City Council Discussions, 18 December, 2018
Council Member Smith moved to authorize the City Manager to execute a professional engineering task order with DRMP, Inc., for the Doherty Drive/Heritage Oaks Boulevard Extension Project in the not-to-exceed amount of $129,254.
Council Member Young seconded the motion. Council Member Smith stated that her job is to best represent all of the citizens in the City. She believed West Melbourne was a wonderful place to live. She stated there are traffic issues in the City, particularly on Minton Road. The Doherty/Heritage Oak extension project has been planned and there were residents that wanted the roadway. She saw this as an opportunity to provide an alternative for existing trips on Heritage Oaks Boulevard. She stated residents of Heritage Oaks were told that there would be two access points. She remarked that this was Council's opportunity to alleviate traffic on Minton Road.
Council Member Dittmore commented that traffic was backed up on Henry Avenue during rush hour going eastbound, so much so that pavement markers are in place so that side streets are not blocked. He believed this would load more traffic on Henry Avenue and would create a bottleneck at Doherty Drive and Henry Avenue. He did not believe it would relieve the amount of traffic on Minton Road. He agreed that it would be a good location for a bike path or low-speed vehicles. He stated that he would not support the proposal.
Council Member Batcheldor stated that it was not clear on whether this would address the traffic or drainage concerns. He suggested there be an intermediate step to get those questions answered prior to approving the task order. Deputy City Manager Mills stated the engineering task order would provide the necessary details to build the road which would address the environmental concerns, but would not include a traffic study. City Manager Morgan stated a traffic study was conducted in 2017, which was based on counts from 2016. The current proposal before Council did not include an update. Council discussed traffic modeling of cut-through traffic. It was noted that the route might not be optimal because of the number of stop signs. Council Member Batcheldor stated that he would like to have more clarity on the implications of the road.
Council Member Gaffney expressed concerns with flooding. Deputy City Manager Mills stated the roadway would not go to the ditch, but rather run along the rear property lines of the properties on Botanica Circle. Council Member Gaffney stated that he has heard from residents that water collects along the rear of those properties. City Manager Morgan stated the development of the roadway was proposed to correct this problem to insure that water is flowing away from the homes. Council Member Gaffney stated that he was not sure of the best decision for this roadway and suggested tabling their decision for 30 days.
Council Member Young stated that the City has done a lot to address flooding. She agreed that the road would need to be properly designed so that additional flooding is not created. City Manager Morgan stated the engineering would prepare the necessary environmental calculations so that it could be approved by the St. Johns River Water Management District. Construction would need to include mitigation for the water that hits the roadway.
Deputy Mayor Bentley stated that he has not supported this project. He commented on visiting the site during the last hurricane and water was cresting the ditch that would parallel the proposed roadway. He stated that he could not believe that more impervious service would not create more flooding.
Mayor Rose spoke on traffic issues with Sawgrass Lakes having only one way in and out of the development. He stated that having a second access would be more beneficial than the amount of possible cut-through traffic. Council discussed adding fencing along Botanical Circle for those properties adjacent to the roadway. Mayor Rose also asked about the possibility of a traffic signal at the Doherty/Henry intersection. Deputy City Manager Mills noted that turning lanes had been added on Henry Avenue in order to provide for a future traffic signal.
Council Member Dittmore asked if there had ever been an actual traffic count for Heritage Oaks Boulevard. City Manager Morgan stated the modeling for single-family homes is fairly accurate. Council discussed modifying the task order to get updated traffic count information. City Manager Morgan stated he did not know if DRMP had a traffic engineer. He stated if approved with an amendment to include a traffic study, staff can get quotes for traffic engineering. Council also discussed obtaining the information prior to making a decision on the task order.
Council then voted on the motion to authorize the City Manager to execute a professional engineering task order with DRMP Inc., for the Doherty Drive/Heritage Oaks Boulevard Extension Project, which failed 4-3, with Deputy Mayor Bentley and Council Members Gaffney, Dittmore and Batcheldor opposed.
Council Member Batcheldor moved to carry out the necessary studies to address the issues related to drainage and traffic in preparation for consideration of the detailed engineering task order. Council Member Dittmore seconded the motion, which passed with a 7-0 vote.
Extracted from official minutes.