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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1.27.16 UAPB MinutesMINUTES APPROVED MPOJC URBANIZED AREA POLICY BOARD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2016 – 4:30 PM CORALVILLE COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Coralville: Tom Gill, Jill Dodds Iowa City: Susan Mims, Terry Dickens, Kingsley Botchway ll, John Thomas, Rockne Cole, Pauline Taylor Johnson County: Mike Carberry, Pat Harney North Liberty: Amy Nielsen, Terry Donahue University Heights: Wally Heitman University of Iowa: David Ricketts ICCSD: Chris Lynch STAFF PRESENT: Kent Ralston, Brad Neumann, Darian Nagle-Gamm, Emily Bothell, Sarah Walz, Rachel Serslev OTHERS PRESENT: Jim Schnoebelen (IDOT), Chad Sands (ECICOG) 1. CALL TO ORDER Gill called the meeting to order at 4:30 PM. a. Recognize alternates Mike Carberry was recognized as an alternate for Janelle Rettig (Johnson County) and Pat Harney was recognized as an alternate for Rod Sullivan (Johnson County). b. Consider approval of meeting minutes The motion to approve the meeting minutes was made by Dickens; seconded by Donahue. The motion was unanimously approved. c. Set next Board meeting date, time, and location The next meeting was set for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday March 30th, 2016 at Johnson County Health & Human Services Building. 2. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA None 3. ADMINISTRATION a. Report from nominating committee for 2016 MPOJC Board officers Ralston explained that at the November meeting the Board appointed a nominating committee to nominate the chair and vice chair for the Urbanized Area Policy Board for 2016. Dodds spoke on behalf of the nominating committee and stated that they would like to nominate Susan Mims for the 2016 chair position and Steve Berner for vice chair. Ricketts moved to approve the nominations for 2016 MPOJC Board officers; Dodds seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. Susan Mims accepted the nomination and chaired the meeting from this point forward. b. Review the 2015 Annual Major Work Activities Report Ralston expressed that there was nothing specific he would like to discuss from the report but that he is pleased with the MPO staff’s work and is open to take questions. c. Consider approval of the FY17 MPOJC Budget and financial forecast Ralston explained that the primary focus of the MPO is to fulfill state and federal requirements necessary to receive federal funding and to produce traffic studies. The personnel costs within the budget show a decrease of about 1% from FY16. Dickens asked if the new North Liberty census will change the budget. Ralston responded that the MPO budget is based on a per capita assessment and uses certified census figures. North Liberty had not yet certified their new numbers so it would not impact the budget or the number of Board members. Thomas moved to approve the FY17 MPOJC Budget and financial forecast; Gill seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. d. Consider approval of the FY17 Johnson County Assessments to the East Central Iowa Council of Governments Ralston explained that each year the MPO collects East Central Iowa Council of Governments dues that are passed on to them. The ECICOG assessments are based on per capita basis for the counties that they serve including Johnson County. For FY17, ECICOG proposed a 2% increase for all the counties that they serve. Ralston directed questions to Chad Sands of ECICOG. Dodds moved to approve the FY17 Johnson County Assessments to the East Central Iowa Council of Governments; Heitman seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. e. Consider appointments to the ECICOG Board of Directors Mims announced those appointed to the ECICOG Board of Directors by their city and that there were two citizen applicants. She suggested a motion first be made for those appointed by their city then have a discussion about the citizen applicants. Donahue moved to approve appointments to the ECICOG Board of Directors; Ricketts seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. Mims continued to explain that there were two citizen applicants: Tim Weitzel and Aaron Moniza. Board members commented on who they thought the best applicants were and why. A roll call was done and 9 Board members voted for Aaron Moniza and 5 voted against. Aaron Moniza became the ECICOG citizen representative for the Board. f. Discuss MPOJC Orientation opportunity for new Board members Ralston offered an orientation opportunity for new and old Board members. The orientation would cover how the MPO is designated, organized and what the MPO does for municipalities. g. Consider appointing MPOJC representative to the Statewide Urban Design and Specifications (SUDAS) Board of Directors Ralston explained that every other year the MPO must appoint a representative to the Statewide Urban Design and Specifications Board of Directors. Scott Larson is the current representative and desires to continue holding the position. The Transportation Technical Advisory Committee also recommended unanimously that Larson hold the position for two more years. Dickens moved to appoint Scott Larson as the MPOJC representative to the SUDAS Board of Directors; Carberry seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. 4. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING a. Public Hearing and consideration of amendments to the FY16-19 MPOJC Transportation Improvement Program i. Public Hearing Mims opened the public hearing. ii. Consider an amendment to the FY16-19 MPOJC Transportation Improvement Program regarding the reconstruction of Forevergreen Road between Park Road and Jones Boulevard iii. Consider an amendment to the FY16-19 MPOJC Transportation Improvements Program regarding the expansion of I-380 from a 4 lane to 6 lane section from I-80 north through the future Forevergreen Road / I- 380 interchange Neumann explained that the IDOT requested two amendments to the FY16 – 19 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). These are IDOT projects that are occurring in the metro area so they must be in the TIP in order to receive funding for the projects. In September these projects were approved to be added to the Long Range Transportation Plan. The reconstruction of Forevergreen Road is estimated to be 8 million dollars and the expansion of I-380 from 4 to 6 lanes from I-80 through the future Forevergreen Road interchange is estimated to be 10 million dollars. The Transportation Technical Advisory Committee recommended approval of the amendments. Thomas asked what the status of the project was in terms of design and future expansion. Schnoebelen responded that expanding I-380 to Cedar Rapids was still in the study stage. The lane expansion between I-80 and Forevergreen Road is necessary because of the interchange reconstructions. Carberry asked if the expansion of lanes would be added to the inside or outside of the existing lanes. Schnoebelen responded that the lanes would be widened to the outside in order to preserve right-of-way and for safety and operations. Mims expressed that she would vote against both of these amendments because of how expensive the reconstruction and expansion will be in the long-run and because the projects will likely go over budget. Cole expressed concern about expanding I-380 from 4 lanes to 6 lanes between I-80 to I-380 / Forevergreen Road interchange. He asked if this action would allow for I-380 to be expanded to 6 lanes all the way to Cedar Rapids. Thomas and Taylor echoed this concern. Schnoebelen ensured that this expansion pertained only to I-380 between I-80 and the interchange at Forevergreen Road. Expanding the lanes at this interchange is being done for safety/design reasons and does not mean that lanes will be expanded to Cedar Rapids. Dodds asked how not approving the amendments would impact the projects. Schnoebelen responded by saying that federal funding would not be possible without approval by the Board. He further clarified that these projects are proposed for safety and operation purposes and not for capacity purposes. Stewardship of the existing system is the main goal. Nielsen moved to amend the FY16-19 MPOJC Transportation Improvement Program regarding the reconstruction of Forevergreen Road between Park Road and Jones Boulevard; Gill seconded. The motion was approved 12 – 2 with Mims and Taylor opposed. Botchway moved to amend the FY16-19 MPOJC Transportation Improvement Program regarding the expansion of I-380 from a 4 lane to 6 lane section from I-80 north through the future Forevergreen Road / I-380 interchange; Gill seconded. The motion was approved 12 – 2 with Mims and Taylor opposed. b. Consider approval of Federal Transit Administration 5307 Transit Operating Formula funding distribution for FY16 & transit statistics for FY15 Neumann explained that the Federal government funds Coralville, Iowa City and University of Iowa transit systems and that the funds are divided based on an MPO approved formula that includes operating and maintenance costs, locally determined income, revenue miles and fare revenue. The Transportation Technical Advisory Committee recommended approval. Ricketts asked the Board to approve the execution of an MPO study regarding the formula. Fare revenue in the formula includes Iowa City and Coralville bus passes that are bought for University of Iowa employees. Therefore, Iowa City and Coralville are favored in the funding process and the University of Iowa’s contribution to fare revenue is undervalued. He asked that the issue is studied by the MPO and discussed at a future meeting. Botchway moved to approve the Federal Transit Administration funding distribution for FY16 and transit statistics for FY15; Heitman seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. c. Update on Long Range Transportation Plan revision process and consideration of scoring criteria for project needs assessment Nagle-Gamm introduced the Future Forward 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan that is required by the DOT to be updated every 5 years. She also explained that the process for determining road and pedestrian projects is historically done with scoring criteria that prioritizes projects for inclusion in the plan. A new scoring criteria has been formulated that aligns with the goals of the Long Range Plan. The draft scoring criteria was presented to the Transportation Technical Advisory Board who suggested a weighting system for scoring criteria that are most important. The criteria were presented to the Board in order to receive feedback. It was suggested that consideration be deferred to the March meeting so that Board members have time to review and revise the scoring criteria for the project needs assessment. d. Update on the MPOJC FY17 Transportation Planning Work Program and FY17-20 Transportation Improvements Program Ralston updated the Board on the Transportation Planning Work Program which the MPO will begin to solicit for projects starting in February. The final draft is due April 1st. The Transportation Improvements Program is updated with federally funded projects every year and establishes what year the projects will be completed. e. Update on the Iowa DOT I-380 Corridor Transportation Study Neumann explained that a study is being done for alternative commuter transportation in the I-380 corridor between Linn and Johnson Counties. He updated the Board on the request for information sent out to public transit providers. This request would gauge if those providers could assist in providing commuter transportation. Only one provider gave feedback. The DOT continues to work on various areas of the study that will be included in the I-380 Coralville to Cedar Rapids Corridor Multi-modal Operations Study. The vanpooling program received ICAAP funding and is intended to start service in the fall of 2016. The carpooling program is set up through the DOT website and will begin in April of 2016. f. Update on Federal transportation legislation Bothell updated the Board on the FAST Act adopted in December of 2015. This is a 5 year funding bill that includes alterations to existing funding programs. The Surface Transportation Program is renamed the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program and the allocation of funding to local governments will increase by 1% per year till 2020. The new programs are being interpreted by the DOT and the MPO will be informed of how this will affect funding. 5. OTHER BUSINESS a. Report on the Severson Cup Charity Challenge; Award Severson Cup The Severson Cup was awarded to North Liberty for raising the most money and donations relative to last year’s competition. 6. ADJOURNMENT The motion to adjourn was made by Mims; seconded by Dickens. The motion was unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 5:30 PM.