On Tuesday, June 10, the Borough Board of Burgesses held a regular meeting in the Lower Meeting Room of Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street. Jay Maher, the warden, began the meeting by reading a letter from Karen Banks into the record.

Banks’ letter addressed her concerns regarding traffic patterns on Main Street and around the flagpole. Banks suggested adding solar powered lights be installed for the crosswalks around the flagpole. The letter read, in part, “It’s very dangerous at these three spots. Many times, vehicles do not stop for pedestrians…Traffic going south on Main Street cannot see pedestrians if cars are parked in front of the town hall. This is also a tragedy waiting to happen as most vehicles go far above the 30 mile an hour posted speed.”

Banks suggested a “more frequent presence of police at this dangerous intersection will help.” Banks also said that “it really is time to put in traffic signals at the flagpole.”

Burgess Jim Gaston was the first to respond to this letter saying, “This comes up every seven years like clockwork…One [suggestion] was to put a roundabout, which takes Trinity’s property, takes the property on the other side, takes the parking spaces from the commercial area, so there won’t be any business in there…It’s not an acceptable answer.”

Gaston added that “traffic lights will never be allowed by the state.” He said that he has spoken to the state and that it wants to see a “flow of traffic,” not to mention the potential danger it could cause in the winter with snow and ice on the hill leading up to Main Street. Gaston also pointed out that the flagpole is a five-way intersection, not a traditional four-way intersection, and that the flagpole has stopped the state from putting a four-lane highway from Bridgeport to Danbury through town.

Gaston suggested requesting extra police presence in the area, which the Borough did several years ago, saying that residents “know there’s no police station” in the area anymore, which deterred drivers from excessive speeding.

Burgess John Madzula said that drivers are “cutting up the side route. It is technically a parking lane. It’s not a travel lane.” He asked if adding diagonal lines to the parking lane would help, but that it would “contravene parking.”

Madzula brought up examples of traffic calming techniques he has seen in the New Haven area, which include bumping out the curb, raised bumps in the road, and boards that flash when there is a pedestrian crossing the road.

Burgess Maureen Crick Owen referenced the Safe Streets 4 All survey that was done last year, explaining that the first part of the project was to secure a grant for a traffic engineer to determine which area of town needs to be addressed first. She said that not only does Main Street need to be addressed, but so does Sandy Hook Center.

“Post-COVID, people have no courtesy anymore,” Crick Owen stated. “No manners in how they drive. I don’t know how you turn that part around.”

Senior Burgess Chris Gardner asked if there is a sign that says no passing. Most of the burgesses replied “no.” Garnder then said, “What about a rumble strip?”

Madzula responded, “I love it.”

Gardner said, “What I’m thinking is have it go across the parking lot of the gold building…then just to West Street…It may take a couple of times for people to realize, ‘Oh, I can’t pass on the right because I’m gonna hit that rumble strip.’ Nobody wants to do that.”

The conversation continued for a short while, then Maher shifted his focus to “a crisis in the Borough. It’s an electric bike.”

Gaston said that there have been bicycles on the sidewalks before, and while he doesn’t think that bicycles are an issue, e-bikes go much faster than traditional bikes. Gaston said that there should be an ordinance regarding electric bikes on the sidewalks because of their speed. Gaston said he would draft a proposal of an ordinance to tackle the e-bike issue and would prepare it for the next meeting.

Tree Warden’s Report

Robert McCulloch, the Borough’s tree warden, attended the meeting to present his report and a proposal for fertilization and pruning of the trees on Main Street and Glover Avenue.

McCulloch shared that he has not gotten a request for work orders from the town in a while, which “is probably a good thing.” He said that most of his calls are from homeowners directly.

“I think the state of the trees in the Borough outside of Main Street are phenomenal,” McCulloch told the burgesses. He said later on in the meeting that the trees on Main Street are “wicked old,” so they start to show signs of decay and disease quicker and faster than other trees.

He said that the only way to combat that is to fertilize the trees and prune them more regularly. McCulloch presented the burgesses with a quote for $7,500 to fertilize all the sugar maples on Main Street and $22,500 to prune the large and ornamental trees of all dead wood on Main Street and Glover Avenue.

McCulloch said Main Street and Glover Avenue are the “two biggest focal points” coming in and out of the Borough. He also discussed stump grinding at Hawley School and in a few other locations. The state is coming to remove a few more trees around the area in August, so he hopes that the stump grinding can take place after those trees come down.

Borough Zoning, Historic District, And Church Hill Road Crosswalks

Following the treasurer’s report, Maher read the zoning officer’s report into the record. At the last meeting in May, the burgesses discussed work being done at 69 Main Street and the lack of permits pulled for the work.

Due to the house falling within Borough limits, and, more specifically, Borough Historic District limits, the contractors needed Borough zoning and Historic District approval before any work was done. The zoning officer, Joe Chapman, issued a cease and desist on the property and work, at least on the exterior, has stopped.

Burgess Sarah Phillips informed the group that the Historic District is hosting a public hearing regarding Trinity Episcopal Church’s full roof replacement and the HVAC project at the C.H. Booth Library. The hearing will take place on June 26, 7 pm, at the Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street.

While still discussing the Historic District, Gaston suggested looking at expanding the Historic District, as it is typically expanded, or at least studied, every ten years. He said that the district had not been expanded since 2006, and added concern over HB 5002 that limits municipalities’ individual rights to determine zoning and housing.

“I think there is some interest in expanding [the Historic District]…and it’s an excellent preservation tool, which I don’t think we should overlook,” Gaston said.

Madzula agreed, “I think it’s just a great tool to preserve the integrity of our Borough.”

Gaston presented a motion to “commence a Historic District Study Committee for the potential of expanding the Historic District.” It passed unanimously.

Maher then updated the group on the Church Hill Road and Queen Street sidewalk project. He said that the contractor is waiting for a permit from the state and hopes to start construction in mid-July.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.