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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Read Before Packet - 9/25/2018 - Memorandum From Delynn Coldiron Re: Leadership Planning Team Minutes - September 24, 2018City Clerk 300 LaPorte Avenue PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6515 970.221-6295 - fax fcgov.com/cityclerk MEMORANDUM DATE: September 24, 2018 TO: Mayor and Councilmembers FROM: Delynn Coldiron, City Clerk RE: Leadership Planning Team (LPT) Meeting Mayor Wade Troxell, Mayor Pro Tem Gerry Horak, City Manager Darin Atteberry (phone), Deputy City Manager Jeff Mihelich (phone), City Attorney Carrie Daggett, Assistant City Manager Wendy Williams and City Clerk Delynn Coldiron met on Monday, September 24, and the following summarizes the discussions that began at 7:38 a.m. September 25 Adjourned Meeting The September 25 agenda was reviewed. • Montava PUD Pre-App Meeting and Metro District – There was a comment that the City of Boulder has found a way to make affordable housing units permanent; staff is asked to research this and provide follow up as part of tomorrow night’s presentation and/or discussion. There was discussion on efforts to obtain a land trust for Fort Collins; staff is asked to provide an update on these efforts as well as a primer on land trusts. It was also noted that there are questions about the reduced size of the proposed community park, construction funding, and the prioritization of this park versus other community parks that have been approved. Staff is asked, in the upcoming work session and other discussions, to provide more background about these issues and how staff is approaching them, including what options there might be for funding construction of the Montava park (such as developer fronting construction costs to be reimbursed as fees are paid). There was also discussion about pre-application meetings and their purpose. Staff is asked to do a PDCA process on this and make adjustments and implement changes as needed. October 1 Work Session The October 1 agenda was reviewed. • The remaining four strategic outcome areas in the 2019/20 recommended budget will be presented and discussed including: o Economic Health o Environmental Health o Transportation o High Performing Government Leadership Planning Team Meeting September 24, 2018 Page 2 of 5 October 2 Regular Meeting The October 2 preliminary agenda was reviewed. • Hughes Stadium Annexation – It was noted that this item will likely get pulled from the Consent Calendar. There were questions about changes in the boundary for the GMA when annexations outside of the agreed-upon GMA occur. There were also questions about CSU properties and, under the original annexation ordinances, which properties are considered part of CSU’s main campus and which properties are outside of this. Staff is asked to provide a map depicting this. CSURF properties should also be included on the map. Staff is also asked to provide information on what development review process applies to each. • Collective Bargaining – There was a question about how many employees are a part of this agreement who are not police officers. Staff is asked to follow up. There was also a question about the agreement for a CBU member to claim their entire shift as worked holiday when they work at least 30 minutes of a scheduled shift on a holiday. More context for this item was requested. Six Month Calendar October 9 • Mennonite Locker Appeal – It was noted that the lockers are currently being operated based on the approval received by the Planning & Zoning Board once all related requirements were met. There was also a question about whether camping/sleeping continues to occur on the property and how this relates to the locker proposal. It was noted that this is a matter for consideration at the appeal hearing on the 9th . October 12 • Urban Renewal Authority Meeting – It was noted that staff has been working with new board members to answer questions and bring them up to speed on efforts. Staff is asked to provide an update. October 30 • Future Community Park Prioritization was added to the calendar. January 8 • Annual Reviews for City Manager, City Attorney and Chief Judge were rescheduled to this date. City Clerk Coldiron: • Provided some possible timeframes for the spring Council Retreat. May 10th and 11th were confirmed. Leadership Planning Team Meeting September 24, 2018 Page 3 of 5 City Attorney Daggett: • Noted that some code changes are being drafted for appeals. The changes are expected to come before Council in November. Staff is asked to add this to the unscheduled items on the calendar. Deputy City Manager Mihelich: • Noted that he is working on some potential changes to the PRPA Organic Contract; an extension has been requested. Conversations about things such as net metering, the impact of third party solar and power supply agreements are underway. There was a question about how this relates to the 100% renewable energy goals that are being considered and some concern that the organic agreement can be a limiting framework. There were also questions about the timeline for approval and about what is driving the request. Staff is asked to follow up. City Manager Atteberry: • Noted an issue that some residents are having related to failing utility pipes. It was noted that the pipes are actually part of the Fort Collins Loveland Water District network. Staff is working on a response to a related SAR. • Mentioned some concerns he is hearing about the City’s stance related to sanctuary cities. He plans to meet with a group of citizens regarding this issue in the coming week and plans to stay the course with what has been planned in this regard. • Noted that staff is reviewing an article from the Wall Street Journal on JP Morgan projects. More information will follow. • Noted complaints received for camping at the north Albertsons building. Police will be responding accordingly. • Acknowledged a citizen who had provided a compilation of comments on the West Mulberry project. Primary concerns are with aesthetics of the vertical poles. Staff is following up on concerns and will provide an update. Staff will also share her comments. • Noted a potential Saturday session will be scheduled to do a strategic operations planning process for broadband, as well as some focused discussion around the updated City Plan scenarios. Mayor Pro Tem Horak: • Noted a memo received regarding Green Monday. This will be forwarded to Sustainability staff for consideration and to prepare a response for the Mayor. Leadership Planning Team Meeting September 24, 2018 Page 4 of 5 • Noted the information received on museum funding and the de-humidification project. There was conversation about ongoing operations and maintenance costs and related funding. There was also discussion about how the City provides oversight on this; Senior Assistant City Manager DiMartino is a member of the board. • Noted the information received on building energy scores and asked about whether the memo addresses the concerns that have been submitted by Mr. Kirsch. Staff is asked to follow up with Mr. Kirsch personally. • Noted the memo on the bike share expansion and asked where bikers can pay in cash. Staff answered that there are kiosks where this is available. The Mayor asked about whether the master contract with PACE could include scooters and limit other providers for similar services. Staff is asked to follow up. • Noted the memo on outdoor residential burning. There was discussion about the intent of this item; to protect the health and safety of the community. Staff is asked to make sure that there is an emphasis on the health consequences of smoke at the work session. • Noted the memo on Martin Marietta. We were able to work out an agreement that helps reduce impacts for the community, have gained compliance, and no longer need to keep reviewing; good news item. • Noted the memo on syringes; this is a tough issue. Return rate on needles is very low. • Noted the memo on the stormwater manual; good explanations were provided. • Noted the City Manager’s Monthly Report; no changes. The overall consistency has improved, and it is a much better document. • Provided an article from Biz West on the Danger of Boulder’s CAVE People Thinking. A copy is attached. • Noted the $1M funding delay for Poudre Fire Authority (PFA) and asked that information be provided from PFA on related consequences. • Noted the information provided on debt financing; the graphs do a great job of showing what is happening. Mayor Troxell: • Attended a broad base learning meeting at Shepardson Elementary. It was noted at the meeting that GSI had stopped composting. This has caused problems for large customers such as Poudre School District and Columbine. Staff is asked to provide information on long term plans for this Leadership Planning Team Meeting September 24, 2018 Page 5 of 5 and to research where other haulers are related to this. Information is also requested for things we can do in the near term. • Noted an interaction he had with a citizen over Transfort issues. Staff is asked to follow up to get specifics and then research accordingly. • Noted the information provided on railroad crossings south of Pitkin. There was discussion on what could be done to get some results in this area; the meeting scheduled for next week with our Senators was mentioned as a good place to start. There needs to be more urgency to try to make some progress on this issue. • Asked about whether there was concern over the downtown stores that are closing; is there something that needs to be addressed? The Mainline, Old Chicago, La Luz, and Advanced Eyecare were mentioned. Is this a natural ebb and flow? Staff is asked to follow up. • Asked about First Night and the decision to discontinue this event. Staff is asked to provide additional context for this and to find out if any other event will take its place. Meeting adjourned at 9:31 am. On Sep 19, 2018, at 3:10 PM, Dana DeRouchey <dana@deroucheyracing.com> wrote: Hi Gerry, There was a question asked about the Mulberry Street Bike Project on Nextdoor. I thought you might like to know the feedback. I removed the commenter’s names. Best Regards, Dana DeRouchey Title: West Mulberry Street Improvements Question: Wondering how folks are feeling about the West Mulberry Street project now that it is completed. ***Commentor's Name*** I like the improvements as a biker. It seems a safer road now. ***Commentor's Name*** I like the turn lane, I used to avoid turning left on that road because people would come up super-fast behind us ***Commentor's Name*** I think it is dumb! How do think the snow plows are going to like it? ***Commentor's Name*** I think it was overkill. As a driver, I hate all the reflective posts, not only do they look ridiculous, but they create a tunnel affect at night that I find very distracting (and don't even get me started on the silly curb). As a cyclist, I don't feel any safer so much as I feel patronized. Not to mention that they didn't make it any easier to bike to Old Town or Campus; I still have to jog N or S to continue east past City Park to get to either. I do like the right turn lanes they added at the intersection with Taft Hill Rd though. ***Commentor's Name*** I'm still wondering where all the bicyclists are. The sticks seem like so much overkill--I'd hate to live by them. And are those sticks to protect the bikers or to keep them from wandering into traffic? I still don't think the car and bike traffic is heavy enough to deserve strange in-road reflective fence posts. I do like the center turn lane--keeps traffic flowing and makes it safer to turn. I, too, am filled with suspense about the snow removal. ***Commentor's Name*** I think the disastrous changes in the road will be the cause of many accidents I have yet to see more than 4 bikers in the bike lane. It takes 5 to 10 minutes to get out of my street in the morning because of the single lane which makes all vehicles crowd together ***Commentor's Name*** I like that we got a stoplight 😃😃 I have no doubt that those poles and curbs are going to get hit. I don’t see enough bike traffic to warrant them. I can imagine trying to drive in the snow and ice with them there. What about the snow plows and street cleaners? I’ve never seen anything like what’s been done. ***Commentor's Name*** Before the changes cars were speeding 10 mph above the speed limit in all four lanes and now they are forced to slow down to the stated speed limit with one lane in each direction, the risk of head on collisions along the S curves around city park has been mitigated with the addition of a turn lane, and kids getting out of high school are not drag racing down Mulberry anymore when they are let out for lunch. For my family that uses the road daily for commuting, walking, and biking; the improvements feel like a big win. It also looks great and ushers in and validates the City Park improvements that will be happening in the next couple of years. The only people that will be complaining are those that were used to speeding on the road and are now forced to slow down towards the stated speed limit. Good work city planners you turned a four lane dangerous roadway, into a two lane multi use road that feels safe, looks good, and fits better with its location of bordering Fort Collins most notable park. ***Commentor's Name*** This is a pilot project to see which bike/pedestrian infrastructure works and how it does. It is also to help connect the Magnolia Bikeway with West Mulberry. The purpose is to get more people on their bikes. It does make plowing harder, but the streets department was part of the process and was able to comment on the design. I agree that the poles seem like overkill, but MANY people choose not to ride bikes because of a perceived danger on such busy roads. These changes are to help increase the number of bikes that would not otherwise feel safe enough to ride on the road. ***Commentor's Name*** Karl - from my understanding in talking with police and city officials going back 2 + years, the re-striping and lane changes are not solely for the interest of bringing more cyclists on the road; the idea to make the lane changes first came from a safety standpoint as speeding was normalized, accidents were frequent, and pedestrians and cyclists did not feel safe using the corridor. The poles and reflective barriers are for cyclists the and pedestrians, so that may be what you are referring to. One negative I have noticed when using the road with my family when we walk to city park is that my neighbors that live on Mulberry are having more difficulty when backing out of their drives as traffic is closer together with the one lane and slower travel. Albeit, another positive for those that live on or close to the street is that without the four lanes of traffic the general noise pollution is lessened dramatically which may be a silver lining for those having issue backing out of their drives directly on Mulberry. ***Commentor's Name*** I live on Mulberry and Tyler and so far it hasn’t slowed anyone down or prevented people from gunning it around the corner. They also blocked my dad’s driveway with the curbing! I do like the light on Impala though and really, it’s a few people in the neighborhood that feel like they need to floor it around the corner regardless of the new lanes. ***Commentor's Name*** I live on Mulberry across from lake. Traffic has slowed down some. I see more bikers all the time and it’s so much safer for them. Before there was no lane for them at all. I do like the turn lane and not blocking traffic with people behind me as I turn into my driveway. I’m anxious to see how snow removal will be. The parking around the lake is less with the new angles. ***Commentor's Name*** The city nailed the project. They needed to accomplish slower speeds for improved safety, a turn lane, improved biker safety and increase the values of the homes in that section. They did all those things. ***Commentor's Name*** I live on Mulberry and I have the metal rails with posts in front of my house. I hope that they remove some of the posts as the pilot program nears the end date. During this process I met with the project team repeatedly with my concerns and in the end they were willing to listen and make some modifications. I did appreciate that. That being said, I believe the total number of posts that were installed was excessive. Going forward I think there could be a compromise as to where the posts are actually needed. For example, it may be determined that they are needed on the corners where cars may drift, but they are not needed on the straight portions of the road. An easy way to already tell this to look at the posts. If they have black marks on them, then they are probably needed. If they don't have black marks, then they are not needed. I now experience a delay in pulling out of my driveway onto Mulberry. The streets team did adjust the timing of the stop lights a couple of times which lessened the delay, however, I still experience delays which I didn't previously have. Part of my view of City Park Lake is now obstructed with ugly white posts which I did not previously have. This is frustrating. I have to believe the obstructed view will play a role in my property value if I try to sell my house. The middle turn lane is a hazard when I try to turn left into my driveway. I have already experienced 2 near accidents when I entered the center turn lane and an oncoming car entered the center turn at the same time. In the past I never felt nervous about turning left into my driveway and now I do every time. I see delivery trucks now stopping in the center turn lane to deliver packages to houses on Mulberry Street. I am guessing that the drivers are now at a risk of getting hurt. I see larger trucks, trucks with trailers, and emergency crews with one side of their tires in the center turn lanes in order to avoid hitting the bike posts. This can't be safe for those attempting to use the center turn lane to make an actual left turn. I have seen the bike traffic increase just slightly since the implementation of the protected lanes, however, I don't believe it is enough of an increase to justify needing white posts all down Mulberry Street. In my opinion it is overkill and takes away from the look of the neighborhood. ***Commentor's Name*** Snow removal... Mail trucks... UPS trucks Longer lines of traffic... Harder to get onto mulberry... Bikes are not taxed... I heard it was grant money, but where did the grant money come from? Someone was fixing a post already... They blocked the bike path to do it. It's the only town I've seen that attempts to improve traffic by reducing lanes.. It's a cluster F. ***Commentor's Name*** I drive it atleast twice a day every day. I’ve seen 4 cyclists use it so far.... ***Commentor's Name*** In my family's there and back walk to City Park about an hour ago, 5 cyclists passed us on our side of the road, and 3 more passed us on the other side of the road. And my 3 year old rode his bike along with us; which my wife and I now feel safe letting him do. Progress feels great! ***Commentor's Name*** Living on mulberry the moving to one lane near city park has caused more traffic, noise, and so much harder to get out of driveway. As a cyclist I like improvements. I wish they would have continued to shield. ***Commentor's Name*** I don't live in the neighborhood, but I live on the northwest outskirts of the city, so I come into town several times a week, and am less likely to use Mulberry Street if I don't have to, due to the posts and -- ack!-- curbs. It may slow down traffic, but still seems like a safety hazard to me, particularly when there are emergency vehicles driving by that we have to pull over for. Am I expected to pull over into the bike lane and risk damage from those bike lane poles? Will I have sufficient reaction time to remember if I'm in a section with a curb vs a section with a pole? Or will the emergency vehicles be fine with the remaining center lane, so I can just continue on down the road? Dana told me that she learned from her discussions with the city planners on this, that driving over the poles will cause vehicle damage. I *do* ride my bike now and then, and have always been fine with avoiding Mulberry Street, and using more neighborhood streets to get around, and leaving Mulberry for cars. Or even hopping off my bike, to walk it across the street at a crosswalk. There are numerous stop lights for pedestrians and cyclists to cross into/out of City Park. ***Commentor's Name*** I live on Overland right off Mulberry and use the road 8-10 times a day. I call in New Mulberry. It's obvious to see the increase in safety from all the improv- I mean - changes, but I think the whole concrete curb and a million posts is way overkill. Going down to one lane alone seems to allow quite a bit of room for a bike lane without all the extra stuff that looks so incredibly hideous. I've always considered the small bridge with the blind bend as you come up on Overland as the most dangerous spot on New Mulberry, and besides being paved nothing is new there (I know, way more involved to do anything w a bridge). The aesthetics of the curb and posts is terrible, and I think as more time passes, and more posts get hit, it's just gonna go from ugly to dumpy. I've seen snow plows brought up a few times, and yeah, what about them? What about the regular cars and trucks that are undoubtedly going to slide and smack into these curbs? I got to see a lot of the construction of the curb as it was taking place. To me, it appeared that they were simply laying the concrete curb directly onto the asphalt... Ok... This seems like a bad thing when plows and cars bump into them during the winter. Could perhaps a double white line with a rumble strip in-between em serve as a decent bike safety measure without looking as foolish? ***Commentor's Name*** I don't like it. After 40 years of having two lanes, it's hard to get used to remember to get over to the right lane or be stuck turning on City Park. The curb is overkill and those posts aren't going to keep a bicyclist from getting hit. My passenger side mirror got knocked off by one of those posts when a truck in the turning lane came over in my lane and I had to avoid getting hit by the truck. It does help having a turn lane for City Park but why did they continue it from Taft to Overland. Totally unnecessary. Snowplows definitely won't be able to clean, when they do get out. ***Commentor's Name*** Previous to this improvement there was not a safe route to cycling downtown for my family from our neighborhood. Now we use it at least weekly! And I can have my children on their own bikes. Previously we’d have to ride on the sidewalk heading west from city park and having the ability to safely bike home is wonderful. As a driver, it’s been a good thing too! Having a turn lane to get into our neighborhood is a great safety feature. And keeping cyclist in a protected lane means so much less risk to me as a driver. As a pedestrian it’s greatly improved as well. The light at Impala and Mulberry gives me a way to safely cross the street whereas before I’ve had even police not stop for me while in the cross walk. Also heading west as a pedestrian feels so much safer too. As there was barely a curb between the lane and the sidewalk and cars were always speeding around that curve it was incredibly challenging to walk there, especially with children. Now there’s a bike lane as a buffer between the cars and he sidewalk. All around I am very very happy!!! ***Commentor's Name*** The light on Impala is fantastic, now they need one on LaPorte to handle after and before school traffic from PHS. Turning lane is nice. Bike lanes will be iced over most of the winter because lanes are too small to plow so that was a waste. ***Commentor's Name*** I’m not terrified to bike along Mulberry now. Using it weekly - whereas before I wouldn’t use Mulberry at all. ***Commentor's Name*** I've bicycled it 6 times. Doesn't feel totally safe, but it's much better. ***Commentor's Name*** Traffic has slowed which is a good thing. Seems less chaotic in general, but it will take time for people to get used to it. ***Commentor's Name*** I think it’s overkill and ugly. I doubt that all situations were considered as far as things like ambulances needing to get by or what happens if a cop stops a speeding car, etc. Plus it’s already been noticed that bikers are coming out onto the car lane when they want to pass slower bikers which will only create another problem. Personally I don’t think the project was a good idea nor do I think it was thought through fully. ***Commentor's Name*** I like the lane changes. For years, previously, I felt like driving in the left lane was asking to be hit, since so many going the opposite direction crossed the center line. However, every one in our family agrees that the "sticks" seem like overkill and we wonder how the plows will deal with them. ***Commentor's Name*** I have only seen a few bikes on it and one jumped the curb to cross the street right in front of me. ***Commentor's Name*** I think it is great. Also, I have sent a couple of emails to the city regarding the Magnolia Bikeway Project, asking that the snowplow priority be raised on Magnolia given that bikes from Mulberry are directed down Magnolia. (It is currently Priority 4, only plowed during catastrophic or emergency conditions.) If anyone else feels similarly, a few more emails might help! I emailed Tessa, a coordinator of the Magnolia Bikeways project at tgreegor@fcgov.com as well a request via Access Fort Collins on the city website. If anyone has tips on who to contact, please let me know. ***Commentor's Name*** After giving it a chance and trying not to let “change” bias what I think about it, I don’t like it at all. The curbing and white poles are an eyesore! It’s like a permanent construction zone, especially at night! The curbing has blocked a bunch of people’s access to their yards and secondary driveway access. It’s embarrassing that the city thinks this is progressive! ***Commentor's Name*** I hate it. We live very close to mulberry and use it every day multiple times a day and I have yet to see more than one cyclist use it at a time so why the 8 foot lane AND poles AND tons of road paint? Not only do I agree that it's a massive overkill but I have now seen two different cars driving inside the poled-off bike lane thinking it's a traffic lane (not sure how those drivers managed to think that but still.) Imo the only improvement is the safety surrounding city park. Those curvy bits can get dangerous especially to bikers and students who use the bike lane frequently. ***Commentor's Name*** As a cyclist AND a driver, I think it is great! Having been hit by an oblivious driver while cycling on a street like Mulberry (with a bike land, mind you!) last year, I would rather have the added security. Also, from a safety perspective the left turn lanes seem to keep traffic moving and reduce the risks of being rear-ended. There are some particular features of the new lanes that I find awkward, especially the intersection and end of the bike lane at City Park. But overall the benefits far outweigh the costs in my opinion. As with most new infrastructure projects it will take some time for people to begin using it to it's potential, but it was a thoroughfare of costumed cyclists on Tour de Fat and I expect that it will pick up in biker traffic as people realize that it is now the safest bike route from west Fort Collins into Old Town. ***Commentor's Name*** Definitely takes away from the beautiful view of City Park and the lake. I used to love driving by and looking at the lake, showing my company from out of town. Maybe the poles are temporary to get everybody used to the change. ***Commentor's Name*** I think its pretty unanimous that most dislike the aesthetics of the "poles, curbs, and reflective beams," which I think is a good thing as it means they are doing their jobs of calling the attention of drivers to the boundary of the auto side of the road. If over time these infrastructure pieces save one cyclist from getting hit by a texting, distracted, speeding, or drunk driver than it was all worth it. A bike can do no damage to the driver of a car while the driver of a car can kill a cyclist with very minimal contact which is why it is so important that we are doing all we can to keep all Fort Collins commuters safe. In the end we're all just trying to get somewhere no matter what we are using to do it. Also, concerning the "poles" it would also appear that they were designed to be hit and replaced which also is smart engineering. I have seen similar road boundaries used in big cycling cities like Portland and they appear affective. As an aside, the "poles" may be used to tell the snow plow driver where they need to plow up to, as in the past snow plow drivers have mangled curbs in trying to find the edge of the road after a heavy snow leaving concrete chunks on the curb and ground. ***Commentor's Name*** I love, love, love these changes!!!!! That goes both for when I'm riding my bicycle and when I'm driving my car. The left-hand-turn lane is a godsend. The bike lanes are a huge improvement, although the fact that they don't start till the park is a problem in my opinion. I would use them more often if I could hop on at Whitcomb or Loomis and travel the whole way. That said, I'm using Magnolia to the park to Mulberry and that's still working better than it ever has before. The difference in biking from S. Bryan in the park to Cook Drive is also fabulously better. I no longer feel like I'm staring death in the face when I'm biking there. I'm hopeful that the number of crashes will be significantly reduced thanks to these changes as well. ***Commentor's Name*** The improvements are great and I feel safer both on a bike and in a car between Taft and Shields now. It's just baffling how resistant some people are to improvements in transportation infrastructure and will place a silly idea of aesthetics over a system that benefits alternative transportation (less car traffic) while at the same time complaining there's too much traffic in town now. Crying "bubbububut what'll the snowplow drivers do??" is just a lazy red herring trotted out because you don't want to have to accommodate other people and change scares you. The time to complain about it was back when dialogue was open about the Mulberry bike improvements years ago. Apparently, the project had ample support to proceed. ***Commentor's Name*** I'm sorry but aesthetics have nothing to do with my feelings about the so called improvements on Mulberry. ***Commentor's Name*** Loving the ability to safely ride my bike on Mulberry, as well as not have to worry about the student bikers, who are often not the most observant or safest riders, when I am driving my car. ***Commentor's Name*** Sorry I got cut off. The two over large bike lanes are overkill, one lane of the current size with two way traffic would provide ample space for bikes and leave a little more space for motor vehicles to operate safely. The lanes as now set up leave very little space for cars, trucks, fire engines, and the occasional big rig. I myself prefer to drive with all four wheels within the traffic lane, not straddling the left line as there is not enough space with all the stupid pipes, metal barriers, and concrete barriers. ***Commentor's Name*** Commenting on people’s opinions makes you look like the “improvements”, awful. ***Commentor's Name*** Please, let the voices speak. It’s great that people are expressing their views. No need to judge everything. All opinions matter and they are all ok. Thanks for listening. ***Commentor's Name*** And, I’m not referring to the one ahead of me. The whole thread in general. It’s just opinions. ***Commentor's Name*** I know and I am in total agreement. There has been lots of great opinions on both sides. ***Commentor's Name*** The question asked how people were feeling about the project. All feelings are valid, and it appears to me that people have been commenting on the PROJECT, not on other's comments.