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HomeMy WebLinkAbout102908 Transportation Coordinating Committee Minutes.docMINUTES BOZEMAN AREA TRANSPORTATION COORDINATING COMMITTEE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2008 ITEM 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ATTENDANCE Chairperson Andy Epple called the meeting to order at 9:36 a.m. on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 in the City Commission Room, City Hall, 121 North Rouse and directed the TCC members to introduce themselves. Members Present: Andy Epple, Planning Director, City of Bozeman, Chair Jon Henderson, Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board Jeff Ebert, District Administrator, Butte District MDT Joe Olsen, Engineering Services Superintendent, Butte District MDT Carol Strizich, Chief, Multimodel Planning Bureau, MDT Bob Lashaway, Director, Facilities Services, MSU Al VanderWey, MDT Urban Planning JP Pomnichowski, Planning Board, City of Bozeman (p.m. session) Kerry White, Gallatin County Planning Board (a.m. session) Rick Hixson, City Engineer, City of Bozeman (for Director of Public Services) Ralph Zimmer, Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee George Durkin, Gallatin County Road Office (for County Road Superintendent) Chris Scott, Planning Department, Gallatin County (for County Director of Planning) Doug McSpadden, Safe Trails Coalition David Smith, Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce (Citizen Member, City of Bozeman) Jeff Krauss, Bozeman City Commission (p.m. session) Ross Gammon, Bozeman Division MDT Jeff Patten, Federal Highway Administration Lee Provance Bill Murdock, County Commissioner Staff Present: Debbie Arkell, Director of Public Service Chris Saunders, Assistant Planning Director John Van Delinder, Street Superintendent, City of Bozeman Bob Murray, Engineer, City of Bozeman Rob Bukvich, Bozeman Division, MDT Guests Present: Catherine Nelson Bill Cochran Mary Vant Hull Tamzin Brown Janice Cartwright Rebecca Taylor Maire O’Neill Pat Fritsche Ken Yankelevitz Suzanna Peters Garrett Peters Amy Morgan Scott Morgan Laura McDewitt Jennifer Mohler Linda Roberts Marianne Amsden Harlan Olson Joan Olson Joe Esparza Diane Thompson Debbie Miller Helen Hobaugh Linda Henne Chuck Karnup Vicki Hasler Anne Kohler Lisa Slover Alan Jackson Nan Pizitz Sandy Kypfer Nancy Creel ITEM 2. PUBLIC COMMENT {Limited to any public matter within the jurisdiction of the Bozeman Area Transportation Coordinating Committee not on this agenda. Three-minute time limit per speaker} Chairperson Epple called for public comment. Marianne Amsden of 5588 Patterson Road asked that the TCC Committee plan for Equestrian travel in order to uphold the vision and mission statement of the City. Jennifer Mohler of 125 Jackpot Lane in Belgrade is in favor of planning for Equestrian use. Joe Esparza of 1299 Fort Ellis Road feels much of the public is in support of trails being equestrian friendly within Gallatin County. Ken Yankelevitz of 12 Mathew Bird Circle said he moved to Montana from California for the great horse culture. He feels there are lots of great places for horses to ride on gravel roads, but they are dwindling. He supports equestrian planning. Catherine Nelson of 1002-H Boylan Road said she would love to ride her horses on trails in Bozeman but she is worried about development and gravel roads being paved. She said there are a lot of horses around and people need places to continue to ride their horses. A good trail use plan would continue to allow for that. Rebecca Taylor of 55 Owl Way said that as she looked over the Transportation Plan she realized that all the problems that cyclists have horses also have. She doesn’t have a horse trailer and had to ride her horse down 19th Avenue. There were times when she had to be on the road. She said that she is pleased that the people within her subdivision are so accepting that she rides within the community. Nancy Creel of 1430 Cherry Drive also supports equestrian consideration in the Transportation Plan. She has been using the trails for about four years and has never had a bad experience on those trails. Her horses are at Mount Ellis and Bear Canyon and it used to be easy to ride them into town. Now there are narrow guardrails and no safe way to get from Bear Canyon to town. She asked that horses be taken into consideration in the new Transportation Plan. Janice Cartwright of 522 South 9th said that she rides through town every year to get to Sweet Pea and she is also a horse-back riding teacher and teaches safety clinics for back country riding. She asked that the TCC plan please consider something that keeps horses accessible in town. She feels the public loves seeing horses in town. Amy Morgan of 275 Quinn Creek Road said she is a horsemanship instructor and feels that limiting horses on trails is affecting small businesses like hers. Diane Thompson, Box 10418 said that we need to keep the Bozeman area where we can ride our horses anywhere we choose. That’s what Bozeman is all about. There should be no distinction between transportation and recreation. Sandy Kypfer of 1951 Star Ridge Road rode her horse to the meeting this morning and being on the road was a bit worrisome due to the volumes of increasing traffic, increasing speeds and loss of pathways. She pointed to the need for signage for horse crossings along high traffic road ways. She also wants community planners to acknowledge equestrian history here. She feels equestrians should have access to TCC trails that are already planned. Equestrians are legitimate non-motorized users. Alan Jackson of 2015 Knaab Drive said he came to Bozeman in 1976 when his daughter was ten and loves it here but we need to keep our equestrian history. Scott Morgan of 275 Quinn Creek Road said he is a business man in Bozeman but he had to move 15 miles outside of town so he could use his horses. He said equestrian enthusiasts hope the TCC can hold up to their own goals. Linda Henne of 2550 Deer Creek Drive said she did not ride her horse here because it would have been unsafe and impossible. She recently went up Sypes Canyon and she almost got hit twice and her horse ended up falling. There was no shoulder to ride on and she ended up having to get off her horse and walk. She supports equestrian planning. Tamzin Brown of 4496 Monforton School Road said her road was just paved without any shoulders and it just drops right off into ditches. They also were unable to manage to keep the speed limit down. She asked that the TCC plan include equestrian use and funding. She would like to see shoulders kept clear of garbage, be level and be kept dirt instead of paved. David Cobb of Senator Baucus’s office will be in Belgrade tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Belgrade Fire Department Training Center discussing the highway bill. He would like the communities opinion. Maire O’Neill of 6877 Fowler Lane said when her road was paved she had to stop riding her horse on it because it suddenly became unsafe. She has to choose the time of day to ride very carefully. She is on the Montana Board of Architects and knows that the community thrives on growth. She felt that growth and safety can happen simultaneously while also maintaining the character of place. The TCC should emphasize the consequences of their actions. Mary Ann Myers of Belgrade said she moved here in 1985 and for the last few years she has been going on a Christmas ride with horses to Lindley Park and down Pete’s Hill into the old part of Bozeman. Lots of people approach her and are thrilled. She would ask that the TCC plans continue to consider equestrians. The community loves seeing horses. Susan Peters of 5530 Stucky Road said she would like to see recognition of equestrian uses to help insure that Bozeman continues to be a great place to live. Al Lein of 8507 Huffine Lane pointed out, “what’s a parade without a horse”. When the parade is over they just about get run over. He feels considering equestrians is a matter of cooperation and consideration. He takes his horses on Huffine Lane with hay attached in the driving lane. He feels more signage and awareness is needed. He said Durston Road was a good route to the fairgrounds until it was made into an arterial. Mary Beth Halley said she has been in Bozeman for 47 years and she is part of the Safe Trails Coalition and supports a safe trail between Bozeman and Belgrade that will include equestrian use. Anne Kohler of 3116 Farmall said that not planning for equestrians is against the mission of Bozeman. She asked for a map with routes for equestrians. Seeing no other public comment, Chairperson Epple closed the public comment portion of the meeting. Chairperson Epple addressed the guests concerned about equestrian use. He said that the TCC has spent the last two years updating the Transportation Coordination Plan and during the course of updating they have looked at the need to accommodate non-motorized transportation. During last month’s meeting they spent most of the day reviewing the draft plan so they can move it through the adoption process. There is some language for equestrian use that was discussed and debated for about five hours. The TCC body decided the language included in the draft was adequate to meet the needs of equestrian use. They could see later if there was any interest in providing more. Kerry White with the Planning Board of Gallatin County said the County is working on a Gallatin County Interconnect plan (GCI) to provide ways to interconnect equestrian areas in the valley. ITEM 3. MINUTES OF AUGUST 27, 2008 AND OCTOBER 1, 2008 Carol Strizich with Statewide Urban Planning stated that her name was spelled wrong in the last minutes. Chairperson Epple announced that the minutes are approved with this minor correction. ITEM 4. TCC MEMBER REPORTS C. TSM’s Report Debbie Arkell, Director of Public Services said they have an RFP out to design a round about at the corner of College and 11th. D. Bike Advisory Board Bill Cochran with the Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board said the board official report is on file. E. Pedestrian/Traffic Safety Committee Gary acted as a proxy for Ralph Zimmer stating that the committee had discussed the administrative draft for the transportation plan. The committee also wanted to state that they support the red light camera program. He also discussed the sidewalk construction maintenance program and how to advocate that. ITEM 5. OLD BUSINESS None ITEM 6. NEW BUSINESS Overview of Revisions Administrative Draft Transportation Plan and distribution of Public Draft Jeff Key spoke about the TCC workshop on October 1st to review the Transportation Plan. This was the first time the committee could see all of their work put together. They received substantial written comments from groups like MDT, Gallatin County, City staff, the bycicle advisory board, etc. Jeff felt the Plan did a good job of balancing all those comments. He asked if the TCC wanted to make the public draft available now. Jeff can get the draft on the web-site tomorrow and produce CD’s to hand out to the public and placing drafts in various offices. He pointed out that he felt the TCC should be very proud of this plan and that motorized and non-motorized users were balanced equally. He also stated that the Safe Routes to Schools Project was completely removed from this project because it is already a substantial separate document. Scott, Joe and Jeff felt comfortable getting this draft out to the public. The Plan’s appendix is not being handed out at this time as it has not been reviewed but the appendix would eventually be added to the report. Addressing the concerns of the equestrian users in attendance, Jeff stated that the Committee did recognize that equestrian use was important. The language for equestrian use is on page 542 of the report. He also said that this plan is mostly used for commuting and there are other plans available for recreation. Discussion regarding the Transportation Plan Street Policy. Some discussion ensued about the Street Policy, Chapter 6.1. Chairperson Epple pointed out that the Plan is meant as a recommendation or guideline as opposed to a policy. Jeff Key iterated that it falls on public officials to set policies and we are not trying to establish policy with the Transportation Plan. Jeff Ebert with the Butte District of the Dept. of Transportation agreed saying the City Commission should be able to pick and choose. Jeff Krauss with the Bozeman City Commission stated that governing bodies can’t tie themselves too closely to the plan. There is no need to discuss smart growth policies in the transportation plan other than limiting access in urban streets. Jeff Keyes also spoke about reviewing the top ten street projects. The top ten from the last plan were reviewed to determine what has been completed. Projects with traffic flow and capacity issues were fairly elevated. He also said the Safe Routes to School Project were referenced as a companion document to the Transportation Plan. Jeff Krauss asked if the Safe Routes to School plans had been adopted by Bozeman School Districts and other districts in the area and Jeff Keyes responded that Safe Routes has been presented at school board meetings and other outlets and everyone was very excited about it. Lee Provance moved and Kerry White seconded to have the draft of the transportation plan available for public comment. Discussion regarding making the Transportation Plan available for public comment. Motion amended by Lee Provance and seconded by Kerry White to allow 30 days from November 3rd for public comment with an additional two weeks for the planning boards and commissions to review. Motion passed unanimously. OTHER NEW BUSINESS: This will be Ross Gammon’s last meeting. ITEM 7. PROJECT UPDATES – Discussion only as needed. MSU Projects Update 6th Street project is now open. South 19th Avenue – Main Street to Kagy Boulevard Debbie Arkell, Director of Public Services said that the project is going well. Jeff Ebert spoke regarding powder coating changes. He also said that work has started on the utilities and the storm drain. Debbie Arkell said that MDT has been great to work with and she feels fortunate to have the working relationship that they have. G. North Rouse Avenue Jeff Ebert will be meeting with the city in two weeks to talk about environmental assessment. ITEM 8. 2008 MEETING DATES AND ADJOURNMENT Discussion took place regarding changing the Nov. 26th meeting date to December 17th so that the meeting could take place after public comment was gathered hoping to have a resolution at that time. The next meeting is set for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on December 17, 2008. There being no further business to come before the Committee at this time the meeting was adjourned at 11:47 a.m. ______________________________________________ Andrew C. Epple, Chairperson Bozeman Area Transportation Coordinating Committee Prepared by: ______________________________ Aimee Kissel, Deputy City Clerk Approved on: January 28, 2009.