Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 02/15/2006MEETING MINUTES of the TRANSPORTATION BOARD February 15, 2006 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: Neil Grigg Jeannette Hallock-Solomon Tim Johnson Rick Price Ed Robert Gary Thomas Kevin Westhuis CITY STAFF: Don Bachman Cynthia Cass Randy Hensley Mark Jackson Ron Phillips 1. CALL TO ORDER ABSENT: Don Edmondson Sara Frazier Brent Thordarson Lee Watkins OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE: Nancy York Dave Millar The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Thomas at 5.55 p.m. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 8 Transportation Board February 15, 2006 2. AGENDA REVIEW Jackson stated that item 6.b. needs to be taken off the agenda since Dave Averill is out sick and Ta. as well since Chair Thordarson is not present tonight. This item can wait until next month. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT None 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (JANUARY 2006) There was a motion and a second to approve the minutes as presented. The motion carried by a unanimous vote, 7— 0. 5. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT None. 6. DISCUSSIONANFORMATIONAL ITEMS a. 2006 CONE ZONE REPORT — Don Bachman Using a map for visual reference, Bachman presented a brief summary of each of the 20 projects on the 2006 Cone Zone list. He added that the schedule listed on the table is subject to change. The Board was appreciative of the information and asked that staff do their best to ensure that major routes in and out of the city aren't impacted at the same time similar to what happened when both Taft and Shields were under construction at the same time in the past. That situation created big problems for traffic in the city. Board Member Price said that the chart doesn't say anything about bike trail closures. He said that he'd heard there is a plan for the Spring Creek Trail to be closed while #9, Timberline Road — Prospect Road to Drake Road is worked on. Bachman will check on that and get back to Price. Perhaps there will be a detour route for the bike trail. When the Laurel Street project was brought up, Board Member Price asked if the sharrows will be repainted. Price asked about the sharrow experiment in general and asked who the contact person is. Jackson said that Kathleen Bracke is the person with the answers. Price added that before they are painted on S. College, there needs to be a discussion about that as he has serious concerns about the location of the arrows that were painted on Laurel. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board February 15, 2006 Page 3 of 8 b. TMF/FINANCIAL STABILITY GROUP UPDATE — Ron Phillips Phillips stated that the discussion of the financial stability group started out as a Transportation Maintenance Fee (TMF) then broadened substantially into all of the revenue enhancement kinds of issues that City Council should be considering. Previously it seemed that the TMF was going to be completely scratched, but then it turned around and now there's still some hope for it. It gives us an opportunity to bring more information and show the success that the TMF has had in the City of Loveland - they call it a street fee - and it's been successful for the last five years. The 2007 Budget contains a $2.6 million placeholder for a Transportation Maintenance Fee, and while that is one option, there could also be others. Council had a good discussion about these funding options at the Work Session on February 14. Council expressed support for exploring a new Library District and also preserved the option for further conversations about a Transportation Maintenance Fee, a Parks Maintenance Fee and Utility PILOTS (payment in lieu of taxes). They also discussed a new Stormwater PILOT and a new public safety tax, although neither seem to have support at this time. In summary, Phillips stated that those are the things that are on the table and that staff is going to get started on getting more analysis and information for the TMF. He will keep the board up to speed as things develop. c. TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT (TDM) CONCERNS —Mark Jackson Jackson stated that at last month's meeting, Board Member Price brought up some concerns about why SmartTrips didn't fare better in the BFO process and why TDM wasn't valued and just general concerns about the welfare of TDM. Jackson and Price met to discuss this and Price asked Jackson to share the gist of the conversation with the board. Jackson explained that SmartTrips was dealt a pretty tough blow in the BFO Process. They have no General Fund allocations and after their federal contract expires in 2006 they have no funding. That is very difficult. That program as we know it may go away and will most certainly look different. The important message that I want to impart to Rick and everyone else is that Jackson is not interested in TDM going away at all. It may not be called SmartTrips anymore, but we've been working very hard within the service area to assimilate as much demand management activities and outreach as possible. To give you an example, the Bike Coordinator position will take some of the bike outreach and education responsibilities and will act as a clearinghouse and a liaison with the bicycling community in Fort Collins to really help develop partnerships so that we can try and backfill some of that with the public/private partnership. Similarly, from a pedestrian standpoint, Transportation Planning is deeply involved in Safe Routes to School efforts and pedestrian planning and trying to backfill and make necessary improvements in pedestrian networks along high activity areas and such. From a Transit Outreach and Marketing perspective, Transfort has hired their own marketing position which was a position normally held in SmartTrips so that's being assimilated into the organization as APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board February 15, 2006 Page 4 of 8 well. Rest assured these things are not going away and even the things that SmartTrips is doing right now such as the car and van pool data base will be backfilled by the North Front Range MPO. There are some things that will be lost such as School Pool and the direct outreach to some of the businesses, but in 2006 we're exploring the feasibility of a Transportation Maintenance Association (TMA) and depending on the outcome of that feasibility study, we may try and dedicate some resources to try and do that. A TMA is a public/private partnership that works on behalf to make transportation improvements, lobby for transportation improvements in a specific area for example Timberline corridor, Harmony corridor, CSU main campus. All those are eligible candidates for what you would consider a TMA. Bottom line is that we may lose SmartTrips, but TDM is not going to go away in Fort Collins. Board Member Price added that the public/private partnership is on the mind of the Friends of the Bicycle Program. They're looking at some grant proposals and today Price met with six bike shop owners/representatives in town. He said that they came together to talk about these kinds of issues because the horizon doesn't look good for Bike Month, Bike to Work Day, the Drive Less Challenge and so on. Basically, there is some movement in the community to try and at least fill a portion of that void. 7. ACTION ITEMS a. SH-14 TRUCK ROUTE RELOCATION PHASE II NON -ROUTE BASED STRATEGIES —M. Jackson Jackson introduced Dave Millar from PBS&J who is the co -manager with Jackson and has worked on this project since 2000. This is phase 11 of an effort that is being driven as a result of ballot initiative 200 which was passed in 1999. This was put on the ballot by a group of citizen activists who were concerned about the City's direction in terms of looking at alternate routes within the City's growth management area. In essence it passed and it mandates the City do two things: 1) It mandates that the City cease and desist looking at any potential truck routes not only within the GMA but it specifies that the only truck routes we can look at alternately will be a minimum of 2 miles north of our current growth management area boundaries which would be 2 miles north of Douglas Road. 2) Mandates that staff examine other strategies, non -route based, that are intended to encourage long haul through truck trips which is really the interest in this — not the trucks that have business in Fort Collins. Via Power Point, Jackson went over: • Budget • Goals • Outreach • Traffic Studies • Existing Conditions APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 8 Transportation Board February 115, 2006 • Revisit Phase I • Screenings • Issues (potential impact, outside projects, other externalities) • Final Strategies • NRBS Evaluation Results Summary • Conclusions • Next Steps Overview Jackson then turned the floor over to the board and asked for feedback or a recommendation. The board discussed it and there was consensus that staff should stop working on the project. The board agreed that it doesn't seem cost effective to continue the study and agreed that the next logical step is to take this issue back to the voters and let them decide the proper course of action. Much of the discussion centered around what to do with the money that would be freed up once the study is halted. Johnson made a motion that the Transportation Board recommends to City Council to cease the Non -Route Based Strategies. There was a second by Thomas. The motion carried by a unanimous vote, 7 - 0. Price moved that the Transportation Board recommend to City Council that Transportation Planning staff be asked to redirect their study and to propose to City Council to remand this initiative and the funds to the voters with a proposed alternative use of those funds. There was a second by Johnson. The motion carried by a unanimous vote, 7 - 0. b. SH-392 EOS RECOMMENDATION -Mark Jackson Jackson stated that at the last meeting, staff presented where they were at with the analysis in terms of potential alternative routes. There are three on the table for the CDOT project. Larimer County and Fort Collins staff are basically not interested in route E as it's too out of the way, impacts private property and conservation easements, the water district, etc. Staff thinks that Route C may be the more preferable option from a mobility perspective and ability to smooth curves. Jackson reminded the board that they wanted to see where the Natural Resources Board is at on this. He said that Transportation and Natural Resources staff from both Larimer County and the City of Fort Collins got together and did a field trip out to the Duck Lake area. They talked about pros and cons and then met with Engineering design staff and came up with wording that both Larimer County and Fort Collins feels they can live with. This wording was then shared with the board. Vice Chair Thomas read the comments he received from Chair Thordarson. Johnson stated that he has had discussions with members of the NRAB by telephone and they're interested in going back to look at A as well. Johnson stated that what Jackson read is a good alternative that they can start with and then flesh out. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board February 15, 2006 Page 6 of 8 Johnson made a motion to adopt the language that Jackson read previously. There was a second by Westhuis. Discussion: Jackson reread it for the record: Natural Resources and Transportation Services staff have extensively reviewed the proposed options identified in the SH 392 EOS. With respect to Options A, C and E, staff believes that both Options A and C are viable options. Option A keeps the roadway largely within its present alignment. This option may have fewer environmental impacts, but may not be optimal for mobility. Option C might be better from a mobility perspective, but also has various environmental impacts. Staff believes that each option could be made to work successfully. Staff also understands that each alignment option will be more thoroughly investigated with a NEPA-level analysis when improvements and funding become a firmer possibility. Jackson then said that if the board desires, he will a statement that says: The Transportation Board has stated that their interest is in not creating two separate roadways as a result of having to access for the service district or something along those lines. It was agreed that Jackson will craft a document and it can be shared with the board for review. This isn't due until March 28 so there's plenty of time. The motion carried by a unanimous vote, 7— 0. c. 2006 WORK PLAN REVISION — All The Board discussed the changes to their Work Plan that Council Liaison Kastein requested. After a discussion, it was agreed that the following changes would be made in order to accommodate his request: • Section I add: Actively link results of metrics to public education and outreach under V. below • Section III. C. add: Better collection of accident data (including bicycle crashes as a distinct type of accident) • hi section V, Education, add: Attendance at Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Fair September 16 - 17, 2006 in cooperation with other community groups or City departments and boards • Under Soapbox topics add: Bicycle program plan • Delete section V. A & C. There was a motion by Price to adopt the 2006 Transportation Board Work Plan with the proposed changes. There was a second and the motion carried by a unanimous vote, 6-0. The revised 2006 Transportation Work Plan will be included in the next board packets. 8. REPORTS a. BOARD MEMBER REPORT Johnson: EVSAG Grout). I'm sitting on the EVSAG group again for the third year. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 8 Transportation Board February 15, 2006 Price: Bike Fort Collins.Org: I've been having conversations with Dave Averill in my capacity as President of the Friends of the Fort Collins Bicycle Program, Inc, otherwise known as bikefortcollins.org — that's where you can find us online. We're excited to work with Planning staff on what we're calling a review and report card of the 1995 Bike Program. We're hoping our plans will dovetail in with Planning staff s review of the plan which we were supposed to hear about this evening. We're going to do some public outreach. City Council has unanimously agreed to sponsor two town hall meetings. One is March 1 and the other is March 4. I will send the information to everyone. These will be town hall roundtable meetings where we're really reaching out to the public hoping to gather input from the cyclists and the non -cycling public. Thomas: Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee. As you know, I'm on the committee and recently attended a legislative breakfast with Representatives Paccione, McCluskey and Senator Johnson all addressed the question of. Can we get any referendum C transportation money for Colorado? In the course of that meeting, I picked up some other information. The three chambers of commerce from Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley are now working together to support and lobby for an RTA. Apparently there's now another push to bring it forward. Don't know how quick that's going to occur. b. STAFF REPORTS Jackson: Distributed 2006 Boards and Commissions Manuals Transportation Planning has applications in for three different pedestrian grants going on through the State of Colorado right now and we're hopeful that we'll get some of those. hi the next month, you'll see Fort Collins and Windsor each will be acting on an Intergovernmental Agreement with one another — strategic planning and design for the improvement and land use planning at the SH 392/I-25 interchange area. Assuming that both councils will sign that IGA at that point, Windsor and Fort Collins staff will work collaboratively in an approximately one-year effort to do a strategic plan that deals with how to cooperatively deal with land use and transportation issues. Next Agenda • Transit Update • Bike Plan Update (David Averill) • Election of Officers • Kechter/Ziegler Roundabout • Real -Time Traveler Web Site (Traffic Ops) APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board February 15,2006 Page 8 of 8 • SH 392 • The Air Quality Advisory Board would like to have a combined meeting/presentation. Natural Resources staff was commissioned a small study to a best practices review for what the City of Fort Collins is doing in terms of mobility management or VMT reduction. They brought in Todd Litman from the Victoria Transportation Policy Institute. 9. OTHER BUSINESS None 10. ADJOURN Vice Chair Thomas adjourned the meeting at 9:10p.m. Respectfully submitted, 0od _ &q�� Cynthia Cass, Executive Admin Assistant City of Fort Collins — Transportation Services