The Board of Selectmen on Monday appointed nine members to the new Pedestrian Infrastructure Advisory Committee, a new body created to pay more attention to sidewalks and other infrastructure for pedestrians.
The board had asked the Representative Town Meeting’s Pedestrian Infrastructure Subcommittee to find seven candidates (most of them RTM members) to form the advisory committee (which will hold its first meeting Tuesday night in Town Hall).
Darien Board of Selectmen at Monday night\’s meeting.
Frank Adelman, chairman of the subcommittee, delivered a report (full text below) explaining how the members were selected.
His report also suggested that the committee be expanded to nine members — largely because the new committee could use plenty of help with the job of examining pedestrian infrastructure and suggesting maintenance and improvement projects in upcoming months. Selectmen unanimously agreed to expand the committee and appointed all nine of the recommended candidates to it (list below).
The subcommittee had asked the Board of Selectmen to appoint the advisory committee, which would work with the town Police and Public Works departments to exchange information as the panel comes up with advice for town pedestrian safety infrastructure.
On May 4, the Board of Selectmen approved a mission statement for the advisory panel, charging it:
To ensure safe pedestrian access to critical locations in town, and to promote and encourage pedestrian activity that is safe, convenient and attractive by
— reviewing existing town infrastructure essential to pedestrian safety;
— considering possible future infrastructure that may be needed or helpful for pedestrian activity;
— considering pedestrian interactions with other forms of transit and transportation, including cars and private vehicles, buses (both local and long-haul), bicycles, mass transit, taxis, etc.
— considering pedestrian interactions and interfaces with neighboring towns.
The Board of Selectmen on May 4 set the panel’s goals, including delivery of an annual report sometime in the last quarter of the year (October to December) to the board “outlining infrastructure needs and priorities that support the mission of the PIAC.”
Selectmen also requested development of a list of priorities for new projects or “investments.” The information would help town officials decide on what projects to include in the budget for the next fiscal year.
Here is the prepared statement Frank Adelman, chairman of the subcommittee, delivered to the Board of Selectmen Monday night:
Good evening:
My name is Frank Adelman. I’m member of the RTM from District 6, serving on the Public Works Committee, and the chair of the Pedestrian Infrastructure Subcommittee of [the RTM] Public Works [Committee].
Our sub-committee has been hard at work since you voted to establish a Pedestrian Infrastructure Advisory Committee on May 4, and I am pleased to report back to you tonight to recommend a slate of volunteers to serve on the PIAC.
When you established the PIAC, you included a number of requirements that were very challenging, specifically relating to RTM representation on the PIAC and geographic distribution.
Furthermore, we confirmed that the PIAC is subject to political minority representation rules. We also wanted to ensure that a diverse variety of perspectives would be included, such as commuters, school parents, recreational walkers and runners, and so forth.
It would be a significant challenge to assemble any group of seven volunteers that met all requirements, let alone to do so in the short time frame that we set for ourselves due to the urgency of the deliverables you specified.
Although we did not meet strictly every requirement, we met the large majority and in fact overdelivered in some dimensions. So I’m very pleased with the result of this search.
Our search process was rapid but intensive. We first defined the qualifications we felt would be desirable for members of the PIAC, both as individuals and as a group.
We then reached out to the community using a variety of media and methods, including letters placed in the Darien Times, notices to nearly all of the public schools, outreach to community organizations such as the YWCA and YMCA, an open public meeting of our sub-committee specifically intended to solicit volunteers, and a brief presentation at the June 8 RTM meeting.
Of course we each also reached out individually within the community, and we also benefited from some suggestions from the Selectmen.
This search ultimately yielded 12 serious and qualified volunteers who are enthusiastic about tackling the challenges you have set for the PIAC.
I want to take a moment to thank all 12 for their interest, their energy and their willingness to serve. All were distinguished and well-qualified, and each could and would make a meaningful contribution to the work of the PIAC.
With that said, our sub-committee met on June 11 to select a slate of 7 from among the 12 volunteers. After deliberating, we resolved to make a recommendation to you in two parts:
First, to respond to your May 4 resolution, and in line with our sub-committee’s original proposal, we voted to recommend the following seven volunteers to serve on the PIAC:
- Ted Hawkins District 6 RTM Member, PZ&H Committee
- Terry Duffy District 5 RTM Member, F&B [Finance and Bonding] Committee
- Holly Schulz-Amatruda District 3 RTM Member, PH&S [Public Health and Safety] Committee
- Bert von Stuelpnagel District 1 RTM Member, TGS&A [Town Government Structure and Administration] Committee
- Beth Harmon District 6 Non-RTM member
- Jennifer Morgan District 4 Non-RTM member
- Susanne Handler District 2 Non-RTM member
Second, in light of the wealth of talent available, the ambitious mandate that you posed, and the rapidly evaporating time available before your required report, we voted to recommend that you consider expanding the PIAC from 7 members to 9. If you decide to do so, we recommend the following two additional volunteers:
- Pat Morrissey District 3 Non-RTM member
- Joanna Garrett District 6 Non-RTM member
Whether you proceed with 7 or 9, the PIAC will have met the following goals: – 4 RTM members out of 5 total directed
– 3 RTM members from the 5 specific committees identified by the BoS
– 2 RTM members from the 3 top-priority RTM committees identified by Jayme
– All 6 districts represented, which over-delivers on geographic diversity
– Compliance with political minority representation rules
– Representation of diverse interests and aspects of pedestrian & cycling activity
Staffing the PIAC was a real challenge but our sub-committee is pleased to recommend this slate of volunteers to you. We want to thank you again for accepting the original suggestion of our sub-committee and forming the PIAC in the first place. I personally want to thank [First Selectman] Jayme [Stevenson] and [Selectman] Susan [Marks] in particular for your support and for bringing 3 great candidates to our attention. I also want to thank Sarah Seelye, the RTM moderator, and Mark Adiletta, the chair of the Public Works Committee, for their support and guidance in this process.
Pending your approval of this slate, the initial meeting of the PIAC has been scheduled for tomorrow evening, June 30 at 7:30 p.m. here in Town Hall.
At this kick-off meeting we will transition various responsibilities from our sub-committee to the PIAC and they will have their first discussions, and then the baton will pass to them. The meeting is of course open to the public, so I’d like to invite each of you to attend, as well as any interested members of the public.
Thanks again for the establishing the PIAC. I’m confident that the slate we’ve recommended will do an exceptional job.