Public Safety Committee Meeting

084-06. Councillor Dean A. Tran, to include one sheet with the following information:
name, age, sex, race and address of all Level 2 and 3 sex offenders sorted by address with water and sewer municipal bills (residing in Fitchburg only).

More Feel Good Legislation from councilor Tran. The bottom line is that there are costs associated with the petition and no real value to justify that cost. As I understand it the petition has been reduced to providing information on how to get information on level 2 and level 3 sex offenders and amended to send it off to the school department for consideration of distributing the information through the schools.

282-06. Councillor Jody Joseph, to place a crosswalk on Harvard St. on the corner of Harvard and Fulton St.

This petition was previously given leave to withdraw (back in June) but the full council sent it back to committee. The police department still opposes this on the grounds that would require a traffic study. Some councilors don't want to let this one go and it brought about some interesting and sometimes (lame) comment/discussion. There was concern that vehicles coming across the bridge are going too fast. Officer Hass pointed out that the area is thickly settled making it a 30 MPH zone and that setting a speed limit there would require a traffic study which could result in a posted limit higher than 30 MPH if the 85th percentile speed is higher. Councilor Hay (not a member of this committee) wanted to know why we adjust the speed when most of the drivers break the law. Councilor Dimartino claims there is already a crosswalk at Harvard and Fulton - Hmmm, there isn't one painted there and there no list of location where crosswalks are approved in the city code. Councilor Boisvert suggested that cautionary sign be installed. Councilor Hay indicated that cautionary signs may be installed at the discretion of the Chief of Police. IIRC The petition was amended to request that the police look into cautionary signage.

To answer councilor Hay's question about rewarding drivers that break the law. Throughout the world it is acknowedged that the vast majority of drivers are NOT hell bent on killing themselves and that they drive at speeds that are reasonable and proper. The Feds use the 85 percentile, because it makes sense. The State uses the 85th percentile and thankfully limits who can set speed limits. In Fitchburg only MassHwy (with agreement of the Registry of Motor Vehicles) can set a speed limit. That prevents speed limits from becoming a political football that can be used to buy constituent votes and or create new revenue streams.

Councilor Hay (and others like him) are looking at this question backwards. If the 85th percentile his high enough to result in a higher posted speed limit it doesn't mean that these drivers are speeding, it means that the speed limit is too low

119-07. Councillor Stephan Hay and Mr. Steve Bert, to place stop signs on Pearl St. at the intersection of Klondike Ave.
This would create a multiway stop (a 3 way stop at a T intersection). The warrants for a multiway stop are pretty high and it's unlikely that any of the warrants would be met (at least one of which must be met before installing a multiway stop). One of the warrants is 5 collisions a year at that location. Officer Hess indicated that there have been only 4 collisions at this intersection since 1990. That's less than one every 4 years. Police spoke with the residents in that area and the petition was brought as an attempt to slow traffic on Pearl St. It is claimed that traffic is traveling at 45 MPH here (not likely). The petition was held in committee. It really should have been given leave to withdraw.

021-07. Councillor Norman Boisvert, to ban dogs and exotic pets from public functions in Fitchburg where 50 or more people gather for the purpose of any social event and Institute penalties for violations.
Amended: Service dogs exluded.
As you may note from the number of the petition, this one's been around for a while. It doesn't seem to have broad support and the arguments Boisvert makes for passage aren't very convincing. This petition seem too restrictive and without good reason. The committee sent it to legislative affairs. The new council and new leglistative affairs committee may view it more favorably although I hope they just vote it down.

D-I-S-C

Discretion, Ignorance, Stupidity, Common Sense

I'm going to try to make some posts between Christmas and New Year's while I'm off work to catch up on some issues I made note of over the fall but just didn't have time to make entries for.

The words identified in the title, Discretion, Ignorance, Stupidity, Common Sense will be used in the posts as follows:

• Discretion - discretion can be a good thing if it's used wisely
• Ignorance - is the lack of knowledge. The nice thing about ignorance is it that it can be over come by education unless of course the target of education is stupid
• Stupidity - per the folk saying "Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time, and it annoys the pig." It's often not worth the effort to try to educate the ignorant, especially those that make most of their decisions based on common sense (see Albert Einstein quote below)
• Common Sense - Voltaire said "Common sense is not so common.". I think he refers to what most people call "good sense". Unfortunately for most individuals, the reality is closer to what Albert Einstein said, "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.". When I post and refer to common sense it'll be the Einstein variety. I'll use the term "Good Sense" to refer to the Voltaire type

With all that said, I'd like to address one of the petitions from the Public Safety Committee meeting from 18 Dec 2007.
229-07. Kathy Barns and various Brigham Park residents, to allow overnight parking during the winter snow bans on Brigham Parkway on the outside of the street.
Some residents were present and spoke on the issue. To summarize the residents claim that they (not the city) clean up the area. They clear the street of snow and should be allowed to park on the street, since it is already cleared and their parked vehicles have no affect of snow removal operations. They also noted that resident vehicles were ticketed (in the wee hours of the morning) during the most recent storm despite the street being completed cleared of snow and no additional street clearing of snow being necessary.
IIRC This petition was held in committee because it would have come down to a 2-2 vote (councilor Donnelly having left early). I think the committee and the full council should give this petition leave to withdraw. There is no legitimate reason to make an exception for Brigham Park residents.

OTOH if as residents claim the area is completely cleared of snow there is absolutely NO reason for the police department to ticket vehicles. The purpose of the parking ban is after all to ensure that vehicles parked on city streets do not keep the DPW and contractors from getting the streets cleaned. Police should use DISCRETION in ticketing. Generally officers on patrol are given much latitude and are allowed to use discretion when deciding to give a verbal warning, written warning or a citation. If what the resident claim was true then something in the system is broken. If officers are not using discretion wisely then it needs to be addressed by the (acting) chief. If the chief has instructed officers to ticket all violators regardless of the circumstances then the Mayor should straighten the chief out. And if the mayor doesn't get it - oh yeah he's history in less than two weeks anyway.

I think you get it though. Petitions like this should get trashed long before they get to the council chambers. Stuff like this is the purview of the executive branch and the council should make that clear to the petitioners.

More later this week. Items I hope to get to -

• other items from the public safety committee meeting
• Rt. 12 project status
• Rt. 31 and John Fitch Hwy roundabout, hearing and current status
• implications of the november election results
• recent commentary by our borrow and spend Governor

Winter in Central Mass - Get used to it

So you were stuck in traffic on the commute home this past Thursday (12/13/07). Here's a few hints to help you avoid a repeat performance:

1. Avoid congested areas. A key area of congestion in the last storm was Rt. 13 near Rt. 2 in Leominster. This area is noted for heavy traffic. It has too many traffic lights, and they're too close to each other. Short sighted planning has allowed too much development here.

   If it's congested on a good day expect the level of congestion (and thus the level of driver frustration) to be at least double when the weather is bad. Consider alternate routes.
   

2. When the snow gets deep enough to obscure lines on the roadway the number of lanes on the road will increase.

   IOW, with no visible lanes markings, the number of lanes on the road is limited only by the distance to the fender of the next vehicle. (Note the merge of northbound I190 traffic with westbound Rt. 2 traffic during the storm was as many as 6 lanes wide - 7 if you count the loons that were driving in the breakdown lane.) Avoid these situations by learning alternate routes you might be able to use. For example - heading to Westminster, Gardner, Ashburnham or Winchendonfrom the Worcester area, consider taking Rt. 140.

3. Momentum is your friend.

   Don't misunderstand I'm not advocating excessive speed, running stop signs or running red lights. What I'm talking about is maintaining your momentum when ever possible. I observed far too many drivers during Thursday's storm being "courteous" by stopping to let a driver pull into traffic in front of them or to pull across to the oncoming lane. Does this describe you? Trust me, there were 15 drivers behind you were all giving you the single digit salute (even if only mentally), you just weren't in a position to see it. Oh, BTW the dope you let out, did you notice them spinning their tires trying to get going? The reason they were having a tough time getting out into traffic is that they have nearly worn out all season radials. They should have replaced those this fall or stayed home today.
   

4. It's hilly around here and hills make it harder to get around.

   I realize this is news to some folks but gravity has a tendency to take you down hill. You can't stop as quickly (or at all) when heading down a hill or you may not be able to keep up your momentum to get to the top of a hill. The steeper the hill the bigger the problem. It's not possible to avoid all hills to get where you're going but you can usually find a route (maybe longer) where the hills aren't so steep.
   

5. Courtesy, not the bogus kind like I mentioned earlier. This is the kind where you follow the rules of the road. A common (and annoying) violations is the stop line violation. Entering an intersection when there's no place for you to exit is not just rude, it's illegal. This violation has a direct impact on grid lock and people seem to be more inclined to commit this offense when it's snowing.

6. Make sure you can see where you're going.

   Clear the snow off your vehicle. Can't reach the roof of your mini van, SUV, or truck. Then get a bigger snow brush with a longer handle. No excuses please.
   

7. Be prepared. Make sure you have everything you need. Running out of gas, window wash and the like is just plain silly.
   

Five indicators that you shouldn't drive in a snowstorm:

1. You spin the tires a lot - but don't go anywhere.
2. You observe a lot of other drivers giving a single digit salute.
3. You've had your vehicle pulled out of a:
   • ditch
   • snow bank
   • body of water
   in the past 5 years.
4. You've never driven in the snow before and it's rush hour.
5. You just don't like driving in it.