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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTraffic Safety Commission - Minutes - 11/17/2016MINUTES OF THE BAYFIELD COUNTY TRAFFICE SAFETY COMMITTEE THURSDAY, November 17, 2016 The regular meeting of the Bayfield County Traffic Safety Committee was called to order by Chairman Paul Susienka at 9:00 am on Thursday, November 17, 2016 at the Bayfield County Emergency Operations Center, Washburn, WI. Attendees: Tomas R. Toepfer-Bayfield County Highway Dept., Paul Susienka, Bayfield County Sheriff, Jan Victorson-Emergency Management, Trent Betley- WI State Patrol, Rick Olig-BOTS Liaison, Beth Heflin – WI DOT, Matthew Reddy-WI DOT, Don Swedberg-Citizen, Bob Follis -Citizen, Deb Milanowski-Bayfield County Sheriff’s Office. Approval of Minutes: Motion by Tom Toepfer, 2nd by Sheriff Susienka to approve the minutes from August 18, 2016. Motion carried. Report of Highway Commissioner: Updated the committee on their status. They have completed filling in the dips on Hwy 63, finished all county work as of last Friday November 11, 2016 and they have salt and are ready for winter. Report from Jan Victorson: 1. Bayfield County applied for a grant for another sign trailer (a trailer full of signs, barricades and cones). 2. Bob Follis discussed the state of the trailer in Iron River and that it was falling into disrepair. 3. ARTAC is offering pre hospital trauma life support class for EMS and EMTs in January 2017 which will be hosted in Iron River. Also, will provide funding for car seats for those involved in a crash. 4. Bayfield EMS has requested another mock crash up in Bayfield. 5. Discussed Red Cliff having a traffic planning meeting for roads on reservation land and long term planning efforts. Looking at a roundabout at Blueberry and Hwy 13 in Red Cliff. Report from Paul Susienka: The Sheriff and Deb reviewed with the committee the traffic accidents for the county using the Community Maps program. Specifically looking at fatal and A injury accidents. No big changes or surprises. Rick Olig informed the committee that ATV accidents on highways may be put on the Community Maps but right now they are not. The State would like to see any fatal snowmobile and ATV accidents on the map when they occur on State Highways. Report from Rick Olig and Beth Heflin: Rick assisted Deb in editing the 7/18/16 accident on Hwy 63 so that it no longer showed up on the map as a fatal since the State does not consider it a valid fatal. Also, reviewed the photos and video from the two fatal accidents due to the flooding in July. A reminder was given that all accident reports need to be amended with the BAC. This will be accomplished now after 1/1/17 since the amendment process is much easier to do. Deb will be amending these when the blood results come back from the lab. Reviewed the deer crashes for the year. They have increased especially during the October and November months. The committee discussed providing public education with the aspect of “pay attention” during these times as the main message. Beth and Rick discussed the Anatomy of Traffic Safety report for our area. Beth informed the committee that the OWI target grant will be available on November 18th on WISEGrants. The time frame will be December 15, 2016 through January 1, 2017. Reviewed the State crashes. There are 475 fatals in 2016 as compared to 400 in 2015. There are 533 killed in 2016 vs 496 killed 2015. There were 4 new fatals in the State just on 11/16/16 from a large accident in the southern part of Wisconsin. There seems to be an increase in passenger deaths. Teen fatalities have jumped tremendously over the years. They are finding that a lot of back seat passengers are not buckling their seat belts. There was some discussion on provided education to children on this matter. Beth and Rick also discussed inviting the other law enforcement agencies to our next traffic safety meeting. Tom T. indicated this has been done in the past with no response. We will invite them for the upcoming meeting in February, 2017. Beth provided the committee with the 2017 Traffic Safety Committee meeting dates. These are: February 16, 2017, May 16, 2017, August 17, 2017 and November 16, 2017. Report from Community Representative: There was no report from the representative. Discussed the roundabout and how it actually is better. There have been no problems with the Hwy 13 and Hwy 2 roundabout. Report from Trent Betley: There is an attempt to be in this area once a week by the State Patrol. Trooper Betley comes from Iron County and works from Iron County through Bayfield County. State Patrol is still trying to fill the vacancy for this area. Report from Matt Reddy: There will be culvert replacement in Washburn from Superior Avenue to 7th Street. The road will be open with flaggers. 2018- There will be a bypass for the Iron River Bridge and 2019 will see the repair from Town of Iron River to the fairgrounds. Meeting ended at 10:33am Respectfully submitted by Deb Milanowski Next meeting is scheduled for 2/16/16 at 9:00am at the Bayfield County Sheriff’s Office in the EOC.