Indian Hills residents discuss parking concerns with Jackson Board of Aldermen

City officials heard concerns from residents of Indian Hills subdivision at Jackson's regular Board of Aldermen meeting Monday.

In the study session, resident Janice Unger said she'd contacted the police and fire departments to express her concern emergency vehicles might not be able to navigate Highland Drive between Shawnee Boulevard and Nancy Drive when vehicles are parked on both sides of the street. Unger said she has difficulty navigating her own vehicle through the “tight” conditions, and said a fire truck would also have trouble in an emergency.

City administrator Jim Roach said the police and fire departments, as well as the Public Works Department, had reviewed the situation, and Public Works director Kent Peetz showed some photos demonstrating how tight the driving area can be.

Unger said parking has already been repealed along a section of Highland Drive, between Oakland Drive and Gerald Street, on the uphill approach to Gerald.

Peetz said the roads in Indian Hills are between 27 and 33 feet wide, acknowledging they are somewhat narrow. Peetz also said he did not identify any houses in the area in question that did not have, on average, 2.5 offstreet parking spaces per property.

Charles Hutson, also a resident of Indian Hills subdivision, said vehicles from a landscaping company are often parked in the 1100 block of South Shawnee Boulevard. Hutson said the trucks with long trailers are often parked on both sides of the street, and that can make getting to the stoplight at Shawnee and East Jackson Boulevard difficult.

Roach said the city would investigate.

Additionally, as a follow-up to questions raised at the March 4 regular meeting, Peetz provided data on accidents recorded at the intersection of North Georgia and East Main streets.

City leaders are considering adding a left-turn lane on North Georgia Street, to allow traffic to turn east onto Main Street.

Peetz said there were three accidents in 2014, one in 2015, two in 2016, eight in 2017, three in 2018 and none so far in 2019.

Peetz noted the increase in collisions in 2017 was likely because of increased traffic flow during construction of the roundabout at East Main and Hope streets.

Other action

• The use tax education and outreach strategy is moving ahead, Emily Colbert with BOLD Marketing told the aldermen during the study session. Colbert said an e-blast went out recently, and has a higher-than-average open rate: 56 percent, or 505 of 903. Colbert said average open rate is 27 percent.

Presentations to civic organizations continue, Colbert said, and interviews with area media outlets will be held soon.

Jackson has a use tax — or sales tax on items bought outside the state and brought in — measure on the April 2 municipal election ballot.

• City attorney Tom Ludwig said he will write an ordinance to empower Roach to make deals related to design-build projects on behalf of the city. Ludwig called it a “true housekeeping issue,” since the city's ordinances do not mention the design-build method. This provision will simply allow Roach to treat design-build projects as he would traditional design-bid projects.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630