Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-13-39 Council Meeting MinutesBe it remembered that the Common Council of in the Council Chambers, City Hall, Monday,, was absent and Vice - President Hull presided. was suspended._ 163; the City of South Bend,_ Indiana, met in regular sessi November 13, 1939, at 7:35 P.M. President McCarthy The.reading of the minutes of the previous meeting REPORT OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY(Communication) The Common Council of the City of South Bend, Ind. November 13, 1939 Ge nt lemen : Through Mr. Ernest H. Miller, Traffic Engineer, the Board contacted the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railway relative to the condition that exists at the intersection.of their tracks with Olive Street. This morning, Mr. Andrest, General Superintendent of the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Rail way appeared before the Board relative to.the situation and stated that they had made a survey of this intersection and determined to make -a safety stop of all trains crossing Olive Street before, entering into the intersection. This, of course, is the best possible protection for any intersection and we have recommended that this procedure be followed. By safety stops we mean all trains coming to a complete . stop before entering the intersection just as all vehicles are required to do,befo.re entering a pref- erential street which is marked with a Stop Sign. Very truly yours, BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY By George N. Beamer, Chairman IOouncilman Niezgodski made a motion that the communication be kept in the Council for a period of two-weeks. Councilman Richardson seconded the motion. Motion carried. We. the undersigned-, hereby respectfully petition the Mayor and Council of the City of South Bend Indiana to remedy the traffic situation described below: School children living on the north easterly side of Lincolnway East between Sample Street and Western Avenue attend the Benjamin Franklin school located at the corner of Sample and Clinton streets. This necessitates their crossing of Lincolnway East, one of the principal traffic arteries of South Bend. They have been instructed by school authorities to cross said street at Bronson street. Some years ago a school child was severely injured at this crossing and subsequently a traffic light was installed. Thereafter, school children could cross Lincolnway East safely. In= -the summer of 1937 the city of South Bend, upon the recommendation of Mr. Miller, its traffic engineer, suddenly removed this traffic light despite the protests of residents concerned. The reason given for said removal was that the light created a hazard resulting in rear -end colli- sions of automobiles. Parents were then promised by Mayor Freyermuth. that police protection would be given the school children at this corner. For a few days this protection wa`s given and subsequently dropped. During' the school year of 1938 -1939 the sole protection to children was by boy patrols who becaus+ of traffic conditions were unable to adequately cope with the situation. On Lincolnway East there is no traffic control between Jefferson Blvd. and Sample street with the result-that auto- mobiles travel at a high rate of speed and often two abreast at the Bronson street crossing. This is particularly true in the morning and at noon when people are hurrying to and from work. Double street car tracks add to this hazard. No heed is given by motorists to warning signs or to boy patrols. As a result of this hazardous situation many parents found it necessary to take their children to and from school every day. At that time a petition was prepared by interested parents requesting the re- installation of the traffic light at this corner. Since Lincolnway East had then been placed under state jurisdictioi as a state highway, the city of South Bend no longer had jurisdiction on the subject, and the state refused to reinstall it since there was an insufficient amount of cross traffic to warrent it in their estimation. In the fall of 1.939 .an interested parent was successful in securing some police protection for a few minutes in the morning. However, on many mornings no police officer has been on the corner, with the result that parents are never certain that protection is being provided. Also, no protection other than boy patrols is ever, given at other times of day. During the school week of October 16, 1939, interested parents made an accurate check of vehicles passing the intersection of Lincolnway East and Bronson streets during those periods when school children cross. These statistics are given in the accompanying table. In view of these conditions, and supported by attached data, we submit our request for your co- operation in securing an immediate solution to the problem of providing adequate police protecti for our school children at the corner of Lincolnway East and Bronson streets. Respectfully submitted by 1. Parent Teachers Association of Benjamin Franklin School. By motion made and carried at meeting Oct. 12, 1939• �2. Executive committee of parents meeting under the above authority. 3. Interested parties residing in the dangerous area, consisting of parents,zelatives and other citizens. (signatures attached) 164 Exhibit - 1 (Number of vehicles passing the intersection of Lincolnway East and Bronson streets during periods when children cross. Week of October 16, 1939• Hour Mon. Tues. Wed.- Thurs. Fri. Average 7 :50 - 5:20 A.M. 562 553 507 554 515 534 ll :30 A.M. - 12 N. 298 3OS 28 .312 301 12: w A.M. - 1 :10 P.M. 547 507 469 505 526 511 3:15 P.M. - 3:45 P.M. 326 318 366 391 348 Data collected by: Mr. D. K. Singer, Mr. J. F. Newman; Mr. & Mrs. L. H. Eells Exhibit - 2. Ohildren.Who Live Across Lincoln Way East. (26 names listed) - Eahibit - 3. Signatures of interested parties numbering 127. Councilman Richardson made a motion that the petition be referred to the Board of Safety and that the Board make a report on the petition at the neat meeting of the Council. Councilman Bishop seconded the motion. Motion carried. REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON MINUTES To the - Common Council of the City of South Bend: Your Committee on the inspection and supervision of the minutes, would respectfully report that they have inspected the minutes of the previous meeting of the Council and found them correct. They therefore recommend -that the same be approved. Meetinge -9/16/39,9/29/39,9 /11/39 (Signed by members of Minutes Committee) Councilman Pulaski made a motion that the report be accepted. Councilman Bishop seconded the motion. Motion carried. ORDINANCE The ordinance was given first reading by title and "tecond reading in full. Councilman Pulaski made a motion that the ordinance be referred to the Committee of the Whole and that a public hearing be held on November 27th. Councilman Bishop seconded the motion. Motion carried. ORDINANCE ORDINANCE TRANSFERRING CERTAIN Councilman Pulaski made a motion to have the ordinance referred to the= Committee of the Whole and that a public hearing be held November 27th. Councilman Richardson seconded the motion. Motion carried. (The ordinance was given first reading by title and second reading in full.) ORDINANCE BICYCLE REGISTRATION ORDINANCE AN ORDINANCE LICENSING AND PROVIDING FOR AND REQUIRING REGISTRATION OF Councilman Richardson made a motion that this ordinance be referred to the Committee of the Who1 and that a public hearing be held on November 27th. Councilman Brannon seconded the motion. This ordinance was given first reading by title and second reading in full. Motion carried.. ICOMMUNIOATION FROM DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS The Common Council of the City of South Bend, Indiana November 13, 1939 (Gentlemen: The Street Department is confronted with the necessity of making temporary repairs on Mishawaka Avenue and Eddy Street after the removal of the street,ear rails. When these rails were sold it was thought it would be possible to repair this area in connection with the city -wide street improvement project under V.P.A., but several things have prevented the work from being done by the W.P.A.; one of which is that the funds for the project have been exhausted for this year and the other is that the lateness of the-season has made it impractical to do this sort of work. This requires that this temporary repair work be done by our own Street Department, which will necessitate an increased labor item over and above the appropriation in our budget for this year. Fortunately, we have received from the State Gasoline Tax Fund $3695.54 more than was appropriate for the Street Department purposes for the current year. We are asking, therefore, for a special appropriation of this amount to the Street Department to take care of labor costs in connection with this repair work. This will require a public hearing before the enactment of the ordinance, which must be advertised for at least ten days. It will - then require the approval of the State Tax Board, but we-have reasons to believe that there will be no objections from that source. Very truly yours, BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS By JAMES P. CONBOY, Clerk 165 ORDINANCE AN ORDINANCE TRANSFERRING CERTAIN FUNDS FROM THE GENERAL FUND OF THE CIVIL CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, FOR EMERGENCY PURPOSES. This ordinance was given first reading by title and second reading in full. Councilman Pulaski made a motion that the ordinance be referred to the Committee of the Whole and that a public hearing be held November 27th. Councilman Richardson seconded the motion. Motion carried. There being no further business, Councilman Richardson made a motion for adjournment. Councilman Pulaski seconded the motion. Council adjourned at 5 :15 P.M. ATTEST: • / APPRO D: A. 2 . CLER$ VIC - RESIDENT t