RECORD OF MEETING
FREIGHT TASK FORCE
DATE/TIME/PLACE: Monday, October 24, 1994; 2 PM;
CP Rail Offices, Clifton Park
ATTENDANCE: Mary Phillips (Conrail), Steve Iachetta
(Albany County Airport), John Newman, Dick Corp (NYSTA), John Lemmerman and
Dennison Cottrell (NYSDOT Commercial Transport), Ted Thompson (NYSDOT Region
One), Carl Belke (CP Rail), Gus Lapham (AAA), Larry Bascom (Quandt's Wholesale
Distributors), Kristina Younger (CDTC)
DISCUSSION SUMMARY: Record of May meeting
unchanged. Results of phone calls to
members that have not been attending was reported.
Status Reports: 1) Steve Iachetta gave a brief presentation on the status of
Albany Airport's Air Cargo Facilities upgrade.
A recent Request for Proposals yielded 10 strong letters of interest
from the private sector.
"Innovative financing" and a public/private partnership will
pay for these new facilities in the Northeast quadrant of the airport. Access to the facility will likely be via
Route 7. Steve provided copies of the
RFP, current and historic air cargo data for the airport, and an article by
Boeing on U.S. Domestic Air Cargo forecasts.
While Albany County airport cargo has essentially been steady for the
last four years, national projections for significant increases appear to be
the motivating factor in the 10 private firms expressing interest in further
facility development. 2) Roadway restructuring noted. 3) Schenectady
County airport regionalization call noted.
Survey of Goods Movement: Review of
final draft survey result led to several editorial changes, clarifying write-in
responses, and correcting one error.
Discussion centered around necessary follow-up. The need for, timing and
content of a roundtable discussion with industry representatives was
debated. It was determined that such a
roundtable is desirable to be held at the draft recommendation stage -- before
Phase 2 of New Visions is over, but after the Task Force is further along in
its work. This leads to a
January/February schedule. Agenda
proposed to include two parts: 1) Start with a general vision for Capital
District Goods Movement that summarizes what proposed projects are designed to
implement. 2) Focus on specifics of where the deficiencies
are and how they are proposed to be addressed.
Ideally, this second item would be a map or series of maps on the wall
of the transportation system of focus, where goods movement activities currently
cluster, where system deficiencies exist, and where specific capital projects
are recommended. The vision statement
(Are we looking to remove infrastructure barriers (provide access) so that the
private sector can do its job? Are we
looking to, in competition with other transportation needs, make wise
investments of public dollars to improve system efficiency and
connectedness? Is our focus to support
the existing goods movement system or to promote the development of a future
system that is somewhat different ("more intermodal")?) will require
more thought and discussion by the Task Force in advance of the
roundtable. Any vision statement created
needs to logically lead to a set of priorities for capital investment. See Action Items.
Supplemental Performance Measures and Objectives: Summary
preliminary data presented and discussed.
The need for 16 foot bridge clearance on the STRAHNET (strategic
military highways) was noted and should be characterized separately from the
NHS. Use of the Truckers Championship
Council for intersection turning radii data was endorsed. Services for truckers was discussed and
clarified. Reflection of national goal
of net reduction of 25% of all grade crossings was requested in
objectives. A fuller discussion paper,
with appendices listing data used of the freight performance measures and
objectives to be included in the November meeting packet.
ACTION ITEMS:
* NEXT
MEETING: Monday, November 21, 2 - 4:30
PM, Conrail's Selkirk Offices. Agenda to
include: supplemental performance
measures and objectives write - up, core performance measure status and
objectives, vision statement, industry roundtable planning.
* Survey
results to be reviewed and approved for public distribution by the Planning
Committee at its November meeting. After
approval, results to be distributed to all survey respondents.
* Industry
forum/roundtable to be held in January/February with agenda as discussed
above. Further discussion of logistics
needed at future meetings, closer to date of the event.
* Vision for
what hope to achieve in goods movement is needed. KEY to draft statement to initiate the
discussion.