Minutes 11-12-08 - Laserfiche WebLink

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There were 22 residents of Northmoor present at the meeting and Commissioner Patterson requested for six representatives to speak, three in favor and three against the request. In favor, Tobey Tung, resident at 7247 Northmoor Dr. explained that it is a personal right for emergency vehicles to be able to get to their homes as fast as possible. This is a right when we purchased a home. She specified that she has a background in nursing and her husband is a doctor. She explained for multiple reasons that every second is vital when responding to an emergency. Not even an extra five minutes should be wasted when someone is having some sort of crisis. She has two Asthmatic kids and so to her this is a health safety issue. She also stated that she has a child who has Autism and has a special school bus that comes to her door but many times the bus can’t get through. This affects her child, other students, and teachers arriving late. She stated that by law (Disability Act) the bus driver should be able to get the bus through the street. Residents have rights for larger emergency, public, and maintenance vehicles to freely pass though the street. In favor, Mrs. Mary Neal, resident at 7270 Northmoor Dr. explained how a tree fell down damaging her house, her neighbor’s house and utility lines after the September 14, 2008 storm. She explained that the emergency vehicles responding had only inches of clearance to maneuver and it definitely slowed their time responding. She explained that it is important to provide enough clearance for ambulances and fire trucks to access the street. She stated that this issue is real and not a choice. It is a life and death necessity. She stated that all neighbors on her block except of one are in favor of adequate resolution. A representative from the Fire Department was present last month but this month they were not on hand to re-iterate their stance of being in favor. Officer Margul from the Police Department stated that they had performed surveillance on the street for three days in response to Mrs. Tung complaint regarding the inability of the school bus to pass thru the street. He confirmed that the school bus and trash trucks do have a problem and has only inches from parked cars to maneuver the street. If a larger vehicle was parked on the side of the road at that time, he stated that the bus, trash truck, and the larger emergency vehicles would not be able to maneuver the street. Commissioner Patterson confirmed that Public Works is in favor of finding a solution to provide effective services to residents on the street. Michael Andrews, a resident 7227 Northmoor Dr. is the third person in favor of the request. He is concerned about possible fires, and mentioned that they could lose their homeowners insurance if a fire truck could not get to your house because of parking issues. John & Christine Marshall of 7105 Northmoor Dr. are in opposition of the parking restriction. They represent the 7000 &7100 block of Northmoor and presented a list of 36 signatures in opposition. oppose After review, the list represents 28/47 households or 60% in the blocks the parking restriction (19 households or 40% didn’t participate) The opposition in these blocks includes the representation of Msgr. Edward J. Sudekum, Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish (attached). Twenty-three (23) teachers park on the street during the day, during weekend and weekday evenings they have mass, meetings and sports events. Joe Erker of 7315 Northmoor is in opposition of the parking restriction. He states that the street has room to allow parking on both sides, except in areas where larger trucks are parked occasionally. Therefore, restricting parking on one side of the street is an extreme measure. This doesn’t mean that they don’t care about the emergency response, but maybe the Fire Department made a mistake by buying a truck that is too big to travel on residential streets. Hence, he proposes for the City to find a solution that doesn’t affect the residents. He proposed the possibility of replacing the existing Minutes – November 12, 2008 Page 2