04/11/06
Working groups to eye traffic-calming; possible 'pay/display'
system for Fort Williams Park
Two working groups have been established to help town councilors meet two
of their goals for 2006.
The first group, working toward the council goal of creating a specific proposal
to raise additional revenue at Fort Williams Park, will explore the details
of a "Pay/Display" system for the park.
The second group, working toward the goal of exploring opportunities for
road safety, will look at the implications and advisability of traffic-calming
measures on Cape Elizabeth roads.
Both working groups were established by the Town Council on April 10.
The Pay/Display working group will include three Town Councilors: Mary Ann
Lynch, Michael Mowles and Anne Swift-Kayatta; two members of the public appointed
by the Town Council chairman, and three members of the Fort Williams Advisory
Commission.
The Fort Williams Advisory Commission will meet later this week and will
be appointing its representatives, said Town Manager Michael McGovern.
McGovern described the Pay/Display system as a meter that would, when activated
by credit card or some other payment method, print a ticket or sticker allowing
a visitor to park within Fort Williams. The working group is charged with
learning the details of the system and reporting to the Town Council by June
5, before the June council meeting.
Specifically, the council's goal is to hold a public hearing on a specific
proposal or proposals for raising additional revenue at Fort Williams Park.
The goal is part of the council's broader aim to continue to provide quality
services with as little property-tax impact as possible.
The second working group, charged with examining traffic-calming measures,
will include two Town Councilors, Carol Fritz and Cynthia Dill.
Fritz, chairman of the council's ordinance subcommittee, said the idea for
a working group grew out of the council's emergency ordinance passed March
13 that authorizes the Planning Board to require traffic-calming techniques
when considering new development. The emergency ordinance expires in 90 days
and was a response to traffic concerns surrounding a pending subdivision,
Spurwink Woods.
Rather than make the emergency ordinance a long-term amendment to the subdivision
ordinance, however, Fritz said the ordinance committee opted to establish
a working group to further explore traffic-calming.
The group would gather citizen input, as well as professional recommendations,
on the advisability of traffic-calming techniques on the roads of Cape Elizabeth,
and report back to the council by Oct. 1 with recommendations for initial
implementation steps, Fritz said.
In addition to the two councilors, the working group will include the town
manager, town planner, public works director, and police chief; a local developer
who does not have a project pending in town; and, a representative from a
citizen group concerned with cyclist and pedestrian safety.
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