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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11.14.18 UAPB Minutes1 MINUTES MPOJC Urbanized Area Policy Board APPROVED Wednesday, November 14th, 2018 - 4:30 PM City of Coralville - Council Chambers 1512 7th Street, Coralville, Iowa MEMBERS PRESENT: Coralville: Kelly Hayworth Iowa City: John Thomas, Pauline Taylor, Susan Mims, Mazahir Salih, Bruce Teague, Eleanor Dilkes Johnson County: Mike Carberry North Liberty: Terry Donahue Tiffin: Steve Berner University Heights: Louise From University of Iowa: Jim Sayre ICCSD: none STAFF PRESENT: Kent Ralston, Brad Neumann, Emily Bothell, Frank Waisath, Alex Behnke OTHERS PRESENT: Dan Holderness (Coralville City Engineer) 1. CALL TO ORDER Steve Berner called the meeting to order at 4:30 PM. a. Recognize alternates Kelly Hayworth served as an alternate for Tom Gill (Coralville). Eleanor Dilkes served as an alternate for Rockne Cole (Iowa City). b. Consider approval of meeting minutes Motion to approve was made by Donahue; Sayre seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. c. Set date of next meeting The next meeting was set for Wednesday, January 30th, hosted by Iowa City. 2. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA Ralston thanked Carberry for his service to the MPO and his service to the residents of Johnson County. Carberry has served on the Board for three years and has had good attendance throughout. Ralston then presented Carberry with an award from the MPO. 3. ADMINISTRATION a. Appoint nominating committee for Calendar Year 2019 Urbanized Area Policy Board officers Ralston explained that every year the Board nominates a chairperson and vice chairperson for the next calendar year (2019). The chairperson is responsible for presiding over meetings and reviewing agenda items. Ralston asked that the Board consider appointing a three-person nominating committee that will meet before January and provide a recommendation regarding the chairperson and vice chairperson. The current 2 chairperson is Steve Berner (Mayor of Tiffin) and the current vice chairperson is Terry Donahue (Mayor of North Liberty). They have both served for one year and there is a two consecutive-year term limit. They are both eligible to serve again if they choose to do so. From, Mims, and Teague volunteered to be the three-person nominating committee. b. Confirm which entities will nominate Johnson County representatives to East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) Board of Directors The MPOJC bylaws state that each January the Board appoints three elected official representatives as well as one citizen representative to the ECCOG Board of Directors. The citizen representative can be any citizen of Johnson County. The appointments are made according to a rotation that is outlined in the bylaws. One elected official seat is filled by two of the largest entities (Iowa City and Johnson County). The current representative is Pauline Taylor (Iowa City City Council). The 2019 representative is scheduled to be designated by Johnson County. One elected seat should be filled by the third through fifth largest entities that alternate annually. The current seat is held by the fourth largest entity, which is the City of North Liberty. The 2019 representative is scheduled to be designated by the City of Solon. One elected official seat should be elected by the remaining entities, included the rural entities of Johnson County. The current seat is held by the City of Shueyville and the 2019 representative is scheduled to be designated by the City of Lone Tree. One citizen representative should be appointed to the Board. Ralston asked how the Board would like to proceed with the citizen representative. Randy Laubscher is the current citizen representative. Ralston asked if the Board would like to invite Laubscher to serve as the citizen representative again or if the Board would like to advertise for the position so another member of the community can serve. Mims asked how long Laubscher has been the citizen representative. Ralston responded that Laubscher has been the citizen representative for one year. Mims stated that if Laubscher has done a good job and had good attendance, the Board should ask him to do it again. Taylor added that being on ECICOG there is a big learning curve and Laubscher has done a good job and has had excellence attendance. Ralston explained that Laubscher has an interest in serving and the citizen representative is not an easy position to fill. The citizen representative is required to attend monthly Board meetings in Cedar Rapids, which are held during the day. Ralston added that he will contact the entities that need to elect representatives and Laubscher to see if he is interested in serving for one more year. c. Preliminary discussion of FY20 MPOJC Budget Ralston explained that prior to the preparation of the MPOJC budget for consideration at the January meeting, the Board should discuss any major changes that may come in the next year. Administratively, MPO staff are City of Iowa City employees as part of the 28E governmental agreement. The MPO works with Iowa City during the budgeting process to make sure the numbers are accurate and translate into the MPO budget so staff can determine the assessments for each entity. The MPO does not intend to hire any additional staff. The major capital expenses include software and maintenance. The MPO is using approximately $230,000 in Iowa DOT planning funds that are provided to the MPO. The full budget will be brought back to the Board in January for approval. There will be approximately a 4.5% increase over the current budget, primarily for staff salaries and increases in health benefits. 3 d. Consider a Resolution approving updates to the MPOJC Title VI Compliance Plan Neumann explained that since the MPO receives federal funding each year it is required to have an approved Title VI Compliance Program. There are two Title VI Compliance Programs. The document presented to the Board is the Federal Transit Administration version. In 2017, the Board approved the Federal Highway Administration version. Both documents have different requirements. The Title VI program ensures non-discrimination as outlined in the Civil Rights Act. It prohibits discrimination based on color, race, and national origin. The document provides guidelines for the MPO in order to comply with all Title VI requirements. The document includes the MPO’s Limited English Proficiency review. This review helps the MPO identify the languages that need to be included when providing information to the public. Also in the attachment is the MPO’s Public Participation Plan, which outlines how the MPO gets word out to the public. The Board approved the Public Participation Plan in 2017. The complaint process is clearly outlined as the MPO works with the City of Iowa City and their Civil Rights Office. Title VI complaint forms are available in the MPO office. The Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC) recommended approval of the policy statements, the assurances and the resolution. Staff is requesting Board approval of the document. Motioned to approve by Mims; seconded by From. The motion was approved unanimously. 4. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING a. Consider required safety target setting for the MPO as required by the Federal Highway Administration Ralston explained that the Federal Highway Administration now requires the MPO set targets for five safety performance measures. The MPO must set targets and then report them to the Iowa DOT by February 27th of each year. For each performance measure the MPO must adopt the state’s measures or create unique measures for the metropolitan area. The MPO is required to state how the annual projects and Transportation Improvement Program show progress towards meeting the adopted safety standard. The MPO recommended that the Board adopt the state’s performance measures. Staff does not recognize that there is any benefit to adopting their own measures. Des Moines is the only MPO in Iowa that adopted their own safety measures. Motioned to approve by Hayworth; seconded by Mims. The motion was approved unanimously. b. Consider scoring criteria for Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) and Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) funds allocated by MPOJC Ralston explained that at the September 19th Board meeting staff indicated that grant applications for the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) funds and Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) funds would become available in January or February of 2019. At the meeting the Board discussed the Transportation Technical Advisory Committee’s (TTAC) recommended changes. After discussion of those changes, the Board requested to see a comparison of how previously funded projects would be scored using the current adopted criteria and what is being proposed. Overall, the new scoring criteria would not change much. After scoring the previously funded projects with the proposed criteria, the project scores changed slightly, however the project rankings did not. At their November 4 6th meeting, TTAC unanimously recommended adopting the proposed scoring criteria. Sayre pointed out that criteria 9A, the equity category, has no definition as to what a low- income neighborhood is. Ralston added that in the past, staff has used 80% area median income and census blocks which is the smallest census data the MPO has available. Since the definition of a low- income neighborhood is not in the criteria, staff can make changes as needed as the census data changes. Sayre responded by explaining there should be some sort of definition included in the criteria. Ralston answered that last year only one of eight applications received points for 9A, being in a lower income neighborhood, which was North Liberty’s Highway 965 project. Teague expressed that adding some wording to median income may help satisfy the definition of lower income neighborhoods. Salih asked for more explanation about the 80% area median income used by MPO staff in the past. Ralston explained that if the criteria were lowered to 75% or 65% area median income there is the potential that no projects would receive points for criteria 9A. It depends on what projects are submitted each year. Sayre added that an applicant such as the University of Iowa may say that the students in residence halls are considered lower income neighborhoods and therefore question why they did not receive points for the application. Donahue expressed that he did not like the use of the 80% area median income. He explained that the next census data will be released in two years and the MPO should use that data to interpret criteria for the next period. Ralston added that the MPO could see what projects come in and then have a discussion with the Board. The MPO takes the scores to TTAC first and can share the project applications and discuss what area median income percentage should be used. Salih questioned if the MPO can change the percentage at any time. Ralston answered that the MPO can change the percentage at any time. Sayre added that the percentage of points for this criteria is a relatively small percentage of the total project score so it will not make or break the project. Ralston offered that the MPO could include census block data and average median income as the rule in criteria 9A. Donahue expressed that that gives the Board a basis to work from and some years one or two points may make a significant difference in the rankings of projects. Thomas agreed with the definition change by indicating what data the MPO is looking at when scoring projects. Berner asked if the change would be made in criteria 9A. Ralston responded by stating that the MPO would include using census blocks and average median income in the guidelines for criteria 9A. Motioned to approve by Donahue; seconded by Mims. The motion was approved unanimously. 5 5. OTHER BUSINESS a. Update from Coralville staff on significant community projects Holderness discussed the transportation projects currently underway in Coralville. All underground utilities have been completed on the 1st Avenue project as well as the southbound lanes. The 1st Avenue and 6th Street intersection is nearly complete and the northbound lanes are also nearly completed. The project is anticipated to be completed before the end of this construction season. The Coral Ridge Avenue project will transfer off the detour route. Traffic will be on the main line except for the east side of the Coral Ridge Avenue between Wheaton Road and Forevergreen Road. The Coral Ridge Avenue project is anticipated to be completed before the end of the construction season. The Clear Creek Trail Phases 6 and 7 has had a very challenging year. The project extends the trail from the current ending point of the Clear Creek Trail to the Creekside Ballpark. The two bridges over Clear Creek will be completed within the next two weeks. The goal is to have the trail paved, completed and open to the public by the beginning of 2019. The project is going under Interstate 380 and will connect to Tiffin’s trail system. With the acceleration of the Interstate 80/380 interchange project, there may be delays on final portions of the Clear Creek Trail project. Holderness also discussed the $32 million Wastewater Treatment Plant improvement project. This project will double the capacity of the plant and double the capacity of the storm water storage lagoons. The project started in April of this year and is a 27-month project, anticipated to be completed in the fall of 2020. Sayre asked how long the north portion of Coral Ridge Avenue will stay closed. Holderness explained that it will be closed for a couple of weeks. It is a small portion of the Coral Ridge Avenue project as it was on the detour route for the entirety of the project. b. Discuss the “Severson Charity Challenge” for this holiday season Bothell presented the Severson Charity Challenge. She explained that the MPO is asking if members of the Board would like to participate again. The challenge honors Linda Severson, who had served as the MPO’s Human Services Coordinator from 1994 until her death in 2011. The annual charity drive was inspired by just one of the many acts of generosity and compassion for which Linda was known. The challenge invites each government entity to select a local charity they wish to support. In 2017 contributions were up 12% and University Heights was awarded the Severson trophy. The event will run from December 1st, through January 4th. Ralston added that this challenge has been fun and that most of the Board had known and worked with Linda. It would be a great thing to continue to participate in and to get the challenge organized in each community. Mims and Donahue both expressed support for the challenge. Ralston said the MPO will reach out and contact city clerks and send information to each entity. 6 6. ADJOURNMENT Mims motioned to adjourn; seconded by Salih. The motion was unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 5:12PM.