TOWN OF MADISON

HIGHWAY SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES

FEBRUARY 6, 2007

Members Present: Administrator Melissa Arias, Police Chief John Pickering, Rescue Member Becky Knowles, and School Nurse Nan Bartlett.  Members Absent: Assistant Road Agent Rob Hatch, retired Recreation Committee member Chris Martin, and Old Home Week Committee Member Paul Jean.

4:34 PM – The Police Chief called the meeting to order.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES - The Minutes of the December 19, 2006 Highway Safety Committee Meeting were approved on a motion by John, seconded by Becky, and so voted. 

SPEED TRAILER – John announced that the donations for the speed trailer have been coming in extremely well.  $5,260.00 has been collected to date, which exceeds the original target amount of $4,210 for our share of the trailer we specked out.  It looks like we’ll be able to upgrade the trailer to a better model with more features.  The State of NH will match whatever funds the Town puts forth, up to $6,000.  Upgraded units would be slightly less than $10,000, with options to purchase extra batteries and other accessories.  Delivery times may vary. 

SPEED ENFORCEMENT GRANT – The Chief has applied for a DWI Enforcement Grant and a Speed Enforcement Grant to run from March – September 2007.  Becky made a motion to accept both grants as applied for by the Chief, seconded by Nan, and so voted.

JAKE BRAKE ORDINANCE – The Chief has done extensive research in hopes of finding a municipality that has adopted a Jake Brake Ordinance.  He has found several Town’s that have posted the Jake Brake signage but none that have actually adopted an official Ordinance.  The signs that have been posted in such Towns seem to be looking for voluntary compliance from truckers without the enforcement that an Ordinance would allow.  The Chief called the Local Government Center for advice and learned that the manufacturer of the jake brake has made statements that they would publicly petition any proposed jake brake ordinance.  Alternately, the Local Government Center said the Town could post signage asking for voluntary compliance with jake brakes, especially during certain hours.  The Town could also look into adopting a Noise Ordinance.  The Committee would like the Chief to bring this issue to the Selectmen’s attention.

STOP SIGN REQUEST – In June of 2006, the Highway Department was asked by a resident to install Stop signs at the intersections of Jones Hill Road/Forest Pines Road and Pine Hill Road/Forest Pines Road.  Although the matter was discussed it wasn’t done due to low traffic flow.  It was suggested to send a letter to the resident explaining the thought process of the Town and explain that the speed trailer could be used on Forest Pines Road to monitor traffic counts and see if stop signs are warranted.  The Committee didn’t see any urgency in addressing the issue because low traffic combined with responsible driving and driving within the speed limit should be enough to keep the two intersections safe.  The Police Chief is not aware of any accidents or near accidents at either one of the above intersections.         

4:47 PM – John made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Becky, and so voted. 

Respectfully submitted,

Melissa Shackford Arias

Recording Secretary