McHenry Times

City of Harvard Transportation Committee met July 7.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Chairman Gorman called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. Committee members present: Chairman Gorman, Alderman Lavallee, Alderman Perkins, and Alderwoman Haderlein. Also present were Mayor Kelly, Alderman Schulz, Chief Bauman, Finance Director Bejot and Officer Kohn.

Public Comment

None

Cynthia Kanner – McHenry County Environmental Defenders

Presented information regarding the placement of a charging station for electronic vehicles within the City of Harvard.

Benefits to more charging station availability includes encouraging the purchase of electronic vehicles, which is better for the environment. Strategically placed charging stations also brings traffic to the community, adding an attraction to the Harvard Area as well, as users of stations seek out charging locations and then may explore Harvard while waiting for cars to charge.

The Defenders have partnered with McHenry County, City of Woodstock and City of Crystal Lake, and have used grant funding to provide charging stations to these communities. They would like to do the same for Harvard. A grant opportunity from the Full Circle Foundation in the amount of $5,000 will be opening up in the Fall. Cynthia plans on writing the grant and would like to use the funds to provide a Level II charging station(s) to the City through this partnership.

The Defenders would provide the City the charging station. Location, infrastructure, electricity cost, signage (time limit posting) and upgraded station package (optional) would be at the expense of the City and would need to be budgeted. Potential upgrades include debit/credit card access if the City chooses to charge for service as well as an optional data collection feature. Exact costs to the City were not discussed.

Cynthia reported that at this time, some communities are charging for service and some are not. Woodstock and McHenry County are free, Crystal Lake charges, and Algonquin (not a partner) originally had free service but now charges. There are also phone apps such as Plug Share and Charge Point that provide locations of charging stations, directing electronic vehicle owners to all areas where stations are located.

Alderman Gorman suggested keeping this item on upcoming agendas and stated he would continue to research and follow up with Cynthia to gather more information from her resources and contacts. No further action taken at this time.

District 50 – Discussion with Officials regarding Jefferson School Traffic Flow (Dr. Judy Floater was not available due to illness, Kathy Cartland attended in her place)

Alderman Gorman initiated discussion regarding the congestion that occurs at Jefferson School, during a.m. drop off and p.m. pick-up. P.M. times seems to be more of an issue, and the main problem is at the corner of Hart St and Harrison. Parked traffic on the East Side of Hart St. extends several blocks as parents wait for their kids to walk to their vehicles. Officer Kohn stated this issue is compounded by the resident parking that is allowed on the West side of Hart. When this congestion and heavy traffic occurs, not only does it impede traffic flow around the entire school area, but more specifically causes an issue with vehicle traffic accessing Hart St., most of the problem occurring in the first block (Hart St. from Harrison). Alderman Perkins main concern is the ability of vehicles, including emergency vehicles, to make the turn onto Hart from Harrison if access to that area is needed. Kathy Cartland added that things seem to be better when there is adequate staff to direct traffic, but that staffing is not always available. Kathy also stated that due to Covid, Jefferson currently uses both sets of doors. This was not previously done and there may be a possibility that in the future, a decision will be made to limit access once again to only one door. This may also help with the confusion and traffic flow.

Discussion to rectify the current problem centered on the directional confusion, which may be rectified with lane markings. Chief Bauman reported that Harrison did actually have lane markings at one time, but it was many years back. It was also suggested that the West Side of Hart St, from the corner of Harrison extending 30 ft to the south, be changed to No Parking. A motion was made by Alderwoman Haderlein and seconded by Alderman Perkins to direct City Staff to take the following action prior to the start of the 2023 school year:

Stripe Harrison St., from Route 14 to Jefferson St., with a dashed white line. Mark the left lane of Harrison with a left turn arrow, at the west entrance of the Jefferson School parking lot. Mark the right lane of Harrison with a right turn/straight arrow combination at Hart Street. Mark the left lane of Harrison with a left turn arrow at the east entrance of the school parking lot, and mark the right lane of Harrison with a right turn arrow at Jefferson St. Place no parking signs on the west side of Hart St. One at the corner of Hart and Harrison and the other 30 ft to the South. Signs should read “No Parking Between Signs 7am to 3pm Weekdays” or something similar (will require ordinance change). Also paint the curb between these signs yellow. All Ayes. Motion carried.

Postmortem 1% Sales Tax Discussion Next Steps

Alderman Gorman began discussion by indicating sufficient action was not taken to promote the referendum, which played a large part in the failure. In reading comments through social media, he stated the public needs more information on the separation of government entities, so they have a better understanding of where their tax dollars are going and how they, as citizens of Harvard, benefit from the funds the City collects from tax. Discussion took place on timing and the best election cycle for referendum passage, as well as involving citizens and/or select groups to help in promoting the referendum. Being transparent and providing more educational material and resources may assist citizens to be clearly aware of the purpose of the increase and feel more confident that funds will be allocated correctly.

Alderman Gorman suggested attempting a second referendum again during the April election to continue pursuing road improvement funding options. Other options were also discussed such as setting aside a portion of MFT funds to maintain more recent road improvements (crack fill, etc.) before they get to a more extreme deteriorated level, or looking at allocating a portion of gaming tax or other revenue during the budgeting process toward road improvements. The committee decided to continue pursuing the second referendum possibility with future discussion pending, as there is some time to act before the April election.

New Business

Alderman Lavallee inquired on the CMAP road study. Deb reported that Anne Nutley has received some information electronically, and will be in the process of reviewing it through our GIS system once proper formatting is completed. Training to maintain and update that database has also been scheduled for August.

Alderman Schulz inquired about getting more information on all our City projects (costs, funding, status, etc.) out to the public. Mayor Kelly indicated he would speak with Administrator Nelson on types of information that could be posted in the current Community/Capital Project Link on our website.

Moved by Alderman Perkins, seconded by Alderwoman Haderlein. All Ayes. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned 7:28 pm

https://www.cityofharvard.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/transportation_committee/meeting/14616/minutestransportation2022-07-07.pdf