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MPO TPC/TAC Board Minutes - 02/06/2008i i A T TRANSPORTATION POLICY COMMITTEE (TPC) MEETING WICHITA FALLS METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION FRE-RECEIVED IN February 6, 2008 CITY CLERK'S OFFICE Date '3 Present: p L Time �. Lanham Lyne, City of Wichita Falls, Mayor, Chairperson ♦ Members Charles Elmore, City of Wichita Falls, City Council Representative Dennis Wilde, NORTEX Regional Planning Commission, Director Jeff Watts, City of Pleasant Valley, City Administrator Larry Tegtmeyer, TxDOT, District Engineer Michael Smith, City Council Representative • Scott Taylor, City of Wichita Falls, Director of Public Works • Steven Halloway, Lakeside City, Mayor • Lin Barnett, WFMPO, Transportation Planning Director ♦ Staff Danny Brown, TxDOT, TP &D Director ♦ Ex- officio Charles McGiluray, Century 21 Realtors ♦ Guests Jon Moller, Stakeholder • Nora Zarate Hodges, NORTEX Regional Planning Commission Woodrow (Woody) Gossom, Wichita County Judge, Vice - Chairperson ♦ Absent I. Welcome & Introduction Mayor Lyne called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. 11. Review and Approval of February 2008 TIP Revisions to the 2008 -2011 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Including SAFETEA -LU Year of Expenditure Requirements Mr. Barnett informed the board that all amendments to the February 2008 TIP revisions had been made in accordance with Policy Board direction from the January 30th TPC meeting. He stated the TIP revisions were now ready for approval. Mayor Lyne asked for any comments or discussion concerning the amendments. There were none. Mayor Lyne then asked for a motion to approve the TIP revisions as presented. Mayor Halloway made the motion to approve. Mr. Tegtmeyer seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING January 30, 2008 PAGE 1 III. Review and Adoption of the 2007 MPO Surface Transportation Projects Environmental Justice Analysis Final Report Mr. Barnett stated that nothing had changed in the format or composition of the report and that it was ready for adoption by the committee. Mayor Lyne asked for comments and discussion. There were none. Mayor Lyne asked for a motion to adopt the document as presented. Councilor Smith made the motion to approve. Mr. Wilde seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. IV. Stakeholder Discussion on the UAND Option Draft Proposal — No Action Required Mr. Moller began by showing the committee on his map the area of interest (TAZ 72) for his UAND Option proposal. He then asked Mr. Barnett to describe the nature of the teleconference set up for Monday, February 11, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. Mr. Barnett stated the teleconference with Mr. Kirk Fauver, FHWA Statewide Engineer, and Mr. Brian Bochner, Texas Transportation Institute Engineer, would address the issue of setting up a CSS Workshop for the general public. He stated the purpose of the workshop would be to educate people about Context Sensitive Solutions. Mr. Barnett also commented that the teleconference should help determine if CSS and UAND can work together. Mr. Moller stated that FHWA had asked him to identify the Environmental Justice issues within these areas. Mr. Moller stated he had identified some target markets within the 2007 MPO Surface Transportation Projects Environmental Justice Analysis Final Report that lay within the low- income and minority population areas of the report. Mr. Moller stated he was trying to organize EJ stakeholders to participate in the redevelopment of their neighborhoods. He asked that the committee determine for him the areas within the City of Wichita Falls that could be included and those that could not be included. Mr. Moller stated that further analysis would be needed to define where he should be targeting stakeholder initiatives. He stated that additional MPO studies may be called for in the future. Mr. Moller stated he had tried to offer $2,500 in matching funds at the last two MPO public meetings (TAC and TPC). He stated that he was not expecting the taxpayer to pay for anything over and above what the MPO planning staff normally does. Instead, he was offering the funds to pay for participation activities. Mr. Moller stated that much deeper research than what was contained within the 2007 Environmental Justice Report would need to be done. He stated that one of the questions he would ask during the teleconference would be how to fund this type of deeper research. Mr. Moller stated he was not offering the $2,500 check to the committee, but that it was available for use in planning activities. Mr. Moller stated that he and other stakeholders want to participate with the MPO in creating prosperity and redeveloping an area that is in decline. He stated that no program exists that will help bring Environmental Justice zones, as an entity, out of their current condition. He stated that they continue to decline. Mr. Barnett informed the committee that based on the advice of the City Attorney; the MPO could not accept the money. He also suggested that Mr. Moller use the money to hire a private sector consultant to assist him in the development of his proposal. Mr. Moller stated that it was important to him that the private sector is provided a conduit for contributing to the future of the community. Mr. Moller stated that in his messages he has stated that his proposal wasn't just for Wichita Falls, but for the United States. He stated that when he first discussed his ideas that he had been given a certain amount of proprietary confidentiality. He asked that the TPC committee give him the same consideration because he felt this would turn into a good business. Mr. Moller complimented the MPO on recent achievements and the Policy Board on its policy decisions. He then stated that his program could be good for the whole region, state WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING January 30, 2008 PAGE 2 and nation. Mr. Moller stated that in order for his plan to work some of the streets would need to be changed. He stated that this was his reason for contacting the MPO at the beginning because it is a transportation issue at its fundamentals. Mr. Moller thanked the Policy Board for listening to his presentation and asked for any guidance they might want to provide on how to proceed. Mayor Lyne stated that he was still digesting the information received at the last TPC meeting and that he needed more time to read through it. Mr. Moller invited the Mayor to attend the teleconference on Monday. Mr. Moller then asked if any of the other board members could also attend the teleconference. Mr. Brown asked if the conference call was for setting up the CSS Workshop. Mr. Barnett stated that it was for that and also for discussing the application of CSS to UAND. Mr. Moller stated he could ask any question that he wanted during the teleconference. Mr. Barnett stated the CSS Workshop would be open to the general public. Mr. Moller stated that he would ask FHWA if how he is treating Environmental Justice stakeholders is good for FHWA policy. Mr. Moller stated that he welcomed everyone to attend the teleconference and that he was trying to defend his position based on the 2007 Environmental Justice Report. He then asked Mr. Barnett how much the MPO paid for the report. Mr. Barnett stated that it was his and that he did not have an accurate count of the man -hours that he put into it. Mr. Moller stated that he would use the 2007 Environmental Justice Report as a spring board for what he was trying to accomplish. Mayor Lyne asked for any other discussion or comments. There was none. V. Public Comment on Anything Not on the Agenda No comments were received. VI. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 9:05 a.m. Honorable Lanham Lyne Mayor Wichita Falls WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING January 30, 2008 PAGE 3