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MPO TPC/TAC Board Minutes - 04/23/2008J' CITY CLERK'S OFFICE By � _ A TRANSPORTATION POLICY COMMITTEE (TPC) MEETING WICHITA FALLS METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION April 23, 2008 Present: Lanham Lyne, City of Wichita Falls, Mayor, Chairperson ♦ Members Woodrow (Woody) Gossom, Wichita County Judge, Vice - Chairperson Charles Elmore, City of Wichita Falls, City Council Representative Jeff Watts, City of Pleasant Valley Larry Tegtmeyer, TxDOT, District Engineer Scott Taylor, City of Wichita Falls, Director of Public Works Donnie Arbeau, WFMPO, Transportation Planner II ♦ Staff James Kelley, TxDOT, Area Engineer John Burrus, City of Wichita Falls, Director of Aviation, Traffic & Transportation Lin Barnett, WFMPO, Transportation Planning Director Tammy Marlow, TxDOT, Funding Administrator Danny Brown, TxDOT, TP &D Director Davis Powell, City Engineer Gary Graham, Project Manager, BWR Jerrie Sowards, Rep. David Farabee's Office Jeff Hogan, Project Engineer, BWR Jon Moller, Stakeholder Nora Zarate Hodges, NORTEX Regional Planning Commission Shawn Strate, Community Planner, BWR Dennis Wilde, NORTEX Regional Planning Commission, Director Michael Smith, City Council Representative Steven Halloway, Lakeside City I. Welcome & Introduction Mayor Lyne called the meeting to order at 8:45 a.m. ♦ Ex- officio ♦ Guests ♦ Absent II. Review and Approval of the January 30, 2008 Transportation Policy Committee's (TPC) Meeting Minutes Mayor Lyne asked for comments and changes to the minutes. None were made. He then asked for a motion to approve the minutes. Mr. Watts motioned to approve and Councilor Elmore seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved. WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING April 23, 2008 PAGE 1 III. Review and Approval of the Transportation Policy Committee's (TPC's) February 6, 2008 Meeting Minutes Mayor Lyne asked for comments and changes to the minutes. None were made. He then asked for a motion to approve the minutes. Judge Gossom motioned to approve and Mr. Watts seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved. IV. Review and Comment Regarding the Technical Advisory Committee's (TAC) January 16, 2008 Meeting Minutes - No Action Required Mayor Lyne asked for comments on the minutes. Mr. Barnett stated that Mr. Moller (a citizen stakeholder in attendance) might have comments on the minutes during the Public Comment portion. No further comments were made. V. Presentation by BWR, Inc. of the 2008 Update to the Socioeconomic Data Collection and Forecast Study with TPC Review and Discussion to Follow Mr. Barnett began the presentation by introducing the consultants from BWR in attendance that prepared the socioeconomic study. Mr. Graham initiated the presentation with a brief overview and then gave the floor to Mr. Strate. After a 15 minute presentation, Mr. Strate opened the floor for questions and comments. Judge Gossom asked about projecting the growth rate and population increase of the tax base for the SAFB area using historical records. Mr. Strate responded by stating that population and employment forecasts were the closest indicator to determine possible projections for that type of inquiry. Judge Gossom stated it would be interesting to compare the Wichita Falls socioeconomic forecast with the City of Abilene's forecast in order to better understand the differences between the two. He stated that since the two cities are so similar in size that it might benefit Wichita Falls to see why the Abilene tax base is so much larger than Wichita Falls'. The MPO Director stated that he would follow -up with the Abilene MPO Director to discuss this difference and then bring this information back before the TAC and TPC for their review and consideration. Mr. Graham asked the TPC members, and everyone else present, to review the document during the 45 -day public comment period and forward any corrections, comments or suggestions to MPO staff or BWR before MPO staff asked for final approval and adoption of the document at the July 23rd TPC meeting. There were no further comments and the presentation ended.' VI. Discussion of Current and Future Funding of TxDOT Transportation Projects The TxDOT District Office and Mr. Brown's staff prepared a hand -out that outlined TxDOT's Unified Transportation Plan (UTP) funding strategy for 2009 -2019. This was the focus of his presentation. He began by stating that the total allocation for TxDOT during the time period of 2009 -2019 was projected to be $28.18 billion. He noted that the final total accounts for continued inflation, corrections due to over - programming by some TxDOT Districts, rising fuel costs, and the negative affects of mileage improvements in the automotive sector on the state gas tax. He Brown presented three scenarios that TxDOT developed to deal with the funding situation as ' MPO staff posted the final version of the document for public review and comment on April 28, 2008. The final date to receive comments was June 11, 2008. WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING April 23, 2008 PAGE 2 it applies to their 12 main transportation categories. He carefully noted that the amounts in Category 5 through Category 11 were fixed at state mandated levels. He stated that these are set and unchanged amounts in the three scenarios. Mr. Brown then discussed the first scenario, Scenario A, which focused spending on Category 1 — Maintenance. Scenario C would shift the focus back to Category 2, Category 3, and Category 4 (Metro, Urban, and Statewide Mobility funding). Mr. Tegtmeyer added the point that any funding shown in Category 2 would provide equity (seed money) to complete toll facilities in metropolitan areas, which would be maintained using future toll revenues. Mr. Brown finished his outline of the three different scenarios by stating that Scenario B was a compromise between Scenario A and Scenario C. Judge Gossom asked if Scenario C was the most likely option to be chosen by the Texas State Legislature (and the Texas Transportation Commission) given the voting power of the larger metropolitan areas wanting to endorse Scenario C because it would give them the largest allocation for Metropolitan Mobility and Category 2 funding. Mr. Brown agreed with that assessment but aired a note of caution given the fact there was no consensus among the Texas Transportation Commission and its commissioners. Mr. Tegtmeyer agreed with that point and both he and Mr. Brown expressed a note of uncertainty as to which scenario might be chosen. Mr. Tegtmeyer informed the TPC that the Texas Transportation Commission would meet the following day on April 24th, 2008 to approve one of the three scenarios or some other version of the UTP Plan. Mr. Brown touched on a few more subjects with his presentation. He reiterated his point from previous TPC meetings that all of the Category 3 Urban Mobility funding for our district had been exhausted and the District would not be receiving any more funding for the foreseeable future. Given construction of the Falls Flyover and the Kell West Main Lanes, the TPC expressed their appreciation and approval to TOOT for the strategic use of Category 3 funds to complete those high priority projects while also communicating their understanding of the negative affect it would have on future mobility projects in the MPO area. Mr. Brown's next point concerned bonding, specifically, Proposition 14 and Proposition 12. Prop 14 could possibly generate $1.25 billion in construction funds while Prop 12 could possibly generate another $4.0 billion. The combination of both Prop 12 and Prop 14 could increase total funding to $33.45 billion. Mr. Brown's last point covered Category 1 funding for the local District for the next 3 years. He stated that the normal allocation was usually $30 million per year, but the proposed $29 million allocation would have to cover a 3 year period (2008 -2010) instead of the normal 1 year period. He further stated that Category 11 has been cut to $6.1 million for the same two and half year period. Mr. Tegtmeyer concluded the discussion by stating that many levels of government are talking about transportation, the current funding problem and its possible solutions. He stated that hard decisions will have to be made but that the future does hold promise. He expressed his hope that after 2009, with the new Federal Transportation Bill, the UTP would change significantly and for the better. There were no further comments. VII. Review and Approval of Amendments to the FY 2008 Unified Planning Work Program Due to Federal Programming Rescissions Mr. Barnett informed the committee of the adjustment to the funding allocation breakdown for Task 5.0 of the UPWP. He stated Federal rescissions had affected the local TOOT in -kind match needed to receive FY 2006 and FY 2007 carry over funds for the FY 2008 UPWP budget. However, Mr. Barnett stated that he had received notification from Mr. Cary Karnstadt that the Texas Transportation Commission had recently approved the use of Transportation WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING April 23, 2008 PAGE 3 Development Credits to fill the gap. Subsequently, the WFMPO should receive $73,192.98 of its FY 2006/2007 carry over funds. The original estimated carry over amount was $67,818. The difference between the originally approved (July 25, 2007) FY 2008 UPWP PL -112 Transportation Planning Fund amount of $279,186 and the newly amended amount of $224,112.32 was $55,073.68. Mr. Barnett was cautiously optimistic about the turn of events stating that the MPO was trying to conserve funds (to be used to hire a consulting firm) for the upcoming 2009 update of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan for years 2010 -2035. Reductions to Subtask 5.1, 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5, were explained by Mr. Barnett. He stated that he reduced funding in those subtasks to meet the reduction requirements issued by the TxDOT Transportation Planning and Programming Division in Austin, but left Subtask 5.2 intact with $67,700 to complete the BWR Socioeconomic Forecast Study update. Mr. Barnett commented that another amendment will be required, most likely at the July 2008 TPC meeting, to incorporate the new carryover amount of $73,192.98. He stated that he was waiting for guidance from Austin. Mayor Lyne asked for any other discussion. There was none. He then asked for a motion to approve the amendments. Mr. Taylor motioned to approve. Mr. Watts seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. VIII. Review and Discussion of Revisions and Amendments to the WFMPO By -Laws Including: SAFETEA -LU Compliance, Term, Member Proxy, Quorum, and Conflict of Interest The TPC and Mr. Barnett reviewed the proposed changes to the WFMPO By -Laws. The committee discussed the issues at length and instructed staff to continue clarifying the language in the By -Laws. After the document is reworked with noted changes, it will be resubmitted to the TPC at the next meeting in July, 2008. Judge Gossom asked for any questions or comments. There were none. IX. Other Business: A. Discussion & Overview of Progress on Local Transportation Projects — City and TxDOT staff (Quarterly Review) City Report: Mr. Powell began his report by stating Maplewood Phase II (4 lane divided facility) from Kemp St. to Lawrence Rd. was awarded in January, 2008, to Earth Builders; the Transfer Station Bridge project was awarded to the same company on Feb. 5th, 2008; and, the Gregg Rd. and Langford Rd. widening project was awarded on April 15th to McGrath Bros. Scheduled projects include street rehabilitations at various portions of the City; the 10th Street and Harrison /Speedway intersection will have the existing brick replaced with faux brick; traffic flow improvements at NB Kemp and Callfield, Maplewood at Elmwood and Elmwood at Southwest Parkway will be let with the 10th St. project; an alley rehabilitation project across various parts of the City will be awarded in June 3rd, 2008; and, the Faith Village Drainage Phase II & III drainage improvements should be awarded in July, 2008. TxDOT Report: Mr. Kelley started with the Falls Flyover project and stated the deck on the ramp connecting northbound US 287 to Kell West had been removed; the IH 44 pavement repair project had been delayed and the contractor was 57% complete with 72% of the time used; the Loop 11 project had an official start date of April 27th, 2008; WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING April 23, 2008 PAGE 4 the Kell West project was on schedule; and lastly, a nova chip project at various locations across the city had been awarded to Zack Burkett, Inc. B. MPO Quarterly Financial Report (1St Quarter FY 2008 — October, November, December) Mr. Barnett recapped the 1St quarter of fiscal year 2008 by stating the MPO spent 22.3% of its total PL -112 (TPF) funding. Mr. Barnett was asked to explain the status of the issue of losing carryover funds for MPO's in Texas. He commented that the Texas Transportation Commission had authorized local TxDOT districts to use Transportation Development Credits (Toll Credits) to fill the in -kind match gap. This in -kind match allows unobligated funds to be carried over from year to year. Mr. Barnett was optimistic the new development would reconstitute the lost carryover funds ($67,818) in the FY 2008 UPWP or that they could be programmed into the FY 2009 UPWP. There was no further discussion. C. Updates to the Wichita Falls Transit System - Progress Report Mr. Barnett gave a brief overview of the process to update and implement changes to the Wichita Falls Transit System by July 7th, 2008. Mr. Burrus added his comments stating that the 4A Economic Development Board would provide $268,000 as local match towards the purchase of 4 low -floor buses as replacement buses. He continued discussing improvements to the system such as widening the route deviation parameters (up to a quarter mile buffer), adding grocery runs, researching regional connectivity (Burkburnett and Iowa Park), and a new transfer hub in the downtown area. Mr. Burrus also asserted his belief that the WFTS needs to be managed with a greater emphasis on utilizing standard business practices. That concluded his comments. D. Other Items Mr. Burrus notified the TPC that the Committee on Highway Transportation Needs will be retired. Next, Mr. Barnett asked the TPC to allow him to form a committee of TAC members and bicycle stakeholder citizens to better utilize and implement recommendations in the MTP Chapter 10 — Bicycle Master Plan. X. Public Comment on Anything Not on the Agenda Mr. Moller handed -out information on his UAND proposal to TPC members. No other public comments were received. XI. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 10:35 a.m. Honorable Lanham Lyne Mayor Wichita Falls WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING April 23, 2008 PAGE 5