RECORD OF MEETING
FREIGHT TASK FORCE
DATE/TIME/PLACE: Monday, September 18, 1995; 2
PM; CDTC Offices, Colonie
ATTENDANCE: Dick Corp (NYSTA), Ted Thompson (NYSDOT
Region One), Steve Iachetta (Albany County Airport), Pat McLaughlin (UPS),
Daniel McCormack & Marty Carson (NYSMTA), Chungchin Chen (CDRPC), John
Lemmerman (NYSDOT Freight Transport), John Denison (CP Rail Systems), Richard
Wolff (Williamsburg Transport, Inc.), Kristina Younger (CDTC)
DISCUSSION SUMMARY:
Status Reports:
* The availability of other New Visions Task Force reports
was noted. Reports will be distributed
by request only.
* A major public workshop on New Visions will occur on Tuesday,
December 12, starting at 1 PM at the Omni Hotel in downtown Albany. Task Force members are strongly encouraged to
attend.
* Steve Iachetta gave an update on the Albany County Airport
cargo facility. AFCO has been awarded
the contract and efforts are on schedule for construction groundbreaking this
fall. A Finding of No Significant Impact
(FONSI) environmental document is on track:
wetlands issues have been resolved.
The question of rents in the new facility was raised by UPS. Rents will reflect "the market" and
be determined by AFCO, with the Airport Authority, as landlord, assuring their
"reasonableness".
* Ted Thompson reported that the CP Rail Systems/Capital
District (GE turbine) clearance project is "on track". City objections to specific aspects of the
proposal have been dropped. Both the
Colonie and the Thatcher Street at-grade crossings will be closed, and two
others will be enhanced. Full vertical
and horizontal clearance will be able to be provided.
* Dick Corp reported on the implementation of the EZPass
system of electronic toll collection on the Thruway. Opening to commercial accounts will occur
soon, and system-wide implementation is anticipated by the end of 1996.
* John Lemmerman briefly reported on organizational changes
in the NYSDOT Main Office. The
Commercial Transport Division is now Freight Transportation. The Aviation Division was eliminated/combined
with Passenger Transportation. Safety
and Inspections are the third division under the Intermodal Transportation
Bureau. When a new organization chart is
available, it will be distributed to task force members.
Review of Draft Report: Length and
density of report were noted up front.
After discussion, it was determined that a different type of Executive
Summary was warranted -- a 5 to 10 page substantive summary of the main
points. The idea is that a busy person
could read it and refer to the larger report for details if desired. See action items.
Other discussion
points/comments included:
* The Roundtable Chapter
can be significantly shortened by deleting the detail of the table-by-table
analysis. Either put that into an
appendix or delete it altogether.
* Congestion measures are
"esoteric" and "academic".
Relevance to "real world" is not getting through. Need to make the point "time is
money" to truckers clearer and more up front.
* Infrastructure
constraints are well-addressed.
* Discussion of certain
major trucking industry issues is lacking or weak. NYSMTA will provide specific comments on
regulation, taxing, and other rules to be incorporated as appropriate.
* There was a long
discussion of the appropriate level of actions for an MPO and the appropriate
focus for the actions (internal Capital District goods movement vs. intercity,
mode-by-mode vs. more general). An
overall policy of pointing out state-wide or national issues for reference to
those other levels of government will be consistently taken. An acknowledgement of the "bigger than
us" aspect of many of these issues will be explicitly taken.
* Action #4: Support Freight Rail was significantly
re-worked. It will now read
"Support Intermodal Freight Transportation" and include a discussion
of tax relief issues for all modes.
Section on truck size and weight limits will be deleted.
* Mention of the
nation-wide shortage of qualified truck drivers is missing and should be
incorporated.
* The lack of a Saratoga
highway connection to the west (Rte 29 and 67 are not sufficient) was
mentioned.
* Previous emphasis on
access to and enhancement of EXISTING facilities was confirmed. The Capital Region is blessed in the range,
if not the density of existing facilities, and we should play to our
strengths. New intermodal facilities are
not a public sector decision.
ACTION ITEMS:
* Additional comments
on Task Force Review Draft due by September 30 to Kristina. Everything from catching spelling errors to
major substantive comments are welcome.
Kristina to incorporate comments as appropriate, write a new Executive
Summary, and solicit feedback from other appropriate parties.
* NEXT
MEETING: Monday, October 23, 1995, 2
- 4 PM, CDTC Offices. Agenda to
include: Review of new Executive Summary
and revised actions.
* PUBLIC
WORKSHOP: Tuesday, December 12, 1 - 6
PM (including reception), Omni Hotel, downtown Albany. Overall New Visions conference.