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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-23-19 Minutes Transportation Coordinating CommitteeBozeman Area Transportation Coordinating Committee Minutes 10:30 am, Wednesday, January 23, 2019 City Commission Room, City Hall, 121 North Rouse Avenue A. CALL TO ORDER – Introductions & Attendance Committee Vice Chair - Jeff Krauss, City Commission: Absent Committee Member – Scott MacFarlane, County Commission: Present Committee Member – George Thompson, City Planning Board: Absent Committee Member – Jeff Boyle, County Planning Board: Present Committee Member – Joe Walsh, proxy for Jeff Ebert, District Administrator, Butte District: Present Committee Member - Bill Brownell, County Road Superintendent: Absent Committee Member – City of Bozeman Public Works Director: Absent Committee Member – Andrea Surratt, City Manager: Absent Committee Member – Marty Matsen, City Community Development Director: Absent Committee Chair – Christopher Scott, County Planning Department Representative: Present Committee Member – Ralph Zimmer, Bozeman Area Pedestrian and Traffic Safety: Present Committee Member - Katie Potts, Proxy for Carol Strizich, Chief, Planning & Policy Analysis Bureau, MDT: Absent Committee Member - Duane Liebel, MDT Engineering Services Supervisor: Present Committee Member - Dan Martin, City citizen representative: Present Committee Member - Dave Fowler, County Representative: Present Committee Member - Candace Mastel, MSU Representative and Proxy for Jason Delmue, BABAB: Present Committee Member - Jason Delmue, Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board: Absent Committee Member - Jeff Patten, Federal Highway Administration: Present Committee Member - Kyle DeMars, MDT, Bozeman Maintenance: Absent Committee Member - Lee Hazelbaker, Transit Advisory Committee: Absent Also in attendance: Marilee Brown, Safer Bozeman; Lisa Fischer, Josh Springer, HDR; Danielle Scharf, Tony Gaddo, Joey Staszuck, Sanderson Stewart; Sunshine Ross, Streamline/Galavan; Matt Marcinek and Anna Floyd, GVLT; Tracy Menuez, HRDC; David Kack, Western Transportation Institute/MSU; Steve Johnson, Todd Swinehart, Bozeman School District; Linda DuPriest, consultant for the City of Bozeman; Levi Ewan, Gallatin County; Shawn Kohtz, John VanDelinder, Matt Workman, and Katherine Maines, recording secretary, City of Bozeman. B. PUBLIC COMMENT Limited to any public matter within the jurisdiction of the Bozeman Area Transportation Coordinating Committee not on this agenda. Please limit your comments to three minutes. 10:37:34 AM (00:03:19) There was no public comment. C. MINUTES – October 24, 2018 10:38:18 AM (00:04:03) There was a motion and a second to approve the minutes. The minutes of October 24, 2018 were approved unanimously. E. SPECIAL PRESENTATION - NONE F. TCC COMMITTEE/MEMBER REPORTS & PROJECT UPDATES (Members of the TCC who sit on other related committees, are invited to report on such activities that are of interest to the full TCC) 1. Transit Committee 10:39:07 AM (00:04:51) Dan Martin updated the group on Streamline services. They have begun to offer a limited Sunday service and are testing a shuttle, funded by ASMSU, to determine if students will use it to move around campus. Streamline is also hoping to expand the district boundaries for Skyline. 2. Gallatin County (Commission, Planning Board, Road Department) 10:40:05 AM (00:05:50) Chris Scott introduced Scott MacFarlane the new County Commissioner, replacing Steve White. Levi Ewan gave an update regarding the draft transportation standards. The document has been reviewed by stakeholders and is moving towards adoption. The County Road Department is preparing for bridge replacement on Baxter Lane, west of town and Nelson Road. In response to questions, Levi told the group that the Cities of Bozeman and Belgrade were provided copies of the transportation standards and asked for comments. 3. City of Bozeman (Commission, Planning Board, Engineering Department) 10:42:37 AM (00:08:21) Shawn Kohtz provided a list of upcoming City projects. The City will improve Cottonwood Road between Babcock and Oak, as well as Durston, including the intersection of Durston and Ferguson. Highland and Main, Oak and 27th, S. 3rd and Graf, and Baxter and Davis will all be improved this year as well. Ralph asked Shawn about the status of the new Public Works Director. The City has not hired a director at this time. 4. Bicycle Advisory Board 10:43:56 AM (00:09:41) Candace shared that the Bicycle Advisory Board went through ethics training and discussed winter bicycle infrastructure maintenance at the December meeting. They’ve asked John VanDelinder & Linda DuPriest to make bike lanes a priority. Tom Rogers, with the City of Bozeman Planning Department gave a presentation on bike regulations related to parking that would go into the Unified Development Code. These regulations would apply to new development. 5. Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee 10:45:33 AM (00:11:18) Ralph provided the update for the PTS. They participated in review and provided comments for the draft Gallatin County Transportation Construction and Design Standards. They discussed safety issues on Durston, which the City has addressed. The goal of the PTS is to promote safety and they’ve been discussing how they can accomplish this at the Legislative level. 6. Montana Department of Transportation 10:47:48 AM (00:13:33) Joe Walsh mentioned that the government shutdown is impacting some projects due to involvement and funding from federal agencies. MDT is working on the Bozeman Urban Pavement preservation project and the Westside Trail project which will be let in the spring. The Belgrade South project is open for the winter and will be completed in the spring. Irrigation work for the Slope Flattening Belgrade project on Frontage Road will be completed before high flows. The Baxter and Love Lane intersection improvement project (roundabout) will be constructed in the summer of 2019 and the Huffine and Love Lane intersection improvement project (signal) will be let in February. Utility work is ongoing for the Rouse Avenue – Main to Oak project, which will be let in June. The Valley Center Spur project will have a May letting and will be constructed in 2019. A mill and fill project on the interstate at Manhattan and Belgrade is design and is expected to be completed in 2022 unless funding becomes available. The 7th & Griffin project is moving along and will include a complete intersection reconstruction with a new signal. Dan Martin asked for more information on the Rouse improvements. They are working on utilities and right-of-way has been purchased. This project includes a complete reconstruction. 7. Montana State University 10:53:03 AM (00:18:48) Candace offered more information on the campus shuttle. ASMSU is working through issues and staff is trying to help. They are using the Glacier National Park bus so students may not be aware that the shuttle is available. They are trying to use marketing to increase use. They will do an analysis to determine if it should continue. Grant Street traffic has increased due to the opening of a new building and the parking garage. They will perform traffic, bicycle, and pedestrian counts to look at level of service. 8. Other TCC Member/Committee Reports G. OLD BUSINESS There was no old business to discuss. H. NEW BUSINESS Consider Granting the Bozeman School District Voting Membership on TCC – Ralph Zimmer 10:56:01 AM (00:21:45) Ralph informed the group that the bylaws offer two routes to allow the Transportation Coordinating Committee to add members. One route is to amend the bylaws. The other route allows the committee to add members as needed by a majority vote of the committee. Ralph asked if the Chair, Chris Scott, would permit the committee to add the Bozeman School District by amending the bylaws or by a vote. Chris had no preference. Ralph is concerned that if the committee were to add them at this meeting, there may be issues with noticing. Chris assumed that this meeting would include a discussion only. Joe mentioned that schools are not included on any other TCC around the state. Ralph moved to grant voting membership to a representative of the Bozeman School District. His motion was seconded by Dan. Ralph began the discussion by stating his support for this motion. He believes that there needs to be more coordination between these groups and pointed out that this request originally came from Jeff Krauss, indicating his support as well. He shared a written response, read by Dan Martin, from Superintendent Rob Watson stating his interest in being a member. Steve Johnson, Superintendent of Operations for the School District mentioned that he also supports the idea. Next, the group discussed whether the School District should be a voting member or non-voting member. Steve’s opinion was that it was the committee’s decision but that non-voting members may be less motivated to be involved. Joe said that MDT does not have any concerns and that he plans to vote with the group. The committee then discussed adding other school districts. Steve explained a lot of the local schools outside of City limits are included in the K-8 Bozeman School District. If we add Bozeman Schools, should we consider adding Belgrade Schools? What about the City of Belgrade? The City of Belgrade were members of the committee at one time. Chris – City of Belgrade used to have membership. Should probably think about adding them back in the future as well. 2 school projects within County. Transportation infrastructure not keeping up. Ralph mentioned that he feels that Belgrade is outside the TCC’s coverage area. Chris wasn’t sure that the TCC had a coverage area. Ralph responded that the TCC doesn’t consider projects within the City limits of Belgrade and that Belgrade had their own TCC. Duane Libel suggested that the school districts come together and assign one representative. Dave Fowler worked for the County Road Department and used to meet with the Superintendent of Schools. He asked if this meeting still occurred. Steve said the meeting was held to approve bus routes and bus stops. Dan felt that the School District should be voting members to encourage participation. The TCC often makes decisions that could impact the school district and felt that they would benefit from membership. There being no further discussion, the committee voted unanimously to grant membership to the Bozeman School District. Election of Officers 11:17:58 AM (00:43:43) Jeff Krauss was elected Vice-Chair, Chris Scott was elected Chair, and Katherine Maines was elected Recording Secretary. Votes were unanimous. I. UPCOMING MEETING DATES AND ADJOURNMENT April 24, 2019 – REGULAR MEETING July 24, 2019 – REGULAR MEETING October 23, 2019 – REGULAR MEETING January 22, 2020 – REGULAR MEETING For more information please contact Katherine Maines at 406-582-2273 Committee meetings are open to all members of the public. If you have a disability and require assistance, please contact our ADA coordinator, Mike Gray at 582-3232 (TDD 582-2301).