06/12/1978 Board of Public Works Minutes

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150 REGULAR MEETING JUNE 12, 1978 of this residence would be a violation of the:City zoning ordinance. Mr. Masters submitted to the Board a copy of a letter, dated May 9, 1978, sent to the resident of the property at 1715 Portage Avenue by John DeLee, Building Commissioner, ordering him to cease and desist from the distribution of flowers from that address. Also submitted was a copy of a memorandum from Mr. DeLee, dated May 26, noting that he had observed a woman at 1715 Portage Avenue loading flowers into a station wagon. Nine cans of flowers were observed in the yard and there were also several boxes of flowers. Mr. Masters noted that this would be a violation of the zoning ordinance. It was based on these allegations that he asked the Board to deny the application for a fireworks stand permit because of violations of the Municipal Code, Section 1 -18, A -3. Mr. McMahon noted that the Board did deny the permit application last Monday and this hearing was for the purpose of allowing Mr. Moore to present information in support of his application. REQUEST TO ELIMINATE BLOWING OF TRAIN WHISTLES A delegation of residents from the South East United Neighborhoods requested that the Board take action regarding the prolonged blowing of train whistles. Spokesman for the group was Bill Weaver, 1710 S. Twyckenham. He noted that there is a City ordinance against raucous noise and against the blowing of train whistles at various crossings. He asked that the Board post signs prohibiting the blowing of train whistles at the Greenlawn, Sunnymede, Leer, Vernon, Twyckenham, Caroline and Robinson crossings. He said the crossings are all protected by gates and lights. Trains coming through at all hours of the night blow their whistles and sometimes blow them continuously along all the crossings causing a nuisance to the residents. Mr. Brunner noted that the complaint appears to be justified and the Board would instruct the Traffic Engineer to determine the traffic count at the intersections and the number of accidents which have occurred. This information would then have to be submitted to the Public Service Commission with a petition asking that Conrail be instructed not to use their whistles. The City was able to do that with respect to Grand Trunk Railroad crossings. It would be necessary to amend the City ordinance to include other crossings.. -Councilman Terry Miller was present and said he represents the people in this district. He called to the attention of the residents the fact that this is a lengthy procedure. He said he was involved in the effort to restrict blowing of train whistles at Grand Trunk crossings. At the time that petition was submitted to the Public Service Commission, the New York Central crossings were discussed. There was mixed feeling on the Commission regarding these crossings. The Conrail track gates are not always operative and there is more of a safety hazard on these tracks. He noted that the problem seems to surface in the spring when people begin opening their windows. Mr. Miller suaaested that the Board t)ursue the procedure with the Public Service Commission and also make contract with Conrail to try to come to an agreement where they would stop blowing whistles continuously through the crossings and especially at night. Mrs. James Beck spoke regarding the matter and said until something is done about the malfunctioning gates and people crossing the tracks when the gates are down, there will continue to be accidents and the P.S.C. will not grant the petition. She said when the P.S.C. checked the accident rate in regard to the petition to stop train whistles on the Grand Trunk crossings, they found there there had only been five accidents since 1933 and none in the past ten years and that was the basis for granting the petition. She also asked that the City inquire about the switching operations on the Conrail tracks since this switching ties up all the crossings. Avis. Thrasher spoke and noted that the trains in the early morning hours blow their whistles excessively and wake people up. She also said the trains stop to allow men to 1 n