Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout11.18.20 UAPB MinutesMINUTES APPROVED MPOJC URBANIZED AREA POLICY BOARD WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2020 – 4:30 PM ZOOM MEETING PLATFORM MEMBERS PRESENT: Iowa City: Laura Bergus, Pauline Taylor Johnson County: Pat Heiden, Lisa Green-Douglass University Heights: Louise From North Liberty: Terry Donahue, Chris Hoffman Coralville: Laurie Goodrich University of Iowa: Erin Shane OTHERS PRESENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Kent Ralston, Emily Bothell, Brad Neumann, Sarah Walz, Frank Waisath, Alex Koberoski 1. CALL TO ORDER Donahue called the remote meeting (pursuant to Iowa Code Section 21.8) to order at 4:34 PM. a. Recognize alternates None. b. Consider approval of meeting minutes From moved for approval, Heiden seconded. The motion carried unanimously. 2. PUBLIC DISUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA None. 3. ADMINISTRATION a. Consider approval of amendments to the adopted MPOJC Bylaws Ralston provided a summary of the results of the Urbanized Area Board recommendations that were established by the bylaws committee on June 29th, 2020 and approved by the Urbanized Area Policy Board at their previous meeting on September 23rd, 2020. The recommendations were then reviewed by the Rural Policy Board on November 4th, 2020, where they came to the following conclusions: 1. Recommendation: The Johnson County Board of Supervisors should appoint a citizen representative to the ECICOG Board with no term limit. This position would no longer be advertised by the MPO. Ralston explained that the Rural Policy Board approved the motion by a 5-1 vote under the idea that using a strategic approach as well as extending the term limit may result in more effective citizen representation. 2. Recommendation: Johnson County Board of Supervisors should have one permanent representative on the ECICOG Board with the remaining two appointments on rotation from the five urbanized area communities (Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, Tiffin, and University Heights). Rural communities would no longer be a part of this rotation. Ralston explained that the Rural Policy Board was unanimously opposed to this recommendation, as the rural communities did not want to relinquish their representation on the ECICOG Board. 3. Recommendation: Term limits for ECICOG Board appointees should be increased from one to two years. If approved, rural communities would only get a chance to represent once every 14 years rather than once every 7 years on the ECICOG Board. Ralston explained this recommendation was also unanimously opposed, due to the rural communities’ preference to continue ECICOG representation. 4. Recommendation: Review of amendments to the current MPOJC bylaws regarding elimination of the Rural Policy Board. The Board was opposed to the previous recommendations regarding representation, and the members felt that the Rural Policy Board should continue to hold meetings to share information and discuss pertinent issues. Furthermore, there was a concern as to the difficulty of reestablishing the Rural Policy Board in the future. Ralston proposed an alternative recommendation that would remove Iowa City from its current biennial rotation and place them in the same rotation as Coralville, North Liberty and Solon. This will increase the rotation for Iowa City from two-to-four years and Coralville, North Liberty and Solon from three-to-four years. The rural communities would remain in rotation, unchanged. Hoffman asked for some context surrounding the recommendation of establishing a Johnson County Supervisor for representation every year. Ralston replied that through his discussions with Rod Sullivan and Karen Kurt (ECICOG Director), it was brought to his attention that more permanent position on the ECICOG Board could result in more effective representation. Green-Douglass agreed that consistent representation was in the best interest of the community. Taylor admitted that it took her awhile to feel comfortable on the ECICOG Board, and that she felt her term ended too soon. Ralston indicated that draft bylaws reflected these changes and would be provided 30-days in advance of the January Board meetings where both the Urban and Rural Boards would formally consider the amendments. b. Confirm which entities will nominate Johnson County representatives to East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) Board of Directors Ralston explained that under the MPOJC Bylaws, each January the Urbanized Area Policy Board appoints three elected official representatives to serve on the ECICOG Board, as well as one citizen representative. One elected official seat is by the two largest entities (Johnson County and Iowa City), which alternate every other year, with the current representative being from Iowa City. The 2021 representative is scheduled to be designated by Johnson County. The elected official seat for the third through the fifth largest entities alternates annually. The City of Coralville sends the current representative, while the seat in 2019 was held by Solon. Therefore, the representative for 2021 will be designated by the City of North Liberty. The elected official seat for the remaining entities alternates annually. The current seat is held by the City of Tiffin, and the 2021 representative will be designated by the City of University Heights. The citizen representative seat is currently held by Randy Laubscher who resides within Johnson County. The citizen representative for 2021 will be designated by the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, as this action was supported by the Urban Policy Board on September 23rd, and approved by the Rural Policy Board on October 28th. c. Appoint nominating committee for Calendar Year 2021 Urbanized Area Policy Board officers Ralston explained that in January the Urban Policy Board will vote on a Chairperson and a Vice Chairperson for calendar year 2021. The Chairperson will be responsible for presiding over all meetings, and the Vice Chairperson will assume the work duties if the Chairperson is unavailable. The current Chair for Johnson County is Terry Donahue (Mayor, North Liberty) and the Vice-Chair is John Thomas (Iowa City, City Council). A three-person committee will be established for nominating the Chair and Vice Chair for the 2021 Urbanized Area Policy Board. Heiden, From, and Hoffman volunteered to participate in the nominating committee. d. Preliminary discussion of FY22 MPOJC Budget Ralston explained that staff is not proposing any changes or updates of MPO services or operations for FY22. FY22 expenses are expected to be similar to those in previous years, and there is an expected 3.6% increase in the total MPO budget primarily due to increases in staff salaries and health benefit costs. Ralston also mentioned that the MPO was expecting to use $230,000 of Iowa Department of Transportation ‘Planning Funds’ in FY22 as was done in FY21. This ensures that there is an appropriate balance of funds per DOT guidelines and minimizes increases in assessments. 4. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING a. Public Hearing and consideration of an amendment to the adopted FY2021-2024 MPOJC Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Neumann presented the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) amendment, which was initially approved at the Urbanized Area Policy Board meeting on May 27, 2020. Unfortunately, due to the Department of Transportation’s new tracking system, amendments do not carry over to the following fiscal year. In order to remedy this, the MPO is to reapprove the project for the FY2021-2024 TIP. Neumann explained that the project was requested by Iowa City, and involves the Installation of a water main between IWV Road from Hebl Avenue to Highway 218, and on Hebl Avenue from the Iowa City Landfill to IWV Road. Hoffman moved for approval, Heiden seconded. The motion carried unanimously. b. Consider approval of safety targets and performance measures for the MPO as required by the Federal Highway Administration Ralston explained that as part of the Highway Safety improvement Program, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) now requires that MPO’s set targets for five safety performance measures and report them to the State DOT by February 27th each year. MPO’s can either accept the targets set by the state or set their own. This is also true for pavement and bridge infrastructure, and these consist of system reliability performance measures, which must be reported to the State DOT every two years. In 2018, the MPO chose to accept the state’s established targets, and staff recommends doing so again. Ralston explained there is no downside to adopting the state’s safety measures, and there is no penalty for not reaching the targets. Bergus moved for approval, Green-Douglass seconded. The motion carried unanimously. c. Consider approval of Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) and Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) scoring criteria for funds allocated by MPOJC Bothell explained that during the September Urbanized Area Policy Board meeting, the Board indicated support for including stormwater management practices under the ‘Environment’ criteria. This revision was provided in advance of the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) and Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) scoring criteria for review in order to prepare for the upcoming STBG and TAP funding cycle. Staff has included three points for projects that involve stormwater management practices. The Transportation Technical Advisory Committee approved the criteria at their November 10th meeting. Hoffman moved for approval, Taylor seconded. The motion carried unanimously. d. Consider approval of several elements of the MPOJC Long Range Transportation Plan Revision Bothell explained that the Urbanized Area Policy Board agreed with the overall vision and guiding principals included in the Long Range Transportation Plan and that staff revised the scoring criteria to include storm water management practices. After the revision involving stormwater management practices, staff is requesting that the Board review and approve the transportation vision, guiding principles, and scoring criteria for projects included in the Long Range Transportation Plan. a. Vision “To ensure the strategic use of public investments and policies for the creation of a safe, efficient, and equitable transportation network that enhances economic opportunity and growth while preserving our environment and quality of life.” b. Guiding Principles – “Economic Opportunity, Environment, Quality of Life, System Preservation, Choice, Safety, Efficiency, Health, Equity.” c. Scoring Criteria – Changes are reflected in the Agenda Packet Goodrich moved to approve, Hoffman seconded. The motion passed unanimously. e. Discussion regarding the pending ‘Needs Assessment’ required for the MPOJC Long Range Transportation Plan revision MPO staff will be administering a needs assessment, asking MPO entities to submit capital infrastructure needs (projects) to be considered for inclusion in the 2050 Long Range Transportation Plan. Once the projects are screened and submitted, staff will host public input opportunities where the public will be invited to comment on the submitted projects. Projects will then be scored by staff using the Urbanized Area Policy Board approved criteria. The scores and public input will be provided to the Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC) and Policy Board, who will be responsible for ensuring the final project is fiscally constrained using the MPO’s forecasted federal transportation infrastructure budget for 2022-2050. The final project list will be included in the Long Range Transportation Plan to be adopted in May of 2022. f. Update on the Metro Trail Count Program Walz presented the Metro Trail Count Program, weekly counts that are taken along regional trails between May and October each year. The infrared device used does not differentiate between bicycles and pedestrians, and multiple factors may affect the counts, including weather, the month or week, trail or road closures, and increased development near count locations. This makes it difficult to compare year-to-year observations but is useful for studying trends over long periods of time. Staff noticed a marked increased in use of trails compared to previous years, possibly due to the public preferring outdoor activities as opposed to indoor (schools, gyms, recreation centers). Staff theorizes this may be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic. 5. OTHER BUSINESS a. Discuss the ‘Severson Charity Challenge’ for this holiday season Walz explained that every year MPO communities and staff donate to local charities as part of the ‘Severson Charity Challenge,’ named after Linda Severson, the MPO’s Human Services Coordinator who passed away in 2011. Previously, each community has chosen a charity to raise money for, with most choosing local food pantries. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, communities are facing difficulties in coordinating ways to safely raise funds. MPO staff has proposed an alternative solution, called the ‘Severson Trails-to-Table Challenge.’ MPO staff will walk, run, or bike the over 100 miles of trails and side paths in Johnson County, with the goal of raising money for local food banks. This is in conjunction with the Community Foundation of Johnson County. The challenge’s goals are threefold: 1. Raise money for much-needed food resources. 2. Encourage community members to engage in outdoor activities that benefit physical and mental health. 3. Raise awareness and take advantage of the extensive trail networks in Johnson County. Walz added that staff will be posting weekly or biweekly walks, runs, and bikes on social media, including links where community members can donate funds for the food banks. MPO staff encourage staff, local officials, and the public to share these posts and post their own experiences on trails to social media. 6. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn made by From, Taylor seconded. Meeting adjourned by Donahue at 5:25 PM.