PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING
Meeting Minutes
January 5, 2011
MEMBERS ATTENDING
Melissa Ashline-Heil, City of Cohoes
Frank Bonefide, NYS Department of Transportation
Rob Cherry, NYS Department of Transportation Region 1
Peter Comenzo, Town of Rotterdam
Frank Commisso, Albany Port District Commission
Sarah Crowell, City of Rensselaer
Rocky
Ferraro, Capital District Regional Planning Commission
Michael Franchini, Albany County (Chairman)
Steve Iachetta, Albany County Airport Authority
Andrew Kreshik, City of Troy
Joseph LaCivita, Town of Colonie
Patrick McCarroll, representing Michael Loftus, NYS
Thruway Authority
Barb McHugh, Town of Clifton Park
Michael Morelli, Town of
Bethlehem
Rosemary Nichols, City of Watervliet
John Poorman, Capital District Transportation Committee
(Secretary)
Paul Reuss, Village of Menands
Joe Rich. Federal Highway Administration
Deidre Rudolph, City of Albany
Joe Teliska, representing Wayne Bonesteel, Rensselaer
County
STAFF
Dave Ardman, Barton & Loguidice
Shelly Johnston, Creighton Manning Assoc.
David Jukins, Capital District Transportation Committee
Sandra Misiewicz, Capital
District Transportation Committee
Leah Mosall, Capital District
Transportation Committee
Chris O’Neill, Capital
District Transportation Committee
VISITORS ISSUES
Chairman Franchini opened the meeting at approximately
9:40 am. There were no visitors issues.
ACTION ITEMS
ADMINISTRATION
Election
of Officers
On behalf of the Chair, John Poorman entertained
nominations for the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Planning Committee for the 2011
calendar year. Mike Franchini was
nominated as Chair and
Approval
of the November 3, 2010 Meeting Minutes
Members approved the November 3rd meeting notes as
written.
UNIFIED PLANNING
April 1- September 30 2010 Progress Report
The Progress Report was distributed
to Planning Committee members for their review.
Dave Jukins briefly highlighted some of the activities that CDTC staff
is involved in and fielded a few questions regarding the NYSMPO related
activities. The progress report was
approved as written.
2010-12 UPWP Addendum Outline
Dave Jukins reviewed the 2010-12
UPWP Addendum Outline, highlighting the proposed changes to the 2010-12 UPWP. New or significantly modified tasks include
the Every Day Counts Initiative, the Census Data Task,
I-787 Integrated Corridor Study
The City of Albany in partnership
with the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is asking the
Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC) to consider adding to the
2010-12 UPWP a $200,000 planning study to study I-787 between Exit 2 and Exit
4A. This effort is intended to answer questions regarding: (1) the short term
and long term infrastructure needs for the facility; (2) the opportunities for
alternative designs to reduce long term infrastructure costs and/or improve
transportation community compatibility; and, in the context of long term needs,
(3) near-term access improvements to support the City’s downtown and waterfront
economic development initiatives. Several questions were asked regarding the composition
of the study advisory committee and the boundaries of the study. Funding source issues (
2011-12 Linkage Planning Proposals
2010-15 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
Options for Funding the TMC Operating Costs
During the 2010-15 TIP Update, CDTC continued its commitment
to fund operating costs for the Transportation Management Center (TMC). In
2007, CDTC was informed that the project would no longer qualify for CMAQ funds
due to the three year restriction on funding operations. Because the project is consistent with the
intent of CMAQ funding, it was determined that a transfer of CMAQ funds to
STP-Flex could be used for this project. Consequently, in the 2010-15 TIP, the funding
for this project shows as STP-Flex on the condition that the transfer from CMAQ
takes place. But, since the STIP is the
document used to actually authorize the use of funds, and the budget estimates
cannot be adjusted by CDTC to show a transfer as taking place before it
actually happens, the funding for this project shows as CMAQ in the STIP. According to the NYSDOT Main Office Program
Management Bureau no transfer is likely to take place until the end of the
federal fiscal year, and will not occur unless there is a reason statewide to
do so. This presents a problem in that the funding is needed immediately. Several options for funding the TMC were put
on the table. These were:
·
Wait
for a transfer to CMAQ (null alternative)
·
Free STP-Flex Funds from the Glenridge Road
Reconstruction (SA109 & S120) by assigning additional Safety funds to
Glenridge Road.
·
Fund with STP-Flex using Advance Construction:
·
Fund with STP-Flex
After
some discussion and reaction by NYSDOT regarding the feasibility of the
options, members voted to adopt the Glenridge Road option and to adjust the
2010-2015 TIP Listings accordingly.
Discussion Items
CDTC staff is preparing updates for each topic area
addressed by the New Visions 2030 Plan.
The updated summaries, identifying what the 2030 Plan said, what has happened
since that was adopted in 2007 and what the plans are for the 2040 New Visions
Plan will be distributed to Planning Committee members prior to the February
Planning Committee meeting. This will
lead to release of a draft 2035 New Visions Plan by the Policy Board in June,
2011.
This item was raised at the last Policy Board meeting;
the Policy Board agreed to delegate action to the Planning Committee because of
the tight time table for the project.
Subsequent to the December Policy Board meeting, the ICG for Air Quality
determined that the project is exempt and consequently does not trigger a revision
to the Air Quality Conformity statement.
STATUS OF PLANNING ACTIVITIES
NYSDOT
NYSDOT is waiting for the new administration to settle
in. Most ARRA projects are
complete. During 2011, oversight of
local projects will occur within the design unit.
CDRPC
The American Community Survey (Census) 5 year data was
just released. The
CDTA
CDTA plans to roll out Bus Plus (Route 5
Albany
County
The design report for Washington Avenue Extension/Fuller
Road was recently submitted to NYSDOT.
The next phase will require detailed engineering with construction
expected to start in November 2011.
There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned
at 11:15 a.m. The next Planning
Committee meeting is scheduled for February 2, 2011, Ground Hog Day.
Respectfully submitted,
John P. Poorman