Lawrence Village Feb. Notebook: William Street, Minutes Dispute

A new report by the engineering firm that recommended Lawrence allow two-way traffic on a narrow street gave fuel to its mayor to further oppose the project because it says the village should not widen the road.

“This seems to be implausible. They had said to do construction, now they’re saying to just add signs,” Mayor Martin Oliner said at Thursday’s trustees meeting. “This is beyond preposterous. To make it a two-way street, it has to be widened.”

Oliner and Trustee C. Simon Felder had opposed the William Street plan after it was in July. The board’s plan for the widening of the currently 18 to 19 foot William Street to 21 feet by eliminating one sidewalk. Later, the plan was changed so that only half of street closest to Central Avenue would be two ways.

“The board passed something that is not being recommended by Cameron,” Oliner said. “Their report today suggests no construction and this board approved construction to the tune of $37,000.”

Trustees Michael Fragin, Ed Klar and Joel Mael, who support the plan, indicated they’d still like to see William Street become a two-way road.

Oliner said he wants village employees to look into the report.

However, Alan J. King, Jr., a partner at Cameron Engineering, said his firm never recommendeded construction on the street.

“It was always thought that the village would ask our firm … to determine if the roadway and sidewalk widths were appropriate to accommodate our recommendations,” he wrote to Patch. “Our office had concerns about the roadway widths and narrowing of the sidewalk.”

King said that the firm then conducted a topographical survey at its own expense, and came to its same conclusion that the street should have two-way traffic but with additional recommendations, including a truck restriction.

“Our recommendation had essentially not changed at all,” he said. “We only supplemented our recommendations after a detailed engineering analysis.”

Many residents of the apartment building at William Street and Central Avenue have met the two-way plan with anger.

“William Street is not made of spandex. It’s not meant to be widened,” Ann Wertheim said on Thursday. “This makes as much sense as having a toothache and going to be an ophthalmologist.”

But Susan Gelfand attested to the need for the change, saying the current traffic flow adds a lot of unnecessary time to her trips.

“If someone can’t negotiate a narrow street in a car,” she said, “they should hang up their car keys.”

A Very Long Minutes Battle

Oliner and Mael got into a shouting match at a public meeting after the mayor accused the deputy mayor of using changes to minutes for political gain.

“I’m tired of listening to your crap Marty,” Mael said.

Oliner argued with Mael over the latter's changes to the September and November’s minutes on why Cameron Engineering had not been paid.

“This is pure editorializing,” Oliner said. “These minutes are being used as some kind of propaganda tool, and they’re wrong.”

The board of trustees had not approved minutes in months, with the issue becoming a point of contention at many meetings.

Fragin, Mael and Klar approved the September and November minutes, while Oliner rejected the motion and Felder abstained.

At one point, Oliner denied saying that he wants the village to consider a moratorium on swimming pools in flood-prone areas, which Patch last month.

At the end of the discussion, the board agreed that minutes should be sent to village attorney A. Thomas Levin, and if he approves them, they will be put on Lawrence’s website as draft minutes.

“What we’ve done as a village with regard to the minutes is disrespectful to the public,” Fragin said. “If we’ve done an ounce of preparation, this should not even be a 40-minute discussion. It should be a two-minute discussion.”

OU Job Posting

Members of the Lawrence Association once again asked the board about a for CEO of the village that appeared on the Orthodox Union’s website.

Most of the trustees have denied putting the ad up or knowing who did.

“To my knowledge, I haven’t heard anything further of anyone in the group taking responsibility for the ad,” Oliner said. “We’re going to look into it further.”

Ronald Goldman, president of the Lawrence Association, urged the board in a letter to find out who posted the ad and “take the appropriate action.”