BATTLE CREEK AREA TRANSPORTATION STUDY Policy Committee Minutes of September 26, 2012 Meeting

Transcription

1 BATTLE CREEK AREA TRANSPORTATION STUDY Policy Committee Minutes of September 26, 2012 Meeting VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT: Tom Matson (for Sue Anderson), Angela Kline (for Hugh Coward), Paul Anderson (for Pat Dougherty), Alissa Hubbell (for Mark Dionise), Rick Fowler (for Pam Boyd), Greg Rickmar (for Susan Baldwin), Tom Sprau, and Rich Werner (for Mark Behnke) NON-VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT: Rachael Tupica (FHWA) VOTING MEMBERS ABSENT: Terris Todd, Laveta Hardish, and Rob Behnke NON-VOTING MEMBERS ABSENT: Southcentral Michigan Planning Council OTHERS PRESENT: Colleen Bohn, Pat Karr, and Andrew Tilma Chair Matson called the meeting to order at 1:35 p.m. in the Council Room of Springfield City Hall, 601 Avenue A, Springfield, MI ROLL CALL A quorum was present (see above for voting members present). APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA It was moved by Rickmar, supported by Werner, to approve the agenda, as presented. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY There were no public comments. PUBLIC COMMENTS APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES It was moved by Sprau, supported by Hubbell, to approve the minutes of the July 25, 2012 meeting, as presented, subject to any additions, corrections or changes. MOTION CARRIED UNAN- IMOUSLY COMMUNICATIONS Karr reported the following items of communication: # BCATS received approval of the July TIP amendment on September 10, # There is a Chicago-Detroit/Pontiac Passenger Rail Corridor Program public scoping meeting being held in Kalamazoo tomorrow night, Thursday, September 27 th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. An informational

2 BCATS P.C. Minutes 09/26/12 Page 2 of 5 flyer about the meeting has been distributed for anyone interested in this MDOT, INDOT, IDOT venture. # BCATS FY 2013 Unified Work Program has been approved by the federal funding sources. Copies were distributed to the members. # Also distributed are copies of the summer edition of BCATS newsletter, The Signal. The newsletter was distributed at the end of August to over 500 persons and organizations, including the City of Battle Creek neighborhood planning councils, township offices, and library branches. # Karr attended the joint Southcentral and Southwest traffic safety committee legislative meeting in August in Kalamazoo. There were many legislators there, with varying opinions on current topics. # Karr has been attending the task force and board meetings of the County related to the transition of the Calhoun County Road Commission (CCRC) to a County road department. There are many issues related to this change that impact BCATS and the federal-aid program. Karr is scheduled to meet with the County Administrator, Kelli Scott, next Monday to discuss the transition period for the CCRC s activities and staff. # Tilma attended an MDOT meeting earlier this month as MDOT is starting a pilot study in the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek area on uses for interstate right-of-way. # BCATS has purchased the cloud-based data management system for traffic count data that was approved as part of a work program amendment a few months ago. Staff is in the process of working with the firm involved to get the program up and running. # Karr sent notification of a transportation forum being held in St. Joseph, MI tonight from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A notice about this event was also distributed to members. Werner indicated that on-line comments can be provided to sponsoring agencies, see on the flyer, for persons unable to be at the meeting. # The deadline for local safety projects for FY 2014 funding is this Friday, September 28 th. BCATS has not been advised on any projects being submitted from area agencies. # BCATS has recently received materials from MDOT about conducting a review of the 2010 U.S. Census urbanized area boundaries to set the Adjusted Urbanized Area Boundaries for the purpose of defining urban and rural roads. There is a difference between the types of funding available depending upon the location in or out of the urban boundary. This process will involve all of the local agencies working with BCATS. The deadline for completion of the update is next June 1, This item will be on the agenda in future months as the project progresses. Tilma pointed out that there may be ramifications for transit in defining this boundary as well. # Matson asked about a news story he had heard about MDOT conducting additional audits of local agency transportation spending. Fowler indicated it may be related to new requirements being implemented by state government for accountability. # Karr announced that Tupica is getting married in early October and wished her well. The members concurred with a round of applause.

3 BCATS P.C. Minutes 09/26/12 Page 3 of 5 There was no unfinished business at this time. UNFINISHED BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS A. April-June 2012 Quarterly Financial Report - REVISED Karr discussed the revised April-June 2012 Quarterly Financial Report, indicating that the changes are due to the City of Battle Creek s accounting for expenses at their year end, which was June 30, Members had no questions or discussion about the report. It was moved by Rickmar, supported by Fowler, to receive and file the revised April-June 2012 Quarterly Financial Report, as presented. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY B. Presentation - New Federal Legislation MAP-21 Tupica presented a PowerPoint presentation detailing the provisions of the new federal legislation, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21 st Century, called MAP-21. There were three years of extensions of the previous highway bill that had expired in Highlights of the presentation included the consolidation of funding categories, elimination of some funding categories, increased emphasis on safety, and moving to a performance based system. She noted that there are no earmarks in the new bill, this is a dramatic change from the prior bill. Tupica also indicated that there is an expansion of the National Highway System to include all principal arterial routes, whether they are under state or local jurisdiction. She provided information about the new Transportation Alternatives program which will fold-in the former Enhancement and Safe-Route-to-School programs, among other things. The tribal transportation program has been expanded to include a category for projects off tribal land that will improve access to the tribal lands. There is also an increased emphasis on freight in the new legislation. The performance measures provision of the new legislation will impact the planning process. National measures will be set, with the states and MPOs subsequently setting targets to meet those goals. The MPOs will need to identify how the projects that are selected locally help meet the performance targets that are set. Guidance on implementing all of the new aspects of the legislation can be found on the website devoted to this topic at which has been established by FHWA. There are also many changes to the transit side of the legislation that are being addressed by the Federal Transit Administration. One major transit change is in how funding for vehicle replacements will be allocated. Karr distributed a slide presentation dealing with the safety provisions of MAP-21 for the members to review. She also provided for the members a summary of the new Transportation Alternatives program.

4 BCATS P.C. Minutes 09/26/12 Page 4 of 5 The handout provided a list of eligible project categories and a flowchart illustrating how the funds in this category will be distributed. This was an informational presentation, not requiring action. C. Distribution of Local Federal-Aid in Michigan Karr discussed the material which had been made available in advance. She highlighted the MDOT developed table that breaks down the proposed funding to local agencies by funding category. In addition to the category breakdowns of federal funding, the state also has to take into consideration the state requirements for a 75/25 split between the state and local units of the federal funds received by the state. Karr indicated that the small MPO category is expected to have a smaller amount of funds to distribute. However, the MDOT proposal has not yet been accepted and finalized. Werner expressed his concern that the proposed reduction in STP funds will necessitate multi-year banking of funds in order to complete higher cost projects. Battle Creek Transit will need to replace large buses over the next few years and Werner does not see a means to finance these needs. Karr pointed out that the MPOs did agree to a formula distribution for planning funds at the MTPA meeting last week. This was an information item, not requiring action at this time. COMMENTS A. Next Meeting Chair Matson announced that the next Policy Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 1:30 p.m. in the City of Springfield Council Chambers. B. Committee Member Comments Kline had questions for Fowler and Tupica about projects currently being implemented under the CMAQ program. There was extensive discussion about FHWA s inactive project list and dealing with the Road Commission s current plans to bid CMAQ projects. All of the parties involved with this matter will follow-up on the discussed issues following the meeting. Matson asked about changes to the CMAQ eligibility requirements for FY Tupica did not have any changes to report at this time. There was further discussion about the CMAQ program. Hubbell reported that MDOT is still pursuing a possible change to the original design of a bridge project on M-96 (Columbia Avenue) at Raymond Road. A public open house will be held the end of October to expose the public to the option of making it an at-grade intersection instead of a grade separation. Hubbell also indicated that MDOT s annual winter operations meetings will be coming up in early

5 BCATS P.C. Minutes 09/26/12 Page 5 of 5 November. The M-66 bridge project completion is now expected to be October 5 th. Hubbell announced that Greg Perry from the TSC office is taking a new position at the University Region office. Werner provided an update on the remodeled Intermodal Center. The facility is running well and the redesign of the site is also working well. Tilma informed Anderson that he was planning to pass his name on to the consultant doing work on MDOT s pilot project for interstate right-of-way use that Karr mentioned under Communications. Anderson indicated that he would provide what is available, as far as data is concerned. C. Public Comments There were no public comments. Chair Matson adjourned the meeting at 3:10 p.m. ADJOURNMENT