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HomeMy WebLinkAbout022509 Transportation Coordinating Committee MinutesMINUTES BOZEMAN AREA TRANSPORTATION COORDINATING COMMITTEE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2009 ITEM 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ATTENDANCE Chairperson Andy Epple called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 in the City Commission Room, City Hall, 121 North Rouse Avenue, Bozeman, MT and directed the TCC members to introduce themselves. Members present: Christopher Scott, Planning Department, Gallatin County Jeff Ebert, MDT, Butte District Jeff Krauss, City Commission member Ray Stocks, MDT, Maintenance Chief (Non-voting member) Joe Olsen, Engineering Services Superintendent, Butte District MDT Andy Epple, Planning Director, City of Bozeman, Chair Kerry White, Gallatin County Planning Board President Bob Lashaway, Montana State University Ralph Zimmer, Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Carol Strizich, Statewide and Urban Planning, MDT – proxy for Dick Turner Debbie Arkell, Director of Public Service, City of Bozeman Rob Bukvich, MDT, Bozeman Division Bill Cochran, Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board George Durkin, County Road and Bridge Dept., Alternate for Lee Provance Others present: John Van DeLinder, City of Bozeman Street Superintendent Bob Murray, Project Engineer, City of Bozeman ITEM 2. PUBLIC COMMENT {Public comment limited to any public matter within the jurisdiction of the Bozeman Area Transportation Coordinating Committee not on this agenda with a three-minute time limit per speaker.} Chairperson Epple opened public comment. No person commented. Chairperson Epple closed public comment. ITEM 3. MINUTES Chairperson Epple asked TCC members if anyone had any changes to the minutes of January 28, 2009. Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert pointed out on those minutes Ray Stocks was listed on the member’s present list twice. Andy Epple Mr. Epple stated that seeing no further corrections, the January 28, 2009 minutes stand approved as corrected. ITEM 4. NEW BUSINESS Transportation Plan Revisions Update Bob Murray Mr. Murray gave a presentation regarding the changes that the City Commission made to the Transportation Plan. All of these changes were provided to TCC members in the packet materials for this meeting. As Mr. Murray went through these items he asked TCC members if they had any problems with any of these additions. Andy Epple Mr. Epple confirmed with the TCC members that they did not have any issues with changes to the plan made by the City Commission. Bob Murray Mr. Murray began referring to changes that the County Commission would like to make to the public draft of the Transportation Plan. All of these changes were provided to TCC members in the packet materials for this meeting. Kerry White Mr. White asked what the process would be for TCC approval. Bob Murray Mr. Murray suggested that TCC members discuss the County changes before discussing the approval method because one of the County items is contrary to the City’s change. Joe Olsen Mr. Olsen stated that he does have a problem with item 7 on the City Commission’s list of changes. He felt the sentence stating “these roads become less safe” was not fact based and comes across as a fact. Rob Bukvich Mr. Bukvich asked if the TCC could ask a City Commissioner if this sentence can be changed to “these roads may become less safe”. Jeff Krauss Commissioner Krauss suggested that the TCC provide the City Commissioners with a list of changes. Bob Murray Mr. Murray suggested that we may be able to place slight changes on the consent agenda to be approved. Andy Epple Mr. Epple suggested that the TCC continue going through County changes before deciding on the next action plan. Bob Murray Mr. Murray continued reviewing the County Commission’s changes to the Transportation Plan. Please see the packet materials for this meeting. Item 4 and 5 may cause issues with the City Commission because the County added reference to the complete streets section which the City discussed and did not want to add. Andy Epple Mr. Epple began a discussion on how to deal with the issue of the County wanting additions that the City and State do not want. He suggested that this type of situation might be handled by articulating in the document that the addition would only be applicable to the County’s transportation system. Bob Murray Mr. Murray agreed that it could be added in the front as a County specific change or by adding language within. Jeff Krauss Commissioner Krauss stated that the County has not adopted a complete streets policy for their rural roads and was wondering what the County’s intent is with this. Bob Murray Mr. Murray’s impression at the County meeting was that the County Commissioners were mainly interested in adopting the language provided by the County Planning Board and were close to adopting everything in the recommendation including the map. Ultimately, the map was the only item the County Commissioners did not add from the County Planning Board’s recommendations. Rob Bukvich Mr. Bukvich stated that the language “where appropriate” provides enough wiggle room for him to be okay with these additions. He was however uncomfortable with going back and forth with the adopted document. He would not like to have three different documents. Bob Murray Mr. Murray continued with the review of the County Commissioner’s changes going over item #6. Christopher Scott Mr. Scott explained that County staff member Randy Johnson had suggested the language in item #6. Mr. Scott felt that this language was somewhat redundant after reading the language that has already been amended. Bob Murray Mr. Murray said the County wrestled with this item quite a bit. He thought Mr. Johnson’s intent was to add language to 5.5 and not touch the complete streets stuff. The County Commission however ended up adding the language to both 5.5 and complete streets. While concluding his report on the County Commission’s changes, Mr. Murray said he doesn’t know what to do with County items 4, 5, 6 or item 7 in the City memo. Kerry White Mr. White said that on #6 through the Trails Interconnect Plan there will be a trail system that will be recreational but there will be some street crossings there. If there is a facility there might be a crossing that will accommodate equestrians, etc. As transportation moves outward, recreational trails will somehow have to cross. Jeff Krauss Commissioner Krauss suggested that all these changes should be placed on the agenda for the next Joint City/County meeting where they can be hashed out between City and County Commissioners. Andy Epple Mr. Epple clarified that we were just talking about the items that they are not in agreement on. Jeff Krauss Commissioner Krauss agreed with Mr. Epple’s clarification and requested a memorandum from staff regarding what items need to be worked out. Commissioner Krauss also said that the City would want to talk to the County about the fact that the City does not want equestrian users on every trail within the City. Bob Murray Mr. Murray stated that the County had discussed the possibility of sitting down with the City Commission to work some of these issues out. It was moved by Mr. Bukvich, seconded by Kerry White that if the City and the County can hash out the equestrian differences and we can take the wording out that says it’s going to be unsafe as we pave roads, he would be in favor of adopting the Transportation Plan as one document. Discussion Bob Lashaway Mr. Lashaway asked for a clarification of the motion as it was originally not stated as a motion. Aimee Kissel Ms. Kissel read back the motion as “If the City and County can hash out the equestrian differences and take the wording out that it is unsafe as we pave roads, we’d like to adopt that as one document.” Discussion ensued regarding what the motion actually means and how this action would go forward. Andy Epple Mr. Epple clarified that if this motion passed and the City and County were able to work out their minor differences and take out the “unsafe” language, the County could then ratify their Resolution to adopt on March 17th and any wording changes could go before the City Commission as a consent agenda item. The TCC would be done with the Transportation Plan at that time. Ralph Zimmer Mr. Zimmer asked what the role of the City of Belgrade was in this adoption and whether they should be invited to the joint City/County meeting since they had previously adopted the Plan without any of the changes. Christopher Scott Mr. Scott clarified that it was not the City of Belgrade that approved the Plan, it was actually their Planning Board as a recommendation and they did not get into specifics. They have had their chance to make recommendations and it is now in the hands of the County Commission. Bob Murray Mr. Murray asked TCC and Montana Dept. of Transportation to clarify exactly what language they would like to see added to the Cities Item #7 change. Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert stated that he would like if and may added to the language so the sentence would read, “If these roads are paved with no shoulder and no trail, and traffic volumes and speeds increase, these roads may become less safe for both motorized and non-motorized users.” Other TCC members agreed with this language change. The motion was amended to change the language in section 4.9 to “If these roads are paved with no shoulder and no trail, and traffic volumes and speeds increase, these roads may become less safe for both motorized and non-motorized users.” Vote on the motion that if the City and the County can hash out the equestrian differences the Transportation Plan would be adopted by TCC as one document with the amendment to change the language in section 4.9 to “If these roads are paved with no shoulder and no trail, and traffic volumes and speeds increase, these roads may become less safe for both motorized and non-motorized users.” The motion passed unanimously. Bob Murray Mr. Murray confirmed with other TCC members that the Joint City/County meeting would take place on March 6, 2009 at 7 a.m. at the County Courthouse, community room. Andy Epple Mr. Epple clarified that if the City and County Commissioners were to make any major differences to the Transportation Plan going beyond the scope of the slight differences already discussed, the discussion must come back to this board. Otherwise, it will not need to be discussed again by the TCC. Ralph Zimmer Mr. Zimmer asked that any references made within the Transportation Plan specifying items that are specific to the City or County be inserted at the location they refer to within the body of the document so as to avoid confusion by the reader. Approve the use of STPU funds for the 19th and Koch intersection work that was originally funded with Safety Funds Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert explained that there are currently three projects on South 19th to reconstruct. The projects are Babcock to Kagy reconstruction, the South 19th and College intersection and the signal at 19th and Koch. It was requested by the City of Bozeman for MDT to color the signal poles and luminaries for these projects. In order to do it, approval is needed for at least the signal at 19th and Koch. That was a safety funded project. To pay for the additional cost STPU program urban funds need to be used. On the other two projects, TCC has already approved use of the STPU funds. The action today is for TCC to approve 27,000 additional dollars, but the overall change order is for about $128,000. Debbie Arkell Ms. Arkell explained that the overall cost covers the luminaries and includes approximately 54 light poles from Babcock to Kagy plus the signals. This was brought up by Commissioner Krauss when he was Mayor to do something other than galvanized signals. It was discussed with the Commission to institute these changes with this project. They will also come before the commission to require all new signal and light poles on the streets to be colored which will be an additional cost to the developers or to city programs. The city has also worked with the Downtown Partnership regarding colored downtown poles and they have asked that we not use black so that downtown can use black poles to define the downtown area. The City asked Montana State University if they would like Bobcat blue to be used and MSU requested that Bobcat blue not be used as it is such a specific color and is difficult to match. The city has chosen dark forest green for this project. When the modifications are changed other areas of town can request a specific color be used to define a certain area, as approved by the City Commission. Kerry White Mr. White wanted to go on record saying that he felt this is a lot of tax payer money to pay for coloring light poles and he does not approve of his tax payer money being used for that type of project. Jeff Krauss Commissioner Krauss said that the County has done a lot of complaining about light poles in a sub-division in the County. People do not like galvanized ‘picket like’ light poles. Since we have adopted this new standard of lighting, it takes a lot more money, but it’s more appropriate. Jeff Ebert Per questions regarding the action needed, Mr. Ebert explained that the signal at 19th and Koch was only approved with safety funds which cannot cover coloring. To use urban funds, the TCC must take action to approve this project, as the TCC must approve all STPU funded projects. Bob Lashaway Mr. Lashaway asked if this esthetic issue was the highest use that the STPU funds could be used for. Mr. Lashaway asked “if we were going to solve transportation issues in Bozeman is the esthetic signal lighting the highest priority?” Andy Epple Mr. Epple explained that the City Commission has expressed a desire to pay attention to aesthetics as well as the practicalities of health, safety and welfare and the policy decision has already been made. Bob Lashaway Mr. Lashaway asked if STPU funds could be used for missing sidewalks around town. Debbie Arkell Ms. Arkell said that they could be used for missing sidewalks but only on urban routes such as 19th, 7th and Rouse. The TCC is scheduled to review and prioritize the urban list at the next meeting in April for the future and sidewalk connections could be considered at that point. Joe Olsen Mr. Olsen explained that the City has already requested coloring of the poles on that route except for the signal at 19th and Koch. If this is not approved, all of the signals and light poles would be colored except for that one signal which would then really stand out. Debbie Arkell Ms. Arkell clarified for members that the $27,000 that needs approved is just for the signal at 19th and Koch. Rob Bukvich It was moved by Mr. Bukvich, seconded by Commissioner Krauss that the Transportation Coordinating Committee approve $27,350 in STPU funds requested by the Montana Dept. of Transportation for the coloring project discussed. Bob Lashaway Mr. Lashaway raised concerns that he had regarding the quality of powder coating. Vote on the motion that the Transportation Coordinating Committee approve $27,350 in STPU funds requested by the Montana Dept. of Transportation for the coloring project discussed. The motion carried with 2 in opposition and 1 abstention. Andy Epple Mr. Epple reminded everyone to update their membership information with Tara Hastie if they haven’t already. He also reminded everyone that membership will be discussed at the next meeting. Kerry White Mr. White brought in copies of the Resolution that created the TCC and his most current copy of the by-laws for members to reference at the next TCC meeting. ITEM 5. ELECTION OF OFFICERS (Continued from 1/28/09) Rob Bukvich Mr. Bukvich asked that TCC members acknowledge the efforts of Andy Epple over the last several cycles and thanked him for his work. It was moved by Mr. Bukvich, seconded by Commissioner Krauss that Christopher Scott be nominated as Chairman and Bob Lashaway be nominated as vice-chairman and asked for unanimous consent. Ralph Zimmer Mr. Zimmer asked that the nominations be divided. Mr. Bukvich amended his motion, seconded by Cr. Krauss nominating Christopher Scott as chairperson of the TCC. Vote on the Motion. The motion passed unanimously. Andy Epple Mr. Epple stated that it has been an honor and pleasure to serve as chairperson on the TCC. He stated that his office will continue to provide staff support for TCC. It was moved by Mr. Bukvich, seconded by Ms. Arkell to nominate Bob Lashaway with Montana State University as vice-chair. Christopher Scott, as new chairperson called for the vote. Vote on the Motion. The motion passed unanimously. ITEM 6. 2009 MEETING DATES AND ADJOURNMENT Standard meeting set for Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 10 a.m. Christopher Scott Mr. Scott asked if anyone had any further business. Debbie Arkell Ms. Arkell pointed out that the by-laws state that at the same meeting as elections the chair and vice-chair should designate someone to take the minutes. To follow the bylaws: It was moved by Ms. Arkell, seconded by Cr. Krauss that the recording secretary shall be appointed by the City of Bozeman Planning and Community Development office. The motion passed unanimously. Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert asked how the City and County citizen members are appointed. Andy Epple Mr. Epple explained that the City Commission did appoint a new citizen member at their February 23rd Commission meeting as David Smith had asked not to be re-appointed. The new City member is Dan Martin. The County Commission will need to solicit and appoint a new member for the County. Mr. Epple directed TCC members to inform any interested people they knew to contact the County. Kerry White Mr. White pointed out that any member of the TCC may designate an alternate in writing to the chairperson of the committee. It was moved by Mr. Ebert, seconded by Cr. Krauss to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously. NOTE: THESE MINUTES ARE NOT WORD FOR WORD AND NOT EVERY COMMENT WAS INCLUDED. ______________________________________________ Andrew C. Epple, Chairperson Bozeman Area Transportation Coordinating Committee Prepared by: ______________________________ Aimee Kissel, Deputy City Clerk Approved on: _______________.