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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-04-16 DTPC Packet - Meeting CancelledCITY HALL: 216 NORTH FOURTH STREET • STILLWATER, MINNESOTA 55082 PHONE: 651-430-8800 • WEBSITE: www.ci.stillwater.mn.us STILLWATER DOWNTOWN PARKING COMMISSION NOTICE OF CANCELLED MEETING DATE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Thursday, April 16th, 2020 meeting for the Downtown Parking Commission has been cancelled. The next regularly scheduled meeting is Thursday, May 21st, 2020. Contact the City Clerk’s Office (651) 430-8802 if you have any questions or need further information. Date: April 10th, 2020 Signed: Beth Wolf City Clerk DOWNTOWN PARKING COMMISSION DATE: April 10, 2020 SUBJECT: Update on various items FROM: Bill Turnblad, Community Development Director BACKGROUND The April Parking Commission meeting has been cancelled because of Governor Walz’s executive order to “stay at home” during the COVID-19 pandemic. City Administration is given the discretion to determine which City functions are “essential” in this pandemic. And they have determined that the Parking Commission is not “essential” to providing the City’s core emergency services. Therefore, in lieu of the regular Commission meeting this month, I am circulating this memo to keep you updated on various items. EVENTS All events on City property (parks, parking lots, streets, rec center and library) have been cancelled through May. The City has received an application for the St. Croix Crossing Half Marathon. Normally it would be reviewed by the Parking Commission and a recommendation would be forwarded to the City Council. But, since the Commission is not meeting in April, staff has written the standard review report and attached it for your information. The staff recommendation will be forwarded to the Council for their decision. If you feel staff’s recommendation should be modified before it goes to Council, please let me know. UNFINISHED BUSINESS The only unfinished business item that would have been included on the April Commission agenda would have been a continuation of the electric vehicle charging station discussion. As you all will remember, Sustainable Stillwater and the Sunrise Rotary Club are advocating for installation of EV charging stations Downtown. The location that seems acceptable to both them and the Parking Commission is in the municipal parking ramp. So, the Commission asked staff to investigate the feasibility of installing two EV stations on the 4th level of the parking ramp. Facilities Manager Mick Greiner received an estimate from Marshall Electric for the cost of installation. Since that location would require core drilling electrical conduit through four levels of engineered concrete under tension, the cost would be Downtown Parking Commission April items Page 2 $30,000. Staff therefore recommends we abandon the 4th level location and install them on the 1st level instead. On that level, the installation cost would be closer to the $7,000 expected. If the Commission is interested in proceeding on the 1st level, staff will identify two spaces and bring those back for Commission approval in May. UPDATES 1. Parking ramp transition to AirGarage The mechanical gates have been disengaged at the municipal parking ramp. And, the license plate recognition hardware and software has been installed. During the month of April the AirGarage payment system will be tested and staff will be trained in its use and administration. During the transition month of April there will be no fees charged to our parking ramp customers. Though, we have asked our permit holders to continue to display their permits on their dashboards so they are not ticked for parking overnight. The new AirGarage mobile payment platform will go live on May 1st and standard summer season rates will be put in place then. 2. Parking system and COVID-19 Given the Governor’s executive order for restaurants, bars and non-essential retail businesses to close their doors to the public until at least until May 4th, City Administration staff made the decision not to charge our “parking mitigation” customers through June. We plan to invoice them again starting with the 3rd quarter (July – September). There has also been some discussion not to begin charging in Pay Lots 1 and 2 on May 1st as normal. But, at this point, we will stay with the normal routine, since those two lots generate almost all of the revenue that we need to cover our operating costs. Attachments: St. Croix Crossing Half Marathon report bt TO: Downtown Parking Commission DATE: April 16, 2020 RE: St. Croix Crossing Half Marathon REPORT BY: Graham Tait, City Zoning Administrator REVIEWED BY: Bill Turnblad, Community Development Director INTRO Stacy Einck of Run Stillwater has submitted a permit application for the St. Croix Crossing Half Marathon. It is planned to be run on Saturday, July 25th. The race starts in, and majority of the race takes place in, Western Wisconsin. However, the last leg will cross the new bridge into Minnesota and head north along State Highway 95, ending on at the north corner of the Freight House in the Lowell Park area of downtown. This event is expected to draw a crowd of 1,500 runners plus spectators. Set up for the race will take place the day of the race from 5:00am until 7:00am. The race itself is expected to run from 7:00am until 11:00am. And cleanup for this event will start at 10:00am, while the race is still taking place, and will wrap up around 1:30pm. The areas in Stillwater where the participants will be running, will be coned off and barriers will be used along the Loop Trail at the end of the course for runner and spectator safety. Stillwater Police Department, MN State Patrol and course marshals will be used at intersections for traffic and safety control, and any EMS services needed will be provided through Lakeview EMS. BACKGROUND The St. Croix Marathon took place for the first time in 2019. When first brought to the Downtown Parking Commission, they proposed that the last leg of the race would make its way down Main Street to Chestnut and turn east to finish in front of the Lift Bridge. This scenario would have required the reservation of the 70 parking spaces on the east side of Hwy 95/Main Street for the race (17 of these spaces would be located between Nelson and Chestnut Streets). The event parking request was tabled until the following commission meeting in order for the organizers to explore a route that does not require the reservation of parking on Main Street. The race’s revised plan, which proposed not to reserve any parking spots on Main Street, but rather, it reworked the ending to come down the trail and cross Nelson and end in lots 2 and 3. This plan ultimately resulted in approval to reserve spaces in lots 2 and 3 per fee schedule. St Croix Crossing Half Marathon April 16, 2020 Page 2 REQUEST In response to last year’s feedback, the applicant is requesting to use the trail again, instead of using Main Street and requesting on-street spaces. The applicant is requesting to reserve approximately 25 spaces in Lot 3 and 29 spaces in Lot 2, for the finish line. Additionally, the shuttle bus staging on the morning of the races occurs on Water Street between Myrtle and Mulberry. It gets very congested with parking and buses stopping to pick up people plus the buses have trouble making the corner off Water onto Mulberry (see map in application). While there is no request by the applicant to reserve spaces to alleviate this issue, it is an issue the City Council should consider and determine if any additional spaces should be required. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends approval of Lot 2 ($9 x 29 spaces) and Lot 3 ($3 x 25 spaces) for a total of $336.00. Staff also recommends the Council decide if any on-street spaces should be reserved to help St Croix Crossing Half Marathon April 16, 2020 Page 3 alleviate the congestion associated with the shuttle bus. If any parking spaces are approved for on-street reservation, the applicant should be charged the $9 fee per space. cc: Stacy Einck attachments: application form