Town Hall Meeting - Speeding
March 18, 2008
President Claude
Oliver called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m.
INTRODUCTIONS:
Claude welcomed
members of the Semiahmoo Resort Association (SRA) to the first ever town-hall
meeting and thanked them for attending. He then introduced the following Board
members: Bill Bradfield, Vice President, Carol Selby, Secretary/Treasurer, Bob
Williams, Director and Brett Eaton, Director.
The number of
attendees totaled 34; and is summarized as to what street they reside on.
St. Andrews Green neighborhood:
 |
Wood Duck Way (10) |
|
Canvasback Road (6) |
|
Great Horned Owl Lane (5) |
|
Osprey Road (3) |
|
Bald Eagle Drive (2) |
|
Goshawk Road (1) |
|
Snowy Owl Lane (1) |
|
Quail Run (1) |
|
Snow Goose Lane (1) |
Drayton Hillside neighborhood:
|
Night Heron Drive (3) |
Prestwick Village neighborhood:
|
Sandpiper Lane (1) |
Claude said there
would be several more town-hall meetings and that dates are yet to be
determined. He said this is a good forum for hearing what others are saying and
for the Board to hear the thoughts of the membership. The focus of the meeting
was speeding. He then asked that the residents state their name and address
when addressing the Board. Bill Bradfield was introduced and served as
moderator.
SUMMARY OF
SPEEDING ISSUES:
Bill gave a brief
chronology of the issue of speeding which has been ongoing for several years.
He referenced letters that have been sent to the SRA membership and businesses
that work behind the gates. In 2006, the Board entered into an exclusive
agreement with the City of Blaine Police Department which gives them the
authority to patrol behind the gates of Semiahmoo; and to issue speeding
tickets, which began in early 2007. Today, the issue of speeding is still an
open item at Board meetings. Traffic calming measures such as speed
bumps/humps; traffic circles and islands has been reviewed. The Board is
currently against installing speed bumps as they do not think this is the best
solution for traffic calming.
As a cost effective
measure, two temporary stop signs were placed on Wood Duck Way and Bufflehead
Court. He said that the Board has received emails from residents saying they
are in favor of the new signs and think that they are helping with the speeding
problems on Wood Duck Way.
Bill then opened
the floor to comments and questions in regard to speeding.
COMMENTS AND
QUESTIONS:
|
How many speeders are there; is
there a real problem? |
|
Speeding is not a unique problem
specific to Semiahmoo; it happens everywhere! |
|
Who are the speeders: Residents?
Contractors? Guests? |
|
Generally, people do not stop at
the stop signs; particularly at the intersection of Snow Goose Lane and Wood
Duck Way. Some people are stopping at the new stop signs on Wood Duck Way and
Bufflehead Court |
|
Stop signs “don’t work”! |
|
Ticket those who run stop signs |
|
Fines levied at Birch Bay Village
were referenced. Should the SRA impose fines for speeding? |
|
Increase patrols by the Blaine
Police Department (BPD). Currently the BPD is short staffed. Two new
officers will be out of the academy this week |
|
Cost of speeding tickets issued by
the BPD are expensive - $114 for 5 mph over the speed limit and go up from
there |
|
When BPD is present; speeding cars
slow down because they see the police car |
|
Hire a private security firm to
issue speeding tickets |
|
List the names of speeding
offenders in the community newsletter |
|
List the streets and the number of
citations issued by the BPD in the newsletter |
|
What time of day is the speeding
worse? Early morning and late afternoon seems to be the worst (people coming
and going to work) |
|
Is the 20 miles per hour (mph)
speed limit too low? Should it be raised to 25 mph? |
|
Gravel walking paths are worthless;
thus adults and kids walk/ride bikes in the street; opposed to raising speed
limit |
|
If a contractor is found speeding,
should they be made to park outside of the gates and walk to the job site? |
|
Report companies who are speeding
to the SRA office so that SRA staff can contact company managers to make them
aware of their employees’ speeding |
|
Delivery companies and landscape
companies rushing to and from appointments were mentioned as speeding
offenders |
|
Install traffic cams to monitor
streets; record license plate numbers and speeds; supply a report to the BPD
for follow up and possible ticketing |
|
Begin a “traffic watch” program
(the SRA would need to purchase a radar gun) |
|
People don’t want to “tattle” or
falsely accuse their neighbors |
|
Begin a “good neighbor” policy and
possibly solve the problem without spending funds for patrols, etc. Talk with
your neighbor if you have a concern on how they are driving; issue a prize for
“best neighbor”. A comment was made that this has been tried, and the person
who was speeding was not receptive; “who are you to challenge my driving
habits”? |
|
Begin using a “complaint form” that
has to be filled out and signed by the person filing the complaint so that the
accused can see who has filed the complaint. The question was posed: “then
what is done with the form”? A comment was made that it could be given to the
BPD for follow up |
|
The BPD is willing to loan their
radar gun to residents and train them to use it. One resident may become
certified to use the radar gun and could then issue a report to the BPD so
that they could contact the offender who was speeding. A copy of the report
could also be provided to the SRA office. This information could be put in
the community newsletter |
|
Check with other communities to see
what lessons they have learned about speeding. The audience member who
suggested this will contact the SRA office with contact information for their
former homeowners association in Seattle |
|
Has a recent traffic count been
taken on Wood Duck Way? The last study on file is from 2006. Should another
study be made? |
|
Install a “round-about” on sections
of streets that have a long stretch; concentrate on Wood Duck Way |
|
Add stop signs on Wood Duck Way at
Quail Run |
|
Paint the pavement with lettering
that says “Slow – 20 mph”, rather than installing stop signs |
|
If the new stop sign on Wood Duck
Way (south bound) becomes permanent, branches need to be trimmed |
|
The resident who lives near the new
stop sign (north bound) has noticed more noise due to the “stop & go” of
vehicles |
|
Speeding is a community wide
problem; begin standing up to the offenders who are misbehaving; we do not
want to see someone get hurt |
|
People talking on cellular phones
is a problem because they are not paying attention to their speed |
|
A resident provided the following
statistics on the effectiveness of the new stop signs on Wood Duck Way: |
6/30/07 32% traveling 20 mph or less
68% traveling 21 mph or more
3/16/08 53% traveling 20 mph or less
47% traveling 21 mph or more
|
Ask the City of Blaine to donate
the Semiahmoo Fire Station for a sub-group of the BPD so they can respond more
rapidly to incidents behind the gates |
|
Residents whose property is
affected by the south bound stop sign are opposed to relocating their mail box
to accommodate the stop sign. Can the street be painted or some other
location found for the sign? |
|
If the stop sign is to be placed
permanently, a new white “stop line” would be painted on the street (similar
to the other locations throughout the community) |
|
The web link [http://www.digitalthreads.com/utarpt/utarpt5.html]
for speed humps/bumps referenced California law. Has Washington law
been checked? |
MISCELLENOUS QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS:
|
When will Drayton Harbor Road be
fixed? The reply was “soon” |
|
Workers going to the Carnoustie
site should be using Gate 2, not Gate 3. The policy is that workers are to
use the gate closest to the jobsite |
|
Could the SRA ask the City of
Blaine to repaint the crosswalk from Gate 3 to the path along Semiahmoo
Parkway? The reply was “yes” and it was mentioned that the city will be
performing work at Semiahmoo this summer, especially near the Spit |
|
A car has been reported speeding on
Blue Grouse Way (in the Stonehaven neighborhood) around 2:00 a.m. This has
been reported to the BPD. A question as to whether it is the paper delivery
person was raised. The SRA office will contact the paper carriers who service
the Semiahmoo neighborhoods and inquire as to whether the deliver person is
indeed speeding and making lots of noise. If the offender is identified, they
will be asked to fix their car to eliminate noise pollution! |
This concluded the
comments and question period.
Claude asked for a
show of hands of those who are in favor of permanently installing the stop signs
on Wood Duck Way and Bufflehead Court. Ten (10) people raised their hand. He
then asked for those opposed and ten (10) people raised their hand. The Board
will continue to review this issue at an upcoming Board meeting.
The audience was
thanked for coming and for sharing their thoughts. They were told that notes
from the meting would be distributed to the overall SRA membership as soon as
possible. The Board will continue to hold town-hall meetings in the future.
Bill was thanked
for doing an outstanding job as moderator!
In closing, Claude
told the audience that their comments and questions will be reviewed by the
Board. He also encouraged audience members to talk with Board members after the
meeting to offer any new ideas they may have for the Board’s consideration.
SUMMARY OF
EMAILS RECEIVED PRIOR TO THE MEETING:
Ø
There were two (2) in favor of the new stop signs on Wood Duck Way
and two (2) opposed (don’t think that they are effective)
Ø
There were three (3) in favor of installing speed bumps and two
(2) opposed
Ø
Possibly add another three-way stop at Quail Run
Ø
Install additional signage announcing that the streets are
patrolled by the BPD
Ø
Speed Watch Program. Report commercial vehicles that are speeding
to the SRA office. SRA staff would then contact the company and speak to the
owner/manager. Convey concerns to neighbors who are observed speeding. If the
driver is unknown, contact the BPD with license plate number for appropriate
action
Ø
Continue placing the “Radar speed sign” on the streets behind the
gates to make people aware of how fast they are traveling
Ø
Consider adding traffic calming islands
Ø
Schedule meetings later in the day to accommodate those who work
from “9 to 5”.
ADJOURN:
The meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
| 
