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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 01/21/1998CITY OF FORT COLLINS TRANSPORTATION BOARD Meeting Minutes January 21, 1998 The meeting of the Transportation Board was called to order at 5:55 p.m. Board members present included: Tim Johnson, Alan Beatty, Heather Trantham, Paul Perlmutter, Dan Gould, Steve Hanna, Donn Hopkins, Sara Frazier, Mark Egeland, and Chris Ricord. Guests included: Paul Valentine, Jerry Galvadon, Sally Craig, Nancy York, Shawn Han, and Dave Martinez. Staff members present included: Larry Schneider, Matt Baker, Susanne Edminster, Ron Phillips, Randy Hensley, John Daggett, Tom Frazier, and Kathleen Reavis. Chair Johnson called the meeting to order at approximately 5:45 PM. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of the last meeting of December 17, 1997 were revised as follows: 1. Page 4 -- Mass Transit 2. Page 3 -- last paragraph, line 4 -- take out "improving their standards" and insert "development standards are improved." Page 3 -- last paragraph, line 5 -- add "as well as developers ..." after "determining development impacts in trip generation." Minutes were adopted with changes mentioned. INTRODUCTION/PUBLIC COMMENT: Introduction was made of the new Transportation Board member, Heather Trentham. Current members of the Transportation Board, as well as various other Board representatives and staff members present, introduced themselves. Board members encouraged Heather to be an "active" participant right from the beginning. TRANSPORTATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 21, 1998 PAGE 2 I. THANK YOU - PAUL VALENTINE There was a "thank you" to Paul Valentine (past chairman/original board member) in recognition for his contributions and efforts when working on the Board. Paul thanked the Board for all of their support. II. TRANSPORTATION TRANSFER CENTER - Kathleen Reavis Kathleen Reavis gave a update presentation on the Harmony/1-25 Interchange project and the Transportation Transfer Center. Ms. Reavis recognized Dave Martinez, Colorado Department of Transportation, project manager on this project; and Shawn Han of JS Sato & Associates, who were available at the meeting to answer any questions the Board may have. Ms. Reavis stated the main reason they were present at the Board meeting was to have the Board formally endorse this project, specifically the Transportation Transfer Center aspect. She stated what was needed from the Board was to have them recommend that the City sell the land to CDOT (this land is currently owned by the City's Natural Areas program) in order to build the Transfer Center at this location. This plan will be going forward to the Air Quality Board, Natural Areas Board, and finally City Council in February and Ms. Reavis stated that it would be very helpful to have the support of the Transportation Board for this project to move forward. Ms. Reavis stated that when Natural Resources originally purchased the land, it was intended for this particular portion of the parcel of land to be resold. She stated this facility would be a benefit to our region by not only lending itself to public transit (like Transfort) but also the private transit operators in service. She gave a brief history/presentation of the project for the benefit of those Board members who were not present approximately 1 year ago when the project was originally brought before the Board. There was a brief question/answer session regarding sidewalks, future trail heads, impacts on surrounding areas, questions on whether a "cloverleaf" had been looked at for the interchange, attached shelters, proximity to future rail sites along 1-25 corridor, etc. ft was moved and seconded that the Board recommend approval of the purchase of the land by CDOT for the Transportation Transfer Center. M TRANSPORTATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTES PAGE 3 ANUARY 2111998 There was discussion concerning a joint effort between the Air Quality Advisory Board and Transportation Board working together on the air quality feasibility study, cost/benefit ratio of adding additional HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes, and other projects which both Boards will be involved in. III. FOSSIL CREEK SUB AREA PLAN - Peter Wray Peter Wray gave a presentation on the Fossil Creek Sub Area Plan, stating it is a joint project between Fort Collins and Larimer County. It's located in and around the reservoir on Harmony Road. Information included density down towards the reservoir, and what resources needed to set around the reservoir, and the growth south of the reservoir. Mr. Wray presented information to the Board showing changes which were made and those areas which changes were not needed in roadways and how these compare with the Master Plan. He went over the urban growth area boundaries within the plan. He discussed the scheduled public open house. He was asked to discuss the maximum density for the area. Mr. Wray stated that some standards for this project will be modified between the City and County since this is a joint project (urban areas, etc.). Discussion was had on who will be responsible for sidewalks, medians, etc. and the agreements and plans that have been worked out between the City and County for these issues. Tom stated that an action as part of this will be a revision of the Master Street Plan in March. Would like to have a member of the Transportation Board be a member of the Citizen's Advisory Committee. IV. 1997 ANNUAL REPORT (DRAFT) - Tom Frazier Tom Frazier handed out the 1997 Annual Report to the Board. (Draft) He stated that this was due to the City Clerk's Office by the 3rd week in March. The Board needs to review this for accomplishment, etc. during 1997, see if anything is missing, and contact Tom Frazier if there are any changes/corrections that need to be made. TRANSPORTATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 21, 1998 PAGE 4 • • u V. STREETS ISSUES - Larry Schneider Larry Schneider gave a brief history of how street snow maintenance is currently handled. He briefly discussed the types of machines that are currently used. Larry stated how the City is trying to get away from the use of sand, which after a storm the sand ends up in the bike lanes, and instead using IceSlicer. He stated that this product was ordered in mid -summer, but unfortunately because of some rail problems, the product was not available prior to the October storm and the City had to resort back to some of its old methods (i.e., sand). He states that this new product acts as an "ice breaker." Ice packs will not build up which, in turn, makes it easier to plow. He stated that this product is very environmentally friendly. He also reviewed the City's use of magnesium chloride on the streets which helps keep the ice from bonding to the surface of the streets. Once that is applied (prior to a storm hitting) and after the storm, then the IceSlicer is applied. He stated how this new product is a little more expensive than the magnesium chloride, but crews only need to use approximately 1 gallon per mile of the new product. Residential streets are not sprayed but all major arterials are sprayed. Larry stated that the goal of the Streets Department is to get sand cleaned up (that had to be spread) off the streets within five days after a storm. Use of the combination of the IceSlicer and Magnesium Chloride will reduce the need to use sand on the streets and, therefore, be safer for bicyclist and motorist alike. It was suggested to have priority bike lanes for snow removal (especially north Fort Collins and around CSU) since in that area so many people are dependent on bikes for transportation. The Board would like to see what the Sidewalk Snow Removal policy is for sidewalks -- who's responsible -- businesses, City? Larry stated that the businesses are responsible but that they can contract to have the snow removed. If they contract, the snow will be removed within 12 hours. I • TRANSPORTATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 21 1998 PAGE 5 VI. CSU TRANSIT CENTER/DOWNTOWN TRANSIT CENTER - John Daggett John Daggett presented information on the Downtown Transit Center and the CSU Transit Center. John stated that the feasibility study on the Downtown Transit Center went on for about 9 months and the C & S Freight Depot is being recommended. Handouts to the Board showed how the site might look with a transit center, using architecture consistent with that of the old passenger depot that was torn down several years ago. This center would be used as a showcase location for the newer developments planned for this area; parking garage, justice center, new city office building, etc. Discussion was had regarding shelters, where they may be located, entry areas, etc. Regarding the CSU Transit Center, handouts were given on the history of the project and reasons why the Lory Student Center is the preferred location for a new transit center. Ridership among students has increased in the years 1990 through 1996 and is expected to continue in the future. The center basically has 4 features: a passenger transit center, a bus terminal, redesign of North Drive, and a parking area for Park-N-Ride. The basic concept was how to incorporate transit into the daily lives of students and the University community. The passenger center will include transit administration and operational areas, restrooms, circulation and access to other parts of the Lory Student Center, sheltered waiting areas for buses. The City and the University are working together on the funding, trying to acquire joint federal funds to pay for the majority of this center. John stated he thought the City had a federal grant requested for 1999 for this particular project. Some discussion was had on the history of the bus service provided to those students in Ramblewood Apartments (located near Poudre High School off of LaPorte Avenue) and the agreement between the City and the developers at that time. VII. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS A copy of a letter to the City Council regarding Street Oversizing was reviewed and changes that were incorporated into the letter were briefly discussed. /t was moved and seconded to send it on to Council. It was stated that it was planned to do another Council Worksession on February 24th to update Council. TRANSPORTATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 21, 1998 PAGE 6 Some discussion was done regarding the joint chairs meeting of the Natural Resources Advisory, Air Quality Advisory, Transportation and P & Z Boards meeting. Some areas of mutual interest are: Alternative Transportation, Subarea Planning, Agreements with Larimer County, Regional Land Use Planning and City Plan Implementation. There was brief discussion about the duplicate street names in Larimer County and the problems it causes for 911 calls. An example address was "North Highway 287" and it was stated that 287 starts at Berthoud and goes to the "Y" in Fort Collins. It was suggested that the Board, somehow when reviewing proposals, work closely with developers to have distinct, unique street names to lesson the confusion for Emergency Response personnel. There will be a Transportation Summit, sponsored by the Chambers of Commerce in Loveland, Greeley and Fort Collins to be held in Greeley on January 29. The program will be a number of regional transportation issues. Vlll. STAFF REPORTS Tom Frazier discussed the update on Transfort and Dial -A -Ride issues which were requested by Alan Beatty. Tom stated the issues were personnel issues and those issues cannot be discussed at the Board meeting. Only operational issues can be discussed. Tom stated that close to 60 comment sheets were received on the 2020 Regional Transportation Plan. Tom stated that the open houses in Greeley and Fort Collins drew masses of people who stopped by and they were positive about the 2020 Regional Transportation Plan. The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m.