Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 09/14/2005MEETING MINUTES of the TRANSPORTATION BOARD September 14, 2005 5:45 p.m. City of Fort Collins Municipal Building Community Room 215 N. Mason Street FOR REFERENCE: CHAIR: Brent Thordarson 679-2165 VICE CHAIR: Gary Thomas 482-7125 STAFF LIAISON: Mark Jackson 416-2029 ADMIN SUPPORT: Cynthia Cass 224-6058 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Sara Frazier Jeannette Hallock-Solomon Bruce Henderson Tim Johnson Ed Robert Gary Thomas Brent Thordarson CITY STAFF: Don Bachman Cynthia Cass Randy Hensley Mark Jackson Ron Phillips 1. CALL TO ORDER ABSENT: Neil Grigg Heather Trantham Lee Watkins Kevin Westhuis OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE: Will Brumley Nancy York The meeting was called to order by Chair Thordarson at 6 p.m. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board September 14, 2005 Page 2 of 7 12. AGENDA REVIEW I Item 6.a. (Legislative Policy Agenda) will be switched with item 5.a. since it is an action item and Board Member Johnson needs to leave early tonight. 13. PUBLIC COMMENT At the request of Rick Price who could not the board. 4. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT None. 5. ACTION ITEMS a. LEGISLATIVE POLICY AGENDA —Jackson was distributed to Jackson explained that each year, the board is asked to review the Transportation section of the Legislative Policy Agenda and provide feedback to the City's Legislative Affairs Coordinator. The Board then reviewed the transportation elements of the City's Legislative Policy Agenda. The Board members voted unanimously (7-0) to support the draft document in its current form, along with the following suggested revisions: • Regarding the allocation formula for HUTF revenues in Policy Item 2, the Board recommends that the current formula amount of 18 percent for municipalities should represent a minimum level of shareback. • The Board supports Policy Item 7 with respect to eliminating off -the -top HUTF diversions to other state agencies. A suggested addition to this item would be that if HUTF funds continue to be used for these purposes, they should originate from the state's 60 percent HUTF share. The Board recommends adding a Policy Item 12: Support for maintaining gas taxes regardless of the price consumers are paying at the pump. Gas tax relief should not be considered as a potential tool for dealing with gasoline price fluctuations. Chair Thordarson will draft a letter to Mark Radtke, Legislative Affairs Coordinator, on the board's behalf. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board September 14, 2005 Page 3 of 7 6. DISCUSSION/INFORMATIONAL ITEMS a. 2006-07 RECOMMENDED BUDGET —D. Bachman & R. Hensley Hensley gave a presentation that explained the general Building for Outcomes (BFO) process. Council found seven results (outcomes) The City Manager and the Lead Team allocated the money to those seven results - Staff results teams were set up - Several weeks were spend writing and submitting Offers - Offers were ranked by the results teams - Drilling Platform — list of projects with a line drawn through the middle; some projects are above the line to be funded and some were below. - That was turned over to the Lead Team and they further refined the Drilling Platforms and turned that into the City Manager's Recommended Budget All the offers submitted by Transportation Services were shown in a table (slide), and then the ones that were funded and unfunded were shown. Hensley described what the various columns in the tables meant. The Board's discussion focused on the "Improve Transportation" result area. After a lengthy discussion with respect to the transportation offers that have been included for funding, there was a motion and a second to produce a formal memo to City Council that will express the Board's several significant concerns, which are as follows: Transportation's Share of Budget Cuts - The Transportation result area is referred to as "Improve Transportation", yet Transportation Services appears to bear a disproportionate share of reductions in the proposed budget. While Transportation Services outcomes receive only about 10% ($10.3M in 2006) of the general fund, transportation staff reductions represent 26% of the total for all of city government. Also, transportation programs that are currently receiving ongoing general funding are being cut by $3.6M. The net outcome for this result over the next two years, rather than being improved, will be noticeably below the current level of service. Reduced Funding for Street Maintenance - Continued full funding for street maintenance is one of the Board's highest priorities, and the members are very concerned to see the proposed $700K cut for this program in 2006. The voters of Fort Collins have also expressed extremely strong support for this particular outcome in the last election. This is one area where it is very clear that saving a little bit now will end up costing much more in future years, as deteriorated streets are much more expensive to keep adequately maintained. There is also some concern among Board members with respect to potential negative public reaction to the implementation of the Transportation Maintenance Fee so shortly after the extension of the quarter -cent sales tax. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 7 Transportation Board September 14, 2005 Loss of Key Management Personnel - Elimination of the Budget/Policy, Transfort and Transportation Operations management positions will make it much more difficult to effectively coordinate between the transportation service areas (planning/engineering/operations/transit), as well as with regional entities such as the MPO. In the long rum, having experienced individuals in place who can identify efficiencies across the diverse range of transportation functions can only benefit the objective of improving the transportation experience in Fort Collins. Losing these positions also means the loss of managers who have in-depth, focused knowledge with respect to identifying and securing opportunities for matching state and federal grant funding. Loss of the Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Program in 2007 - TDM programs receive priority consideration for allocation of federal CMAQ grant funding. With an 80/20 funding match, $50K towards this program can make another $200K funding available for projects that encourage city drivers to reduce single occupancy vehicle trips. A long term result of SOV trip reductions can be to reduce a much greater expenditure required to maintain and expand the current transportation infrastructure. Also, non-TDM proposals may not compete as effectively for CMAQ funding, reducing the overall amount of grant money the city might expect to receive. Transfort/Dial-a-Ride Service Reductions - For those in the city who depend on transit for mobility, any reduction in service is a significant hardship. In particular, the Board is concerned that those clients who use Dial -A -Ride often have no alternative transportation and may be stranded if a whole segment of service is eliminated. Also, reducing the amount of funding for transit also decreases the ability to leverage matching grant funding, thereby further increasing the impact of these cuts. The motion carried unanimously, 7— 0. The board agreed that Chair Thordarson will be in charge of drafting a letter and circulating it among the board members for approval. He will then send the letter to the Council and the City Manager. Hensley and Bachman stated that there would be opportunities for public comment. The first one is on September 20 from 4:30 — 6:30 p.m. at the Lincoln Center. The second one is Thursday, September 22 from 4:30 — 6:30 p.m. at Preston Jr. High. Bachman stated that formal public hearings will be at the regular Council meetings on September 20, October 4 and November 15. Plus the public is allowed to comment at any council meeting, even if the budget is not an item on that particular agenda. Several members agreed that the public involvement doesn't seem very inclusive or isn't that extensive for the public. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board September 14, 2005 Page 5 of 7 The board also agreed that they will go to as many open houses or public meetings as possible to speak up. Chair Thordarson will send the letter out to the board so everyone has the same information when speaking. 7. REPORTS a. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Frazier: Roundabout Info — Thank You. I would like to thank the powers that be for that report on the roundabouts. It's very good information. Jackson: It was a combination effort between Eric Bracke and Matt Baker. They helped me get it all together. Frazier: I think a question that I would have is that I noticed that they did make a presentation to the elementary school and there didn't seem to be too much objection to it. I do remember seeing a letter to the editor in the paper. Did they make a presentation to all three schools and how did that go over with them? Jackson: I can ask Eric and Matt. Bachman: Last May, we held an Open House on the roundabout matter and we invited people from about a mile area around the schools. It wasn't a presentation to the school, but was held at the school for whoever wanted to come. The plan is to go back before school starts next summer and have more open houses and explaining this is how it works and so on. Thomas: Building on Basics (BOB). There is a tax initiative underway (BOB) and a citizen's committee has formed to support BOB. It meets Friday's at the Chamber of Commerce at noon. If anyone is interested in joining the effort, please stop by the Chamber. And if you don't have time, but a checkbook, that would work too. If you do have a checkbook, it's to: "Friends of BOB". Hallock-Solomon: Airport Master Plan (AMP). Last time we talked about the AMP and we never really did anything concrete. Are we going to see this again next month? Thordarson: There was a proposal to possibly have the meeting at the airport. How does the board feel about that? Phillips: If we met there about 5:30 and did a tour, we could provide a bus, this is the way we did with the two city councils and the county commissioners a couple of weeks ago. We provided a bus and did a 20-minute tour of the airport and then have the meeting there in the terminal building. The board agreed that would be a great idea. Jackson: We will list it as an action item on the October agenda. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 7 Transportation Board September 14, 2005 Thordarson: Question re: Buses. With the recent increase in fuel prices, can there be any consideration of extending or formalizing a bike on buses policy. I'm particularly interested in FoxTrot and whether or not the bike rack is full on front, if it were safe to do so, would it be possible to take your bike on the bus in some manner. I mention that route in particular because it gets you from the center point in one town to the center point in the other town and you usually have to go somewhere on either end. It would encourage potential ridership. If you knew you that you weren't going to have to leave your bike at one of the stations because then you're kind of stuck. Phillips: We'll check on that. b. STAFF REPORTS Phillips: CSU Ridership. For the 10 days in August that CSU was in session, our CSU student ridership was up 26%. These are preliminary numbers, but it is a significant increase. We've had to add trailer buses on a number of the routes so that we don't leave people. It's been a very positive experience. Bachman: Mason Transportation Corridor. In your packet you have a memo regarding the MTC bid opening. BOB Project List. Just so you know, I handed out a list of BOB projects and their description. Development Review. One of the items that we didn't talk about in the budget presentation was transportation development review. Actually the TDR activity (the offer) was given to another area in conjunction with the Planning department's proposal for development review. Engineering, Transportation Planning, and Traffic are all involved in DR. There was an ordinance on the books that basically says we must receive 80% of the cost of DR in fees. We're about $500,000 a year short meaning that ... previously have been loosely looked at on a citywide basis. There is also an offer in 2006-07 for a new DR fee. I bring this up as a head's up because if the council elects to go with this, this is something that we would probably be bringing through the Transportation Board as well as P & Z for a quick review Jackson: Mason Corridor Update. Don mentioned the MTC. I asked Kathleen to put together a brief memo which was in your packets. She will also be giving a mobile workshop to the Colorado American Planning Association conference next week here in Fort Collins. She will be taking a group of bicyclists on the corridor, basically between Horsetooth and the Spring Creek tunnel — show them what's involved with the corridor and talk APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board September 14, 2005 Page 7 of 7 about some of the intricacies and the challenges that she's had to undergo for the last few years. Jackson: Next Agenda: • City Budget • Airport Master Plan • Development Review Fees (if ready) Items for upcoming meetings: • Council Policy Agenda • Truck Route "Stay on the Big Road" Campaign update 8. OTHER BUSINESS None 9. ADJOURN Chair Thordarson adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 4, a2a) Cynthia Cass, Executive Admin Assistant City of Fort Collins — Transportation Services