Title
Traffic Commission Purpose and Objectives
Background
Staff has been seeking input from both the City Council and Traffic Commission on potential modifications to the purpose, objectives, and schedule of the Traffic Commission. Specifically, staff is looking for direction from the City Council and Traffic Commission on what the schedule for Traffic Commission meetings should be and what, if any, expanded role(s) Traffic Commission should have beyond the current role of reviewing neighborhood traffic concerns on local streets, define issues, review alternatives, look at costs, hold public hearings and make recommendations to the City Council.
The City Council had previously asked for a review of roles and schedule of the Traffic Commission. At the February 23, 2022 City Council workshop staff presented:
• Summary of the last two years of Traffic Commission meetings
• Directives and role of the Traffic Commission
• The traffic complaint response process that the Police and Engineering Departments currently utilize for resident complaints and issues.
Council discussed there being value in having a Traffic Commission, the current commission was underutilized and that perhaps the role of the commission could be expanded in some way. Staff recommended that a future workshop discussion between the City Council and Traffic Commission be scheduled to discuss the role of the Traffic Commission.
On May 3, 2022 staff held a meeting with the Traffic Commission to discuss what the members felt the commission’s role should be and what a reasonable meeting schedule frequency could look like. Four of the five currently appointed commissioners were present for this meeting and staff received good feedback from the commissioners.
On June 20, 2022 at the City Council Workshop a joint meeting with the Traffic Commission and City Council was held. At that meeting the purpose and direction of Traffic Commission was discussed. City Council directed that the Traffic Commission needed to define the purpose and role of Traffic Commission before a schedule frequency would be decided.
On September 6, 2022 a Traffic Commission meeting was held and a discussion was had as to the role and purpose of Traffic Commission and the frequency of meetings. The Commissioners did not have any new thoughts as to an expanded purpose or role for the commission beyond what has been done by the commission in the past. The commissioners all agreed that going to a scheduled quarterly meeting with the ability to call an ad-hoc meeting as necessary was sufficient.
After several meetings with the Commission as well as workshop discussion with City Council, staff is recommending a quarterly meeting schedule with the ability to convene the Commission as needed when issues arise. It is also recommended that the current scope of work for the Traffic Commission remain as currently defined, as no new suggestions have been developed. If individual topics or a suggestion for expanded scope develops in the future, those topics can be placed on commission agendas.
Discussion Questions for the City Council
• Is proposed new schedule acceptable?
• Is council comfortable with the current purpose and role of the commission, or is there direction to make a change?
Attachment List
1. Traffic Commission Meeting History 2020-2022
2. Ordinance establishing Traffic Commission
3. Commission Directives (Do’s and Don’ts)
4. Police & Engineering resident complaint resolution process