PLANNING
COMMITTEE MEETING
Meeting Minutes
September 5, 2007
Melissa Ashline-Heil, City of Cohoes
Judy Breselor, City of Troy
Peter Comenzo, Town of Rotterdam
Steve Feeney, Schenectady County
Rocky Ferraro, Capital District Regional Planning
Commission
Michael Franchini, Albany County (Chairman)
Bruce Hidley, City of Watervliet
Fred Howard, Rensselaer County
George Leveille, Town of Bethlehem
Barbara McHugh, Town of Clifton Park
John Poorman, Capital District Transportation Committee (Secretary)
Dave Rettig, New York State Department of Transportation
Tom Richardson, City f Mechanicville
Phil Serafino, New York State Thruway Authority
Bernard Sisson, City of Schenectady
John Stangle, Town of Colonie
Michael Valentine, City of Saratoga Springs
Steve Watts, Town of Halfmoon
Kristina Younger, Capital District Transportation Authority
STAFF AND OTHERS
Frank Bonafide, NYSDOT Region 1
Jim Digioia, Interested Citizen
David Jukins, Capital District Transportation Committee
Dave Kahlbaugh, Clough Harbour
Jeff Pangburn, Creighton Manning
Deborah Stacey, Capital District Transportation Committee
Maggie Zandt, Greenman Pederson
VISITORS ISSUES
Chairman Franchini opened the meeting at approximately 9:35 am. There were no
visitor’s issues.
PRESENTATION OF HARRIMAN CAMPUS LINKAGE PROJECT
Sandy Misiewicz provided a brief presentation on
the Harriman Campus Linkage Study findings. This Linkage Study was a $100,000
study funded under the 2005-06 Linkage program and was initiated in June 2006
and completed in May 2007. Nelson Nygaard and the Chazen group were the consultants selected to
conduct the study. The goal of the study
was to develop a vision for an integrated transportation system in the Harriman
Campus/SUNYA/CESTM area. Recommendations
include the formation of a Transportation Management Association, parking
policies including paid parking, and a Transportation Spine which potentially
includes BRT. Seven study
principles (improve inter-campus connections; improve linkages
within the City of Albany, Town of Guilderland and to the greater region;
reduce the number of single-occupancy vehicle trips and the parking supply
needed to serve those trips through TDM and other techniques; maintain access
to the regional roadway network; address pedestrian safety and accessibility
issues on a site-specific level; coordinate transportation improvements with
land use improvements proposed in the Harriman Campus Master Development Plan
and other local land use policies) were
identified and adopted by the Study Advisory Committee. Dave Rettig questioned if study participants are aware of the
city’s recent approval of the Patroon Creek development (office/high-end
apartment complex) located directly across from the Harriman site and
noted that the traffic impact study does not acknowledge the existence of the Linkage
Study nor its findings. Planning
Committee members feel that the redevelopment of the Harriman Campus and
surrounding area presents a once in a 50 year opportunity to do something
meaningful and consequently the findings of the Linkage study could benefit
from the endorsement of CDTC. John Poorman responded that by adopting the Harriman Linkage Plan as
part of New Visions 2030, the plan should be followed much as New Visions 2030
planning and investment principles are.
Action Items
ADMINISTRATION
Review of
TMC Discussion in June 27,
2007 Meeting Minutes
Dave Rettig indicated that to continue funding for the
TMC, CMAQ monies need to be converted to STP funds for this fiscal year. Discussion at the June 27th
Planning Committee tabled the motion to do this, based on advice from Joe
Rich. Members approved the motion to
swap CMAQ with STP funds for the TMC.
Approval
of the August 1,
2007 Meeting Minutes
Kristina Younger noted that the discussion under CDTA
Activities erroneously noted that the Saratoga/Schenectady bus route carries 20
passengers per day. This should have
read 20 passengers/trip. The minutes of the August 1, 2007 meeting were approved with this modification noted.
NEW VISIONS 2030
Draft New
Visions Strategies and Actions
Sandy Misiewicz prepared a PowerPoint presentation that outlined the Draft
New Visions 2030 Strategies and Actions.
The 1997 New Visions Plan contained 10 strategies and 43 accompanying
actions. Strategies articulate why an action
is needed and Actions describe how to address strategies and are used to guide
long range planning. The New Visions
2030 plan development process identified the need to change many actions, since
many have been implemented and the new SAFETEA-LU requirements have created new
ones. Three new strategies have been
identified for New Visions 2030, bringing the total to 13 strategies and 47
actions. The three new strategies cover
the categories of safety, environment and the big ticket/big idea concepts. The Quality Region Task Force met three times
over the summer to review the strategies and actions, specifically looking for
inconsistencies and gaps. All of the new
strategies and actions came about through work that has been undertaken for New
Visions 2030; this work has been reviewed by the Planning Committee at previous
meetings (for example, working group reports, Finance Task Force documents, etc). Members approved the Strategies and Action
Plan.
Draft New
Visions 2030 Summary Document
The Draft New Visions 2030 Summary Document has been
posted on CDTC’s website and serves as brief summary of all the separate pieces
that constitute New Visions 2030. The
summary document was reviewed by CDTC’s Quality Region Task Force last week and
minor changes to the document (i.e. add more references about telecommuting, TMA’s
and global warming) were recommended.
CDTC staff is working on a “slick” summary document, similar to what was
produced in 1998 to roll out New Visions, which will be the centerpiece of the New
Visions 2030 rollout. The QRTF has high expectations on the marketing of NV
2030. CDTC staff size and budget won’t
allow for the extensive marketing that the QRTF is looking for. Much of the marketing can be done by the
participants that have been involved in developing New Visions 2030. Rocky Ferraro indicated that the public
outreach plan should include area grade school, middle school and high school
students, since these students will be the class of 2010, 2015, and 2020. Since this document is a work in progress and
serves as a placeholder referencing all of the pieces of the recent NV 2030
work, action is not required.
Recommendation
for Policy Board Approval
The Planning
Committee members recommended that the
New Visions 2030 Plan go before CDTC’s Policy Board at the October
4, 2007 meeting for approval as
CDTC’s Regional Plan update.
Harriman Campus
Resolution
The draft resolution regarding the Harriman
Campus-University at Albany Transportation Study was included in the member’s
packets. George Leveille stated that he thinks the study recommendations are
superb as are the seven planning principles, but questioned if there was buy-in
from the City of Albany. John Poorman responded that the city was a co-owner of the study,
but Dave Rettig indicated that that city employee is no longer employed by the
city. After additional discussion, it
was determined that it would be inappropriate to pass the resolution without
the Committee’s City of Albany representative present at today’s meeting. The motioned was tabled.
TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT
PROGRAM REVISIONS
SA 190
Green Street Connector
This project is a spot improvement project that was
unintentionally omitted from the TIP. A
technical correction is required; this will be taken care of as part of Glenn Posca’s
handout.
Amendments
to the 2007-12 TIP (distributed at meeting)
A list of proposed amendments to the TIP was distributed
to members. This list was produced
primarily because inconsistencies between the 2007-12 TIP and the STIP were
discovered. All of the amendments
require Policy Board approval:
1.
A416—this project is not
eligible for HBRR; consequently NYSDOT would like to fund it with SDF. This project will no longer be federally
funded but will remain on the TIP for informational purposes.
2.
A450-this project has been
completed and should be removed from the TIP.
3.
A452—the state would like to
conduct the detailed design phase of this project using SDF rather than IM
funds. IM Funds will be used to complete
the project in the post-TIP phase.
4.
A491—this project is not
currently eligible for HBRR; consequently NYSDOT would like to fund it with IM. There is a significant cost increase
associated with this project as well ($2.5M to $6.3M).
5.
SA84—this project was
approved by the Planning Committee for conversion from SDF to HBRR at its June
27th meeting, but, by an oversight, was not subsequently brought to
the Policy Board for approval. The cost
of the project is $1.5M less than what appeared in the TIP.
6.
SA234—Preliminary design will
be funded with state funds, rather than IM funds. This project will no longer be federally
funded but will remain on the TIP for informational purposes.
7.
A198—this project was not
included in the handout, but was addressed by Dave Rettig. NYSDOT would like to spend Bond money for the
first phases of this project but is unsure if Bond money is available. A ROW phase will be added with utility work;
this phase will begin this fall. NYSDOT
proposes funding this project with IM if Bond dollars are unavailable.
Steve Watts made a motion to approve all seven
amendments, as discussed above, to the TIP.
Members approved the motion.
STATUS OF PLANNING ACTIVITIES
This portion of the agenda was skipped due to the
interest of the time.
OTHER
There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned
at 11:55 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
John P. Poorman
Secretary