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MPO TPC/TAC Board Minutes - 10/14/1999 MINUTES POLICY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING WICHITA FALLS METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION October 14t1, 1999 Present: Mayor Kay Yeager, Chairperson • Members Joe Nelson, District Engineer - TxDOT • Woodrow (Woody) Gossom, County Judge • John Barton, Dir. of Trans. Planning & Development - TxDOT • George Bonnett, Dir. of Public Works • David Clark, Dir. of Community Development • Dennis Wilde, Executive Dir. of NORTEX Regional Planning Commission • Bob Parker, Dir, of Traffic & Transportation • Sam Woods, TxDOT — Transportation Planning & Programming (Austin) Steve Seese, MPO Director • Staff Carolyn Askins, District Transportation Planning Assistant - TxDOT • Karen E. Montgomery, Planner Ill • Bill Presson, Wichita County • Visitors Jon Moller, Citizen • Absent: Tim Hertel, Dir. of Operations - TxDOT .Member I. Welcome & Introduction Mayor Yeager called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. Mr. Steve Seese, MPO Director introduced a new member of his staff — Karen Montgomery. Karen will be working on MPO issues. II. Approval of Minutes of the July 13t", 1999 Meeting Mayor Yeager asked the Committee if there were any errors or omissions with the July 13`h 1999 minutes. There being no comments concerning the minutes, they stood approved as submitted. WICHITA FALLS MPO PAC MEETING October 14th, 1999 PAGE 1 OF 4 III. Revision of Project Identification Numbers (PI No.) in the Metropolitan Transportation Plan 1995-2015 Mr. Seese noted that the Project Identification numbers are assigned by TxDOT and deferred to Carolyn Askins to further explain the amendments. Ms. Askins stated that the revised Project Identification Numbers are required by the federal transportation division in order to connect projects with the Metropolitan Transportation Plan as a form of verification. Mr. John Barton noted that the four revised PI numbers were assigned to a long-range project (U.S. 82 — Kell Freeway) that was originally listed in the 1990 MTP. Mr. Gossom entered a motion to accept the revised Project Identification Numbers in the Metropolitan Transportation Plan. Mr. Joe Nelson seconded the motion. The motion was carried. .2 PcIV. Discussion and Revision of the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) 7 Mr. John Barton outlined the projects in the revised TIP for the following three years 00 to 2002). During FY 2000, FM 369, Bus. 287 and U.S.82 will be combined into one oject for the purpose of pavement rehabilitation. For FY 2001, the work on Kell Freeway w' 1 continue from Fairway to Kemp in addition to the continuation of frontage road construction n U.S. 287 between Wellington Lane and City View Drive. Mr. Barton noted that for F -201', TxDOT anticipates allocating funding for continuing the expansion of U.S. 82 (Categ. 4A) -nd also a revision from funding Category 4F to 4D in order to fund curb/gutter work, •torm ;ewers and road widening (shoulder improvement) along U.S. Route 277 between Beverly Drive and Mc Neil Road. Mayor Yeager questioned who determines the various funding categories for transportation projects. Mr. John Barton indicated that only one category — 3A for funding is determined by TxDOT in Austin rather than locally through the MPO. Mr. George Bonnett noted concern with the proposed revisions (frontage roads along U.S. #287) to the TIP over the next 3 funding years as it may directly compete with specific projects listed under Category 4D — Streets and Highways in the Metropolitan Plan. Mr. Bob Parker noted that on TIP — FY 2002, U.S. 277 should be listed as "Business U.S. 277." Bob Parker made a motion to accept the proposed TIP revisions for FY 2000 through 2002. George Bonnett seconded the motion. Motion was carried. V. Discussion and Adoption of Bylaws Mr. Steve Seese presented a draft set of Bylaws for the Wichita Falls MPO — Policy Advisory Committee. The By-laws specifically address membership (PAC and Technical Advisory Committee), meetings, voting and general procedures. Mr. Seese informed the Committee that the proposed By-law was really a response to suggestions from TxDOT officials in Austin. WICHITA FALLS MPO PAC MEETING October 14th, 1999 PAGE 2 OF 4 Both Mayor Yeager and Mr. Bob Parker asked why an amendment of the By-law was necessary? Mr. Sam Woods, TxDOT representative from Austin explained the concerns. All MPO's must follow open public meeting by-laws because there are penalties for not complying with open public meeting requirements. Mr. Woods further explained that currently, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has such a similar composition of members as the PAC that TxDOT has concerns that it simply functions as a `rubber stamp' for the PAC. The TAC is not intended to make the decisions, it was only intended to be a technical advisory body that reported to the PAC. Mayor Yeager asked who were members of the TAC? Mr. John Barton referred the Mayor and Committee members to page 6 of the By-laws for TAC membership eligibility requirements. Mr. George Bonnett noted issues with the proposed PAC By-law and motioned to table the issue until the next PAC meeting. Mr. Bob Parker seconded the motion noting that Committee members lacked sufficient time to review the enclosed documents. Motion was carried. Mayor Yeager encouraged Committee members to forward comments, concerns and issues with the proposed By-law to Mr. Steve Seese prior to the beginning of December, 1999. VI. Discussion and Amendment to the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) Mr. Steve Seese outlined the proposed changes to the FY 2000 Unified Planning Work Program. Of particular interest, is the budget update and the transportation Planning funds as they now include the old 'oil overcharge' funds. Mr. Seese noted that the MPO would probably be allocated additional funding via the oil overcharge funds. Our region is expected to receive $226,000 over two years, approximately $113,000 for FY 2000/2001. The UPWP amendment was required in order to identify funding sources related to Task #2. Mr. Barton stated that additional information had been received after the last contact with Austin this morning at 11:30 a.m. as to the use and identification of the funds. Mr. Barton stated that additional time was needed to study this new information. Mr. Bob Parker made a motion to table the UPWP Update and Mr. George Bonnett seconded the motion. Motion was carried. VII. Presentation and Discussion of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan 2000-2025 Update Mr. Steve Seese provided Committee members with an updated version of the MTP (2000- 2025) which included information presented at the third Citizen's Advisory Committee on October 12th, 1999. Mr. Seese further explained that the current MTP update focuses on changes in the various transportation systems from the previous Plan that was prepared in 1995. The update also incorporates information from each of the three Citizen Advisory WICHITA FALLS MPO PAC MEETING October 14th, 1999 PAGE 3 OF 4 Committee (CAC) meetings. The draft MTP update will be ready for the 45-day citizen comment period on October 15th, 1999. The public comment period on the Plan update ends on December 2', 1999 and it is anticipated that a PAC meeting will be scheduled the week of December 6th to discuss all citizen comments obtained during the public comment period and staffs responses. Mr. Sam Woods of TxDOT was concerned with the MTP update that was presented because a formal, new plan is to be prepared every 5 years not an amendment. Mr. Seese responded that the Austin division of TxDOT clearly stated that only an update was necessary on a 5-year basis. The issue in the past, 1995 was that there was no precedent or policy manual for what TxDOT expected in the Metropolitan Transportation Plan and the ensuing updates. Mr. Woods stated that he would research the issue of whether a formal plan or an amendment was necessary and get back to the PAC with a definite answer. VIII. Discussion and Amendment of the Public Involvement Policy Mr. Steve Seese and Mr. John Barton explained the proposed revisions/amendments to the existing public involvement policy. Ms. Askins commented about page 2, paragraph 1 and the reference to other MPO By-laws. The FHWA will need to have reference to specific By-laws noted in the public involvement policy because they may not have the documents readily available for review. Mr. Sam Woods commented about the public notification requirements. The Federal Highway Administration may have an issue with deleting one of the public notification paragraphs since the MPO must be able to show that the organization was active if not pro-active in outreach to the public so they have every opportunity to be involved in the transportation process. Mr. George Bonnett motioned to have the revisions to the Public Involvement Policy document tabled until the Committee has had sufficient opportunity to review the document. Mr. Bob Parker seconded the motion. The motion was carried. IX. Other Business There was no other business to discuss. V. Adjourn The Mayor adjourned the meeting at 3:10 p.m. WICHITA FALLS MPO PAC MEETING October 14th, 1999 PAGE 4 OF 4