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MPO TPC/TAC Board Minutes - 10/26/2009J � , TRANSPORTATION POLICY COMMITTEE (TPC) MEETING WICHITA FALLS METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION October 26, 2009 Present: Lanham Lyne, City of Wichita Falls, Mayor, Chairperson ♦ Members, Charles Elmore, City of Wichita Falls, City Council Representative Davis Powell, Proxy for Russell Schreiber, Director of Public Works ♦ Iii Jeff Watts, City of Pleasant Valley ♦ ! �'' Larry Tegtmeyer, TxDOT, District Engineer Michael Smith, City of Wichita Falls, City Council Representative ♦ i Steven Halloway, Lakeside City, Mayor Woodrow (Woody) Gossom, Wichita County Judge, Vice - Chairperson Donnie Arbeau, WFMPO, Transportation Planner II ♦ Staff Lin Barnett, WFMPO, Transportation Planning Director ♦ �= `� ' James Kelley, TxDOT, Area Engineer 2 Mike Beaver, TxDOT, P.E. ♦ <, Tammy Marlow, TxDOT, Funding Administrator ♦ Ex- officio 4.f ­- -_V Andrew Howard, Kimley -Horn and Associates, Inc. ♦ Guests Nora Zarate Hodges, Citizen Dennis Wilde, NORTEX Regional Planning Commission, Director ♦ Absent I. Welcome & Introduction Mayor Lyne called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Introductions and role call was completed. Il. Public Comment on Agenda and Non - Agenda Items Mayor Lyne asked for any comments from the public on any of the agenda and non - agenda items. There were none. III. Review and Approval of the Transportation Policy Committee's (TPC's) July 22, 2009 Meeting Minutes Mayor Lyne asked for comments or corrections to the July 22, 2009 TPC minutes. There were none. Councilor Elmore motioned to approve the minutes as presented. Councilor Smith seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING October 26, 2009 PAGE 1 IV. Review and Comment Regarding the Technical Advisory Committee's (TAC's) October 7, 2009 Meeting Minutes - No Action Required Mr. Barnett informed the Policy Board that the TAC committee reviewed and revised the draft of the 2010 -2035 Metropolitan Transportation Plan update during a special workshop of the TAC back on September 2, 2009. The updates to the plan were reviewed again at the October 7, 2009 TAC meeting where further revisions were made before their presentation at today's meeting. Mr. Barnett stated the TAC committee prioritized the annual project list at a TAC workshop on September 29, 2009 and reviewed the list at the October 7, 2009 TAC meeting prior to presenting it to the Policy Board at today's meeting. Mr. Barnett commented that all of the workshops and the TAC meeting were very productive. V. TAC Committee/MPO Staff Request to Present Draft Outcomes of the 2010 -2035 MTP Update Project to the Public for Review and Comment at November Public Meeting Mr. Barnett informed the Policy Board of all the work done on the 2010 -2035 MTP update since the June public meetings. He commented that the draft was still in a very rough state, but was coming together nicely into a polished format. He stated that the project lists were inserted into the appendix of the document by him the day before the meeting packets were mailed out. He commented that Kimley -Horn would make the project lists easier to read in the final version of the update. He stated that the purpose of today's presentation was to ask the Policy Board's permission to conduct the final public meetings in November prior to completion of the document. Mr. Barnett stated the public meetings would allow the public to review and comment on the work done to the MTP update since June of this year. He also informed the Policy Board that the final draft of the MTP update would come back to them for approval in January 2010. Mr. Barnett then asked Mr. Howard to present the draft update to the Policy Board. Mr. Howard discussed the purpose of the document outlining the federal requirements and the input received from the community, including the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC). The new document also included all of the recent transit planning that was implemented in July 2008 and future transit plans. Mr. Howard discussed how quality of life issues were incorporated along with the City of Wichita Fall's Vision 20/20 strategic plan. He stated that Environmental Justice issues were addressed along with all of the new TxDOT, City and County projects listed in the project lists located in the Financial Plan of Appendix A. Mr. Howard stated the MTP update would prepare the MPO and the City for policy updates at the state and national level. One of the goals was to make sure the document was in compliance with SAFETEA -LU regulations. Another goal was to make sure the MPO and the City was ready for the next transportation reauthorization bill due to come out of Congress in the next 18 months. This bill would replace SAFETEA -LU. Mr. Howard then presented his Power Point presentation discussing the process to this point for developing the MTP update. He discussed the June public meetings and the information gained from them. He disclosed the findings interpreted from those meetings and how the information was presented in the MTP update. Mr. Howard discussed the trends in growth and population developed during the workshops. Mr. Howard discussed development of the Travel Demand Model, which approximately 1/3 of the MTP budget was allocated towards. He stated that the base -year developed for the model was 2005 and the future projected growth year went out to 2035. He stated that he had provided Mr. Barnett with a copy of the TDM model on CD for review. Mr. Barnett stated that he had forwarded the model to the TxDOT Transportation Planning and Programming Division in Austin for review and approval. Mr. Howard stated the model could be used on future corridor studies by the MPO. He stated the model was validated and could be used on future road projects when WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING October 26, 2009 PAGE 2 applying for federal funds. Mr. Barnett informed the Policy Board that Mr. Arbeau would receive additional training from Kimley -Horn using actual data from the model so that the MPO could perform in -house analysis of proposed future transportation projects within the MPO's boundaries. Mr. Howard commented that land -use transportation planning appears to be very important to the next transportation bill coming out of Congress. He stated this MTP update would prepare the Wichita Falls MPO for that eventuality. He stated the new model for transportation grants seems to be going the way of the recent TIGER grants (Transportation Improvement Generating Economic Recovery). Mr. Barnett commented that his division already had experience with two TIGER grants. The first being the grant to replace the aging Airport Terminal building at the Wichita Falls Municipal Airport and the second being the grant to build a new transit center in downtown Wichita Falls. He also informed the Policy Board that his division was gearing up to do a TIGER grant for enhancement funds for two sections of the City's bicycle loop on the west side of the city. Mr. Barnett reminded the Policy Board that the MTP is a 25 -year plan that requires updating every five years. He asked the board for permission to conduct the public meeting in November. He stated the Policy Board would not be asked to approve the document until the January 2010 TPC meeting. Mr. Tegtmeyer commented that the project list in Appendix A concerning TxDOT 10 -year and Long -Range projects should state "Total Proposed" and not "Total Programmed" funding. He stated the tables should say this so as not to mislead the reader into thinking that money was programmed and available to complete the projects when in actuality there was no funding available. Mr. Barnett acknowledged Mr. Tegtmeyer's concerns stating that he would ensure the project lists were corrected to reflect that they were based on proposed and estimated costs only and that projects would only be programmed as funding became available. Mr. Barnett stated that he would eliminate the "Total Allocation" and "Total Programmed" rows and replace them with one "Total Proposed" row for the TxDOT 10 -year table and the Long -Range table. He also stated that he would add a note to the bottom of each table letting the reader know that district funding must be applied over a nine county area and not solely to MPO projects. Mr. Barnett stated that once he received the fiscal constraint numbers from Mr. Brown and Ms. Marlow that he would adjust all of the tables accordingly making sure all projects were fiscally constrained. Mayor Lyne asked for any more comments on the draft MTP update. There were none. The Policy Board, by consensus, granted MPO staff permission to exhibit the work done thus far at the November public meeting, which included the corrections made during the meeting by the Policy Board. VI. Review and Approve the 2009/2010 MPO Surface Transportation Prioritized Project List Mr. Barnett informed the Policy Board that this year's annual project list formed the basis for the base -line project list in the MTP update. He stated the project list included not only TxDOT and City of Wichita Falls projects, but also projects from Lakeside City, Pleasant Valley and Wichita County projects located with the MPO boundary. He stated all of the projects were new - facility or added mobility type projects. No preventive maintenance projects were included in the prioritized list. He stated the TAC committee reviewed the list then voted on it to establish a prioritized list. Mr. Barnett stated there were no changes in rank to any of the projects. That would be left up to the Policy Board. The Policy Board recommended the following changes in the prioritization of the list: WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING October 26, 2009 PAGE 3 ➢ MO -20WF (Beverly Dr. /Ave. H /Kemp St.) should move to the top of the "MED" class ➢ RH -07TX (I1-1-44, US 287, Spur 325) should move from "MED" to "LOW" classification ➢ RH -06TX (US 287, US 281, SH 79) should move from "MED" to "LOW" classification ➢ MO -16WF (Lebanon St.) should move from "LOW" to the top of "MED" classification The Policy Board made some minor changes to some of the descriptions of the projects and corrected some errors. No other changes in rank or revisions were made to the project list. Mayor Lyne asked for a nomination to approve the list with revisions. Mr. Watts made the motion to approve the revised project list. Judge Gossom seconded the motion, which was unanimously approved. VII. Discuss and Disseminate Information Concerning the Upcoming TxDOT Travel Survey Program Mr. Barnett informed the Policy Board that he attended a September meeting at the TxDOT district office where he met the project leaders from the TxDOT Transportation Planning & Programming Division (Austin) and the Texas Transportation Institute that would be conducting the upcoming travel survey. He stated the project leaders planned to conduct the survey sometime in October or November of 2009. The survey would cost approximately $950,000, but required no local match from the MPO. The data retrieved from the survey would be shared with the MPO. Mr. Barnett stated the information in the packets would help local leaders and political figures answer questions received from the public before and during the survey. Mr. Barnett stated the Public Information Officer for TxDOT would share information with the City PIO and the public as it became available. Mr. Watts asked when the survey would take place. Mr. Barnett said that the week of the survey had not been announced yet, but that he anticipated it would be soon. Mayor Lyne asked for any other comments on the TxDOT Travel Survey. There were none. Vlll. Other Business: A. Discussion & Overview of Progress on Local Transportation Projects — City and TxDOT staff (Quarterly Review) City Report: Mr. Powell informed the Policy Board that the Faith Village drainage Phase II & III project was 15% complete and that the contractor was going to cease operations and open the lanes back up in November. They would remain open until after the first of the year. The 7th Street and MLK Boulevard ADA ramp and median landscape project was 90 -95% complete; the 2009 Street Rehabilitation Project Phase II project was 70% complete and progressing smoothly; the Holliday Creek Hike and Bike Trail, which started as a City project and became a TxDOT project, was scheduled to let in December 2009. The 2010 Street Rehabilitation Project includes Maplewood recycling in place from Callfield to Southwest Parkway plus two other yet to be determined roadways. TxDOT Report: Mr. Kelley informed the Policy Board that the Kell West Main Lanes job was complete all except for what was left on the punch list; project I.D. numbers 2, 3, and 4, all pertaining to Loop 11, were basically complete except for some finishing work; project I.D. numbers 5, 6, 7, and 8 were all county road bridges with the only item left to finish being on the Horseshoe Bend Road, a change order on an irrigation canal and replacing some guard rails; project I.D. number 9, on US 287 from Wichita Falls to Iowa WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING October 26, 2009 PAGE 4 Park, completion of a Novachip project; project I.D. number 10, bridge maintenance and repair on US 82 frontage road bridges at Holliday Creek; and project I.D. number 11, the hot mix overlay project on BU 277A (Seymour Hwy.) from Brook Street to Loop 11 was completed. B. MPO Quarterly Financial Report (3rd Quarter FY 2009 — April, May, June) At this point in the meeting, Mayor Lyne and Judge Gossom excused themselves from the meeting because of prior commitments. Councilor Elmore was appointed by the board as Chairperson for the remainder of the meeting. Mr. Barnett directed the Policy Board's attention to the snap shot of 3rd quarter expenses in the meeting packet. Mr. Barnett stated there should be sufficient carryover from FY 2009 into FY 2010 to complete the Mobility Study listed in the 2010 UPWP. In fact, the MPO would not spend the required minimum 75% of its 2009 allocation. However, this amount combined with its 2010 allocation should cover the cost of the study. There were no other questions. C. Presentation of 3D Visualization Techniques for Use at Public Meetings The purpose of the presentation was to illustrate how the MPO could model future transportation projects for demonstration at public meetings. Mr. Barnett stated that Councilor Smith inquired at the July 2009 meeting if the model of the Falls Flyover was ready for viewing. Mr. Barnett indicated that they would try to have the model ready in time for the October MPO meetings. He explained that the Falls Flyover model was a practice run intended to gain experience in 3D modeling for use in future public meetings. Mr. Arbeau was the creator of the model and the animated movie. Mr. Arbeau then presented the animation to the Policy Board. The Policy Board was very pleased with the work done on the model and asked many questions concerning the software used to create it. Councilor Smith commented that it would be an excellent tool for demonstrating projects to the public during the conceptualization phase. Mr. Tegtmeyer agreed stating that it was a very good tool and that staff did a good job. D. Other items Councilor Smith inquired about the pedestrian walk/don't walk signals on Kell West. He asked who was responsible for their upkeep because some of them were not functioning correctly. Mr. Tegtmeyer stated they were the responsibility of the City of Wichita Falls. Councilor Smith also asked if anything could be done about the pigeons. Mr. Kelley commented that Mr. John Burrus was using an effective method in other areas of the City to stop the pigeons from creating unsightly messes. Mr. Wafts asked Mr. Tegtmeyer if he knew about a project stretching from Brownsville to Texarkana involving IH -69 and the buying up of Right -of -Way. Mr. Watts stated that he had information related to the building of a monorail system capable of carrying cargo containers from deep sea ports along the coast of Texas all the way to Canada. He asked Mr. Tegtmeyer if he had any knowledge or information to share about this project. Mr. Tegtmeyer stated that he had no knowledge of the monorail project, but that TxDOT was very much involved in the IH -69 project. He commented that ROW acquisition would WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING October 26, 2009 PAGE 5 most likely be accomplished at the local level by the districts affected. Mr. Arbeau informed the Policy Board about upcoming updates to the MPO website and that they should be ready by the next MPO meetings. He also said the MPO was looking at conducting a freight study sometime in 2010. There were no other comments. IX. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 10:00 a.m. Honorable Lanham Lyne Mayor Wichita Falls WICHITA FALLS MPO TPC MEETING October 26, 2009 PAGE 6