riverside about uh I think there were studies of 909

[19:40] cars per day during the week or 79 on the weekend

[19:44] um when it was open.

[19:47] Well, with that being closed, that traffic is being diverted down Main

[19:51] Street and at the light. And that's a safety issue also, and

[19:56] people taking alternate routes to get over to Riverside

[20:01] or crossing. Um

[20:05] the road is a public road that everyone should be able to enjoy

[20:08] to take to actually get where they're going, not have to go out of their way

[20:13] to see it. Um

[20:16] I know there are a lot of people that live on it that like the barrier,

[20:21] and I get it. But

[20:24] over on Main Road, they got a stop sign.

[20:28] I don't know how in front of a retired teacher's bay window.

[20:34] And I don't know that that was ever tried on Riverside.

[20:37] I don't know on Riverside if any tickets were ever issued.

[20:42] It sounded like the cars were counted, but I don't know if there was any action

[20:47] or accountability there. And I don't want to be disrespectful

[20:53] towards police force because I appreciate them. They do a great job.

[20:58] But were they ever directed to give it the attention and actually issue

[21:01] tickets? Um

[21:04] it's a small town. Word spreads. And I think that would have gone a long

[21:09] way. You've got Monroe, also people are still

[21:14] speeding down. You got Washington, they're still speeding down. You have

[21:18] the extra traffic coming through. >> [clears throat]

[21:20] » Pardon? >> 30 seconds.

[21:21] » Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. Well, I'm in favor of speed bumps,

[21:25] stop signs, and no barrier. And I also really don't like that the

[21:29] price tag came after the fact. >> Yes. [applause]

[21:38] » I don't have to answer to you again, Alan. Um, one of the first to express

[21:41] that um understand the issues with either barrier or speed tables. There's

[21:45] a lot of different options that are out there. I don't live on your side, so I

[21:48] probably won't have an opinion on the say. What I am more concerned about is

[21:51] $51,000 for a barrier. We just bought some plastic plastic dollars for

[21:55] probably a fraction of that cost. And use that money elsewhere in other

[21:59] needs that the city has. A huge debt on fixing. So, I would really

[22:04] encourage you the city council to take a look at that. Um, since we have a lot of

[22:07] needs in our money going on. And I also like to leave Main Street alone. We know

[22:11] we don't get to live and work in the city. We have to go some places. We're

[22:14] not equal people because we drive. We have to go somewhere. And I would

[22:18] suggest you leave Main Street alone. Otherwise, and that will ask that you

[22:21] build a bypass. And the city probably has to foot the bill. Thanks.

[22:25] » Thank you.

[22:29] » Hi, I'm Audrey Sweigart. I live at 1231 White Birch Road.

[22:34] Um, I just wanted to say um I saw the Riverside Drive topic [clears throat]

[22:38] mentioned and I was happy to see it come back through. I've been to previous

[22:43] meetings and um I know safety on Riverside was an issue

[22:48] and I totally agree with that. Um, it was never looked into on Hudson or where

[22:54] the other streets where the people would have to

[22:57] alternate their route. So, it would be nice to kind of get other alternatives.

[23:03] Also, the price tag was a little concerning, too. I know the barrier was

[23:06] a temporary solution. So, if there's other temporary things

[23:11] that we could try that might be more affordable, like a couple of stop signs,

[23:15] and just try it and see how it goes because there's safety issues on many of

[23:19] the other roads, too, especially with how congested it's been after Riverside

[23:24] isn't shut down, but it's, you know, diverted. So, it has been very congested

[23:29] in town, so it would be worth looking into other alternatives.

[23:33] But, appreciate the time. Thank you. >> [applause]

[23:38] » Sharon Ellison, 407 North Division. First of all, I want to commend you for

[23:43] readdressing this because there's a lot of scuttle about this

[23:49] still. I know you've had lots of hearings, [clears throat] you've

[23:51] discussed it, you've done a lot of different things, but still people are

[23:54] complaining about it. So, it's very brave of you to step up and take one

[23:58] more look at it before anything is done. I live on Division Street. When I go

[24:03] through town about 5:00, the line almost starts at the Methodist Church for the

[24:08] traffic light. So, I do cut over to go by Riverside. I don't speed, but I

[24:14] always just cut over cuz it's the only way I can get to the other side of town

[24:17] because the traffic light is so congested.

[24:20] Um so, I understand that, and I understand the speeding and the safety

[24:24] on a small street like that. It's got to be terrifying. But, closing a street

[24:29] isn't the only way to keep it safe. So, maybe some other rubber bumpers

[24:35] would be worth a try. I think people might be happier with that.

[24:40] There's a lot of places in town where where people speed. So,

[24:44] I don't know what you can do, but I can certainly see

[24:48] for me, I never drive down Riverside anymore. It's kind of a hassle to zigzag

[24:52] around, and I used to like to go down it. I used to walk down it, but now I

[24:55] just I just don't even go there anymore. It's

[24:58] It's kind of sad, but it is beautiful. And um

[25:02] I think we shouldn't keep closing streets. We closed Horatio, we closed

[25:06] Water Street, we shut down Lincoln Lake used to go through, now that's all the

[25:11] zigzaggy things. And so we're just making our streets smaller, you know,

[25:16] the paths that we can take smaller and smaller. So

[25:20] I We need to keep them safe, definitely, but um closing them is probably not the

[25:25] best idea. I think the bumpers would It's worth a try. It doesn't cost

[25:29] $51,000. >> Yep.

[25:32] » [applause]

[25:36] » Hi. Um Robin Briggs, I live on 1004 Riverside Drive.

[25:41] Uh Yes, people, it has gotten much nicer.

[25:44] It is a much nicer road to walk down, drive down, live by.

[25:49] What I'm not happy with is a $51,000 bill

[25:53] to block off the road. I still go around with Warner, I still take Riverside. Um

[25:59] but 51,000 seems a lot of money when there stops extra stops signs we pull

[26:04] out of the road that we could put on there. Try that versus blocking off the

[26:09] road completely first, then maybe rubber stoppers. I There's got to be a cheaper

[26:14] version to make that road safe. Especially after I

[26:19] I am on social media. Um saw a report from somebody that put on

[26:24] it about going to visit their cemetery and got kicked off their spot because

[26:30] Oakwood doesn't have a fence to keep the people out of the private property.

[26:35] I think there was a failure on somebody's part. I don't know if it's

[26:38] the city council or whoever does the zonings, but

[26:42] when we sold that or said that they could build that there, they should have

[26:46] been automatically told to put a fence in. Let's block that off. Let's make

[26:49] that private and public and I a dividing line perfectly there.

[26:56] I would like to see that 51,000 go towards that

[27:00] and put it in. Put it Put a fence in that whole line. Put stop signs on our

[27:05] road. See how that works. Doesn't work. Go put something else in.

[27:08] Put that in. I think blocking the road should be the last thing. Sorry,

[27:12] neighbors, but there's got to be uh cheaper way to do this than that.

[27:18] Oakwood needs to be addressed, ladies and gentlemen.

[27:21] » YES. >> [applause]

[27:26] » HI, JACKIE SAYLOR, 9689

[27:30] Chew Chew Lane, Altoona.

[27:33] Um I just wanted to be noted um regarding the minutes for

[27:38] last actually June, that everything that occurred after the

[27:43] farm update was in violation of the open meeting act because people were

[27:48] prevented from entering the room and participating in the meeting. Thank you.

[27:59] » Hey there, Betsy Lefeuvre Wagner, Residents United for Healthy Growth. I

[28:02] live in Altoona, but Growth in the address. So, I just wanted to come up

[28:06] here. First of all, just thank you all because the first action you took this

[28:09] evening was, you know, one of the most important. I think that when it comes to

[28:13] transparency in government, it's really the bedrock of our values, right? Our

[28:17] democratic values. It's important that you, you know, Mayor, thank you for

[28:21] bringing that motion forward um in suspending, you know, the future

[28:24] development and making sure that the township understands there needs to be

[28:28] transparency and open government with you all uh especially as it pertains to

[28:32] the proposed data center. Did want to go ahead and just throw in ask one

[28:36] clarifying question. Uh I recognize you might not be able to answer it now, but

[28:40] still would love to put it on the record, which is just to understand that

[28:43] while that is suspending actions with the township, whether or not actions

[28:47] with Microsoft continue to move forward. I ask this recognizing that this summer

[28:52] there was due to be a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft in and

[28:55] around water agreement being able to look at

[28:58] engineering and such and just would like to know if that is suspended as well.

[29:01] Again, really thankful for the work that this council continues to do. Huge shout

[29:06] out to Eric who has made himself very open and accessible to many in this

[29:11] community to be able to talk about water sewer agreements as well as the work

[29:14] that Mike has done. But again, this issue of Microsoft is one that would be

[29:18] a bit more helpful to understand what are those next connections and next

[29:21] steps. So, thank you. >> It does for the record.

[29:25] » It sounds like it. >> Yes.

[29:27] » Okay, so there was so THERE WAS A >> [applause]

[29:32] » THANK YOU.

[29:36] » HI, I'M KEN MCWILLIAMS IN RIVERSIDE. THANKS first of all for getting the wall

[29:40] going. That's awesome. Um it's been long overdue.

[29:44] Um I was also surprised on the 51,000 for a barrier. I know at one point um

[29:49] there was a discussion about potentially putting a gate across so that um

[29:55] for things like a parade or um bigger events or um

[30:00] um DPW or fire or police needed things like that to open it.

[30:05] Um I'm not sure what happened to that. Um that's still being considered or not.

[30:10] Um Also, um I just want to reiterate that

[30:14] you have these folks here um before brought it up. I'm using stop signs and

[30:18] speed tables potentially only decreases the traffic volume by about 20%.

[30:24] Um if that's the case, then that's still way over what you would expect say in a

[30:29] road behind Creekside Kingdom or or any [clears throat] of those local

[30:34] neighborhood roads. So, um thanks for all your work on this.

[30:39] Thank you.

[30:44] » Good evening, uh Steve Doyle, 706 Riverside Drive. When the barriers went

[30:49] in a couple years ago, they pretty much solved the problem overnight. Uh speed

[30:56] count was 4,000 cars a week, and then actually

[31:01] a few months back earlier in the year, another speed count was done, was

[31:05] actually around 6,000 cars. And Riverside Drive is a local street.

[31:11] You know, it's one of the only It's the only local street that actually you

[31:14] could leave Lowell and go on to a a major road. So, it's a

[31:19] local street. Uh it's a very high traffic count.

[31:23] Um any other, you know, speed bumps or stop

[31:27] signs is really kind of

[31:30] counterproductive. This street This street is not closed. Yes, you do have

[31:34] to drive up a block and, you know, go around the block, but you can drive, uh

[31:40] you know, 85% of the

[31:44] with, uh you know,

[31:46] no speed bumps or stop signs would be great. Would be great. And then if by

[31:51] doing by doing that speed bumps or stop signs, now we all

[31:55] Now we all have to contend contend with that.

[31:59] » So, please stop, please. We're not going to do that.

[32:02] We're going to let the public comment on this Let me stop you for a second.

[32:05] We're going to let them make their comments, which you are all free to do.

[32:09] We are not going to shut up from the audience. We're not going to interrupt.

[32:12] Please. Thank you. >> So, anyway,

[32:14] so anyway, I think I think the speed bump or the speed barriers done

[32:19] a great job. Um the 51,000, yes, that's a lot of money, and maybe we could find

[32:25] out find solutions for that, too, to try to, you know, reduce that and other

[32:30] methods. Uh so, thank you.

[32:32] » Thanks.

[32:37] Anybody else for agenda items?

[32:41] All right. Well, let's move on to the Riverside Drive area. Let me answer

[32:44] Bruce's question. Where is he? I asked to bring it back.

[32:49] And here's why.

[32:52] I'm not asking for nothing to be done because I want Riverside Drive to be

[32:57] safe for everybody. I'd love to see south of Riverside Drive in the

[33:00] downtown, especially with the new restaurant coming.

[33:03] What I would like for us to discuss one last time before it goes in

[33:07] is are we being good stewards of your money

[33:10] spending $51,000 on a

[33:14] Is there a more cost-effective way to create the same safe free zone?

[33:19] So, I probably should have

[33:23] communicated that better before I just had it put on the agenda. So, I'll take

[33:27] the responsibility for that. But, am I being a good steward of

[33:31] taxpayer money spending $51,000 on

[33:35] a problem and then

[33:38] telling people we don't have money for other stuff that we need. So, I hope

[33:42] that answers your question. I apologize for the way I communicated it to

[33:45] everyone. Um but, it's time to do the work. You

[33:49] know, and I have one last discussion before

[33:52] we spend that money on that problem. So, I hope that answers your question.

[33:55] » Thank you, Mike. >> Yeah. So, so real quick, I want to

[33:57] answer the change order question. So, this project was bid It's a federal

[34:02] project for the community development block block grant program. It's a 50%

[34:06] match by the federal government. When we awarded this When we move forward with

[34:10] this project, um the county bids and approves it for us, meaning that if

[34:14] there's anything additional, it has to be a done with the with a change order,

[34:18] meaning we have to have go through the contractor to do it. We cannot go off

[34:22] for bid. That's just the way it is. And so, um once I was directed to put

[34:27] the barrier in, we went and initiated share change order because that's what

[34:31] had to be done with the whole of the project for.

[34:33] Um the project is actually at $46,000. That being said, um now is the time if

[34:39] you're going to not do that, um is to uh to make the decision to change it. Um

[34:45] the project I should add is still $200,000 below the engineer's estimate.

[34:49] So, um granted we have not had we've had a

[34:52] horrible experience with TVD per instruction. And basically, as far as

[34:56] I'm concerned, they're pretty incompetent. But, um

[35:01] but there is a savings there and and the project is still $150,000 under budget.

[35:06] That being said, if the if the council wants to go into a

[35:10] different direction, we need to know today because they're about ready to

[35:15] start putting base base gravel down and start pouring concrete. And once they

[35:19] pour concrete, that's when it's game over. So, I've held off the concrete

[35:26] um for a couple days. So, but we need we

[35:29] need to know what we're going to do. The one thing I asked you to do, please do

[35:32] not put temporary barriers in the road to where we screw it in the road. We

[35:36] will regret that 15 years down the road. Please don't do that.

[35:42] » All right. So, >> I think I have two

[35:44] » Yeah, hold on. Sorry, you had public comment. I'm sorry, go ahead.

[35:48] » Can you guys hear me? Oh. >> I'm sorry.

[35:49] » Um there's two public comments I want to put into record. Um

[35:54] one from David Bacot.

[35:56] Um said, "Dear City Council, thank you for letting me

[36:00] express my opinion even though I can't attend the meeting tonight. We live at

[36:05] 804 Riverside. I have two young children. Since we've moved in, I've

[36:10] been very concerned about my children's safety due to the excessive speeding on

[36:14] Riverside. I expressed my concerns by calling the police station several

[36:19] times, met with the chief of police, and spoke with the city council

[36:23] meeting and spoke at the city council meeting.

[36:26] Unfortunately, the police station does not have the resources to adequately

[36:31] um enforce the speed limit. Although sometimes annoying,

[36:36] the barrier can direct has drastically reduced the amount of traffic and

[36:40] speeding on Riverside. If the river If the barrier is removed, I guarantee

[36:46] people will drive even faster than before now that the road is being

[36:51] repaved. Please consider leaving the barrier in place or some

[36:56] other permanent speed solutions such as the speed tables. David.

[37:03] And the second one to read into the meeting,

[37:07] um from Janet

[37:11] Genie Vander Loop. Just excuse me.

Lowell City Council Meeting of August 3, 2026 (Part 1)

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